Motherboard cpu and ram upgrade suggestions.

[Bluto_Baggins]

Hi guys,

 

I'm a tinkerer and while i know mechanically how to build a pc, what qualifies as good or mediocre equipment isn't something i know to much about yet. I'm currently looking to upgrade my home rig which is a modified lenovo m81 sff. I've put in a new case and added a gpu and new psu but i'm looking for more performance and would appreciate any advice on direction from those that know more than me. Current specs below.

 

Mobo: stock m81 intel board

CPU: i5 2400

GPU: MSI Gtx 970 Gaming 4gb

PSU: 600W EVGA 80 plus bronze

Ram: 16gb ddr3.

 

I'm trying to play Call of duty and ESO with my buddies online and it does work but my cpu is running at 90% the entire time.

 

I'm trying to upgrade on a budget so i'm thinking a 4th gen intel i5 or i7 with the corresponding motherboard but knowing nothing about what ones are good vs bad i don't know what to buy. 

 

I'm budgeting roughly $250 for this upgrade hoping to keep using my psu and gpu and upgrade around them.

 

Thanks for looking, Suggestions are all appreciated.

[homeap5]

3 minutes ago, Bluto_Baggins said:

I'm trying to play Call of duty and ESO with my buddies online and it does work but my cpu is running at 90% the entire time.

That is great. You paid for possibility to use whole 100% of your CPU power, so 90% is great - it means that you don't wasted your money.

Do you really need CPU that will be used in 10%? I don't understand why people complain about high ram or cpu usage if they bought cpu or ram for that reason.

 

But seriously - do not upgrade until you'll need to use software that really needs that upgraed. 250$ is not so good budget.

[Bluto_Baggins]

Thanks Homeap5,

 

Seriously thanks, I'm so used to being several generations behind using office castoffs from work that really I just wanted something I didn't have to worry about for a while if I wanted to continue to invest in newer games. 

 

The reason i'm budgeting $250 is because i'm looking mainly second hand and i stumbeled upon a MSI Z390-A Pro with an i59400F and wondered if it was worth my time at their asking price of $250 even if i had to buy a ram kit as well. I also found that if I went with a 4th or 5th gen intel chip there were plenty in my area for that price range that included cpu, mobo and 16-32gb ram. Again my big issue is that I don't know what can be deemed a good investment vs a foolish one. 

 

This upgrade is less about performance now and more about sustainability going forward since I rarely have the cash to spend on equipment and upgrades.

[boggy77]

19 minutes ago, homeap5 said:

That is great. You paid for possibility to use whole 100% of your CPU power, so 90% is great - it means that you don't wasted your money.

Do you really need CPU that will be used in 10%? I don't understand why people complain about high ram or cpu usage if they bought cpu or ram for that reason.

 

But seriously - do not upgrade until you'll need to use software that really needs that upgraed. 250$ is not so good budget.

that's not how it works. if the cpu is at 90% and gpu is not close to 80-90%, it means the cpu is limiting your performance and you would benefit from an upgrade.

[Guest]

The fastest CPU you can get without changing the your motherboard due to socket compatibility would be the i7 3770k, it's probably going to be a 10% boost to performance over the 2400.

[Bluto_Baggins]

Right, Thanks Boggy,

 

It's worth mentioning that in game my gpu is running at 60-70% utilization and really i'm just wondering what a good direction to go is, I know in the tech world $250 isn't a ton but it's what I have right now and the 2nd hand market in my area is still ok.

[Bluto_Baggins]

Darpy,

 

Unfortunately I can't use the 3770k since my stock lenovo board only supports 2nd gen chips and will not support any k series chips. I've already looked into that. the best I can do is throw a i7 2600 in my current setup and call it a day. (an option i've already looked at). Really i'm hoping for suggestions on what would be a good next step. I can pick up the 2600 on ebay for $65-70 but it feels like a bandaid at best. Like i said above i'm less worried about the software and games i'm using now but i'm not likely going to be able to replace/upgrade at all again for a few years and would like something I'm not going to have to worry about in that time.

 

Cheers.

[boggy77]

8 minutes ago, Bluto_Baggins said:

Right, Thanks Boggy,

 

It's worth mentioning that in game my gpu is running at 60-70% utilization and really i'm just wondering what a good direction to go is, I know in the tech world $250 isn't a ton but it's what I have right now and the 2nd hand market in my area is still ok.

this should be a significant upgrade.

don't forget to quote by replying to a comment or use @Bluto_Baggins so we get a notification when you reply.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 3 3300X 3.8 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$127.99 @ B&H
Motherboard	Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$72.99 @ Best Buy
Memory	GeIL EVO SPEAR 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory	$57.99 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$258.97
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-03 15:40 EDT-0400

 

[Ravas2013]

2 minutes ago, Bluto_Baggins said:

Right, Thanks Boggy,

 

It's worth mentioning that in game my gpu is running at 60-70% utilization and really i'm just wondering what a good direction to go is, I know in the tech world $250 isn't a ton but it's what I have right now and the 2nd hand market in my area is still ok.

