Upgrading GPU

Marakith

Marakith

Marakith

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Joined
22 Nov 2004
Posts
416
Location
London
Hello!

About 11 years ago, I built a PC using the ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 Motherboard and an i5 2500k CPU. I've got 16Gb RAM.

It's been a proper survivor- I've a feeling it'll last me another few years with no problems. Initially I had the Radeon HD 6950, then in 2014 upgraded to a R9 290. I think this wonderful forum recommended the upgrade.

Now I'm thinking it's time to upgrade the GPU. What would be a good, similar bang-for-buck upgrade to the GPU? I mostly play GTA and Fortnite. I'm running my main monitor at 2560x1440 and I might opt for VR one day.

Thanks in advance!
 
Right - so I'm getting to the point where I'm going to get a RX 6700XT. Thing is - is this a shortsighted idea? Would I be better just ripping off the plaster and getting a better motherboard, CPU and RAM as well as a much better card? I'm a little worried about being CPU throttled (Cyberpunk 2077 was unplayable).

If I do go for an upgrade, I'm thinking of gutting my current PC and replacing the motherboard, CPU, RAM and GPU as follows:

CPU
www.overclockers.co.uk

Intel Core i5-12600K 3.70GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail

Order Intel Core i5-12600K 3.70GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail now online and benefit from fast delivery.
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk

MoBo
www.overclockers.co.uk

Asrock Z690 Extreme - Intel Z690 DDR4 ATX Motherboard

Order Asrock Z690 Extreme - Intel Z690 DDR4 ATX Motherboard now online and benefit from fast delivery.
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk

Cooler
www.overclockers.co.uk

Phanteks Glacier One 240MP All In One CPU Water Cooler D-RGB Black - 240mm

Order Phanteks Glacier One 240MP All In One CPU Water Cooler D-RGB Black - 240mm now online and benefit from fast delivery.
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk

RAM
Dunno yet - should I go for 16Gb or is 32Gb the new 16Gb?

PSU
Already have a Corsair TX650M 850W Power Supply
 
Vish Petrol said:
Thats more than you need to spend. You'd be more than fine with a ryzen 5600 and a cheap b450/b550 motherboard. For ram 16gb is fine, 32gb is futureproof, ram is cheap at the moment, but you're better off going for faster ram than higher capacity.

For a GPU a 6700xt would be overkill for the games you play. Just get a regular 6700 or even a 6600.

Pocket the savings for when gta 6 comes out and then look at whether you need to updgrade.
Click to expand...
Ahh - thanks! This is brilliant!

Are you in my brain? GTA 6 is definitely in my mind. Yes - I'll wait until then.

Looking at it, the 6700 is roughly 20% faster than the 6600. Given I'm pretty casual, I'm not even sure it's worth the extra £100 if I'm only going to ditch it when the new GTA comes along! :cry:

Do you think it's worth trying out the 6600 or 6700 on this current setup, then going the Ryzen route if that doesn't cut the mustard?

If I do upgrade, does this seem decent?

CPU
www.overclockers.co.uk

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail

Order AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail now online and benefit from fast delivery.
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk

Motherboard
www.overclockers.co.uk

MSI MPG B550 Gaming Plus (AMD AM4) B550 ATX Motherboard

Order MSI MPG B550 Gaming Plus (AMD AM4) B550 ATX Motherboard now online and benefit from fast delivery.
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk

RAM
www.overclockers.co.uk

Kingston Fury Renegade RGB 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-32000C19 4000MHz Dual Channel Kit

Order Kingston Fury Renegade RGB 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-32000C19 4000MHz Dual Channel Kit now online and benefit from fast delivery.
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk


Thanks again!
 
Thanks again for all the tips.

Yeah - I'm mostly playing First Person Shooters and Civ when I get the time. But it's my escape from a busy household and I love having a capable PC.

I'm struggling a little to wrap my head around the Ryzen. I've never built an AMD machine and am a bit loyal to Intel. I'm happy to be convinced otherwise but I'm seeing on most benchmarks the i5-12400 is a bit better than the 5600X and about the same price.

I'd also rather go for an ATX board, not a micro-ATX if possible. I have a full ATX case and like having room on the board and more slots.

I'm probably going to use NVMe as the system drive too.

Also finally - I'm running an Antec Kuhler on my current processor. It's fine, but I suspect it won't fit on the new board - can you recommend a good equivalent?

Thanks for all your patience fielding all these questions - a minefield!
 
Thanks, all!

Just installed the 6650XT - has made marginal improvements, but I'm definitely CPU bottlenecked.

Question - do you recommend reinstalling Windows on a change of CPU/ Mobo? I presume it's yes but maybe things have changed.
 
ShiWarrior said:
yes, changing mobo etc is always worth reinstalling windows again

and yes your bottlenecked
i would have changed the CPU first
Click to expand...
Oh absolutely! I anticipated this thanks to your earlier advice: I just wanted to see if I could get a marginal gain from the GPU first as it was a smaller outlay.
 
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