My current PC has an Intel Core i9-13900KF, 32GB of G.SKILL Trident Z5 DDR5-6400 memory, an ASUS GeForce RTX 5060, and an MSI MPG Z790 Carbon MAX WiFi II motherboard. I know the RTX 5060 is the weakest part of the system, but I'm not sure whether upgrading it should be my priority. I mainly play Rust and Fortnite, and I'm also experiencing occasional random restarts with a message saying the computer needs to restart. Chrome sometimes crashes too, even when I'm not doing anything demanding. What should I upgrade, and what troubleshooting steps should I try first?
3 Answers
For a GPU upgrade, an RX 9070 XT is a strong value choice if ray tracing is not a priority. It should provide a substantial improvement over the 5060. If you care more about ray tracing and Nvidia features, a GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the comparable alternative, though it generally costs more.
Before buying anything, check whether the DDR5-6400 kit is running with XMP enabled. That speed is an overclock for the memory controller, and unstable RAM can cause game crashes, browser crashes, and unexpected restarts. Try disabling XMP or lowering the memory speed temporarily, then run a memory test and check Windows crash logs. Also verify temperatures, power connections, BIOS version, and graphics drivers.
The GPU is really the only obvious upgrade. The rest of the system is already very capable, and the RTX 5060 should be fine for 1080p or reasonable 1440p gaming. If you want a major performance jump, look at a higher-tier card rather than replacing the CPU, motherboard, or memory.
What GPU would you recommend as an upgrade? Also, do you have any idea why the PC might restart randomly even when nothing is running?