Upgrade refresh mobo/CPU/Mem advise please

2Drunk2Funk

2Drunk2Funk

2Drunk2Funk

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Hi all

Son's PC has gone and died on him.
With it being almost Xmas I am looking at the basic components to get him started on a new rig.
I am years out of date on components so advise on what would work well together for a gradual upgrade path would be appreciated.

I am looking around £300 (max £350) price for a Mobo/Cpu/Memory combo.

He has a GTX1060 gpu he can re-use for now. It only has to push out to 2 x HD res monitors (one is 144mhz)
He has case, keyboard, mouse, drives etc already (Although may be worth a M2 drive for a fresh windows install)
I need to check the PSU when he is not around to see if its up to the job of an upgrade. He does not know I am looking to get parts, its an Xmas gift.

He mostly games, fortnite and such.

For context he was running an Asus H110M mobo, 8gb DDR400 ram with a I5-6400 cpu. With the GTX1060 gpu.

Many thanks in advance for any advise.
 
As a budget setup, I'd look at something like below. I believe the 5600 comes with stock cooler in the box. wont be great but will do . slightly more (i think about 4-5% performance boost) is the 5600X. you can get that for the same price but would need to get a cooler for it, which should still come in at your £350 mark. There is a cheaper board, the gigabyte B550M DS3H, but it really has bad vrm's on it, so personally prefer this one. It's a micro board though. I'd def invest in a m.2 though, not just for os, but newer games and direct storage, which will need a m.2 nvme drive in order to work

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £328.97 (includes delivery: £3.99)​
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My basket at OcUK:

Total: £64.94 (includes delivery: £3.99)​
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This is AM4 platform, and AM5 platform came out a couple years ago now...you can get decent cpu/mobo/ram for £450...the cpu will give you 5800X3D cpu performance and will still take future cpu releases so your upgrade path is better to build on. For above, I'd look at maybe getting the cpu 2nd hand and going for the 5600X...Seem them for £80-£90, as people sell them to go am5..just remember to get a cooler...if you do go 2nd hand for cpu, then you're still in budget, with the 5600x, a new cooler and the m.2​
​
Not sure how many posts you need to access the MM (member market). It used to be 1000 but think might have dropped to 500...in which case get a few more posts. Think last 5600x went for £75 there​
 
MSI B550M PRO-VDH WiFi (AMD AM4) B550 Micro-ATX Motherboard
MB-358-MS
£110 (incl. VAT)
£95 (incl. VAT)
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Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C18 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMK32GX4M2D3600C18)
MY-4D1-CS
£120 (incl. VAT)
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AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Six Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail
CP-3D2-AM
£170 (incl. VAT)
£90 (incl. VAT)
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Thanks for info.
If I reveal too son intentions, as a Xmas present, and give him my budget cap of £350 he may well be up for using some of his savings to improve.
I take it from your reply that an AM5 platform could be achieved for an extra £100 (so £450 budget) and would be better starting point and give him more options to add to?

I do not see a members market, I don't think I can manage 60 more posts before ordering deadlines for Xmas delivery though :)

I assume even the AM4 platform mentioned above is a massive upgrade over his existing (dead) system
 
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mickyflinn said:
Would suggest buying a new case as this will look like a brand new pc and if you don't need WiFi you can save another £20.

Case below is a micro ATX to go with @Craig_d1 excellent build.

www.overclockers.co.uk

MSI MAG Forge M100R ARGB Tempered Glass Windowed Micro ATX Mid Tower Case - Black

Order MSI MAG Forge M100R ARGB Tempered Glass Windowed Micro ATX Mid Tower Case - Black now online and benefit from fast delivery.
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk
Click to expand...
Have two (older) full size coolermaster cases that are fine for hosting. If he wants RGB style then that's one for him down the road :)
 
2Drunk2Funk said:
Thanks for info.
If I reveal too son intentions, as a Xmas present, and give him my budget cap of £350 he may well be up for using some of his savings to improve.
I take it from your reply that an AM5 platform could be achieved for an extra £100 (so £450 budget) and would be better starting point and give him more options to add to?

