Hey everyone! With Boxing Day sales coming up, I'm looking to upgrade my gaming PC. The last time I upgraded anything was in 2022 when I added some RAM, and my PC was built back in 2018 with a lower budget in mind. Currently, I want to enhance my performance specifically for FPS games, but I don't need top-tier performance; just something better than what I have now would be great.
I've linked my PC specifications, and I'm particularly interested in recommendations for a mid-range graphics card upgrade, and possibly a new CPU if it makes sense. If you think it's better for me to just scrap everything and start over due to compatibility issues, I'm open to that too. Thanks in advance for your advice!
4 Answers
It looks like you might have posted an incorrect link to your PCPartPicker list. Just double-check it, as it can help others give better advice. You can also create a proper permalink if you need help!
You can definitely reuse your DDR4 RAM, case, and drives. Just swap out your old motherboard for a compatible AM4 board, which should run around $100. For a CPU, I suggest getting a Ryzen 5 5600 for about $160, and for GPU, an RX 6600 XT or RTX 3060 would work well for around $300. This combo should give you solid 1080p gaming without breaking the bank!
Just a heads up that Boxing Day in Canada is kind of like a Black Friday after Christmas! So it might be a great time to find those upgrades you need.
For your CPU, I'd recommend looking for an Intel i5 or i7 from the 9000 series if you're sticking with your current socket. Benchmarks can help you decide which is best. As for a graphics card, something like an RTX 2080 Super should be a solid fit, but it really depends on what games you’re playing. Just remember, I found my CPU was often the bottleneck in most situations!
Thanks for the tips! Considering your suggestion, I was also thinking of upgrading my SSD from 500GB to 2TB since games are getting huge these days. That'll be roughly another $200, so all in all, I'm looking at around $800 for the upgrades. How do you think this compares to the pre-built Stormcraft gaming PC I found for $1399 CAD?