Updating Pre-build

[Punccino]

Budget (including currency): $600 (Will vary based on feedback)

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Unreal Engine 5, ZBrush, Autodesk Maya, Blender, DaVinci Resolve, Valorant (Heaviest game I can think of).

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): Current PC Specs: Ryzen 7 4700G w/ Radeon Graphics | 16GB RAM | 512 GB SSD

 

Hello! Quick disclaimer I’m SUPER NEW to building PCs. Not tech-savvy, no matter how many videos I’ve watched. I ask that you please understand and be patient with me and the mistakes I may make.

 

Now, I’m looking to upgrade my now-year-old PC. My workload is starting to increase; my MacBook can’t keep up. Especially since I want to sell the darn thing… I want my PC to be able to do everything. It struggles in some areas mainly due to graphics card. I’m attaching what I THINK will be good upgrades. The empty sections are parts I’m hoping I can reuse from my PC. Am I right on that? I’m also attaching a picture of what the PC looks like internally.

 

Thank you so much to whoever replies. And I’m sorry if I’m not clear on something. Please let me know so I can correct it. 
 

P.S. 98% of the games I play are pretty light. I try to avoid playing heavy games. I’ve only played Valorant once so I’m using it as a gauge. My PC ran it just fine.

[Jorgemeister]

Hello

 

Quote

Current PC Specs: Ryzen 7 4700G w/ Radeon Graphics | 16GB RAM | 512 GB SSD

If you already have that, the logical most simple upgrade would be to add a GPU, your budget is OK for that and your system will improve greatly, I see the PCI port empty there. The only issue is what power supply unit do you have, can you see the label?

[RONOTHAN##]

So given what you're upgrading, you would be better off just buying a whole new computer (maybe carrying over the storage) and selling your prebuilt as a whole, especially since prebuilds use proprietary parts so you might not be able to save some parts. 

 

The PSU, for example, probably has a proprietary power standard so you won't be able to use it on a new motherboard, meaning the only things you'd be able to carry over is your CPU and SSD, and at that point you'd probably get more money for the system if it has a CPU in it and maybe an SSD (you can just get a $20 SSD to make the system ready to roll). You might actually save money if you just built a whole new system if you do that. 

 

Another option you have is just upgrade the RAM, GPU, and HDD. Realistically getting all the rest of the parts won't actually improve performance so if you want to save time, that would be the easier option. Get a 2x16GB kit (just get whatever is cheapest, it's currently cheaper to get a 3200MHz kit so you might as well get the faster kit), I'd go for a 4TB drive (they're usually the best value), and a spend the rest of the money on a GPU upgrade. Depending on the wattage of the PSU will dictate what kind of GPU you can get, but the safe, cheap option is the 1650 since it doesn't require power connectors. 

[Punccino]

2 minutes ago, Jorgemeister said:

Hello

 

If you already have that, the logical most simple upgrade would be to add a GPU, your budget is OK for that and your system will improve greatly, I see the PCI port empty there. The only issue is what power supply unit do you have, can you see the label?

Thank you for the response! That means the GPU I picked out is okay? I’m unaware of what the PCI Port is… Is it the long horizontal spot under the SSD? If so, I thought that’s where the Hard drive would go. I’m attaching an image of the power supply label.

[Punccino]

1 minute ago, RONOTHAN## said:

So given what you're upgrading, you would be better off just buying a whole new computer (maybe carrying over the storage) and selling your prebuilt as a whole, especially since prebuilds use proprietary parts so you might not be able to save some parts. 

 

The PSU, for example, probably has a proprietary power standard so you won't be able to use it on a new motherboard, meaning the only things you'd be able to carry over is your CPU and SSD, and at that point you'd probably get more money for the system if it has a CPU in it and maybe an SSD (you can just get a $20 SSD to make the system ready to roll). You might actually save money if you just built a whole new system if you do that. 

 

Another option you have is just upgrade the RAM, GPU, and HDD. Realistically getting all the rest of the parts won't actually improve performance so if you want to save time, that would be the easier option. Get a 2x16GB kit (just get whatever is cheapest, it's currently cheaper to get a 3200MHz kit so you might as well get the faster kit), I'd go for a 4TB drive (they're usually the best value), and a spend the rest of the money on a GPU upgrade. Depending on the wattage of the PSU will dictate what kind of GPU you can get, but the safe, cheap option is the 1650 since it doesn't require power connectors. 

