Question Upgrading my low end gaming PC

[Sheepyy]

Hi guys,

First of all I will be buying from the UK, but I'm not clued up on the best place to shop for PC parts as this is really my first proper build.

I've built my current PC from 3 pc's that I had lying around the specs currently sit at:
Motherboard: GA-H61M-S2V-B3 (rev. 1.1)
CPU: i7 2600
GPU: Radeon (TM) RX 460 4GB
PSU: Some really bad one from an old pc I had, not sure what it is.
RAM: 16GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz
Case: CARBIDE 540 HIGH AIRFLOW ATX CUBE CASE - WHITE (No rush to upgrade but I work away sometimes so might get an average sized case as this is a bit bulky)


Right now I'm capped by my motherboard I think so I could do with upgrading that and going from there.
I play some games on my PC mainly and not much else other than that, the games I play are:
Rust
Rocket League
(Occasionally) CSGO

But I would like to keep my options open to potential upgrades on top.
If I've left anything out let me know but I'm prob looking at essentially upgrading, Motherboard, PSU, CPU and my Ram to DDR4, I feel I can make do with my GPU for now and case etc.

This is my first post so let me know if I've posted this in the wrong place or anything else, but thanks for any suggestions or help!

I'm looking at spending around £400 if possible so nothing crazy but something that could maybe be worked with? Been told AMD is a good option.

I've never overclocked before but maybe with this build it would be an option so any tips with this are appreciated!

My current resolution is: 1920 x 1080 so this I guess? Sorry again I'm somewhat new!

I plan on building it as soon as I get an idea of what I want so if I get good tips tonight the parts will be bought tonight/tomorrow

No software needed as I'm currently win10, 240SSD 250GB (ish) HDD and a 1TB external HDD with all my stuff on.

My friend told me AMD is the way to go so maybe that but not 100% glued to that idea, also I do love Corsair

Thanks for any help!

-Sheepyy

 

[ao_ika_red]

You can start it from replacing PSU first as old PSU usually brings unexpected problem, and then move your way up. Seasonis S12iii-650w is a good budget option, but if you find something better in the price range, let me know.
I heard MSI B450 Tomahawks Max is a solid option, meanwhile ASRock B450 Pro4 is pretty decent for ultra budget buiid.
For CPU, you can start from Ryzen 2600 and up.
As for RAM, 16GB, dual channel GSKill or Corsair with 3200 MHz CL14 is the ideal bang per buck, but you can shop around for cheaper option out there.
Always look around for "deals". I know there wll be less "hot deals" in UK or even Europe but overclockers UK and amazon UK sometimes did.

 

[fralexandr]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor (£152.40 @ Alza)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£70.49 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (£34.00 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (£34.00 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£50.47 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £341.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-01 13:22 BST+0100

Pick parts. Build your PC. Compare and share.

uk.pcpartpicker.com

FYI, the 650w s12iii is available for £10 more

I'd recommend zen2, but the x570 motherboards start at £150 and there's no guarantee that the b450/x470 motherboards have a current firmware.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'd recommend zen2, but the x570 motherboards start at £150 and there's no guarantee that the b450/x470 motherboards have a current firmware.

Tomahawk MAX should have guaranteed firmware support for Zen2, and it is a good bit faster than Zen+.

 

[Arkaign]

Do you have £400 total?

I mean, if your current Mobo, CPU, and Ram aren't crashing, you will see by FAR the best results putting $ into a GPU and PSU (and potentially a ~480-512GB SSD for Windows and your favorite games if you don't already have one).

Eg :

1660 Super
Respectable 600W PSU
Hyper 212+ Evo/RGB
500GB SSD

Should all be possible for roughly your budget with room to spare.

The RX460 is frankly terrible, and even if you combo with a 9900KS or 3950X it will still perform like garbage.

Running the 2600K @ 4.6Ghz-4.8Ghz (extremely easy to do with a 212, Sandy is blindingly good at OC thanks to quality solder and thermal conductivity over a nice wide die) will give you gaming performance on par with around a stock i7 7700 non-K in most things, or similar to a Ryzen 2600-2700 depending on the game (only a handful see big gains with more than 4C/8T as of yet, and most of those you'd also need to combo with an upper tier GPU to see those gains).

If you mainly encode and multitask and don't care much about gaming, go for a platform rebuild.

If your Mobo/CPU are dying, go for a platform rebuild.

If you just want to game better, and your budget is limited, there isn't any gains to be had unless you really dump that 460.

Even the way way way WAY older 7850 is distinctly faster than the 460 :

Stepping up to a 570/580/1650S or better, you won't believe the difference it makes. And all of those are outstanding matches to a 2600K mild OC.

