My partner's gaming PC, built around 2019, is starting to struggle with newer games and occasionally crashes. She mainly plays Final Fantasy XIV and is currently playing Blood of the Dawnwalker, with interest in Borderlands 4, the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy, and other upcoming AAA games. She isn't especially concerned about maximum framerate, but modern games are becoming difficult to run enjoyably.
Her current system is a Ryzen 5 3600, B450 Tomahawk, 16GB of DDR4-3600, GTX 1660 Super, 650W power supply, and NZXT H510 case.
My current system is a Ryzen 9 5900X, X570S Tomahawk, 32GB of DDR4-3600, RTX 4080 Suprim, 1000W power supply, and a large MSI case. My initial plan was to give her everything except my graphics card and power supply, then buy her a Sapphire Radeon RX 9070 XT and an 850W PSU. I would then move to an AM5 system with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D, ASUS TUF Gaming X870E-PLUS WiFi 7, 32GB of DDR5-6000 CL36 memory, and a Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE. The CPU, motherboard, and memory are available as a bundle.
The estimated cost is around $1,900 AUD for my upgrade and $1,300 AUD for hers, although her budget is ideally capped at about $1,500 AUD. I generally prefer Nvidia, but the price difference between a 9070 XT and an RTX 5070 Ti is substantial. An RTX 5070 costs about the same as the 9070 XT but appears to be more of a sideways move.
Would it make more sense to buy only the new graphics card and power supply first, install them in her current PC, and see how well the Ryzen 5 3600 and B450 platform cope? Or is it better to transfer my entire AM4 system to her immediately and move myself to AM5? I'd also appreciate advice on cases and whether the Corsair FRAME 4000D would be a good choice. I'm mainly trying to give her a substantial upgrade without spending unnecessarily, while making sure my own upgrade is worthwhile rather than just a minor side-grade.
3 Answers
The Ryzen 5 3600 is still perfectly usable for a lot of games, so the GTX 1660 Super is probably the biggest limitation right now. I’d start with the graphics card and power supply rather than replacing the whole platform immediately. Her actual games and target resolution matter, but a 9070 XT would be a massive GPU upgrade and should work with the existing CPU while you evaluate performance.
There’s no need to decide in advance which computer gets the new graphics card. Buy the 9070 XT and the appropriate PSU, test them in her current build, and then move the parts around if needed. The Ryzen 5 3600 may hold back the card in some CPU-heavy games, but it won’t prevent you from determining whether the upgrade is worthwhile. That approach also lets you postpone the AM5 purchase until it provides a clearly noticeable improvement over your 5900X.
That makes sense. I was treating the rest of her parts as if they all needed replacing, but they may be able to last longer with a stronger GPU. I’ll probably test that setup before committing to the full system swap.
For the case, focus on airflow, build quality, noise, dust filtering, and room for the graphics card and radiator or CPU cooler. You don’t need an expensive case to get those things. A case with a ventilated front panel, two or three decent intake fans, a rear exhaust, sensible cable-management space, and enough GPU clearance is usually a good choice. The FRAME 4000D can work well, but compare its included fans and total cost against other airflow-focused mid-towers before buying.
Her main games are Final Fantasy XIV and Blood of the Dawnwalker, and she’s also interested in Borderlands 4 and the Final Fantasy VII remake games. I’m leaning toward trying the new GPU and PSU in her current system first.