Thank you for your feedback! Dang, I had a feeling I had to do that… Do you have recommendations on a PC I could buy? Where could I sell my PC? 

[Jorgemeister]

9 minutes ago, Punccino said:

Thank you for the response! That means the GPU I picked out is okay? I’m unaware of what the PCI Port is… Is it the long horizontal spot under the SSD? If so, I thought that’s where the Hard drive would go. I’m attaching an image of the power supply label.

 

Yeah its the black port under the ADATA drive.

 

TBH I dont think you need to spend $600, your processor is actually good, motherboard is a bit weird but thats how prebuilts come, RAM seems fine for the processor too.

The problem is the PSU: TOTAL POWER CANT EXCEED 180 watts

Thats a limitant, The card you have in your list is 2 generation old and it needs 75W alone. plus the 65W from the processor you only have 10W available for drives and everything else.

 

Id say, spend the money on a new PSU and GPU, do you know if your case is standard size so a new PSU and GPU can fit on it?

 

Alternatively, take CPU+RAM+Motherboard+drives and move it to a new case, PSU, GPU. it will work.

[Punccino]

2 minutes ago, Jorgemeister said:

Yeah its the black port under the ADATA drive.

 

TBH I dont think you need to spend $600, your processor is actually good, motherboard is a bit weird but thats how prebuilts come, RAM seems fine for the processor too.

The problem is the PSU: TOTAL POWER CANT EXCEED 180 watts

Thats a limitant, The card you have in your list is 2 generation old and it needs 75W alone. plus the 65W from the processor you only have 10W available for drives and everything else.

 

Id say, spend the money on a new PSU and GPU, do you know if your case is standard size so a new PSU and GPU can fit on it?

Yes! It’s the ATX Form Factor. I’m unsure if a GPU will fit inside. Based off of the things I wanted, I knew I needed a new case. The case has a metal backing that I can’t remove. Perhaps that’ll explain if a GPU will fit or not? Also, I didn’t see that wattage limit. Thank you so much for that!

[Ryuikko]

Yea i agree with both of these statements. If you rma your whole system you might be able create a pre-built with vastly better performance than upgrading you current pc. You can also buy new mobo, psu. And gpu and most likely a case and that would probably work as well. There are some really good gpus available for around ~300 dollars 

[RONOTHAN##]

1 minute ago, Punccino said:

Thank you for your feedback! Dang, I had a feeling I had to do that… Do you have recommendations on a PC I could buy? Where could I sell my PC? 

For selling the PC, I usually just do Craigslist or FB Marketplace. eBay is also an option but shipping a computer is very expensive, eBay fees are terrible, and the fact that eBay buyer protection doesn't give a crap about the seller I'd try to avoid it if you can. I'd say you can probably get ~$400 for that system depending on how active the used market around you is. 

 

For buying a PC, I'll say the budget is the $400 plus the $600 you had dedicated to it originally. You should be able to build something like this (if you steal the SSD out of your original system)

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/WjYDwc

 

It's still not a bad idea to look into just throwing a new GPU and PSU in that system, though the price difference is similar enough that it might just make more sense to get something new.

[Punccino]

Thank you everyone for the feedback! So to recap...

 

If keeping PC:

I need to upgrade my GPU and PSU. Most likely need to buy a new case. Within the $600 limit I can afford a PSU, GPU, and Case. I can get the GPU RONOTHAN## recommended (plus its a NVIDIA so that's GREAT). If anyone has any other recommendations, please let me know. 

Question: So all ATX Motherboards will fit all ATX Cases? (Its a dumb question but I wanna make sure.)

 

If replacing PC:

I need to sell my PC via Craiglist or FB. If I can sell it for around $400 and add that with the $600, then that puts me at $1000. But! If I finally part with my MacBook then that adds $800. It’ll give me more options for a new PC.

Question: With the potentially new budget, am I better off selling my PC and MacBook for a new PC?

 

[RONOTHAN##]

5 hours ago, Punccino said:

Question: So all ATX Motherboards will fit all ATX Cases? (Its a dumb question but I wanna make sure.)

Yeah, as long as it's not EATX or anything like that it'll fit. Make sure the screw hole spacing is correct on that board first though, pre-built manufacturers are pretty bad about using weird standards like BTX. 

