What to upgrade for PC gaming (if possible)

electrolite · 16 Feb 2020 at 23:48

Hi Guys,

New here. Hoping you can help.

I built the PC below a while back (around 2013 if I was going to hazard a guess).

I'm wanting to get back into PC gaming. I just bought Hell Let Loose and would like to play that and other similar games at high spec if possible.

Here's my current spec:

Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i5 4670K @ 3.40GHz
Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM
16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 801MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. Z87-A (SOCKET 1150)
Graphics
1023MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 (MSI)
Storage
238GB TOSHIBA THNSNH256GCST (SATA (SSD))
3726GB TOSHIBA HDWE140 (SATA )
931GB Western Digital WDC WD10EZEX-00BN5A0 (SATA )

Is it possible to upgrade this to something that can run modern games and if so, what do you recommend. Or is it a case of new everything?

Thanks

electrolite · 17 Feb 2020 at 09:47

@Gray2233 @alex h

Thanks for your replies.

Would you say GPU first then? If i was to do 1 at a time?

Alex, is this what you're talking about? Would this fit with my current Motherboard? Could I also go for a second hand GPU?

If I do go second hand, what should I look out for?

I haven't PC gamed since the original CoD's back in 2003-05. I presumed I would set the res to 1920x1080, but as you both asked about res, it sounds like there are pros and cons to gaming at different resolutions?

Budget wise I'd say less than £400. If I can get both CPU and GPU second hand this should be doable, hopefully!

Cheers,

electrolite · 17 Feb 2020 at 09:51

Thanks @EsaT

So you're saying I need a new Motherboard, CPU and GPU?

electrolite · 17 Feb 2020 at 11:34

Thanks for all the info so far.

I'm happy to sell my old stuff. I also have 2 other PC's I could sell and a bunch of monitors. I don't expect to get a lot for it, but could put the money towards the upgrade.

@MissChief those recommendations look decent. Is that CPU in line with what @EsaT suggests?

What GPU do you guys recommend. Preferably second hand.

Also, will a Ryzen system still be good for day to day work use (Adobe CC, etc).

Feeling like a dinosaur. Been out of the game so long!

Thanks again

electrolite · 18 Feb 2020 at 11:04

I'm thinking of going for something like this. What do you think?

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £98.99
1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Grey (TLGD= £74.99
1 x AMD Ryzen 5 Six Core 1600 3.60GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £98.99
1 x Gigabyte Radeon RX VEGA 64 WindForce OC 8GB HBM2 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £319.99

Total: £604.06 (includes shipping: £11.10)

Suggestions on a cheaper GPU would be great though!

Thanks

electrolite · 18 Feb 2020 at 11:38

Ah OK! There's also this option:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £98.99
1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Grey (TLGD= £74.99
1 x AMD Ryzen 5 Six Core 1600 3.60GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £98.99
1 x PowerColor Radeon RX VEGA 56 Red Dragon 8GB HBM2 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £278.99

Total: £563.06 (includes shipping: £11.10)

I just need to make sure it fits in my case.

electrolite · 18 Feb 2020 at 13:49

Tempted to push to this as the one mentioned does not have a great write up:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Asus Radeon RX 5700 XT 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £359.99

Total: £369.89 (includes shipping: £9.90)

electrolite · 18 Feb 2020 at 18:32

But do I really need to push to a 5700 XT and a 2600?

If I just want to play games from the past few years in HD and fairly decent specs, is this necessary?

I could always upgrade again if I find it's something I want to spend more time doing.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks

electrolite · 22 Feb 2020 at 16:48

Larok said:
what monitor and resolution are you playing at? If your at 1080 resolution a 1660 super (look at the Zotac twin fan) should do the trick. I would try the card with your current CPU/mobo/ram combo first to see if it does what you want first before upgrading those. I'm running a 10 year old I7 quite happily with recent games.

Thanks! That's interesting.

My current monitor is AOC e2752vqv 27" 1080. I'm no plans to upgrade to a higher res at the moment, but I would like a system that could handle the upgrade.

electrolite · 23 Feb 2020 at 11:34

So I've pretty much settled on this.

All the parts have a great write-up. The CPU is a placeholder for the 1600 AF version which I can get for a few quid more.

I've spoken to a few people and this should be able to handle games from the past few years at 1080p easily. Which is what I want for now without paying too much.

I've pushed to the 5700 XT as a lot of people have advised against a VEGA and the closest GTX 1070 is more expensive.

What do you guys think?

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (14nm) 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor (£91.97)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard (£98.99)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£73.99)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB GAMING OC Video Card (£359.99)
Total: £624.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

electrolite · 23 Feb 2020 at 12:50

Marine-RX179 said:
You best remove the mentioning of competitor names...it is a bannable offence on the forum. Quote the price but not their name.

Done. Thanks for letting me know!