Hey everyone! I'm thinking about upgrading my PC a bit since I suspect prices might go a bit crazy soon. I'm mainly eyeing the used market, not brand new parts. Currently, I'm running an i5 7600k with an H270-A motherboard and just got some new RAM—32GB of DDR4-3600mhz—which I'd love to keep using. My motherboard is bottlenecking the RAM, so I'm hoping to find a new mobo that can handle speeds over 2400mhz. I also have a GTX 1060 and I'm looking for some advice on modest upgrades. I don't need to go all out for future-proofing; just something to modernize my setup a bit. Any suggestions?
3 Answers
What's your budget looking like? If you want a decent CPU upgrade, you'll need to get a new motherboard too. Upgrading just to get faster RAM isn't worth it if you plan to stick with the same CPU.
A used RTX 2080 Ti could be a solid upgrade for you. It would give you a significant boost in performance, especially for gaming.
You might want to look into getting a 6700 XT or a 3070. Those could provide a nice upgrade while allowing you to keep your 7600k, which is fine if you’re happy with it. Otherwise, consider going for a full CPU/motherboard upgrade, but that would need DDR5 RAM. If you want to keep using your current RAM, you could still go for an AM4 setup or a newer Intel board that supports DDR4. Just a heads-up: RAM speed isn't as crucial unless you're using integrated graphics.
That sounds great! I usually hit CPU limits when working with big projects in FL Studio or Ableton. My main goals for these upgrades are to get smoother performance for FL and to play Baldur's Gate with better graphics, without those long loading times.
I’d say around $200 for a new CPU. I'm mostly looking at second-hand parts.