 

5 hours ago, Punccino said:

With the potentially new budget, am I better off selling my PC and MacBook for a new PC?

You can get a very nice system for the ~$1800, basically top of the line. If that's an option I would definitely look into it. 

 

Also make sure to quote or @RONOTHAN## so we get a notification, I just happened to still have this tab open. 

[venomtail]

A fun build. Here's what I could come up with: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/h2P4gb

 

I assume that the best thing to do is scavenge parts from you current PC and reuse them in a new one. I'd not hassle with OEM compatibilities. I'm not even ready for the task let alone someone who's never built their own PC from scratch. This is with your $600 not with the extra you could get by selling the old OEM PC and its parts.

• I've marked down that we're reusing your CPU, 16GB of RAM and your SSD. RAM we can double leaving you with a very health 32GB of it.
• I've sacrificed your case for a cheaper one, this leaves us with some $60 we can spend on an extra drive. I've put in a slower 1TB M.2 that should be enough. I'm satisfied with my SATA SSD's so something faster than them should be fine. You're free to choose tho, either a 2-4TB HDD, this 1TB B+M M.2 or 500GB~ M M.2 which will be faster. Still leaving you with 1TB of total storage which is healthy. Use your existing 512GB SSD as boot and 1TB for all your applications and games.
• From my calculations 550W should be enough for your system. Picked a high quality PSU, but if you're willing to spend a bit more on electricity long-term u can swap out for a bronze saving you some $20 short-term you can spend on something else, like more storage. 
• 6500XT should be more than enough for light casual games. Cheap and not a power hog. 1050TI is not worth it one bit and nothing cheap exists from NVIDIA anymore...  
• Can't say much about the motherboard combination. I struggle with the backwards compatibility so I'd love if someone else who knows better than me can verify that my motherboard choice is not flawed.

[Punccino]

Thank you @RONOTHAN## for this tip! Didn’t know I could that. And to give my proper thanks...

Thank you @Ryuikko and @Jorgemeister for the feedback!

 

38 minutes ago, venomtail said:

A fun build. Here's what I could come up with: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/h2P4gb

 

I assume that the best thing to do is scavenge parts from you current PC and reuse them in a new one. I'd not hassle with OEM compatibilities. I'm not even ready for the task let alone someone who's never built their own PC from scratch. This is with your $600 not with the extra you could get by selling the old OEM PC and its parts.

• I've marked down that we're reusing your CPU, 16GB of RAM and your SSD. RAM we can double leaving you with a very health 32GB of it.
• I've sacrificed your case for a cheaper one, this leaves us with some $60 we can spend on an extra drive. I've put in a slower 1TB M.2 that should be enough. I'm satisfied with my SATA SSD's so something faster than them should be fine. You're free to choose tho, either a 2-4TB HDD, this 1TB B+M M.2 or 500GB~ M M.2 which will be faster. Still leaving you with 1TB of total storage which is healthy. Use your existing 512GB SSD as boot and 1TB for all your applications and games.
• From my calculations 550W should be enough for your system. Picked a high quality PSU, but if you're willing to spend a bit more on electricity long-term u can swap out for a bronze saving you some $20 short-term you can spend on something else, like more storage. 
• 6500XT should be more than enough for light casual games. Cheap and not a power hog. 1050TI is not worth it one bit and nothing cheap exists from NVIDIA anymore...  
• Can't say much about the motherboard combination. I struggle with the backwards compatibility so I'd love if someone else who knows better than me can verify that my motherboard choice is not flawed.

Case: I appreciate you for finding a cheaper case! Now I can see inside  and as long as the airflow is efficient, I’m all for it. 

RAM: I can mix RAM Brands? The brand in my PC is ADATA (I believe). 

PSU: I’d like to get a high quality PSU. This way when I upgrade again I can, hopefully, reuse it.

Graphics Card: Would this be powerful enough to handle Unreal Engine 5? It being able to handle light games is great. I just really need it to handle the power of my softwares. 

Motherboard: These are the most confusing parts of PC building. Extra thoughts would be really nice!

Also, thank you for the build recommendation!

[Jorgemeister]

19 hours ago, Punccino said:

Thank you everyone for the feedback! So to recap...

 

If keeping PC:

I need to upgrade my GPU and PSU. Most likely need to buy a new case. Within the $600 limit I can afford a PSU, GPU, and Case. I can get the GPU RONOTHAN## recommended (plus its a NVIDIA so that's GREAT). If anyone has any other recommendations, please let me know. 

