Budget Upgrade

[Egglodyte]

Hello There!

 

Im from Sri Lanka i like to game and i am in a sticky situation.

 

I dont have a discrete GPU i have rs.50,000 (which is 260 usd & 360 cad @ the time of writing) at hand and i currently have a i3 6100 and Team Elite plus 2666mhz cl19 single ram stick and a h110 mobo and i thought of getting a gtx 1660 but ik the gpu will be underperforming so im looking to switch to Ryzen 5 3400g with a B450m from gigabyte or MSI since it basically costs the same and game with the Vega 11 APU  but still my single stick of ram wont work well with the ryzen cpu i will get more money along the line but i dont know when 

Cant buy used stuff cuz of personal matters

so what should i do?

get the gpu or a different one ?

or do the platform switch ?

would be great help if some one could recommend something that is easily upgradable in the future

the whole reason im looking to upgrade is casual gaming and productivity  

 

i have

• Dell E2219HN 1080p 60hz monitor
• 120gb wd green ssd
• 1tb toshiba hdd
• 500gb wd hdd
• i3-6100
• Masterbox E500L
• FSP Hexa 500w PSU
• Gigabyte H110m DS2V
• Team elite plus 2666mhz CL19 (Single Stick)

 

All of this will happen after this pandemic so 

Stay Safe !

Thank you!

 

Edited April 29, 2020 by VanKermit
Forgot to add ram details

[Bombastinator]

This answer is likely less than you want or need.  Apologies.  I’m really more or less just musing about your quandary.  I don’t have any good answers.

 

The future never predicts very well and it’s even worse than usual lately.  One big one is new GPUs are supposed to come out soon and that may happen before or after the pandemic ends.  I can compare the two kinds of cpu you are talking about.  The i3 6100 is 2/4 with a fairly weak iGPU whereas the 3400g is 4/8 with a stronger gpu. So a lot more performance than the i3.   That gpu is still not nearly as strong as a 1660 though.  The 1660 has enough performance to more than bury the i3.  The question seems to be will there be more net performance from a 1660 hobbled by a 2 core cpu, or an apu with stronger cpu but weaker gpu.  That I think would depend on the game.
 

These two parts are being compared because costs are equal currently.   It may depend a lot on which specific games are being played.  A given game or settings for a game are going to be more or less dependent on the CPU or GPU.

 

To make it more fun, prices and availability could change drastically before this virus thing is over, so predicting what will be best either financially or performance wise is hard.

[Egglodyte]

1 hour ago, Bombastinator said:

This answer is likely less than you want or need.  Apologies.  I’m really more or less just musing about your quandary.  I don’t have any good answers.

 

The future never predicts very well and it’s even worse than usual lately.  One big one is new GPUs are supposed to come out soon and that may happen before or after the pandemic ends.  I can compare the two kinds of cpu you are talking about.  The i3 6100 is 2/4 with a fairly weak iGPU whereas the 3400g is 4/8 with a stronger gpu. So a lot more performance than the i3.   That gpu is still not nearly as strong as a 1660 though.  The 1660 has enough performance to more than bury the i3.  The question seems to be will there be more net performance from a 1660 hobbled by a 2 core cpu, or an apu with stronger cpu but weaker gpu.  That I think would depend on the game.
 

These two parts are being compared because costs are equal currently.   It may depend a lot on which specific games are being played.  A given game or settings for a game are going to be more or less dependent on the CPU or GPU.

 

To make it more fun, prices and availability could change drastically before this virus thing is over, so predicting what will be best either financially or performance wise is hard.

Thanks for your reply sir!

 

[Bombastinator]

Just now, VanKermit said:

Thanks for your reply sir!

 

Heh.  You got what you paid for.  Lol.  I did run across a post in another thread which said that depending on the game an i3 could run the 1660 as fast as it could go, so very game dependent.  The 1660 option will be more powerful for cpu light graphics heavy games like AAA rpgs, while the 3400g would do the opposite, producing more max frames on competitive shooters like pubg or COD here small screens and low settings are used.   The discrete card would take weight off the iGPU of the i3 effectively increasing memory, but would not increase the processing power or thread count, so if that is the limiting factor the 1660 wouldn’t help in those situations much at all.  My temptation would be to go for the 3400g just because it’s more upgradable in the future.

[Egglodyte]

9 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Heh.  You got what you paid for.  Lol.  I did run across a post in another thread which said that depending on the game an i3 could run the 1660 as fast as it could go, so very game dependent.  The 1660 option will be more powerful for cpu light graphics heavy games like AAA rpgs, while the 3400g would do the opposite, producing more max frames on competitive shooters like pubg or COD here small screens and low settings are used.   The discrete card would take weight off the iGPU of the i3 effectively increasing memory, but would not increase the processing power or thread count, so if that is the limiting factor the 1660 wouldn’t help in those situations much at all.  My temptation would be to go for the 3400g just because it’s more upgradable in the future.

Im just looking forward to play PUBG lite and some CSGO with some pre 2018 AAA titles on 720p with atleast 45fps 

And RE2 remake i know it would be playable or exceed my expectations with the 1660 inside but considering the upgradability in the future i guess i should go with the 3400g i dont know though but thanks anyway 

Also does the channel or the CAS of the ram matters more for ryzen?

[Bombastinator]

Just now, VanKermit said:

Im just looking forward to play PUBG lite and some CSGO with some pre 2018 AAA titles on 720p with atleast 45fps 

And RE2 remake i know it would be playable or exceed my expectations with the 1660 inside but considering the upgradability in the future i guess i should go with the 3400g i dont know though but thanks anyway 

Also does the channel or the CAS of the ram matters more for ryzen?

Ryzen really likes dual channel and really likes memory speed.  It has to do with the way infinity fabric works.  That slow single stick you got would definitely slow things.  I don’t know how much, but at least some.  The ryzen apu would also use the stick for video memory so there’s that too.  You’d also need a new motherboard for the ryzen chip so that has to be factored in and the very low end a series boards for ryzen are junk.  Both options are kind of sub optimal.  On one you get a fast GPU but a close to end of life cpu/motherboard/memory that would need to be upgraded, with the other you get a fast(er) CPU which is hobbled by slow memory but at least potentially, could be upgraded.   With the 1660 solution the upgrade path is replace the cpu/motherboard/memory, whereas with the 3400g the solution is replace memory, then add a GPU,  both get you to roughly the same place.  A devil’s bargain.