Partial Upgrade or Wait?

[PhillyConlan]

Hi!

 

I was planning on a partial upgrade, but i'm not sure whether it is worth it just yet, and maybe i should wait a few months for a full upgrade. I don't do any video editing etc, just gaming and browsing.

 

I built this PC in 2014 and added my second GPU in 2015:

 

CPU: i5 4590

MB: Asus Z97-A

CPU Cooler: Xigmatech Dark Knight II

RAM: 8gb Hyperx Blue 1600 mhz

GPU: 2x EVGA GTX 970 SC (SLI)

Storage: 250GB Samsung 750 Evo SSD, WD Blue HDD- 500GB and 1TB

PSU: EVGA 750G2

Case: NZXT Phantom 530

Monitors: DELL U2515H 1440p 60hz, LG 1080p 22"

 

Recently in some games (eg. Shadow of the Tomb Raider), I have been getting stuttering/ black screen flashes. I am only running MSI Afterburner and the game. Afterburner has been showing RAM usage of approx 90% which I believe is the problem. I have been getting 60fps on high with the 1440p monitor.

 

My budget isn't huge at the moment for upgrades, but I was thinking of upgrading the cpu, motherboard and ram. I wanted to get the following:

 

CPU: Ryzen 3600

MB: ROG Strix B450

RAM: Vengeance 16gb 3200mhz

 

I am in Ireland but usually have to order from the UK to get decent prices. £350 is what i was aiming to spend.

 

Is this partial upgrade worth the money or should I wait?

[boggy77]

better motherboard and faster ram. and yes, it will help, especially with stuttering.

keep in mind when upgrading GPU in the future that sli isn't really a thing anymore, as most new games don't support it, so i't better to just go for a better single card.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	£168.30 @ Aria PC
Motherboard	MSI B450-A PRO MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard	£79.99 @ Box Limited
Memory	Patriot Viper Steel 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	£78.27 @ CCL Computers
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	£326.56
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-23 13:45 GMT+0000

 

[boggy77]

this is with everything from amazon if you don't want to bother with multiple shops.

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/X2pGmq

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£170.00 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: MSI B450-A PRO MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£83.19 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  (£69.95 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £323.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-23 13:48 GMT+0000

[PhillyConlan]

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

This might be a silly question but what makes the MSI board better?

 

Also with the CPU cooler I have, will the old AMD brackets that came with it be compatible? 

[boggy77]

11 minutes ago, PhillyConlan said:

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

This might be a silly question but what makes the MSI board better?

 

Also with the CPU cooler I have, will the old AMD brackets that came with it be compatible? 

Just their vrm-s are better on the b450 boards. They have better heatsinks and can support higher overclocks and cpus with more cores. On the x570 boards, asus have done the better job. Check out the motherboard tier list in my signature.

[PhillyConlan]

Ok that's good to know! I had originally picked Asus because my last 2 boards have been Asus, but if MSI have better B450 boards I'll go with them.

 

I see the B450 Tomahawk Max is a tier above the B450-A Pro Max, would that be an even better option? It would still be slightly cheaper than my original selection of B450F

 

 

[boggy77]

6 minutes ago, PhillyConlan said:

Ok that's good to know! I had originally picked Asus because my last 2 boards have been Asus, but if MSI have better B450 boards I'll go with them.

 

I see the B450 Tomahawk Max is a tier above the B450-A Pro Max, would that be an even better option? It would still be slightly cheaper than my original selection of B450F

 

 

they are both in tier C, where do you see them in different tiers? also, don't forget to quote me when answering so I get a notification.

[PhillyConlan]

2 minutes ago, boggy77 said:

they are both in tier C, where do you see them in different tiers? also, don't forget to quote me when answering so I get a notification.

Sorry, I misread the chart, I was looking at pro-vdh.

 

I'll quote in future, i didn't know you wouldn't get a notification if I didn't quote.

 

Also, will I need a new CPU cooler? I assume a cooler bought 6 years ago won't be AM4 compatible. I was think a 212 black edition

[boggy77]

the stock cooler on the 3600 is decent. if you don't plan on overclocking and if you have a case with decent airflow, it should be enough. if you want a quieter or cooler system, get a cooler.

i'd go for this

ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO

[VEXICUS]

20 minutes ago, boggy77 said:

 if you want a quieter or cooler system, get a cooler.

i'd go for this

ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO

 

30 minutes ago, PhillyConlan said:

 I was think a 212 black edition

 

[PhillyConlan]

21 minutes ago, boggy77 said:

the stock cooler on the 3600 is decent. if you don't plan on overclocking and if you have a case with decent airflow, it should be enough. if you want a quieter or cooler system, get a cooler.

i'd go for this

ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO

Ok I'll go with stock for the moment. Thanks for all the help!

[PhillyConlan]

33 minutes ago, boggy77 said:

the stock cooler on the 3600 is decent. if you don't plan on overclocking and if you have a case with decent airflow, it should be enough. if you want a quieter or cooler system, get a cooler.

i'd go for this

ARCTIC Freezer 34 eSports DUO

Will the B450 boards support my SLI configuration?

[boggy77]

13 minutes ago, PhillyConlan said:

Will the B450 boards support my SLI configuration?

sorry forgot about that. you'd need to get a x470 or x570 board for sli support.

i'd advise selling your 2 970's and getting a 1660 super instead, rather than spending extra on a motherboard with sli support.