If you want to future proof your PC then save up that money and get what you want. If it's not lagging or overheating then don't change it yet. Try selling your old pc and get new components or slightly used and build a machine that will serve you well in coming years.

 

I was using a 6600k that was overheating constantly because of dried out under die thermal compound. Put it in the ad, lost some money and upgraded to a 9600k.

 

[Bluto_Baggins]

2 minutes ago, boggy77 said:

this should be a significant upgrade.

don't forget to quote by replying to a comment or use @Bluto_Baggins so we get a notification when you reply.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 3 3300X 3.8 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$127.99 @ B&H
Motherboard	Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$72.99 @ Best Buy
Memory	GeIL EVO SPEAR 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory	$57.99 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$258.97
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-03 15:40 EDT-0400

 

Thanks, I'll look into these parts as it's right in my price range I appreciate the help

[Bluto_Baggins]

1 minute ago, Ravas2013 said:

If you want to future proof your PC then save up that money and get what you want. If it's not lagging or overheating then don't change it yet. Try selling your old pc and get new components or slightly used and build a machine that will serve you well in coming years.

 

I was using a 6600k that was overheating constantly because of dried out under die thermal compound. Put it in the ad, lost some money and upgraded to a 9600k.

 

Thanks Ravas,

 

I guess the real issue here is that I don't know what I want. I don't think i've ever bought a computer new and have only ever scraped by with whatever prebuilt i could pull from the dumpster. I'm just now getting into purchasing individual components and putting something decent together. I've been doing research and reading plenty but there's so much to learn i figured i'd reach out and see what the community had to say. 

 

I understand that there is nothing "wrong" with my current setup but for me I know i'm not going to afford a 9600K and a 2080TI and i don't need that I just know that my 2nd gen intel chip is bottlenecking my system at the moment and if i could go up 2 or 3 generations I'll get that many more years out of it.

 

Thanks

[Bluto_Baggins]

And just because I don't know, would an i5 9400F with a MSI Z390-APro be worthwhile at $250 or should I look elsewhere. they both have good reviews but I'm to new to this to really know for sure. 

 

Thanks

[boggy77]

4 minutes ago, Bluto_Baggins said:

And just because I don't know, would an i5 9400F with a MSI Z390-APro be worthwhile at $250 or should I look elsewhere. they both have good reviews but I'm to new to this to really know for sure. 

 

Thanks

the 3300x with b450 will perform similarly to a 9400 with z390, but will have a better upgrade path, since all ryzen 1000,2000,3000 and 4000(not yet released) will work with that motherboard, while the z390 is already discontinued.

[Bluto_Baggins]

1 minute ago, boggy77 said:

the 3300x with b450 will perform similarly to a 9400 with z390, but will have a better upgrade path, since all ryzen 1000,2000,3000 and 4000(not yet released) will work with that motherboard, while the z390 is already discontinued.

Good to know, I did not realize that ryzen chips all shared the same socket i assumed that they would be different the same way intel works. 

 

Again I appreciate the advice, I've been watching LTT for a while but he rarely talks about this kind of older hardware for upgrading and I figured this community would be a good resource for me to learn.

 

Cheers.

[homeap5]

2 hours ago, boggy77 said:

that's not how it works. if the cpu is at 90% and gpu is not close to 80-90%, it means the cpu is limiting your performance and you would benefit from an upgrade.

Yes, but it also means that is not utilized at 100%. 90% is not bottleneck yet, it's still high utilization with small margin. I'm not saying that better CPU don't give any benefit, but for 250$? I don't think so.

[boggy77]

1 minute ago, homeap5 said:

Yes, but it also means that is not utilized at 100%. 90% is not bottleneck yet, it's still high utilization with small margin. I'm not saying that better CPU don't give any benefit, but for 250$? I don't think so.

sometimes software or games can't take advantage or can't utilise 100% of the cpu. if the gpu is below 80% utilisation and cpu above 80-90%, it's the cpu that's holding you back.

[homeap5]

9 minutes ago, boggy77 said:

sometimes software or games can't take advantage or can't utilise 100% of the cpu. if the gpu is below 80% utilisation and cpu above 80-90%, it's the cpu that's holding you back.

It's really not how CPU works. It's not game that can utilize CPU at 100%, it's processor that process as many data as needed. If game requires 2000 calculations per frame (for example) and CPU can give you 2200 calculations per frame, it will be utilize at 90% (+/-). If game requires more calculations that CPU can provide, it will bottleneck, because game must wait for processor, not opposite.

 

Anyway, it's not my money, it's OP money. Is easy to say "man, upgrade your CPU/mobo/ram and you'll see huge difference". But what if not? What if he upgrade his computer now based on your advice and games he play will work the same? Can OP get refund from you? it's easy to spend someone's money.

 

Big upgrade has sense. Strong CPU over old weak, better and faster ram, good motherboard - I agree. But swap into, for example, Ryzen 3 from i5 2nd gen, may be not enough for OP to feel difference (except he will loss 250$).

 

So I recommend to wait and get more money for that upgrade. Or buy something more interesting for that 250$ than Ryzen 3 or used i7 2nd gen, or whatever he can buy for 250$.