Upgrade 6 year old gaming setup or start over - $400 - 800 budget

definistrated29

Honorable
Oct 5, 2012
11
0
10,510
Been playing FPS on Xbox and considering switching back to PC to start playing Wow. It’s been six years since I built it to play D3 using advice on here and just starting the system up seems slow. The real question is can I utilize some of the parts I already have or am I better off to start from scratch. Thanks in advance.

Approximate Purchase Date: If I do it, it’ll be within next 30-60 days

Budget Range: $300- $800 After Shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming – Wow on decent settings

Are you buying a monitor: No – unless needed

Parts to Upgrade: Whatever is needed

Do you need to buy OS: Maybe, I think my OS is tied to current Mobo

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.com, wherever

Location: Denver, CO, USA

Parts Preferences: Best Available while not spending more than needed (If I do it, I want do it right, but just cause my budget could be $700 doesn't mean I want to spend that much unless its correct to do so)

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080


And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: It’s been 6 years since it was built


Current Parts I have:

Case: Antec Gaming Series One Black Steel ATX Mid Link

Mobo:ASRock H77m LGA 1155 Intel H77 Micro Link

CPU:i3-3220 Ivy Bridge Dual Core 3.3
Link

HD: Western Digital Caviar Blue Link

VGA: Radeon HD7770 Directx11 H777F1G2m
Link

PSU: Rosewill Capstone 550M
Link

RAM: 2x GSkill Ares Series 4GB DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Link

DVD: LG Black GH24NS90
Link
 
Solution
I would first buy the games you want and see how well they play on what you now have.

Some will be cpu limited and some will be graphics limited.

Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

I suspect that you would benefit most from a graphics card update.
That might be to a GTX1050 or GTX1050ti which your 550w psu can easily handle.

If your games tend to be cpu limited, the strongest upgrade your motherboard supports is the i7-7700K. Perhaps $150-160 on ebay.
The big benefit is that you get 8 threads compared to your current 4.
Most games today can...

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator
I'd reuse your HDD for storage and your DVD if desired.

Sell the rest.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($178.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - H310M-HDV/M.2 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($59.89 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($82.83 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($59.49 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING Video Card ($274.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($57.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $764.06
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-17 20:54 EDT-0400

At 1080P the 8400/GTX1060 6gb will be plenty for WoW. If that's your primary game for PC I'd consider your next upgrade to be a 2560x1080P ultra wide at 29" or 34". WoW natively supports 21:9 and the game looks great with a 21:9 IPS panel. I have this model monitor and gaming on it is great.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Monitor: LG - 29UM60-P 29.0" 2560x1080 75Hz Monitor ($229.99 @ Adorama)
Total: $229.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-17 20:59 EDT-0400

If you can afford the 34" version after selling your other parts then I'd go for that.


If you'd like to spend less I'd go with this however it won't give you the same longevity as the first build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i3-8100 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($118.90 @ B&H)
Motherboard: ASRock - H310M-HDV/M.2 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($59.89 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($82.83 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card ($174.99 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($57.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $544.58
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-17 21:03 EDT-0400

8400 vs 8100.
http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-8400-vs-Intel-Core-i3-8100/3939vs3942
1060 6gb vs 1050 ti 4gb
http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-1060-6GB-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1050-Ti/3639vs3649
 
I would first buy the games you want and see how well they play on what you now have.

Some will be cpu limited and some will be graphics limited.

Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

I suspect that you would benefit most from a graphics card update.
That might be to a GTX1050 or GTX1050ti which your 550w psu can easily handle.

If your games tend to be cpu limited, the strongest upgrade your motherboard supports is the i7-7700K. Perhaps $150-160 on ebay.
The big benefit is that you get 8 threads compared to your current 4.
Most games today can not effectively use more than 2-3 threads.
But, there are some that can use more. These would be multiplayer games.

There would be a small jump in clock speed, but nothing dramatic. Perhaps 15%
Games such as sims, strategy amd mmo will tend to be cpu limited and depend on the performance of the single master thread.

Today, a good mid range processor is the I5-8400.
It has 6 threads and single thread speeds some 30% better than your i3-3220.

You will need a lga1151(300 series) motherboard.
No need for anything expensive.
Your current motherboard is M-ATX size.
No need for anything larger and a larger ATX motherboard may not fit in your case.

On ram, 4gb today is simply not enough. You want 8gb at least. That will be about $80.

Think carefully about your ultimate need for ram.
Do not buy a single 8gb stick.
First of all, it will run in slower single channel mode.
Do not assume that you can buy another later and that it will work.
It is likely to work, but not supported.
Ram must be matched in a single kit.
If you plan on gaming only and not much multitasking at the same time, get a 2 x 4gb kit..

It is not a requirement, but

I will never again build without a ssd for the "C" drive. It makes everything you do much quicker.
120gb is minimum, it will hold the os and a handful of games.
But, many things default to the "C" drive.
When a SSD nears full, it will lose performance and endurance.
240gb is the recommended minimum.

If you can go 240gb, or 500gb you may never need a hard drive.

Samsung EVO is a good choice for performance and reliability.

Plan on using your hard drive for bulk storage.

Are you on windows 10?
If not, plan to change; all new stuff gets support only on windows 10.

Microsoft very much wants everybody to be on windows 10.

There may be a way to get there free even from a oem windows 7 license.
Do some research, I am no expert there.





 
Solution

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator


I didn't think a 1150 socket CPU fit into a 1155 socket motherboard :pt1cable: (see OPs links above).
 

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($178.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - B360M DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($65.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU650 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GT OCV1 Video Card ($295.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox Lite 3.1 TG MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $780.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-17 23:37 EDT-0400
 

Rogue Leader

It's a trap!
Moderator


I think you need to look closer at that list. :ouch:
 

definistrated29

Honorable
Oct 5, 2012
11
0
10,510
Had a family friend offer to sell me his recent build before he leaves for college. Any thoughts or should I continue with the builds above?

Processor - AMD Ryzen 5 1600x
Graphics Card - EVGA GTX 1060 6GB
Memory - 8GB (2 x 4) G.SKILL Ripjaws V (DDR4 3200 Mhz)
Storage 1 - Intel 128GB M.2 SSD
Storage 2 - 1 TB Seagate Barracuda
Motherboard - MSI B350 Tomahawk
Case - NZXT S340
Power Supply - EVGA SuperNova 550 Watt 80+ Gold


 
That is very similar to Magnum before I replaced the CPU with a Ryzen 5 2600+. So, if the price is right, it's a nice system. You may want a larger SSD depending on the number and size of programs you want to have installed at the same time, but that's something you can upgrade later.