upgrading my pc and using the spares to build another

Xystophori · 30 May 2024 at 19:19

So a family member of mine has an incredibly slow pc that needs to be replaced. I was wondering how viable it would be to upgrade my own and use the leftover components to build a new one. they won't be using it for gaming but they want something easily upgradeable so they won't have to buy a new PC every few years.

For reference my pc has:

Ryzen 3700X Cpu with it's stock cooler

Radeon RX 5700 Gpu

B450 THMWK max motherboard

16GB patriot viper steel 3.6ghz Ram

Corsair RM 750 Psu

as well as a sabrrent rocket SSD for a boot drive

let me know if any more information would help. I haven't used this forum in a while

tamzzy · 30 May 2024 at 19:22

what is their budget and what is your budget?

Xystophori said:
Corsair RM 750 Psu

how old is this?

Xystophori said:
as well as a sabrrent rocket SSD for a boot drive

what size?

Tetras · 30 May 2024 at 19:23

What do you use your PC for?

By "easily upgradeable" are they thinking of RAM and storage primarily?

Xystophori · 30 May 2024 at 19:27

Forgot to add a few points. My PC needs more RAM for the software i use (at least 32GB) . I would guess about £500 budget wise but maybe a little more i know this isn't a huge amount. absouloutely no more than £650 for the combined budget of both.

The PSU is from 2019 and still in warranty.

In terms of upgradeability it just needs to not be upgradaeable. Because their current PC has a very strange design and most components simply won't fit inside.

The SSD is 1TB

Tetras · 30 May 2024 at 19:37

For that budget you could do a CPU upgrade, OR a GPU upgrade, but both would be very difficult due to high GPU prices.

Xystophori · 30 May 2024 at 19:43

I am very happy with my current GPU. If i were to ask a question how long would my current CPU and RAM be suitable for an everay windoews user before becoming too slow.

RAM is the primary thing i wish to upgrade. I was thinking of upgrading my CPU and motherboard as well if possible in oreder to use DDR5 RAM.

tamzzy · 30 May 2024 at 19:45

Xystophori said:
I would guess about £500 budget wise but maybe a little more i know this isn't a huge amount. absouloutely no more than £650 for the combined budget of both.

that's not a lot.

personally, this is what i'd do...
1) forget about "upgradeability" for your family member's pc...a decent ex-corp dell/hp/lenovo will do the trick for most things especially once you chuck in a ssd (+/- low power gpu if they game...something like a 1050ti/1650) in there
2) use the rest of your budget for yourself
a) things to sell: 3700x, 16gb ram, rx5700
b) things to buy: 5700x3d, 32gb ram (in a kit of 2x 16gb) ddr4, rx7800xt

Xystophori said:
RAM is the primary thing i wish to upgrade. I was thinking of upgrading my CPU and motherboard as well if possible in oreder to use DDR5 RAM.

you'll need to jump onto the am5 platform then

Xystophori · 30 May 2024 at 19:48

Thank you for the Advice. I will try to get this all sorted now :3

tamzzy · 30 May 2024 at 19:50

Xystophori said:
I am very happy with my current GPU.

Xystophori said:
Thank you for the Advice. I will try to get this all sorted now :3

what exactly do you do with your computer?

Xystophori · 30 May 2024 at 19:53

Gaming but also 3D moddeling, vector art as well as image editing and creating games.

Just using firefox right now and it
s Ram is half full

Tetras · 30 May 2024 at 19:58

Xystophori said:
If i were to ask a question how long would my current CPU and RAM be suitable for an every windows user before becoming too slow.

