Current Events > If I wanted to upgrade my aging PC, which parts should get priority?

(+) Yeah! (+)

The PC I built like seven years ago is really getting up there in age so I feel like its time to upgrade and I'm probably gonna do it incrementally since that's a bti more affordable

First off, I know that MOBOs last a long time and are generally interchangeable, so I have a B350 PC MATE (MS-7A34) - is that still generally usable these days or would I have to think about upgrading that too?

The other things: 8 gigs of RAM, a Ryzen 5 1500x, and a 1050 TI. Also I'm still using an HDD and not an SDD

PSU, SSD, RAM, GPU, CPU, mobo in that order imo

If you really are in the dark, this site provides a rough guide: https://www.logicalincrements.com/

I'd start with RAM and a SSD and see if it gets u where u wanna be. 64 gigs of ram, it's the max windows 10 can do.

Is there any RAM limit when it comes to this mobo? Or am I safe buying two 32s/16s?

I'm not the most knowledgeable about building >_>

At this point, is 32 still good or should I just bit the bullet and go 64?

My PC has 32GB and it's not been limited in any way

Just be sure to activate XMP once you get it

Depends on what you want to do on it. I recommend at least 32 GB of RAM for gaming.

Its def for gaming

and what's XMP?

Kain_Highwind posted...

Its def for gaming

and what's XMP?

Then you should definitely upgrade the graphics card too. I paid extra for 32GB. I was originally going to get a 4070 but had to cut it for a 4060 to cover a budget.

Revelation34 posted...

Then you should definitely upgrade the graphics card too. I paid extra for 32GB. I was originally going to get a 4070 but had to cut it for a 4060 to cover a budget.

Yeah I'm doing all, its just gonna be in increments cause I can't buy all at once like I did the first time

Kain_Highwind posted...

XMP

Gaming RAM has higher maximum specs than non-gaming RAM, but you have to activate the extra "power" by turning XMP on in your BIOS settings

GPU is first because games don't care much about CPU these days, unless you're wanting to push 240+hz

CPU, RAM, and MOBO all need to upgrade together IF you need a CPU upgrade after a long time

PSU replaced only if it's not good enough anymore

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This is incorrect if you have a microsoft account with your windows license tied to it

SSD and RAM ASAP. upgrading to 16gb minimum or ideally 32gb isnt expensive and a decent ssd can be had for under $70 and can be a night and day difference in performance depending on what youre doing. those upgrades will give you longest reaching performance boosts to your pc in general, let alone gaming and you wont have to invest much in them to get very good results. after that (and assuming your psu is still up to the task) id go for the graphics card and then the cpu if you want to.

Kain_Highwind posted...

Yeah I'm doing all, its just gonna be in increments cause I can't buy all at once like I did the first time

Tag me and I'll look up my exact specs when I get home.

I'd go SSD first as they are cheap now and make a huge difference in how responsive a computer is outside of gaming. An SSD can also be use again if you ever do a new build.

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up

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I always wondered how people leave out the mobo when upgrading, whenever I upgrade every 5 or so years, I need a new mobo if I want a modern cpu, since the socket has changed by then.

I agree with the posts saying to upgrade to an SSD and upgrade your RAM. 32GB should be more than enough. Most games don't get anywhere close to needing that much. Just make sure you're using an even number of RAM sticks, so that you're using dual channel.

After that it would likely be upgrading GPU and the power supply. Last would be the CPU and motherboard.

yeah as other people said, if you don't upgrade the mobo you won't be able to get the most modern other parts

Option A is getting the best Ryzen 5000 series CPU you can. Option B is upgrading the motherboard, CPU and RAM all at once and getting a Ryzen 7000 or 8000 series. AM4 (the platform your existing motherboard uses, as does Ryzen 5000) is at the end of its lifecycle, but it only recently got there and some CPU models that will work in it are still less than a year old so will do the job for a long time to come - but it *will* be a motherboard (and RAM) upgrade next time.

If your GPU is really old too, the integrated graphics on the Ryzen 8000G series - especially the 8700G - may be better than your current GPU. Take this (and future GPU upgrade plans) into account when picking between the 7000 series vs the 8000G series - I would suggest go with 7000 (preferably 7800X3D) if you aren't making use of integrated graphics.

Kain_Highwind posted...

At this point, is 32 still good or should I just bit the bullet and go 64?

I'd say 32 if sticking on AM4. By the time you need 64 you'll want a newer CPU and motherboard anyway, and at that point you're gonna need new RAM too (if you decide you don't care about that, then 64 should work on your existing board but you will need to find the older DDR4 RAM). If upgrading to AM5, also go with 32 but specifically leave room to upgrade later. (You could even settle with 16 for now in this case, but definitely leave room to add more if doing so.)

just save your money til you can buy it all at once
new things might come out, prices might drop by then, come across a good deal etc.

you dont need 64GB RAM to game with. you have more than enough with 32GB

SSD, 32gb ddr4 ram and a 5700x3d followed by a GPU upgrade. Should last you several years or until AM6,unless the motherboard dies.

anyway the mobos can usually handle up to 256 or even more, but windows is hard-coded to only support up to 64 gigs for 10 and 11.

don't listen to the haters. gigs of ram are awesome. i can run dedicated gaming servers, keep a bazillion files open, etc. it's not just for gaming.

I forgot that the 50 series should be out sometime this year. Might be too expensive though. It would be better to wait regardless since that should drop the price of all the 40s.