Question: So all ATX Motherboards will fit all ATX Cases? (Its a dumb question but I wanna make sure.)

 

If replacing PC:

I need to sell my PC via Craiglist or FB. If I can sell it for around $400 and add that with the $600, then that puts me at $1000. But! If I finally part with my MacBook then that adds $800. It’ll give me more options for a new PC.

Question: With the potentially new budget, am I better off selling my PC and MacBook for a new PC?

 

 

Option 1: you can have a decent PC and keep your laptop

 

Option 2: you can have some impressive gaming PC that could last you many years without upgrades

 

Your choice really. 

 

 

[venomtail]

5 hours ago, Punccino said:

Thank you @RONOTHAN## for this tip! Didn’t know I could that. And to give my proper thanks...

Thank you @Ryuikko and @Jorgemeister for the feedback!

 

Case: I appreciate you for finding a cheaper case! Now I can see inside  and as long as the airflow is efficient, I’m all for it. 

RAM: I can mix RAM Brands? The brand in my PC is ADATA (I believe). 

PSU: I’d like to get a high quality PSU. This way when I upgrade again I can, hopefully, reuse it.

Graphics Card: Would this be powerful enough to handle Unreal Engine 5? It being able to handle light games is great. I just really need it to handle the power of my softwares. 

Motherboard: These are the most confusing parts of PC building. Extra thoughts would be really nice!

Also, thank you for the build recommendation!

I can't see why having ram sticks from 2 different brands shouldn't be possible as long as they're the same in specs. It might just look weird, try and find the exact ones you already have. Remember, all ram sticks are set to the lowest common denominator.

PSU: I've selected a "high quality" PSU. Good efficiency, brand and warranty. If what you mean by upgrading in the future, you most likely mean the capacity not the quality of the PSU. Then you might need a PSU with more capacity, something like 800W not the 550W I've selected. You could in short term skip the extra RAM, stick with 16GB for a while and spend the spare $50 for a more powerful PSU. Or since the 550W is already good quality, when the time comes to upgrade, you can sell the 550W as it should keep it value fairly well and get yourself something bigger.

GPU: Handling UE5 is a huge spectrum of requirements. A 6500XT will be able to run some indie game or a personal project but nothing "professional." The next Cysis 4, probably not. As for other software, you'll need to do research yourself as it's a case by case basis, here, software by software. That even sometimes this isn't enough as I have a Radeon bug with my Vegas 14 where I don't get GPU rendering for some reason so no luck

Motherboard: They're pretty simple, just look for the features that you need and most of the time go for the cheapest one that ticks all those boxes. Just the annoyance with some AM4 motherboards and their backwards compatability. There's a small chance that older boards that might still be old BIOS that doesn't support latest Ryzens. In that case you need a spare CPU to update the board with, in which case you won't have a spare one. Just about all new boards been sold should be on the latest stuff but you never know, maybe some motherboard's been laying around a warehouse for the last 1-2 years being unsold. That's how I've understood the situation.

[Punccino]

@Jorgemeister @venomtail

I appreciate the responses! I think I'll go with the "upgrade my PC" route. Now If I get that motherboard, will I lose my OS?  Or is the OS stored in the SSD? I currently have Windows 10.

[Jorgemeister]

51 minutes ago, Punccino said:

@Jorgemeister @venomtail

I appreciate the responses! I think I'll go with the "upgrade my PC" route. Now If I get that motherboard, will I lose my OS?  Or is the OS stored in the SSD? I currently have Windows 10.

 

Althought it is recomended to make a new install, Windows 10 or 11 seems to be very lenient with that, I recently just swapped a drive from a system to another and it boot like nothing happened.

 

In your case you will use the same motherboard, drive, RAM, CPU, I dont think you will have any probelm with windows.

 

So what is it gonna be, replacing the case? I dont know if a GPU and full PSU fits in yours, what brand is it?

[Punccino]

46 minutes ago, Jorgemeister said:

 

Althought it is recomended to make a new install, Windows 10 or 11 seems to be very lenient with that, I recently just swapped a drive from a system to another and it boot like nothing happened.

 

In your case you will use the same motherboard, drive, RAM, CPU, I dont think you will have any probelm with windows.

