I want to rebuild my aging PC mainly to play Nightreign at 1080p and around 60 FPS. Maximum settings would be ideal, but I'm fine lowering some settings. I'm also open to buying used parts and would like the system to handle newer games reasonably well.
My target budget is $600 CAD, though I'd prefer to stay near $400. I'd like to reuse as many existing parts as possible, including my GTX 1070, Corsair RM850 power supply, Noctua NH-D14 cooler, SATA SSDs, and case. My current system has an i5-4670K, 16 GB of DDR3 RAM, and a Z87 motherboard. Nightreign runs at low settings, but I occasionally experience freezes lasting several seconds, especially while moving quickly through the game. I suspect the old CPU is struggling with game processing and asset decompression rather than the SSD being the main issue.
I'm considering a Ryzen 7 5700 and motherboard bundle costing about $250 CAD. I would then add 16 GB of DDR4 memory, bringing the total to roughly $400 before tax. The bundled motherboard appears to be entry-level, and I'm wondering whether it would be adequate with my current graphics card and for future upgrades. I have three SSDs installed but could remove the smallest one if the board has limited connectivity.
I'm also unsure whether DDR4-3200 is worth paying more for than 2666 or 2400, and whether I should instead buy a different CPU and motherboard combination, search for a used complete system, or simply replace the entire PC. I'd prefer not to travel far for used parts unless the savings are substantial. SteamOS would be nice eventually, although Windows is fine for now. What would be the best-value upgrade path?
3 Answers
Be careful with unusually cheap memory listings, but DDR4-3200 CL16 kits from established retailers are perfectly suitable. Ryzen benefits from faster memory, but the difference between 3200 and 3600 is usually modest, especially compared with the improvement from your old i5 platform. Two 8 GB modules are preferable to one 16 GB module because dual-channel memory helps performance.
If the bundle plus 16 GB of DDR4 comes to around $450 after tax, that sounds much more reasonable than spending close to $600 on a slightly faster AM4 setup. Keep the GTX 1070 for now and upgrade the graphics card later when the budget allows. The new CPU should improve frame-time consistency, although it cannot guarantee that every freeze is caused by the processor.
Moving from the i5-4670K to a Ryzen 7 5700 is definitely not a pointless upgrade. The platform is much newer and should eliminate a lot of the CPU-side problems you’re seeing. For this budget, AM4 is still a reasonable choice even though AMD has moved on to AM5. The bundled board is entry-level, but it should be adequate for the 5700 and a future midrange GPU; just don’t expect a long CPU-upgrade path beyond the AM4 processors that are already available.
For Ryzen, I’d aim for two matching 8 GB sticks. DDR4-3200 is a good value, while 3600 can provide a small improvement if it costs nearly the same. Paying a large premium for 3600 probably isn’t worthwhile for this build. Reusing your case, cooler, power supply, storage, and GTX 1070 makes the bundle much more sensible than replacing the whole PC.
The 5700 bundle is a reasonable budget option, but remember that AM4 is effectively a dead-end platform. Its advantage is price, not long-term upgradeability. A stronger AM4 gaming chip such as a 3D-cache model would be better for future gaming, but those prices may push the build well beyond your budget. A used AM4 system or a local marketplace bundle could also be worth checking, especially if it includes 16 GB of RAM and a decent board.
I would not buy a completely new PC in this situation. Your power supply, cooler, case, SSD, and GTX 1070 are all reusable, so replacing the platform should give you most of the benefit for much less money.
The higher-end AM4 gaming chips are unfortunately far outside the budget here, so the 5700 bundle may be the more realistic choice. I haven’t found many trustworthy used systems locally at a similar price.
That makes sense. I’m mainly trying to replace the fewest parts possible while getting rid of the long freezes, so the CPU, motherboard, and RAM bundle seems appealing.