Hi all, long time no see! I'm totally out of touch and so is my current setup. It runs most games OK with a few tweaks, but it's showing its age. I don't know how the CPU has lasted 10 years performance wise!, and physically lasted 1ghz overclock on air for all that time. Budget: Aiming for max bang for buck(£), I don't want to pay double for a 10% performance gain but i'm happy to spend a little more for worthwhile gains. Let's say up to £1000 if I need a number. Happy to consider used if there is particularly good options commonly available. Main uses of intended build: Gaming (BF5 when it's out), day to day stuff, Photoshop\illustrator Monitor resolution: 2560 x 1080 (this may change) Will you be overclocking: YES!. Same objective as ever, max stable 24/7 overclock on air. Any motherboard requirements: Preferably MATX form factor (same with case) Parts required: Probably everything components wise, monitor if there's a noticeable improvement for a gaming orientated option. I don't need keyboard\mouse or OS. Storage requirements: Current O\S drive has too much free space for Win7 only (will upgrade to Win10), but I've run out of gaming storage... Go for a single 1TB SSD for OS and Games and partition to suit needs? (will use old drives elsewhere) ... or 256gb for OS and an Optane+1TB HDD? www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5UrtwW-zJs Then a 1 x 2TB HDD for Storage and another as a backup drive. What about 2.5" HDDs?, I like the idea of a smaller form factor like the SSDs. Current Setup: Mobo: Gigabyte P55AUD4 CPU: i7-860 @ 3.8ghz (2.8 stock) Ram: 16GB GSkill Ripjaw GFX: MSI GTX970 Gaming OC SSD - OS: Samsung 256gb 840pro (30% full) SSD - Games: Samsung 512gb 850evo (97% full) HDD - Storage: 1TB (98% full) HDD - Backup: 1TB (98% full) PSU: Corsair HX520 Monitor: LG 29UM68+ OS: Win 7 (currently) Long post, but hopefully that covers it. Cheers!
There are some problems: 1: and The only way you would get even close to "everything" component wise for £1000 would result in no real upgrade. 2: The selection of MATX boards for AMD CPUs is so pathetic that it doesn't even qualify as a bad joke, so you would either have to accept ITX or ATX or go with an Intel CPU, but that would create a massive budget problem as there is currently a shortage of Intel CPUs, resulting in hugely inflated prices. That said, Ryzen 7 2700x Asus Strix X470-I 16GB DDR4 1x 1TB SSD 2x 2TB HDD Approx £850 Then throw in a CPU cooler and case and the £1000 are gone. If you wanted to upgrade the GPU as well you would have to throw another £400 at it, minimum (the 1070 is the "cheapest" "current" card that would qualify as an upgrade over the 970). Given the resolution of the monitor you have however the 970 should be fine for some time to come, so not really a necessity.
I'd take a look in the Second Hand forum as there are some bargins to be picked up on there! https://forums.bit-tech.net/index.php?forums/united-kingdom.5/ Over the years I have sourced parts for countless systems for myself, friends & family by buying quality second hand hardware from bit-techers. It has alot less risk than ebay. Good example of an entire system that is/was for sale https://forums.bit-tech.net/index.p...s-card-240gb-ssd-1tb-hdd.350813/#post-4556135 Also if you dont already create an account over at https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/ to get a feel the retail prices of items. Its a great tool to make your own builds, see the prices, their trends and set alerts on threholds. Helps to inform if a second hand deal is good or not.
Seconding the second-hand route. For gaming, may as well not bother with a new Ryzen rig and go for a generation or two back Core i5, for the same gaming performance with less outlay. A Z1xx/Z2xx board would do (still have m.2 slots available, USB 3.1, etc), and makes memory selection a lot easier (Ryzen is super picky with DRR4 brands and performance can change quite a bit depending on memory speed). For storage, go for the 1TB SSD over HDD + Optane, much less hassle and means everything on that drive runs quickly.
Never a truer word said, a good Ryzen memory kit (2x8Gb 3200MHz CL14 Samsung B die) will swallow at least 200 quid of your budget if not more.
The good news is that the sale of your old hardware will bring you a decent sum of cash to offset the upgrade costs. Throw up a price check (you should have access) and we can assist you with pricing.
Thanks for all the info everyone, all helpful. It just shows how out of touch I am I think I need to focus on CPU, Mobo, Ram to start with then. And also leave the Motherboard form factor option open to make it easier. Possibly Graphics if the upgrade is worthwhile, minus used value of my current one. Any thoughts on PSUs? Forgetting my original budget for a second, that's the best value Vs performance options? Thanks, forgot about PCPartpicker. I used to use the Second Hand forum often but eventually got burned by a long time user (a long time ago now), but I think i'm ready to dip into it again. Any specific models worth looking out for on the CPU, Mobo, Ram?.
Thanks for the info. I might hang on to the old stuff bar the Graphics card, either upgrade my girlfriends PC or the PC in the shed
I've managed to put something together for as close as I could get CPU: Ryzen R5 2600 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07B41WS48/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?smid=A2ZTTW9CVEYZSQ&psc=1 MB: MSI X470 Gaming Plus ATX https://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-X470-GAMING-PLUS-Motherboard/dp/B07C44FQ1S If you need small form factor get ITX, they're better than the AMD M-ATX so for an ITX I would go with this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASRock-B45...F8&qid=1539342225&sr=1-1&keywords=asrock+b450 RAM Team Group 16GB https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01MRRL7X5/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1 GPU: Gigabyte Nvidia GTX 1080 Turbo OC https://www.ebuyer.com/762172-gigab...s&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=hotukdeals HDD: Toshiba P300 3TB https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0151KM6F0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1 PSU: EVGA 650 CQ https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B017ROH8A6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1 CPU Cooler: Arctic Freezer 33 https://www.amazon.co.uk/ARCTIC-Fre...F8&qid=1539339781&sr=1-13&keywords=am4+cooler Comes to £961/956 for ITX without a case so just add what ever ATX/ITX case you like that fits into what ever extra you're willing to spend. If you really need the 1tb ssd and instead of putting what games you can onto a hard drive then add £141 for this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-MX...&ie=UTF8&qid=1539343145&sr=1-2&keywords=960gb But for under 1k you need to make a comprimise somewhere, through either GPU/CPU performance or having a few games minimally effected with a move to a hard drive.
Among new parts and accounting for the moronic price spike of Intel CPUs, yes, Ryzen is currently unbeatable when it comes to value vs performance. The 2700 is slightly better value than the 2700x due to similar OC headroom, while the mainboard is only in there as it is the only decent smaller than ATX board, you could shave off a bit with something like the MSI X470 Gaming Pro, with the downside of it being ATX. As for the GPU: The Geforce 1060 and the RX 580 are too close in performance to the 970 to call them upgrades. And the next step up is the 1070 at close to £400. Although that 1080 ripmax dug up for £399 is such a fantastic super bargain nothing else can compete.
Unless you're going to be doing some extreme OC, then boards perform pretty much identically as long as they meet the platform spec (i.e. aren't some non-name OEM board shipped direct from China). Look for the features you need (rear IO ports, multiple m.2 slots if necessary) rather than brands or models.
