Need help upgrading my (kinda old) PC

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rustyofwgkta

Jun 23, 2018
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Hi, here are my current specs (from a program called Speccy):

Operating System:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
CPU:
Intel Core i3 2100 @ 3.10GHz
Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology
RAM:
8,00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 532MHz
Motherboard:
ASRock H61M-VS (CPUSocket)
Graphics:
W1943 (1360x768@60Hz)
2048MB ATI AMD Radeon R9 380 Series (Sapphire/PCPartner)
Storage:
465GB Seagate ST500DM002-1BC142 ATA Device (SATA )
Optical Drives:
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH22NS70 ATA Device
XSV LYR056VW SCSI CdRom Device

and my PSU is a Corsair CX500M.

They only think I've changed (in a long time) is the GPU and the PSU, like 2 years ago. I mainly use it for gaming, I've played Dark Souls 3 and MGSV with it and it ran ok, although it did have some "lag spikes" sometimes.

I think I need to upgrade a lot of stuff, but I just don't know where to start.

What do you think would be the most important thing to upgrade? Or in what order should I upgrade, so that the first thing has the most impact on gaming?

Thanks.


 
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Lutfij

Lutfij

Titan
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Oct 7, 2009
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If I were you, I'd try and see if I could get a Z68 board with a K suffix processor. If you're on a very tight budget. If your intending to go for current gen hardware, I'd suggest you go for a Ryzen 2 platform with 2x4GB DDR4-3200MHz rams and a B350/450 chipset board. You could likewise go for Intel Coffeelake build with a B360 chipset board.

If you want to go for current gen hardware, you will need a new pair of rams since anything past Skylake and into Ryzen will need DDR4. You also didn't mention your budget.
 
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rustyofwgkta

Jun 23, 2018
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I'm on a low budget, like 200 dollars, but since I'm in south america the prices are a bit higher. I'm currently looking at a RYZEN 3 2200G that's on my price range and an i3-8100 that's just a little more expensive. But I don't really know what to look for on a motherboard, that at least matches with any CPU.

 
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rhysiam

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Mar 24, 2013
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First up, you should look at better monitors. You don't have to spend a lot of money to get something much better than your 18.5" 768P display. Depending on budget, a standard, lowish end (not bargain-basement) 24" 1080P display is a good place to start.

In terms of PC Hardware: That old H61 motherboard can still take a decent quad core CPU. You can drop an i5 2500 or i7 2600 into there and have have a relatively decent mid-range gaming CPU (particularly with the i7). Plus, with a BIOS update your motherboard will happily run an i7 3770 or any Ivy Bridge i5 CPU (there are loads of them, basically any i5 3xxx CPU). I'd be having a look at the second hand market in your area or online. If you can get one of those on the cheap they're still pretty solid gaming CPUs.

Any of those CPUs, particularly the hyperthreaded i7s, should give you enough CPU horsepower to drive a modern mid-range graphics card like a GTX 1060 or RX 570/580. There will undoubtedly be the odd CPU intensive title that doesn't run perfectly. But any vaguely modern Intel quad core is still a capable gaming CPU. So add one of those to a modern mid-range GPU and you'd have a very sizeable upgrade over what you have at the moment.

That's really the end of your upgrade road though. So, depending on your budget, you might prefer to just move to modern build. The thing is though, if you're looking at a mid-range GPU similar to those I listed above, there's going to be very little difference between a modern CPU and one of the older quad cores I suggested.
 
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rhysiam

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Mar 24, 2013
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Sorry - I posted my reply super late and hadn't read this...

Do you have $200 total? Because that's not really enough for a tangible upgrade. Your system is actually decently balanced - which is good because it's not like you have any overkill parts that are being held back. The problem is, though, that just upgrading one thing is unlikely to make any significant difference.

You really need a CPU and GPU upgrade to see real gains. And that's going to be more than $200.

A Ryzen 3 2200G is okay, but would need a new motherboard and new RAM (DDR4). Plus, (as I said above), you're not really going to see big gains until you upgrade your graphics card too. That's all waaaay more than $200.
Actually an i7 2600 or i7 3770 would be faster gaming CPUs than a 2200G and drop into your current system.
 
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rustyofwgkta

Jun 23, 2018
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I can actually get like 300 dollars, or wait some more and save up. If, for example, a really good investment would be to wait till I get 400 dollars or something like that, and then do the upgrades I would do it. Also, I found a deal on an used i7-3770s, it costs the same as the ryzen 3 2200g. Is it worth it?

 
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kraelic

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Be sure to update the bios on the motherboard first. Then the swap to the i7-3770s would be good, double the cores/threads and turbo bins from 3.1 GHz to 3.9 GHz. RAM isn't optimal at 1066, but you would need to find a really good deal to swap to 1600 speed DDR3. And the R9 380 seems to be near a 1050 TI to hold off until new cards come around.

https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/H61M-VS/index.asp#BIOS

Anything current will need cpu/mainboard/ddr4 ram either intel or amd and blow the budget.
 
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rhysiam

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Mar 24, 2013
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The 3770S is going to be pretty close performance wise to a 2200g. The advantage of the 3770 is that you can keep your mobo + RAM, saving you a bunch of cash. That'd be the way I'd go were I in your shoes.

Couple of things to bear in mind:
1) As mentioned numerous times already: make sure you update your BIOS before putting in the new CPU. The third gen CPUs were launched after your motherboard, so it won't know what to do with that CPU unless it has an updated BIOS.
2) Does the 3770S come with a cooler? If not, you can reuse your i3 2100 cooler, but keep an eye on the temps. It's hard to figure out which coolers come with which CPUs, and both the i3 2100 and i7 3770S have a 65W TDP (the i7 3770 has a 77W TDP, FYI, so may need better cooling). In theory you can just use the same cooler, but you'll need to keep an eye on temps when you first start using it to check everything is okay
3) You'll need some thermal paste to reapply to the cooler. It's not very expensive, but does need to be factored in to the budget.
4) I still don't think you're like to see much of a performance jump until you upgrade your GPU too (to something in the 1060/580 range).
5) There's little point moving to a 1060/580 until you upgrade your monitor.

Having said all that, if you can get a 3770 or 3770S for under $100, that will give you a platform that's reasonable and could support a GPU upgrade in future, when you have the budget.
 
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