Advice for upgrading my son's gaming PC

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Advice for upgrading my son's gaming PC

Posted: 9/23/2017 11:36:48 AM EDT

Hello arfcom gaming gurus, need some advice if you don't mind...

My son has saved up about $500 to upgrade his gaming PC. He currently has an AMD FX 6300 CPU with a basic mobo (he won't be OC'ing) and 8GB ram. Originally I thought upgrading the GPU was the best play but after hours of online research I'm now thinking the best bang for his buck would be to get an i5 7600k matched up with another basic mobo, as again, he will NOT be OC'ing this rig.

It's been years since I was really deep into gaming rig building so I'm pretty behind times and could really use some guidance from your modern day gurus! Thanks in advance...

Posted: 9/23/2017 12:07:07 PM EDT

[#1]

What is the current GPU, and what games does he play or is interested in playing?

Mike

Posted: 9/23/2017 12:10:13 PM EDT

[#2]

Oops, can't believe I forgot to mention the GPU which is a GTX 760.

He plays CS:GO the most but plays a ton of other games that I'm not totally up to speed on. Rust is one, DayZ I think, Company of Heroes 2 and some others I'll have to ask him about.

The idea would be to upgrade to a faster GPU down the road a bit...

Posted: 9/23/2017 12:13:39 PM EDT

[#3]

The 7600K sounds fine. A Z270 motherboard from any of the mainstream vendors would be fine. He'll also need new RAM. Get 8GB. He can always bump to 16GB later, but RAM is somewhat expensive right now.

After that, he'll get the most bang for the buck with a new video card. An NVidia 1050 based card offers a lot of power but it's much less expensive than a 1080, which would blow his entire $500.

$220 for the CPU.
$150 for the Mobo (but he could push a bit lower)
$75 for 8GB RAM
$120 for the 1050 card.

Total $565

That puts him over a bit. Some of the budget Z270 boards can be had for $100 without all the bells and whistles.

Posted: 9/23/2017 12:21:42 PM EDT

[#4]

Awesome, thanks. He currently has 8GB of ram, but it is probably DDR3. Are you suggesting that moving to DDR4 is a must?

Also, I'm considering one of the Asus Prime boards (https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ASUS-Prime-Products/) but having trouble figuring out the differences between some of the models. Reviews on the A model seem really good so will probably go that route.

Posted: 9/23/2017 12:26:43 PM EDT

[#5]

If he is not overclocking then don't waste money on a "K" cpu.

The K cpu has an unlocked multiplier FOR overclocking and is priced higher than the same but non K locked cpu.

Posted: 9/23/2017 12:27:29 PM EDT

[#6]

Quote History

Quoted:
If he is not overclocking then don't waste money on a "K" cpu.

The K cpu has an unlocked multiplier FOR overclocking and is priced higher than the same but non K locked cpu.

View Quote

The overclocking part is true, but Newegg puts the -K and non-K both at $220. Might as well get the -K.

ETA: The -K is 3.8GHZ with turbo to 4.2. The non-K is 3.5 GHZ and 4.1 turbo.

Posted: 9/23/2017 12:43:54 PM EDT

[#7]

How about the RAM question? Is moving from DDR3 to DDR4 a must or can that wait a while?

Posted: 9/23/2017 12:51:23 PM EDT

[#8]

Quote History

Quoted:
How about the RAM question? Is moving from DDR3 to DDR4 a must or can that wait a while?

View Quote

A few of the first Z270 boards supported DDR3 or DDR3L RAM because the chipset itself does support DDR3/L. A few more boards were hybrids, so you could use DDR3 OR DDR4, but not both at the same time. But the sockets aren't interchangeable. DDR3 uses 240 pins. DDR4 uses 288 pins.

As I look on Newegg, there are 13 Z270 motherboards that support DDR3. There are 1500+ that support DDR4.

If prioritizing where the money goes, buy new DDR4 RAM and use his existing video card. Upgrade video card later.

Posted: 9/23/2017 12:52:14 PM EDT

[#9]

Excellent, thank you. I really appreciate it!

