Upgrade recommendations for gaming PC on a budget

Brent Steffensen

Reputable
Dec 28, 2014
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Just wanted to know recommendations for what to get for my now outdated gaming PC.
Current build:
- AMD FX-6300
- Gigabyte AMD 970 Mobo
- 2x 4GB G-Skill Ripjaws RAM
- GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
- Corsair 650W PSU
- Arctic CPU Air cooler
System and most games are run off the 2TB Seagate HDD, while Battlefield 1 and Ark are on my Samsung 240GB SSD.

By this point, I know my CPU is outdated, and my RAM is just about there too, but I want suggestions.
I'm looking at the AMD Ryzen5 series for CPU, and wanted to know if I could get away with the 1500 or 1600 instead of the 1600X. Or if I would need something else.
Any particular RAM? I know I need to go up to 16GB and DDR-4 (I can't remember if mine's DDR-3 or -4), but would the cheapest available model (Kingston HyperX Fury 2x 8GB) be alright?

The main games I play are Battlefield, Ark: Survival Evolved, War Thunder, and then Fallout and Elder Scrolls games with mods.
Ark is lagging like crazy even on my current build (Playing on Single Player), even on SSD, and Battlefield 1 is often jittery, and I'm playing on lowest settings but I'm below minimum, and I want to get BFV when it's released.
 
Solution
The 1600 can be as fast as 1600x if you overclocking it with b350. 1500 has a bit less core, I would say you are paying maybe 20-30 for 50% more cores, why not.

Also 2600 is also pretty strong, ryzen two tends to run faster, as most benchmark has shown a 5% to 10% gain.

On the intel side, you have the 8400. Very good gaming cpu, besides the fact that you can’t overclock it. The cpu is very good at gaming due to its low latency design.

I would suggest if you don’t want to tweak anything, intel works right out of the box.

If you are willing to tinker, either a 1600 with b350, or a 2600 or 2600x with x470. Latter cost more, but it’s the latest that amd has to offer.
The 1600 can be as fast as 1600x if you overclocking it with b350. 1500 has a bit less core, I would say you are paying maybe 20-30 for 50% more cores, why not.

Also 2600 is also pretty strong, ryzen two tends to run faster, as most benchmark has shown a 5% to 10% gain.

On the intel side, you have the 8400. Very good gaming cpu, besides the fact that you can’t overclock it. The cpu is very good at gaming due to its low latency design.

I would suggest if you don’t want to tweak anything, intel works right out of the box.

If you are willing to tinker, either a 1600 with b350, or a 2600 or 2600x with x470. Latter cost more, but it’s the latest that amd has to offer.
 
Solution
You would need ddr4 ram, if you go with amd, get a 2x 8gb ram with 3000-3200 MHz speed for most optimal setup. Reason is that amd cpu scales to be related to ram speed due to its design. So you want to go higher, however, the memory controller tends to give you a lot of issues above 3200 MHz (ryzen1xxx) and 3400 MHz (ryzen 2xxx) . Also if you have 4 stocks of ddr4, you can t go above 2666 MHz speed.

Intel, you can go with pretty much anything you want. The memory controller is more flexible. You can do 2x 4gb and add another 2 sticks later.