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Solved PC upgrade advice for novice

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a_bert89

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Apr 28, 2020
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#1
Hi all,

I'm relatively inexperienced when it comes to PC upgrading, but really love gaming. Having decided that my 3 year old PC needs an upgrade I did a bit of research myself but could be using some advice.

My current specs are:
DELL Inspiron 5675 desktop
AMD Ryzen 3 1200 Quad-Core Processor
AMD Radeon RX 560
8GB installed RAM

Basically what should I look to upgrade first? GPU, CPU or RAM
I could probably afford to do two out of the three at the same time if I'm honest.

In regards to CPU, GPU I was looking along the lines of something like the following:
CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (if I upgraded from current processor, would I be able to just keep my current motherboard and swap out the processor?)
GPU -AMD RX 5600 or 5700

Thanks for any help in advance.
 
#3
Evan Omo said:
Hi,

Those upgrade choices are good options. Regarding your question for the CPU, you WILL need to update your motherboards BIOS first before the newer Ryzen CPU will work.

Here is your system's motherboard BIOS. Make sure you update it, Dell Inspiron 5675 System BIOS.

Also what power supply does the computer have?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. It has a 460W power supply.

So in regards to the motherboard, I only need to update it, I wouldn't need to buy a new one, is that correct?

Would purchasing another 8GB of RAM be recommended or is that not as big a priority if I were to upgrade the CPU & GPU first?

Thanks
 
#4
it will also come down to what games you play, the expected quality of gaming you are chasing, and what level of performance improvement you are hoping for.

for example, don't think getting another 8GB stick of RAM will double your speed because you doubled your memory.
doing that alone, you'd maybe get a 20% boost but then, only for things that are memory hungry. it won't address any I/O bottlenecks.
and upgrading your motherboard will give almost no discernible improvements - but it will allow for upgrading of other components.

personally, I'd be starting with a solid state drive upgrade first. cheap and easy and a good opportunity to reload Windows which will also clear out all the years of accumulated junk - both personal and system wise.

and if you are thinking of GPU, CPU(and potentially a motherboard) and RAM, consider selling it all and getting a new system - just saying.... :)
 
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#5
Agreed with Bruce. It all depends on how much upgrading you want to do versus getting a new system altogether.

If you don't already have an SSD and are using a regular hard drive, you should get this first, Samsung 860 EVO 500GB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-76E500B/AM)

Regarding your questions, yes that is correct but you need to make sure that your motherboard supports the newer CPU's. Just because you update the BIOS does not guarantee that your motherboard supports new Ryzen CPU's. Check your motherboards CPU support list to see if your motherboard will support a newer Ryzen CPU.

You should install an SSD if you don't have one first then upgrade the RAM to 16 GB's then upgrade the video card and processor.
 
#6
Evan Omo said:
Agreed with Bruce. It all depends on how much upgrading you want to do versus getting a new system altogether.

If you don't already have an SSD and are using a regular hard drive, you should get this first, Samsung 860 EVO 500GB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-76E500B/AM)

Regarding your questions, yes that is correct but you need to make sure that your motherboard supports the newer CPU's. Just because you update the BIOS does not guarantee that your motherboard supports new Ryzen CPU's. Check your motherboards CPU support list to see if your motherboard will support a newer Ryzen CPU.

You should install an SSD if you don't have one first then upgrade the RAM to 16 GB's then upgrade the video card and processor.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the help, and Bruce.

At this moment in time, I'm thinking of just saving for a bit longer and getting a new custom built from scratch. By the time, and expense, the risk as well, of attempting to replace these parts I feel it's more trouble than it's worth. I just wish I had reached out for such advice when I originally was purchasing the PC!

Thanks.
 
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