Advice needed on new build

[Jasonfts]

I need advice on what to do. This is my first time posting so I apologize if I missed any rules or am on the wrong thread/topic idk how this site works yet.

My pc power supply just died on me and i'm stuck using my laptop for now. I'm not really surprised as it was an old Dell Optiplex 780 SFF which I had for about 3 years. Now I've been wanting to upgrade for a while but I never really did because I had good enough specs and I could run most games at 60 fps on low settings but I've always wanted something a bit more capable as games are getting more demanding.

My current specs are:

• Core 2 Quad Q9550

• 8GB DDR3 RAM

• GT 1030 2GB GDDR5 LP

Everything else was stock Dell components so 235W PSU, Dell OEM motherboard etc.

Now I'm not sure which direction to go towards, so far I have 3 options:

• Buy a new PSU and just continue using what I have

• Get a Ryzen 3 2200G with new motherboard and RAM

• Upgrade to X58 (maybe X5660) with new PSU, motherboard and use whatever I can with it

I'm just really looking for something that will last at least a few years without dying while still being able to do some casual gaming like Overwatch, Rocket League, Apex Legends at 60fps. Also I read the recommendations and I thought I should add that i'm only planning on using 1 monitor with a resolution of 1600x900 and I don't need any peripherals. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[LukeSavenije]

hm... budget and country?

[jerubedo]

I'd do something like this if you want a pretty good gaming experience (medium - ultra depending on the title, 60 FPS):

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$69.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard	ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$73.85 @ OutletPC
Memory	Patriot - Viper 4 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$45.98 @ Newegg
Storage	Patriot - Burst 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$47.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Gigabyte - Radeon RX 570 4 GB Gaming 4G Video Card	$119.99 @ Newegg
Case	Rosewill - FBM-05 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$21.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair - CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$32.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$457.67
	Mail-in rebates	-$45.00
	Total	$412.67
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-05-10 15:41 EDT-0400

 

OR if you just want to continue on with low-medium settings, 60 FPS:

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$79.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock - B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$75.61 @ OutletPC
Memory	Patriot - Viper 4 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$45.98 @ Newegg
Storage	Patriot - Burst 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$47.99 @ Newegg
Case	Rosewill - FBM-05 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$21.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair - CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$32.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$339.54
	Mail-in rebates	-$35.00
	Total	$304.54
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-05-10 15:45 EDT-0400

 

[Jasonfts]

2 hours ago, LukeSavenije said:

hm... budget and country?

I'm in South Africa so the used market isn't the best, also my budget is about R4000 ($282.49)

[Jasonfts]

2 hours ago, jerubedo said:

I'd do something like this if you want a pretty good gaming experience (medium - ultra depending on the title, 60 FPS):

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$69.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard	ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$73.85 @ OutletPC
Memory	Patriot - Viper 4 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$45.98 @ Newegg
Storage	Patriot - Burst 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$47.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Gigabyte - Radeon RX 570 4 GB Gaming 4G Video Card	$119.99 @ Newegg
Case	Rosewill - FBM-05 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$21.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair - CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$32.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$457.67
	Mail-in rebates	-$45.00
	Total	$412.67
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-05-10 15:41 EDT-0400

 

OR if you just want to continue on with low-medium settings, 60 FPS:

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$79.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock - B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$75.61 @ OutletPC
Memory	Patriot - Viper 4 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$45.98 @ Newegg
Storage	Patriot - Burst 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$47.99 @ Newegg
Case	Rosewill - FBM-05 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$21.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair - CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$32.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$339.54
	Mail-in rebates	-$35.00
	Total	$304.54
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-05-10 15:45 EDT-0400

 

Thanks alot for the recommendations. I had something similar to the second build in mind but I see now that I could just save up a bit more and get a much better pc. One thing I do want to ask though, I see the RX570 is actually a bit more than I would like to spend on a graphics card, would the GT 1030 I have already be good enough? Would the system be bottlenecked?

[LukeSavenije]

7 minutes ago, Jasonfts said:

Thanks alot for the recommendations. I had something similar to the second build in mind but I see now that I could just save up a bit more and get a much better pc. One thing I do want to ask though, I see the RX570 is actually a bit more than I would like to spend on a graphics card, would the GT 1030 I have already be good enough? Would the system be bottlenecked?

if it would be bottlenecked, so what? just get the best for your money and don't worry

 

better well spent than much spent

[Jasonfts]

11 minutes ago, LukeSavenije said:

if it would be bottlenecked, so what? just get the best for your money and don't worry

 

better well spent than much spent

I was just worried about getting stuttering or low fps but I checked some videos and it seems that's not the case with this setup. You're also right about "better well spent than much spent". I don't want to have to spend money on things I already have. Thanks!

