Should I upgrade my gaming PC or switch to a Mac mini with cloud gaming?
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MellowCactus42
I'm deciding whether to upgrade my current gaming PC or simply keep it as-is. I'm not a heavy gamer, mainly playing Battlefield 6 and League of Legends ARAM. The system has a Ryzen 7 5700X, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and a Radeon RX 6600 XT. Since it currently uses a 500W power supply, I'm hesitant to install a much more powerful graphics card without replacing the PSU too. Would upgrading to something around an RTX 4070 be worthwhile, or would it make more sense to replace the whole setup with a Mac mini and rely on cloud gaming?
Answers
I’d start with the RAM rather than replacing the graphics card. The games you listed can benefit from having 32GB, and your Ryzen 7 5700X is still capable. Since you already have an NVMe drive, adding another 2x8GB kit could work, as long as it matches your current kit’s speed and timings. Ideally, use a matched 2x16GB kit if you can.
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For now, I’d keep the current graphics card and add more memory if you’re running into stutters or limits. Replacing the power supply with a higher-quality, higher-wattage model could also make sense if you want a stronger GPU later. A Mac mini would mainly shift the cost and limitations to cloud gaming, so it doesn’t seem like a clear improvement for this use case.
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A graphics card such as an RTX 4070—or a similar newer card—would be a noticeable upgrade, but I wouldn’t pair it with a 500W power supply. Plan on upgrading to roughly a 700–800W quality PSU as well, and consider moving to 32GB of RAM. That makes the upgrade more expensive than just swapping the GPU.
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MellowCactus42: I’m already using an NVMe drive. Would adding another 2x8GB kit to my existing 2x8GB be okay?