I do not see a members market, I don't think I can manage 60 more posts before ordering deadlines for Xmas delivery though :)

I assume even the AM4 platform mentioned above is a massive upgrade over his existing (dead) system
Click to expand...
You won't see a MM (members market)
It's hidden until you qualify
Then suddenly its there right at the bottom of the forum page
Was 1000 posts if it actually has dropped to 500
60 posts would be easily doable
There's so many sections to the forum
Not just pc ones
Couple of hours max you could do 60 posts
It's absolutely worth getting access to MM
 
Joxeon said:
Why Don't you upgrade your rig to AM5 and pass on the AM4 components from your PC to him?.

No point in splashing out on AM5 for him if he's only using a 1060
Click to expand...
Hi Joxeon

It is a stepping stone, i mentioned its a gradual upgrade at start.

He has other components he can work with right now but he knows he can save up for a better GPU, suited to the new mobo/cpu/mem.
He will update that next, with his own funds, as well as looking at a QHD screen with high fps.
 
2Drunk2Funk said:
Hi Joxeon

It is a stepping stone, i mentioned its a gradual upgrade at start.

He has other components he can work with right now but he knows he can save up for a better GPU, suited to the new mobo/cpu/mem.
He will update that next, with his own funds, as well as looking at a QHD screen with high fps.
Click to expand...
I know what your saying but even a 3700X is a huge step up from a i5 6400 and still has further CPU upgrades available while you could jump to AM5 which would be better suited to your 3070 right now than his 1060.
 
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2Drunk2Funk said:
Thanks for info.
If I reveal too son intentions, as a Xmas present, and give him my budget cap of £350 he may well be up for using some of his savings to improve.
I take it from your reply that an AM5 platform could be achieved for an extra £100 (so £450 budget) and would be better starting point and give him more options to add to?

I do not see a members market, I don't think I can manage 60 more posts before ordering deadlines for Xmas delivery though :)

I assume even the AM4 platform mentioned above is a massive upgrade over his existing (dead) system
Click to expand...
the am5 will be a decent upgrade on what he's got...you'll be limited by the gpu, but it is a dead platform now. When am5 launched it was still worth going am4, as the am5 mobo's were £250+, ddr5 ram was closer to £300 and the cpu..think even the 7600x was closer to £300 on lauch..making it very expensive...now it's come back down to earth the extra initial outlay is worth it for the performance and longevity of the platform

as an idea for cpu, following is with a 4090(so as to not to have any gpu bottleneck and at 1080p)

the 5600x on HU 12 game av managed 175fps and the5800x3d managed 227fps, so a 29% gain...that would be the best upgrade cpu wise if you went with the am4 platform, but the 5800x3d cost £330 atm, so still expensive

the 7600x on am5 managed 190fps on seperate test to the 5800x3d's 178fps (diff test, but over 12 games) so the 7600x beat the 5800x3d by 6%...and the 7600x is £200 to the 5800x3d £330 (so you're not that far off covering the cost of the motherboard..at very least, you've covered the cost of the ram and a cooler)
same test the 7800x3d got 221fps, so beat the 7600x by 16%, and beats the 5800x3d y 24%...I've seen other test where it's closer to 18% but still another big uplift eith way.

next year will be new cpu's and year after that will be the x3d versions of them...so the cpu potential is far greater on the am5 platform

though as pointed out above..you need a much better gpu to unlock the potenetial of these cpu's...but hopefully it means in 3 years or so an upgrade can mean just dropping in a new cpu, rather than going through buying the whole lot again of mobo/ram cpu

Also, consider in future selling the am4 platform as opposed am5 platform....you'll get more for the am5 as lets say you sellit when am6 comes out, it'll only be 1 generation old rather than 2

