What should i upgrade first?

Mallers

Mallers

Mallers

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16 Apr 2015
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Hi, my current setup is as per my signature. Im looking at upgrading the lot, memory, mobo, cpu, gpu (and going by some reports, and assuming my next gpu will be a 4 series nvidia, i guess i will be updating the psu as well. Not sure what psu i have at moment, current one installed too long ago to remember and without taking the desktop apart to check, not sure how i find out).
Anyway, i dont have a set budget yet, im happy with current prices that i see, and am likely to be doing this in bits rather than all at once. Im keeping my hard drives, case, paraphernalia and operating system. So, imj ust upgrading hardware.
Assuming i cant go for all at once, any advice on what should be done first? im assuming probably cpu and mobo first, theres no point in a great gpu feeding an old cpu/mobo? Also, im thinking the graphics card, based on prices today at least, will be the single greatest expense, especially if im also having to add a new psu, so hat may end up done last.
 
What's your budget? I'd definitely go with the heart of the build first so Mobo, CPU and RAM. You'll need RAM too, as we're in the world of DDR4 being mainstream now, with DDR5 just being recently released too but the prices are crazy and performance boost very minor compared to DDR4.

Do you have an SSD in your existing rig? If not I'd pick up an NVME too. It's illegal to even think about building a new rig in 2022 on the 'ole metal disk drives ;)

I'd be going at least for an Intel 12600k, 32GB RAM and Z690 (or B660) mobo to start with! (and the NVME SSD if needed) Also assuming this rig is for gaming only, nothing more CPU intensive?
 
It depends on the games you play really (and the resolution), some games would still get a huge boost from a modern graphics card, so in that sense it might well be more noticeable to you.

Still, the CPU is more affordable and reasonably priced right now, plus 8GB is a little painful nowadays.

I think I'd go for the PSU and CPU, memory, motherboard, then you're ready for the next gen cards, possibly looking to buy this time next year.
 
Lots of good options with cpu+mobo+ddr4 at the moment and it is hard to go wrong, good time to upgrade the core of your PC and you will love the new NVME SSDs. If you can find a good price on a 3060ti/3070ti then it would be a good upgrade over your 980ti and uses realistic amounts of power to run so you should be ok with your current psu.

I would not put all your hopes on the 4000 series from Nv being the must have products. They are likely to have huge power requirements and a massive price tag to go with it. I am expecting the 4080 to be over £1k MSRP and I personally think the new AMD chiplet RDNA3 could win the next gen on a (price+power useage)/performance and they have openly said price and power usage will be at a higher tier than the current RDNA2 cards. Until these cards are in the hands of independent reviewers then ignore them and just buy what you can at sensible prices.

www.youtube.com

Is GTX Dead? RTX 4080 Pricing Out Of Control? Ryzen 5000 + 300 Series Board, April Q&A [Part 1]

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First 15mins of this video is discussing next gen gpus.
 
Sparx said:
What's your budget? I'd definitely go with the heart of the build first so Mobo, CPU and RAM. You'll need RAM too, as we're in the world of DDR4 being mainstream now, with DDR5 just being recently released too but the prices are crazy and performance boost very minor compared to DDR4.

Do you have an SSD in your existing rig? If not I'd pick up an NVME too. It's illegal to even think about building a new rig in 2022 on the 'ole metal disk drives ;)

I'd be going at least for an Intel 12600k, 32GB RAM and Z690 (or B660) mobo to start with! (and the NVME SSD if needed) Also assuming this rig is for gaming only, nothing more CPU intensive?
Click to expand...
im looking at around 3 or3.5k, but thats in stages, with i guess about 2k on the graphics card alone. I dont have an ssd; although i believe it would make loading games of Warhammer II a lot quicker than the glacial pace i currently have, i was once told ssd dont do well with lots of saves to them, like you get with games, and was better just for data. No idea if that was true, and if it was, if it still is true, but i never made the leap.
Gaming will be the most intensive, otherwise mainly internet surfing, some photo processing and storage, possibly some dvd ripping (if i dont get a standalone zappitti nas rip machine!)
 
Tetras said:
It depends on the games you play really (and the resolution), some games would still get a huge boost from a modern graphics card, so in that sense it might well be more noticeable to you.

Still, the CPU is more affordable and reasonably priced right now, plus 8GB is a little painful nowadays.

