upgrade or build new?

[dca221]

Hi folks,

Our home computer is showing its age and needs an upgrade. can you please help with what, if anything, can be reused and what I should upgrade? The PC works fine for usual basic tasks but is struggling to maintain high enough FPS when our son plays Fortnite. I'd like to upgrade or build new so he can play the game comfortably.

The build is a good 4 years old, maybe 5. here is what we have:

MB: Intel 1155 H67
CPU: i5-2400 3.1 GHz
RAM; 16 GB DDR3 1333
GPU: Radeon HD 5700
SSD 256GB
PSU: XFX 550W

I don't plan on overclocking

Are there CPU and GPUs I can upgrade while keeping the MB and RAM? or am I better off getting new MB and RAM as well? I'd like to keep the upgrade below $750

Thanks in advance!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, you're not in a great spot for potentially overclocking, after dropping in a 2500K or 2600K, because you only have an H67, and not a P67 or Z77.

What you CAN do, is drop in a newer GPU, which would probably help quite a bit. Look into a GTX 1060 6GB or an RX 580 8GB. (Rumors that there might be a new AMD RX 570/580 replacement coming out Real Soon Now, in 12nm rather than 14nm, with a possible 15-20% performance uplift.)

 

[VirtualLarry]

The other possibility, is to pick up an i5-8400 retail OEM rig, and drop in a GTX 1050 ti 4GB, or a GTX 1060 6GB card (possibly needing a PSU replacement with the second option, if it doesn't have a six-pin PCI-E power connector, or possibly use some adapter(s)).