 

[Arkaign]

I'm half asleep lol, ok so the H61 and non K means stock 2600 perf. Still best off with a GPU upgrade to start with, but worth scouring for a bargain perhaps used Mobo and CPU next on the list. I've seen 1st and 2nd gen Ryzen combos at outstanding prices from time to time, something to keep in mind.

 

[Arkaign]

And perhaps most importantly, this is what happens when you unleash the poor thing with a respectable GPU :

 

[Sheepyy]

Do you have £400 total?

I mean, if your current Mobo, CPU, and Ram aren't crashing, you will see by FAR the best results putting $ into a GPU and PSU (and potentially a ~480-512GB SSD for Windows and your favorite games if you don't already have one).

Eg :

1660 Super
Respectable 600W PSU
Hyper 212+ Evo/RGB
500GB SSD

Should all be possible for roughly your budget with room to spare.

The RX460 is frankly terrible, and even if you combo with a 9900KS or 3950X it will still perform like garbage.

Running the 2600K @ 4.6Ghz-4.8Ghz (extremely easy to do with a 212, Sandy is blindingly good at OC thanks to quality solder and thermal conductivity over a nice wide die) will give you gaming performance on par with around a stock i7 7700 non-K in most things, or similar to a Ryzen 2600-2700 depending on the game (only a handful see big gains with more than 4C/8T as of yet, and most of those you'd also need to combo with an upper tier GPU to see those gains).

If you mainly encode and multitask and don't care much about gaming, go for a platform rebuild.

If your Mobo/CPU are dying, go for a platform rebuild.

If you just want to game better, and your budget is limited, there isn't any gains to be had unless you really dump that 460.

Even the way way way WAY older 7850 is distinctly faster than the 460 :

Stepping up to a 570/580/1650S or better, you won't believe the difference it makes. And all of those are outstanding matches to a 2600K mild OC.

100% decided on this earlier today before reading this, I found out that the 460 is just terrible and it's whats really limiting me more than anything right now!

I'm thinking about a 1660S but nearly bought a ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1060 OC edition 6GB GDDR5 today.

It's the 2600 not even the k so no overclock I imagine! But I mean I'm kinda stuck between a GPU or the motherboard and CPU upgrade etc.

Think I'm gonna go for a motherboard, found a second hand RX 580 8GB for £115 so that could be something. I really need to find some sort of deal and go for that but It's hard with limited knowledge lol

 

[Arkaign]

If you go for used, make sure you can test it! Some great deals, but you have to watch out for yourself, some unscrupulous people out there for sure. And since you said your PSU is dodgy, be sure and take care of that. A wonky PSU can go out violently and take other components with it. A 460 barely uses any power compared to the upgrades (outside of like a base 1050/1650).

PS - as you have a locked CPU, I wouldn't invest in another s1155 Mobo at this point, the one you have should be fine tbqh for locked CPUs like the 2600.

 

[Sheepyy]

If you go for used, make sure you can test it! Some great deals, but you have to watch out for yourself, some unscrupulous people out there for sure. And since you said your PSU is dodgy, be sure and take care of that. A wonky PSU can go out violently and take other components with it. A 460 barely uses any power compared to the upgrades (outside of like a base 1050/1650).

PS - as you have a locked CPU, I wouldn't invest in another s1155 Mobo at this point, the one you have should be fine tbqh for locked CPUs like the 2600.

So the PSU I have isn’t “dodgy” as I say, it’s just mainly an old one that I used and I think I might have cut a cable or two, something I wouldn’t want to use on anything other than what I have rn (I’m an electrician by trade so what I call dodgy and what others call dodgy might be two separate things) like any cut cable has been stripped and connector blocked and taped up but it’s not soldered or crimped or anything. Also it shouldn’t really be cut in the first place but I wanted it to work at the time 😂!
I think I will go for the rx580 I’ve found, I’m going to buy that through eBay so I think I’m protected there if it’s broken at all! But then again I’m not sure of what I need to be careful of? Also I’ll order a 500w PSU 80+ to come for the same time as this GPU. I think next I’ll upgrade to a b450 like it has been suggest and a ryzen 5 3600? Obviously if I upgrade my board I’ll have to get ddr4 ram so I’ll grab some of that too. But for now I think a brand new PSU and the RX580 might be the way to go? Maybe a smaller case aswell hahah

 

[Arkaign]

Add up the cost of everything you're talking about. An RX580 on an i7 2600 or a 9900KS or a Ryzen 3950X will be basically an identical experience, so you should have realistic expectations.

 

[Sheepyy]

Add up the cost of everything you're talking about. An RX580 on an i7 2600 or a 9900KS or a Ryzen 3950X will be basically an identical experience, so you should have realistic expectations.