I think I'd go for the PSU and CPU, memory, motherboard, then you're ready for the next gen cards, possibly looking to buy this time next year.
Click to expand...
thx! the most up todate games i have are the warhammer 2 and 3, will pull the trigger (pun very much intended) on sniper elite 5 in a few weeks, and im revisiting arma iii. Good advice re waiting on the video card, hopefully prices will have calmed down a bit by then! Im not bothered about always chasing the best, but given it is a pricey component i dont mind paying for something thats going to last a while (hence, why i still have a 980!)
 
If you upgrade your cpu, MB & storage to nvme it will make a difference in all the tasks you do not just gaming, so that gets my vote first as well
 
Mallers said:
im looking at around 3 or3.5k, but thats in stages, with i guess about 2k on the graphics card alone. I dont have an ssd; although i believe it would make loading games of Warhammer II a lot quicker than the glacial pace i currently have, i was once told ssd dont do well with lots of saves to them, like you get with games, and was better just for data. No idea if that was true, and if it was, if it still is true, but i never made the leap.
Gaming will be the most intensive, otherwise mainly internet surfing, some photo processing and storage, possibly some dvd ripping (if i dont get a standalone zappitti nas rip machine!)
Click to expand...

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £3,050.86 (includes delivery: £28.02)​










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Next gen cards are rumoured to be around £1200 for the 4080 series so I've included the 3080 ti as a benchmark here.

I would rather get the 3080 non ti if it was my money (and I did actually buy one).

DDR5 isn't worth it in my opinion - Sure, it means you can buy and upgrade DDR5 later on but by then, motherboards would be on the next generation and performance will be better all around.

This would be my DDR5 combo but it isn't great RAM as it's not the higher speed stuff and it's more than twice the price of the DDR4 set.

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £420.48 (includes delivery: £10.50)​




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AMD 12 core build. 12 gig 3080. No monitor

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £2,079.78 (includes delivery: £0.00)​












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wow! many thanks for those lists, ill go through them and work out what i can get first! i think as above the mob, cpu, psu and ram / ssd route will be first, then leave a chunk left for the graphics card for a later date. when exactly,depends how much i have left after all my other bills go up! definitely planning on this in stages though, i wont be able to do the lot at once.
Once again, thanks for the replies and the lists!
 
Budget in mind, with the intel build and 12700k, I'd be tempted by one of the boards below. These are more mid tier mobo's and vrm's better than the pro z690-a(which is still best of budget z690 boards). not such a prob with 12700k i guess(hardware unbox had the pro 4degrees warmer with a 12700k, but with a 12900k was 10 degrees warmer, so if you plan on upgrading cpu down the linem might make a diff)...the boards below have all had price drops, the tomahawk from £260, the tuf from £280 and the edge from £310

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £740.99 (includes delivery: £11.10)​

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with the AMD build, if this is just mainly for gaming, consider the 5800X3D. It's the last hurray for AMD before going to AM5 platform, but in gaming on av outperforms the 12900k. The tomahawk is a great board..if you need wifi, the MSI B550 Gaming Edge is basically a newer version of the same board with wifi for £149(out of stock on OCuk atm but can get elsewhere easily). If you need more usb's the gaming carbon in next level up for £169, but it runs a little warmer compared to the edge​
My basket at OcUK:

Total: £418.69 (includes delivery: £8.70)​

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if going high end GPU, I'd be tempted with the RM1000X PSU that JollyJamma put in his build to give you some headroom (guess I wasn't temted, as it's what I did)..if you go Corsair, make sure you go 2021 versions(the psu exhaust where fan is is square shape made of small triangles..the round shape dfour has of the RM850 is the 2018-2021 version..the newer version have magnetic levitation fans which are far more durable than previous model. both are good with 10 yrs warranty etc(the x version uses japanese capacitors as opposed to chinese in the non x versions, hence slight price increase). hopefully headroom allows the psu to be used for next gpu upgrade down the line if power use hasn't gone too crazy​
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I'd also be tempted with 2 nvme..one for OS and other for games library. I went with 1 2tb SN850, which is great...have over 1 tb of games on there already so if can afford, consider 2tb for games(with gamepass tend to download a few to try them out). Having an issue with my pc refusing to sleep so might reinstall windows fresh see if that helps atm, so beginning to regret not having a seperate nvme just for OS​
 
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