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Solved Advice on how to best update my desktop PC

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History658

PCHF Member
Mar 24, 2020
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#1
Hi all,

I hope this is the right place for posting this questions. Basically, I have around 200USD to upgrade my desktop PC, but I am not sure how to best spend it to increase the performance of my PC. I mainly use my PC for work-related office work (office, some photoshop, Zoom etc.) and some light gaming. I would by no means say that it is slow, but I guess one can always improve things like boot up speed and of course its gaming performance. Though gaming is not what I mainly use the PC for. Also, my guess would be that to improve gaming performance, I would have to spend a bit more than 200USD and get a decent dedicated graphics card. So far, my idea is to simply double the RAM, but I am not sure whether that would really make a difference. Here are my specs:

1629021460175.png


The processor is an AMD Ryzen 5 3400G.

I'd be grateful for any advice. Thanks in advance!
 
#2
Hello History658,

You will unfortunately need to wait until the GPU prices come right back down again as other than an add on video card there is no room for improvement with your rig I`m afraid.

In addition to an an add on GPU you may also need to budget for a new Gold efficiency rated PSU as well.
 
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#3
phillpower2 said:
Hello History658,

You will unfortunately need to wait until the GPU prices come right back down again as other than an add on video card there is no room for improvement with your rig I`m afraid.

In addition to an an add on GPU you may also need to budget for a new Gold efficiency rated PSU as well.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply. I would guess that I would also need to upgrade my processor if I get a new GPU. Would it make sense to do this first at this point?
 
#5
History658,

Our colleague Russ asks a most valid question but to reiterate your present set up cannot be improved upon without the addition of an add on GPU, if you look at the PSU links in my sig you will see that I am a stark raving stickler for making sure that folk have an appropriate PSU for their build, budget for a new Gold efficiency rated PSU as well as the new GPU, don't go cheap on the PSU either, Corsair, EVGA or Seasonic, trust me, no other brand will do.
 
#11
No bother at all (y)

Do you have any links to merchants that you may make the purchase from where you are, no point in us suggesting anything that needs to ship from the US to get to you.
 
#12
phillpower2 said:
Hello History658,

You will unfortunately need to wait until the GPU prices come right back down again as other than an add on video card there is no room for improvement with your rig I`m afraid.

In addition to an an add on GPU you may also need to budget for a new Gold efficiency rated PSU as well.
Click to expand...
phillpower2 said:
No bother at all (y)

Do you have any links to merchants that you may make the purchase from where you are, no point in us suggesting anything that needs to ship from the US to get to you.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply. I should normally be able to get whatever is available in the US, but you can check amazon.sg if you wish. Thanks a lot!
 
#13
We can do that but being honest you are going about this slightly wrong, without knowing what add on video card you will eventually have we have no idea of the power output requirements that you will need.

Is there a particular GPU that you have in mind, if yes, we can find a PSU that is good enough for that and allow a little bit extra, 750W instead of 650W for example, the difference in price is not usually that much btw.

Can I ask that you do not quote every reply as we have to read the full post to make sure nothing gets missed,, thanks.
 
#14
phillpower2 said:
We can do that but being honest you are going about this slightly wrong, without knowing what add on video card you will eventually have we have no idea of the power output requirements that you will need.

Is there a particular GPU that you have in mind, if yes, we can find a PSU that is good enough for that and allow a little bit extra, 750W instead of 650W for example, the difference in price is not usually that much btw.

Can I ask that you do not quote every reply as we have to read the full post to make sure nothing gets missed,, thanks.
Click to expand...
Apologies for the double quotation. See below for the setup I am thinking of. A Radeon RX5700 or something similar is what I am looking at in terms of a GPU. Th newegg calculator comes up with only 352 watts necessary, but I assume this is an underestimation?

Thanks for the help!

1629471338430.png
1629471338430.png
 
#15
I would recommend a minimum of a Gold efficiency rated PSU from a proven brand such as Corsair, EVGA or Seasonic, using the card here as an example a 650W or above is recommended to be used in a system that has an RX 5700 present so this must be your minimum, remember, it is the card manufacturer that is expected to honour your warranty should the card break and not an online PSU calculator or some faceless person on the internet that says that it is ok to ignore any minimum PSU requirements specified by the GPU manufacturer.
 
#16
phillpower2 said:
I would recommend a minimum of a Gold efficiency rated PSU from a proven brand such as Corsair, EVGA or Seasonic, using the card here as an example a 650W or above is recommended to be used in a system that has an RX 5700 present so this must be your minimum, remember, it is the card manufacturer that is expected to honour your warranty should the card break and not an online PSU calculator or some faceless person on the internet that says that it is ok to ignore any minimum PSU requirements specified by the GPU manufacturer.
Click to expand...
Alright, understood. Thanks so much. This is really helpful!
 
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