My brother and I have been gaming together, and he would like to improve his PC for 1080p gaming in Final Fantasy XIV, Space Marine 2, Deadlock, World of Tanks, World of Warcraft, and similar games. His current system is an Intel Core i5-9400F on a BIOSTAR B365MHC motherboard, an RX 580 8GB, 32GB of DDR4-2666 memory, a possibly aging Sharkoon SHP550 v2 power supply, a 256GB Samsung SSD, a 500GB Kingston SSD, a 1TB Toshiba hard drive, and a Sharkoon VG6-W case. We do not need peripherals, and the budget is around $2,000 USD.
A few local builders suggested moving to a Ryzen 7 5800X3D, a Gigabyte B550M AORUS ELITE AX DDR4 motherboard, an RTX 5070, a Thermalright Peerless Assassin cooler, an 850W Seasonic Focus GX power supply, and a newer case. We would keep the existing 32GB of DDR4 memory and storage. I am unsure whether the RTX 5070 is excessive for 1080p, or whether something like an RTX 5060 Ti or RX 9060 XT would provide better value. We are also wondering whether it makes more sense to build a new AM5/DDR5 system instead of investing in the older AM4 platform, especially since the current RAM and storage could potentially be reused. What would be the best way to distribute the budget, and should we upgrade the existing platform, sell it and build a completely new PC, or use a cheaper graphics card and spend more elsewhere?
5 Answers
Thirty-two gigabytes is perfectly adequate for this build; 16GB would be the minimum I would consider today. If you want to reuse the current memory, the 5800X3D and B550 platform can still be a strong gaming upgrade, but check motherboard BIOS support and the processor’s price first. It is an older AM4 dead-end platform, so an AM5 system with DDR5 gives you a better future upgrade path. Whether that is worthwhile depends on how much more the motherboard and memory cost in your market.
For gaming builds, most of the budget should go toward the CPU and graphics card, but the right GPU depends heavily on local pricing and the monitor. An RTX 5070 is not unreasonable if you eventually plan to move to 1440p or a high-refresh display, though it is more GPU than necessary for many current 1080p games. Compare it with the RX 9070-class cards as well; an AMD option may offer more rasterized performance for similar money. A 5060 Ti or RX 9060 XT could be better value if the system will remain at 1080p and you want to keep the total cost lower.
The existing memory is already 32GB as two 16GB DDR4 modules, so we would keep it unless moving to DDR5 makes sense financially.
Since so many major parts are being replaced, selling the current computer as a complete, working system may be the cleanest option. You could potentially add several hundred dollars to the budget and build a completely new machine instead of carrying over an old platform, power supply, case, and storage. That said, upgrading is still reasonable if the current system is stable and you want to reuse the 32GB of RAM and drives.
The monitor matters a lot here. With a current 75Hz 1080p display, a midrange modern GPU is likely enough for most of the games listed, while a 5070 becomes easier to justify if a 144Hz monitor or 1440p upgrade is planned. Also replace the questionable power supply rather than carrying it into the new build. Shopping in or around Bosnia can change the recommendation significantly because component prices, availability, and warranty coverage differ between regions.
Before replacing the whole platform, check whether a used i9-9900 or another compatible ninth-generation processor is available at a sensible price. It could extend the life of the existing motherboard, but only do this if the CPU is genuinely cheap; otherwise, putting money into a modern platform and graphics card will provide a more worthwhile long-term upgrade.
If you are already spending around RTX 5070 money, also check whether an RX 9070 XT is available for a similar price. It can offer substantially higher traditional rendering performance, although features such as ray tracing, upscaling, and frame generation may affect the choice.