Whole New Build or Should I Just Upgrade Some Components?

DeepPocketsShortArms on 22/08/2020 - 20:34

Currently I'm using a PC that I built myself with minimal knowledge and zero experience back in 2015 for around $1700.
haven't kept up with the latest technology.

I use my pc mainly for work stuff that isn't that demanding but have recently got back into gaming, playing games like RDR2 and the new Microsoft flight simulator 2020.

As the title says I'm wondering if if I should just get a whole new PC (budget would be $2k tops) or just update some of my components like the processor, graphics card and storage. Is there anything I currently have that's worth retaining or is it all out of date?

What would you do?
Cheers.

My current specs for my 2015 build are:

Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64-bit

CPU
Intel Core i5 4670K @ 3.40GHz
Haswell 22nm Technology

RAM
16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 800MHz (11-11-11-28)

Motherboard
MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate(MS-7850) (SOCKET 0

Q3279WG5B (2560x1440@75Hz)
4096MB ATI AMD Radeon R9 200 Series (Sapphire/PCPartner)

PSU
Silverstone Strider 600 W 80+ Silver Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

Storage
232GB Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB (SATA (SSD)) 26 °C
1863GB Seagate ST2000DM001-1ER164 (SATA ) 23 °C
2794GB Seagate ST3000DM007-1WY10G (SATA )

Optical Drives
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-224DB

Computing

Comments

  • Riczter on 22/08/2020 - 20:41
    +3

    I would buy a new graphics card to replace the current one and see if that gives you the performance you are looking for. Your CPU shouldnt be too much of a bottleneck, and 16GB RAM is good but it is the older DDR3, you'd need a new motherboard to update to DDR4 RAM at which point you may as well get a complete new build.

    So upgrade your graphics card first, and see if you are happy with that, if not use the graphics card in a new build :)

  • Hybroid on 22/08/2020 - 20:42
    +1

    Upgrading processor would mean new motherboard as well due to socket change which means new DDR4 RAM required too.

    New Nvidia GPUs are being announced 1st Sept so hold off any purchases for now, whether latest or older models.

    Drives are transferrable. PSU up to you, generally good idea to renew but 5 years old isn't anything to worry about.

  • scrimshaw on 22/08/2020 - 20:47

    Microsoft Flight Simulator is very heavy on the CPU, based on benchmarks seen from Hardware Unbox and Linus on the WAN show.

    The ol' trusty Core i5 from 7 years ago is probably going to sweat a bit, you might want at least 6 physical cores (though the game uses only 4 cores because it doesn't have DirectX12 implementation yet), it's still taxing on memory so RAM latency is important

    that said for pretty much every other game the Haswell i5 is still competent, and you should really only upgrade it if it cannot handle Flight Simulator. It's not a 'game' that needs a constant 60fps to be enjoyable.

    • DeepPocketsShortArms on 22/08/2020 - 21:04

      That's a good point.
      My NBN internet connection is really what is holding the game back.

  • dcep on 22/08/2020 - 21:15

    i'd overclock that i5 and spend whatever you can on gpu to play FS2020 on 1440p ultra / 4k TV (gpu bound)

  • Godric on 22/08/2020 - 21:30

    New build

  • plmko on 22/08/2020 - 21:33

    You should be able to get around $600 if you separated all the parts.

  • garetz on 22/08/2020 - 21:46

    My rule of thumb is if the base components is more than 5 years old, ie the motherboard/cpu/ram, then its time for a whole new build. That is basically 4-5 generations behind, and upgrading to a ssd for faster boot times probably not going to cut it, upgrading just the video card will lead to serious bottlenecks.

  • DeepPocketsShortArms on 22/08/2020 - 22:08

    I guess I could always keep my old trusty pc and just buy an xbox.
    That's another option.

    • theHMASfriendship on 22/08/2020 - 22:28

      Maybe a combo of both. Keep PC and upgrade graphics card, you should keep up with most games you'd want to play on PC. Xbox for all else

      • DeepPocketsShortArms on 23/08/2020 - 17:38

        Good call. Still probably cheaper than a whole new build

  • AustriaBargain on 22/08/2020 - 23:48

    Graphics card can be carried ahead to future builds and is your biggest bottleneck. If you only game on your PC then I'd just buy a really great GPU and leave it as that for now.

  • DeepPocketsShortArms on 23/08/2020 - 11:44

    Good range of opinions here.
    Think I'll get a decent graphics card and look into overclocking my processor as someone suggested.

    This dealio looks good.
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/560253

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