Posted: 9/23/2017 1:52:00 PM EDT

[#10]

No need to buy a z270 Mobo if there will not be overclocking. A cheap h110 motherboard will only cost $50. Save there

Posted: 9/23/2017 2:04:39 PM EDT

[#11]

Quote History

Quoted:
No need to buy a z270 Mobo if there will not be overclocking. A cheap h110 motherboard will only cost $50. Save there

View Quote

True, but the H110, which came out with Skylake only supports Kaby Lake processors if it has the updated BIOS. If it needs the update, you have to have a Skylake CPU to run the motherboard long enough to do the install.

Also, H110 only supports DDR4 2133, not DDR4 2400. Not a huge issue, but could add a bit of speed in gaming.

If going that route, get a motherboard with the B250 chipset. It natively supports the Kaby Lake CPUs and DDR4 2400 and it costs about the same as an H110 board.

Posted: 9/23/2017 2:09:50 PM EDT

[#12]

Evidently the MSI prime firmware has a very user friendly/safe overclocking capability so it's possible I will help him OC to a minor extent. I was looking to get DDR4 3000 memory as well.

One other question, he currently has a 750w PS. Do you think that is sufficient considering the upgrades discussed here so far or will that need to be bumped up as well?

Posted: 9/23/2017 2:15:21 PM EDT

[#13]

That power supply is plenty.

I'm running a 6700K CPU with 16 GB RAM, an nVidia 1060 video card, an M.2 boot drive, another SSD for a scratch drive a 4 TB storage drive, a DVD burner and a Blu-ray drive. I have a 750 W power supply. It's never been an issue.

Posted: 9/23/2017 2:24:34 PM EDT

[#14]

Great, thanks again. You guys have been very helpful and it's truly appreciated.

Posted: 9/23/2017 2:33:19 PM EDT

[#15]

In my opinion upgrading the motherboard and CPU will make a very small difference for gaming. If you upgrade everything else and use the same graphics card you might get a few frames more per second. I’d spend the money on a MSI gtx 1080 graphics card. That will be a huge jump up from a 760. I would also put a SSD as the main drive in your current computer. Then I would upgrade the CPU the motherboard and the ram.

Posted: 9/23/2017 2:42:22 PM EDT

[#16]

Quote History

Quoted:
In my opinion upgrading the motherboard and CPU will make a very small difference for gaming. If you upgrade everything else and use the same graphics card you might get a few frames more per second. I’d spend the money on a MSI gtx 1080 graphics card. That will be a huge jump up from a 760. I would also put a SSD as the main drive in your current computer. Then I would upgrade the CPU the motherboard and the ram.

View Quote

That FX 6300 is a 5 year old chip. Do you think it can feed a 1080 fast enough to keep it busy? Don't get me wrong. A 1080 would be awesome. But it's a huge chunk of money for one component in an otherwise old system.

How about a 1060 and an SSD? He could bring both components forward when he upgrades the Mobo and CPU some day.

OP: At least you have a variety of options.

Posted: 9/30/2017 3:22:55 PM EDT

[#17]

Quote History

Quoted:
That FX 6300 is a 5 year old chip. Do you think it can feed a 1080 fast enough to keep it busy? Don't get me wrong. A 1080 would be awesome. But it's a huge chunk of money for one component in an otherwise old system.

How about a 1060 and an SSD? He could bring both components forward when he upgrades the Mobo and CPU some day.

OP: At least you have a variety of options.

View Quote

I feel like this is the smarter play. I don't have a particular allegiance to intel or AMD as I buy both but have you considered the AMD Ryzen CPUs? They're generally a slightly better bang for your buck and the socket is already confirmed as far out as 2019 so you will likely have more upgrade wiggle room down the line should you choose. RAM prices are expected to stay the same or rise until early 2019 (supposedly), so if you're trying to get the most for your dollar the GPU first and CPU/MOBO/RAM down the line may be your best bet. GPU stocks/prices are starting to normalize too so if you can hold off until black Friday I bet you can find some pretty good deals.

Posted: 10/3/2017 8:05:45 AM EDT

[#18]

Quote History

Quoted:
In my opinion upgrading the motherboard and CPU will make a very small difference for gaming. If you upgrade everything else and use the same graphics card you might get a few frames more per second. I’d spend the money on a MSI gtx 1080 graphics card. That will be a huge jump up from a 760. I would also put a SSD as the main drive in your current computer. Then I would upgrade the CPU the motherboard and the ram.