If they just open like.. 2 browser tabs and turn off the computer? 10 years (exlc. Windows 11 being outdated). If they open a million tabs and never restart? 5 minutes.

tamzzy · 30 May 2024 at 20:08

hmmm...let me seee
family pc £250ish, leaving ~£400 budget, add 3700x/16gb/5700 ~£200
so approx £600 to play with, split into: 5700x3d £150, 32gb ddr4 £60, 7700xt £390 (spec 1)

if wanting am5, £400 + £250 after selling 3700x/b450/16gb/5700 = £650 budget
7600 £160, 32gb ddr5 6000 £110, b650 mobo £170...leaving £210 for the gpu...which will only get a 6600xt, which isn't a massive upgrade from the 5700 (spec 2)

if wanting am5 but keeping the 5700 = £400 + £140 = £540
7700 £290, 32gb ddr5 6000 £110, b650 mobo £170 = £570 (spec 3)

the am4 (spec 1) build will give a significant performance advantage because the 7700xt is 1.8x the gpu performance of the 5700
but am5 (spec 2/3) would provide better "upgradeability" over the next 2-3 years...if you plan to upgrade any further
the 6600xt is only 1.2x the gpu performance of the 5700...however more power efficient

Gray2233 · 30 May 2024 at 20:24

Worth noting that you can get the 6750XT for £280 currently, about on par with the 7700XT at £110 cheaper so it offers more wiggle room.

tamzzy · 30 May 2024 at 20:26

@Gray2233 good spot

Tetras · 30 May 2024 at 20:34

Xystophori said:
Gaming but also 3D moddeling, vector art as well as image editing and creating games.

Just using firefox right now and it
s Ram is half full

Xystophori said:
RAM is the primary thing i wish to upgrade. I was thinking of upgrading my CPU and motherboard as well if possible in order to use DDR5 RAM.

The build below would give you 48GB of DDR5, but tbh, if you all you need is RAM then upgrading to AM5 is not necessary. AM4 supports up to 128GB, while DDR5 can do 192GB or 256GB.

For 3D modelling work, a 5900 beats a 7600 or even a 7700 if the work is fully multithreaded.

Xystophori said:
no more than £650 for the combined budget of both.

My basket at OcUK:

Yours 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £182.99
Yours 1 x Asus TUF Gaming A620M-PLUS WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASU-01397) = £135.99
Yours 1 x Crucial Pro 48GB (2x24GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C46 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRU-01086) = £139.99

Not yours 1 x MSI SPATIUM M450 500GB SSD PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-MSI-00811) = £39.94
Not yours 1 x B Grade Phanteks Eclipse P400 Air Midi Tower Case - Black (SKU: BG-06C-PT) = £39.92
Not yours 1 x Phanteks AMP 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-09Q-PT) = £89.99

Total: £640.81 (includes delivery: £11.98)

Gray2233 · 30 May 2024 at 20:35

The 6750XT prices are fluctuating a fair bit at the moment, probably old stock getting cleared out.

Xystophori · 30 May 2024 at 20:38

MAy i ask what the difference is between an A620 and B650 motherboard?

tamzzy · 30 May 2024 at 20:41

Tetras said:
My basket at OcUK:

Yours 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £182.99

Yours 1 x Asus TUF Gaming A620M-PLUS WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASU-01397) = £135.99

Yours 1 x Crucial Pro 48GB (2x24GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C46 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRU-01086) = £139.99

Not yours 1 x MSI SPATIUM M450 500GB SSD PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-MSI-00811) = £39.94

Not yours 1 x B Grade Phanteks Eclipse P400 Air Midi Tower Case - Black (SKU: BG-06C-PT) = £39.92

Not yours 1 x Phanteks AMP 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-09Q-PT) = £89.99

Total: £640.81 (includes delivery: £11.98)

you're missing a gpu as well, the 3700x does not come with an igpu

Tetras · 30 May 2024 at 20:43

Xystophori said:
MAy i ask what the difference is between an A620 and B650 motherboard?

They're meant for CPUs categorised as 65 watt, don't have PCI-E 5.0, usually have less M.2 slots (1 or 2, whereas B650 is more likely to be 2, 3 or 4) and don't support overclocking. You're also likely to have more basic sound & less speedy USB ports.

tamzzy said:
you're missing a gpu as well, the 3700x does not come with an igpu

£10 for a GPU that can run Windows 11, hmm...

Xystophori · 30 May 2024 at 21:50

Does that MSI SSD have D-RAM?