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Solved Trying to upgrade current pc...

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RigMo

PCHF Member
Feb 9, 2020
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#1
I have a friend that is wanting to upgrade their current pc. I would help but I am not that skilled in this department as I bought a pre-built pc.

Current specs below:

Intel Core i5-8500 CPU @ 3.00 GHz
GIGABYTE H370M D3H
GeForce GTX 1050 GPU
8 GB Ram

From this what are my friends options?
Keeping the same processor vs. upgrading the processor.

I would love any and all help you all can give.
Thank you in advance,
- RigMo
 
#2
that processor is not that old, or to spin it another way, the cost of a new one would not reap the performance rerawrd compared to the price.
even the 8GB of RAM isn't too bad - but what is the PC being used for?
RAM is back to being as cheap as it ever had been, so another 8GB stick would be a good investment.
you don't mention the hard drive.
if mechanical, a no-brainer would be to get a Solid State Drive and install Windows and programs onto that.
 
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#3
I probably should have mentioned the hard drive lol. It is a 1tb SSD. So I am assuming EVERYTHING is loaded onto that unless they added an HDD for the games and such.

The PC was originally meant for streaming and not for PC gaming so much. But now they want better performance and graphics.

We have recently been playing 7 Days to Die and it is definitely not optimized well. So they have to play on the lowest settings and it runs OK but not great. Graphics wise... let's not talk about that. LOL. I was in the same boat but I had the funds to upgrade fortunately.
 
#4
If I may chime in while Bruce is not available :)

RigMo said:
Intel Core i5-8500 CPU @ 3.00 GHz
GIGABYTE H370M D3H
GeForce GTX 1050 GPU
8 GB Ram
Click to expand...

The CPU and MB are fine but the GPU could do with being better, to best be able to help we could do with knowing the following;

The maximum budget for any upgrade/s.

The brand and model name or number of the PSU.

The brand and model name or number of the present RAM, is the present RAM a single 8GB stick or two Xs 4GB sticks.

Can I also just mention that online gaming is only as good as the service that is provided by the ISP so this needs to be taken into account, if getting poor FPS when gaming online, check the FPS offline using something like Valley Benchmark (free)
 
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#5
I'm not too sure of the budget for now. I'll get back to you on that.

And I'll also get back to you on the PSU. But what I do know is that the ram is 2x4gb sticks, brand wise I'm not too sure.

They stream and game fine from xbox or PS4 and even games like stardew valley "not too demanding I know lol".

Would upgrading to a 1660 super be ok as far as mobo and processor? I know it'll demand more power for sure but I can just hope they have overkill on the PSU now.

Thank you all for your help. I'll get back to you as soon as I find out.
 
#6
A 1660 or 1660Ti would be fine with both the CPU and MB and as long as the RAM is at least 2666MHz or above either card would be ok with that as well.

It all hangs on the PSU information for now, for any new build that has a high end GPU you should never use anything below a Gold efficiency rated PSU as you are looking for long term clean and stable power, being that it will only be the GPU that is new you could if you wish go for a Bronze efficiency rated PSU from a proven brand, I personally don`t recommend this as many of these type of PSU are only intended for office type desktops that only have an integrated video chip.

MSI GeForce GTX 1660 DirectX 12 GTX 1660 VENTUS XS 6G OC 6GB 192-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

EVGA 500 GD 100-GD-0500-V1 500W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Non-Modular Active PFC Power Supply

You are welcome btw :)

Edit to add: Found a 550W mudular PSU which is around $10 more expensive but it does have a ten year warranty, definitely worth the extra ten bucks imo EVGA SuperNOVA 550 GA, 80 Plus Gold 550W, Fully Modular, ECO Mode with Dbb Fan, 10 Year Warranty, Compact 150mm Size, Power Supply 220-GA-0550-X1
 
#10
You are welcome :)

Let us know what they decide if you will so that we can mark your thread accordingly, we spend too much time having to ask people for updates and this time would be better spent helping folk like yourself.
 
#13
phillpower2 said:
You are welcome :)

Let us know what they decide if you will so that we can mark your thread accordingly, we spend too much time having to ask people for updates and this time would be better spent helping folk like yourself.
Click to expand...
Obviously I should have asked them but I was going for budget/performance. But if their budget is a bit wider, what would you recommend?
 
#14
Without knowing the exact budget and what is required any suggestion/s from us are useless tbh.

Can I ask that you do not quote every reply, it really does not help any and just makes for unnecessary reading, thanks.
 
#16
No worries, its not so bad with one or two lines of text but it is real unhelpful when people quote A4 size posts, we have to read them just in case we miss something that they may have added into the content.
 
#17
Alright. I am still waiting on am answer from them as far as power supply. Like I mentioned before, I hope their power supply is overkill for what they have. Lol.
 
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