View Quote

This is correct. GPU first, don't need a 1080, a 1060 will do just fine and you've made a massive difference for much less than 500 bucks.

Eventually, you should get an intel board and cpu and upgrade to 16GB of ram -- but for gaming performance, the most increase you will get is by upgrading that ancient GPU with a new one.

Posted: 10/4/2017 4:38:03 AM EDT

[#19]

Quote History

Quoted:

This is correct. GPU first, don't need a 1080, a 1060 will do just fine and you've made a massive difference for much less than 500 bucks.

Eventually, you should get an intel board and cpu and upgrade to 16GB of ram -- but for gaming performance, the most increase you will get is by upgrading that ancient GPU with a new one.

View Quote

Hate to keep beating a dead horse... but I have a 1080 which is nice since I have a 144hz 1440p monitor. A vast majority of people are still on 1080p and will be for a while I assume. All of my friends play all the same games that I do with a 1060 with no complaints. Max, or ultra settings are nice but a 1060 will still max a lot of games out and the ones that it can't will be perfectly playable by turning literally just a couple settings down to low or even just medium (shadows, lighting).

Posted: 10/4/2017 6:27:14 AM EDT

[#20]

Quote History

Quoted:
Hate to keep beating a dead horse... but I have a 1080 which is nice since I have a 144hz 1440p monitor. A vast majority of people are still on 1080p and will be for a while I assume. All of my friends play all the same games that I do with a 1060 with no complaints. Max, or ultra settings are nice but a 1060 will still max a lot of games out and the ones that it can't will be perfectly playable by turning literally just a couple settings down to low or even just medium (shadows, lighting).

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:

This is correct. GPU first, don't need a 1080, a 1060 will do just fine and you've made a massive difference for much less than 500 bucks.

Eventually, you should get an intel board and cpu and upgrade to 16GB of ram -- but for gaming performance, the most increase you will get is by upgrading that ancient GPU with a new one.

Hate to keep beating a dead horse... but I have a 1080 which is nice since I have a 144hz 1440p monitor. A vast majority of people are still on 1080p and will be for a while I assume. All of my friends play all the same games that I do with a 1060 with no complaints. Max, or ultra settings are nice but a 1060 will still max a lot of games out and the ones that it can't will be perfectly playable by turning literally just a couple settings down to low or even just medium (shadows, lighting).

I love my 1080 also.

Posted: 10/4/2017 7:30:28 AM EDT

[#21]

OP are you in dallas or houston area? if so microcenter is the place to get the cpu and motherboard.

if it were up to me i would probably lean on getting:

amd 1600 or 1600x
ASUS PRIME B350-PLUS AM4
1 8gb stick or 2 8gb sticks of ram in the 3000mhz range
gtx 1060 of some sort.

this may go over budget but should last him a long time. also changing out the motherboard and cpu may make you need to buy windows again.

Posted: 10/4/2017 7:12:58 PM EDT

[#22]

Quote History

Quoted:
OP are you in dallas or houston area? if so microcenter is the place to get the cpu and motherboard.

if it were up to me i would probably lean on getting:

amd 1600 or 1600x
ASUS PRIME B350-PLUS AM4
1 8gb stick or 2 8gb sticks of ram in the 3000mhz range
gtx 1060 of some sort.

this may go over budget but should last him a long time. also changing out the motherboard and cpu may make you need to buy windows again.

View Quote

Just go with the 1600. I have a 1600x and while it's nice and all it doesn't come with a cooler so it adds probably another $30-$50 onto the $30 premium of the 1600x to make for a $60-$80 premium over a possibly slightly better performing CPU. I only get 3.9ghz on mine without really fucking around with it so the 1600 is a much better value overall. I only went with the 1600x because it was actually cheaper than a 1600 when I found it on sale. I'd definitely go 2x8gb on the RAM though. 8gb is still good enough for a lot of games but there are some that will utilize 16gb and the trend is definitely leaning towards more RAM consumption in games. If going ryzen do your homework on RAM, not all is created equal, Samsung manufacture is preferable over Hynix essentially is what it boils down to.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Advice for upgrading my son's gaming PC

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