 

[jerubedo]

1 hour ago, Jasonfts said:

would the GT 1030 I have already be good enough? Would the system be bottlenecked?

It would be an atrocious bottleneck for any modern CPU, yes, making any money spent on a nicer CPU wasted. The GT 1030 is a very low end card and it won't produce playable framerates in many titles, even at lower settings. See here for examples where even at low it struggles to even get to 30 FPS. There are constant dips into the 20's.

 

The first few examples are at high, but Watchdogs 2 and a few others are at low settings, and a few at medium as well. This basically shows all sorts of settings levels.

 

FPS would be even worse in games like Metro Exodus and Assassin's Creed Odyssey which are GPU killers.

 

So as you can see, building a higher end system around the GT 1030 would be a waste of money. The CPU would never be used to its potential.

 

[jerubedo]

That being said, if you are comfortable with the current performance from your GT 1030, and you were looking to build around that card, this would be all you need:

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Pentium Gold G5400 3.7 GHz Dual-Core Processor	$71.99 @ SuperBiiz
Motherboard	Gigabyte - H310M A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$55.99 @ Amazon
Memory	GeIL - EVO SPEAR 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory	$36.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Patriot - Burst 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$47.99 @ Newegg
Case	Rosewill - FBM-05 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$21.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair - CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$32.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$282.93
	Mail-in rebates	-$15.00
	Total	$267.93
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-05-10 19:25 EDT-0400

 

 

Or just replace the PSU in your current rig (but there's no telling how long the other components will last, which is the only problem with that solution).

[Manderis]

5 hours ago, jerubedo said:

CPU Intel - Pentium Gold G5400 3.7 GHz Dual-Core Processor

I would actually say a 2200g would be the safer option.

Do you have confirmation that your psu didn't kill any other hardware? 

If it didn't, nice you can use your 1030. But if it did you still have the Vega 8 from the 2200g. Not the best but good enough. 

Also a way better upgrade path. I suspect a few years from now you won't have that much of a problem getting a used ryzen 5 cheapish from ebay and if you feel the need to upgrade you could choose from 4 generations of ryzen. The Intel route will limit you in your choice later on. 

[jerubedo]

24 minutes ago, Manderis said:

I would actually say a 2200g would be the safer option.

I'd agree, but it just doesn't fit into the $280 budget since the RAM is a little more expensive. The cheapest possible build I could come up with puts it at $290, so for the AMD side of things we'd need to drop down to an Athlon to achieve that budget.

 

Although.... I don't think that would bottleneck a 1030 either. So this is actually cheaper!

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Athlon 220GE 3.4 GHz Dual-Core Processor	$64.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Gigabyte - GA-A320M-S2H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$50.01 @ Amazon
Memory	Patriot - Signature Line 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory	$39.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Patriot - Burst 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$47.99 @ Newegg
Case	Rosewill - FBM-05 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$21.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair - CXM (2015) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$32.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$272.95
	Mail-in rebates	-$15.00
	Total	$257.95
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-05-11 01:44 EDT-0400

 

You might still want to play it safe and go for the G5400, though. I know that one won't bottleneck the 1030 because I have data that demonstrates that, but for the 220GE I'm just guessing with no data to back it up. 

[Manderis]

@jerubedo

 

I suspect pricing in South Africa is going to be off by quite a bit. I just took the first site I could find and tried to configure a decent setup. Mostly I struggled because of limited availability. 

 

Second: pricing is way of. I took the cheapest b450 board and the first 2x4 GB set of 2666 MHz ram. 3000 only available for 16 gb kits. 

R4300

No psu. 

 

I am above budget 

 

Maybe OP could recommend a hardware website for us to check out. 

[jerubedo]

2 minutes ago, Manderis said:

@jerubedo

 

I suspect pricing in South Africa is going to be off by quite a bit. I just took the first site I could find and tried to configure a decent setup. Mostly I struggled because of limited availability. 

 

Second: pricing is way of. I took the cheapest b450 board and the first 2x4 GB set of 2666 MHz ram. 3000 only available for 16 gb kits. 

R4300

No psu. 

 

I am above budget 

 

Maybe OP could recommend a hardware website for us to check out. 

Yep, I agree with all that. It's a tough market that's really hard to get visibility into. 

[Jasonfts]

Thanks so much for all the suggestions guys. Also sorry for not replying sooner, timezones are wack. At the moment I can only think of Computer Mania as the best shop for parts, other than that Takealot imports some pc parts and Evetech but that's about it. Also replying to Manderis I don't think it killed any other hardware but I'm not able to test that, I did test the PSU though and it's definitely dead. And yes prices are very different here which is why I wanted more people's opinions because I'm not sure what's worth spending money on, retailers push up prices insanely high here even for budget hardware.