Upgrade time!!!

JoshySquashy

JoshySquashy

JoshySquashy

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Joined
26 Apr 2014
Posts
18
I've listed my original purchase made nearly 6 years ago and am thinking of upgrading. Initially thought about just the graphics card but to be honest think a lot of the rest could do with upgrading too. Looking for suggestions that will allow me to run a dual screen setup and play modern games on mid/high settings. Can only play most with low settings without my fps suffering at the moment. Mostly been playing Escape from Tarkov recently for reference if that helps.

Probably looking for gear suggestions that will cover me for the next 5 years reasonably well without emptying my wallet too much, is £600 realistic? Not clued up with this at all so not sure what i can afford to keep if i only upgraded the important stuff? And am i likely to need better cooling as i've read some of the latest msi radeon graphics cards, for example, run very hot!

Also would it be worth selling any of what i have to go towards my budget and if so, where is best?

Much appreciated!

Heres my current setup (minus the liquid cpu cooler)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11227-03-40G) £299.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4690K 3.50GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £178.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £88
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97P-D3 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £68.99
1 x Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX24C11BRK2/8-OC) £61.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi "Core" USB3.0 Gaming Windowed Case - White £54.98
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £39.98
2 x Corsair Air Series AF120 1500RPM LED Blue Quiet Edition - Dual Pack (CO-9050016-BLED) £16.99 (£33.98)
1 x BitFenix Mesh Stripes for Shinobi XL Tower Case - Blue £8.99
1 x BitFenix Logo for Shinobi Tower Case - Blue £1.98
Total : £982.86 (includes shipping : £12.50)
 
The Old School Gamer said:
You would see an nice up lift from the R9 290 by replacing it with something like a 1660 Super.
And maybe add an 1tb SSD like an MX500 (SATA).
But you can only do so much with that PC before your 4 core CPU begins to be the main bottleneck.

So I'd probably recommend a new budget Ryzen 3600 or 1600AF build with a B450 motherboard.

Re-use the case and PSU, sell the rest.
Go for an better GFX card if the budget will stretch to it, like a 2060/70 Super.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £687.05 (includes shipping: £11.10)


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Thanks for the advice.

Would you say this kind of thing is going to future proof me at least for a while? I think i'd rather spend more now than have to upgrade in a few years potentially, i mean budgets are surely only there to be stretched right . . .

Also stretching for a better GFX card, is there any particular 2060/70 super you would say stands out above the rest?
 
The Old School Gamer said:
It would be good for a few years.

But if you really want it to last 5yrs or so you would probably need to increase your budget and go with an slightly higher spec.
And you would need to upgrade your GFX card again after a few years to keep up with modern games.

For example.

An 3700X 8 core / 16 thread CPU would be a safer bet going forward rather than the 3600 6 core / 12 thread CPU. (but right here, right now it's perfectly fine).
An X570 motherboard would be better choice than B450 for future upgrades. (but right here, right now it's fine).
An 1660 Super has the bare minimum amount of VRAM, an 8Gb GFX card would be better.
An 550w PSU is ok for the spec above, but an 700w PSU would cover any future power hungry upgrades.

You don't have to go crazy.
But as you can see below the price does start to gap up on you as you add better parts.

On the GFX card front the MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Super Gaming X is a decent card and well priced, it has an really good cooler.
It wouldn't have quite as much overclocking headroom as a STRIX or a FTW3 as they have higher power limits, but those cards are top tier and a lot more expensive in comparison.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,449.60 (includes shipping: £11.70)
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I see what you mean about the price difference, perhaps i'll just make do for now with what is around my budget and upgrade as required, i mean i did manage to go 6 years until now. Thanks
 
orbitalwalsh said:
just dont forget to sign up to 4 yr warranty ! think Aorus ends up being cooler and quieter then other flagship units whilst being smaller .

shaving off a few £££ , Gaming OC instead of Aorus ( same manufacture - check GamerNexus for review, best all rounder) . 3200hz instead of 3600 but can be overclocked. mATX instead of ATX- its just shorter


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My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £816.06 (includes shipping: £11.10)


but power could be an issue ! Non XT with less power draw


BB CODE
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £741.06 (includes shipping: £11.10)
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My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £801.06 (includes shipping: £11.10)
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do you think dropping the processor to a ryzen 5 3600 and perhaprs spending more on a graphics card like a rtx 2070 is worth doing? or would i need the higher processor for everything to run at its best?
 
also, whats your Screen Resolution/Hz and any sync Tech?
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Currently have a 60hz 1080p screen but want to add a 144hz as my main and keep the other as a secondary. One i'm looking at has amd free sync tech. My screen budget is about £150 for a 24"
 
Have thought about all the advice and have put together this little bundle. Any closing thoughts or obvious errors on my part would be appreciated. looking forward to experiencing the upgrade!

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,195.25 (includes shipping: £12.30)​

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27" is to large for 1080p unless you upscale to 1440p .

Also ryzen is slower then intel at 1080p so hence RTX 2070 non Super. Paying extra for frames you'll be missing out on 15-30fps on average .
At 1440p is pretty much even
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would you think something like this would be worth the bit more money to get a 1440p. conscious of my ever growing budget but want the things i buy to be worth it.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £290.09 (includes shipping: £11.10)
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