That's my arguement for AM5 if starting from scratch. but nothing wrong with am4 either..money saved towards a better gpu, which you'll see better fps than a better cpu at lower end. My pc at home is a b550 with a 5800x and 3080fe...a great gaming pc and very happy with...i now got a job abroad and need a pc so built on am5 platform with this, for reasons above...but, my budget was different..so can't tell you just to go and spend more as it's the whole package you have to look at..if he's going to stick a future 3070 in, don't think that'll trouble the 5600x that much, so maybe a am4 better way to go...if he's going to savbe for something beefier, maybe swings other way

I'm waffling now:cry:
 
You're waffling, but good waffling. I had to read it 3 times :)
You got me thinking about doing my PC upgrade instead, to AM5 and passing on my PC with a clean install to him. I think my rig, albeit 3-4yrs old now still plays games well even on my QHD res monitor.
Read some userBenchmark cpu comparisons, the 7600x v 7800x3d you mentioned, that site really slates AMD though.
Going to look at 3 options now:
AM4 cheap upgrade, but steering away from that now.
Mid range AM5 upgrade for son and re-use his other hardware until he saved for a decent GPU to pair with, then a monitor upgrade. (so the £400-£450 range)
Look at a better upgrade to my rig, slightly higher spec AM5 (or intel?) with a budget closer to £1000 (for Mobo/Cpu/Ram/PSU/M2 drive and GPU)

Should not have started this process, getting the upgrade urge now :)
 
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2Drunk2Funk said:
You're waffling, but good waffling. I had to read it 3 times :)
You got me thinking about doing my PC upgrade instead, to AM5 and passing on my PC with a clean install to him. I think my rig, albeit 3-4yrs old now still plays games well even on my QHD res monitor.
Read some userBenchmark cpu comparisons, the 7600x v 7800x3d you mentioned, that site really slates AMD though.
Going to look at 3 options now:
AM4 cheap upgrade, but steering away from that now.
Mid range AM5 upgrade for son and re-use his other hardware until he saved for a decent GPU to pair with, then a monitor upgrade. (so the £400-£450 range)
Look at a better upgrade to my rig, slightly higher spec AM5 (or intel?) with a budget closer to £1000 (for Mobo/Cpu/Ram/PSU/M2 drive and GPU)

Should not have started this process, getting the upgrade urge now :)
Click to expand...
ha ha ha....once the itch to upgrade starts....

userbenchmark is rubbish..they hate amd...below is their take on the 7800x3d

. Cache sensitive scenarios such as low res. canned game benchmarks with an RTX 4090 ($2,000) benefit at the cost of everything else. Be wary of sponsored reviews with cherry picked games that showcase the wins, ignore frame drops and gloss over the losses. Also watch out for AMD’s army of Neanderthal social media accounts on reddit, forums and youtube, they will be singing their own praises as usual. AMD continue to develop “Advanced Marketing” relationships with select youtubers with the obvious aim of compensating for second tier products with first tier marketing. PC gamers considering a 7000X3D CPU need to work on their critical thinking skills: Influencers are paid handsomely to promote overpriced niche products (X3D, EPYC, Threadripper etc.). Rational gamers have little reason to look further than the $300 13600K which offers comparable real-world gaming and better desktop performance at a fraction of the price. Workstation users (and RTX 4080+ gamers) may find value in higher core CPUs such as the 16-core $400 13700K. Despite offering better performance at lower prices, as long as Intel continues to sample and sponsor marketers that are mostly funded by AMD, they will struggle to win market share

aparently everyone in the world that consistently post benchmarks of the cpu being best gaming cpu you can get, are all lying and being paid for handsomely by AMD for spreading such false lies

Damn...I fell for it as I have a 7800x3d in my new setup...also they have, and I quote...'they have hefty cooling requirements (TDP +60% vs 5000 series)'...it's a wonder my cpu hasn't turned into a puddle of molten silicon with my a35 arctic air cooler (which runs silently by the way)...they dump on the am4 platform as well, saying it's overhyped and with time will end up on the garbage heap as people realise its all marketing and that intel are truly the only cpu maker you should buy

I've never read so much drivel in all my life
 
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