So the rx580 is about £130 including p+p, I’m going to order a PSU today which is about £70 with p+p so that’s £200 right there. Now I’ll wait for the parts to arrive and see how it runs.
Or I can just go msi b450 tomahawk max + a ryzen 5 3600 + Corsair 3000MHz 16gb ram (2x8) + Corsair VS550 80+ PSU for £398

 

[ao_ika_red]

Do you have any alternative than VS 550?

 

[Arkaign]

The Ryzen + RX 460 will be essentially a non upgrade due to enormous GPU bottlenecking.

The i7 2600 + New PSU and used RX 580 will be an absolutely enormous upgrade. Then you can sell the 460 (still decent used value), and start saving up for a platform rebuild when prices get better.

Of your current system, the 460 is by a mile the weak link. Or if you prefer, the 460 is by 1.609 kilometers the weak link

 

[Sheepyy]

Do you have any alternative than VS 550?

Yeah I think I can leave out the PSU, but they can’t deliver next day so I’m going to just buy everything separately bit by bit!
Looking at the seasonic core-gold 500w 80+?

The Ryzen + RX 460 will be essentially a non upgrade due to enormous GPU bottlenecking.

The i7 2600 + New PSU and used RX 580 will be an absolutely enormous upgrade. Then you can sell the 460 (still decent used value), and start saving up for a platform rebuild when prices get better.

Of your current system, the 460 is by a mile the weak link. Or if you prefer, the 460 is by 1.609 kilometers the weak link

Yeah in talk with the rx580 guy that should be coming next day delivery, wanting to order the psu and GPU 100% for now.

 

[ao_ika_red]

seasonic core-gold 500w 80+

If you can get it cheaply, go for it. It comes with 7 years warranty.

 

[Sheepyy]

SO I went and bought pretty much everything I need just ordering a 500w seasonic psu in the next few mins!
I went with:
Radeon RX580 8GB
ASUS ROG STRIX b450-F Gaming motherboard
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU
Corsair vengeance LPX 3000MHz (2x8Gb) 16GB RAM

I think that's everything I've bought unless I've forgotten something lol

 

[ao_ika_red]

Whoa! I didn't expect you went full gas after reading from arkaign's input. But I think you ould go with less fancy motherboard and had faster RAM instead.

 

[Sheepyy]

Whoa! I didn't expect you went full gas after reading from arkaign's input. But I think you ould go with less fancy motherboard and had faster RAM instead.

Well I spoke to a few of my friends who know a bit about this stuff (didn’t realise they were as big into building as initially thought) and they told me that all that stuff will set me up for the future pretty well for now, I suppose I can always upgrade the ram in the future!
As for the PSU I went: Gigabyte P650B 650W 80+ BRONZE Modular Power Supply
As I could get this delivered Sunday along will all my other parts.
Just wondering if any of you have an idea of what sort of performance I’ll be looking at with this new setup

 

[Sheepyy]

Whoa! I didn't expect you went full gas after reading from arkaign's input. But I think you ould go with less fancy motherboard and had faster RAM instead.

Oh and also I picked the mobo up for £5 more than the tomahawk max so all in all I think I did pretty well for that one

 

[Arkaign]

Well that should make for a nice setup for sure!

I was worried you might end up with a fast CPU and terrible GPU lol, which can be extremely disappointing for a gamer.

Clean up your old kit and sell it on, it will make someone else happy, and net you some dosh in return.

 

[Arkaign]

Oh yeah, something cool to do :

When you get everything, slap the 580 and PSU into your current setup, run your games and see how it behaves, that way you can gauge how much of a difference that just the GPU makes, then rebuild the whole thing into your new rig and test again.

 

[Sheepyy]

Oh yeah, something cool to do :

When you get everything, slap the 580 and PSU into your current setup, run your games and see how it behaves, that way you can gauge how much of a difference that just the GPU makes, then rebuild the whole thing into your new rig and test again.

I get the GPU tomorrow and the rest of the stuff on Sunday! (Maybe mobo Saturday if I remember correctly)
So I’m sure I’ll be highly tempted to put the GPU in my current set up and see what kind of performance I get from that, does the 580 draw more wattage in comparison to the 460, wouldn’t want to blow anything.

 

[Arkaign]

Read me the specs listed on the current PSU, and does it have an 8-pin PCIe supplemental connection?

You should see various rails listed in amperage capacity as well as the wattage of course. 12v+ is the most critical one we're looking for.

 

[Sheepyy]

Read me the specs listed on the current PSU, and does it have an 8-pin PCIe supplemental connection?

You should see various rails listed in amperage capacity as well as the wattage of course. 12v+ is the most critical one we're looking for.

The psu right now is so old I can’t find any tags on it anywhere! I’ll probably take it out to double check when I get home tomorrow and the GPU has arrived, but right now I’m completely in the dark on my current PSU as I just pulled it out of a really old custom pc that my dad had built years and years ago and slowly updated when ever it broke. So the the psu could easily be 10 years old! Yikes!