My PC is several years old, and I want to use it more for gaming, but newer games run slowly and feel laggy. I have about $900 to spend on upgrades. My current system has an AMD Ryzen 5 3600, 16 GB of G.Skill Ripjaws DDR4 memory, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660, a B450 Pro4 motherboard, and 1 TB of storage. My power supply is an EVGA 450W unit. What parts should I prioritize upgrading?
3 Answers
The graphics card should be your biggest upgrade. Something like an RX 9060 XT with 16 GB of VRAM would be a major improvement over the GTX 1660. You could also consider a Ryzen 5 5600, 5600X, or 5600XT if you have money left over, since your B450 motherboard should support compatible Ryzen 5000 processors with the proper BIOS update.
Upgrading to 32 GB of DDR4 RAM would be a sensible secondary upgrade, especially for newer games and multitasking. I would still prioritize the GPU first, then the power supply if necessary, followed by the CPU and memory. Check your motherboard’s BIOS support before installing a Ryzen 5000 chip.
Before choosing parts, check your storage and power supply. A 1 TB drive is usable, but make sure it is an SSD rather than an old hard drive, since that can affect loading times and overall responsiveness. Your 450W power supply may also be too weak for a modern graphics card, so budget for a reliable higher-wattage replacement if the new GPU requires it.
The system currently has 1 TB of storage, and the power supply is an EVGA 450W model.