 

So what is it gonna be, replacing the case? I dont know if a GPU and full PSU fits in yours, what brand is it?

Good to know all I have to do is switch the SSD. I feared having to spend $100+ for Windows... As in what brand is the case? All I know is that its an HP. I'll put a link to a computer the same as mine just not the same specs.

 

I did some looking around and I really like this case. If I don't need a new motherboard then I want this case! Also, doesn't a motherboard have a limit? As in, do I have to be careful how much memory the GPU has? I need a GPU with at least 8GB.

 

PC Link: https://www.newegg.com/hp-m01-f1224-business-desktops-workstations/p/1VK-001E-4DR05

Case Link: https://www.newegg.com/black-phanteks-eclipse-p360a-atx-mid-tower/p/N82E16811854103?Item=N82E16811854103&nm_mc=AFC-RAN-COM&cm_mmc=AFC-RAN-COM&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-PCPartPicker&AFFID=2558510&AFFNAME=PCPartPicker&ACRID=1&ASID=https%3a%2f%2fpcpartpicker.com%2f&ranMID=44583&ranEAID=2558510&ranSiteID=8BacdVP0GFs-Txaxxgf4jsUZ5Tvuh4fxRA

[venomtail]

8 hours ago, Punccino said:

Good to know all I have to do is switch the SSD. I feared having to spend $100+ for Windows... As in what brand is the case? All I know is that its an HP. I'll put a link to a computer the same as mine just not the same specs.

Just keeping the SSD will do the trick. Nothing gets wiped if it's put into a new PC.

Last I remember a Basic Win 10 install is free, you just have a watermark at the bottom of your screen. Didn't bother me for some 4 years until I have to screen record and it'd get annoying then when you'd see it in the videos. You can scavenge Ebay and find some keys for $5 but often they won't work, or go to a reseller that sells windows keys for like $20~

[Punccino]

@venomtailFinding a Windows key sounds useful! I'll look for one for future uses.

Now, with me going the upgrade route, i just need a case, GPU, and PSU. What do you think of the items I selected? I'm also asking for feedback on which GPU I should get. A minimum of 8 GB is fine, but not sure if it's worth getting the 12 GB GPU now.

 

 

[venomtail]

I am biased towards low end stuff. I don't keep track of latest NVIDIA cards. I can run every game I want with high-max graphics on the already somewhat dated 5600XT, which was a budget card itself slower than the ones you are considering. You'll be perfectly fine with a 3050 for years to come. 

 

For cases, pick something with good airflow and even better usability design. I'd pay the premium so I don't have to dread opening the case anything I need to upgrade something or merely clean out all the dust. That being said, I have weird priorities. Out of all of my friends, I am the only one who's spent more than $30 on a case ($150 NZXT Manta). At least my case isn't filled with toilet paper and carboard to balance the case and make it not rattle  

 

When it comes to PSU's get something reputable. Google is letting me down and I can't find the 2022 list, but here I've linked an older, similar thread of this discussion. Find a PSU ranked well that's within your budget and you are good to go.

 

[Punccino]

39 minutes ago, venomtail said:

I am biased towards low end stuff. I don't keep track of latest NVIDIA cards. I can run every game I want with high-max graphics on the already somewhat dated 5600XT, which was a budget card itself slower than the ones you are considering. You'll be perfectly fine with a 3050 for years to come. 

 

For cases, pick something with good airflow and even better usability design. I'd pay the premium so I don't have to dread opening the case anything I need to upgrade something or merely clean out all the dust. That being said, I have weird priorities. Out of all of my friends, I am the only one who's spent more than $30 on a case ($150 NZXT Manta). At least my case isn't filled with toilet paper and carboard to balance the case and make it not rattle  

 

When it comes to PSU's get something reputable. Google is letting me down and I can't find the 2022 list, but here I've linked an older, similar thread of this discussion. Find a PSU ranked well that's within your budget and you are good to go.

 

Thank you so much! Glad the 3050 will last for some time (and it's cheaper)! 

I take it that the case I picked out doesn't have good airflow. How do I determine if a case has good airflow? Is this one better? https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16811445002?Item=N82E16811445002

For the PSU, is it bad to go off of ratings? I picked it because of the good ratings it had. I'll take  look through this PSU link you provided.

[Ryuikko]

2 hours ago, Punccino said:

I take it that the case I picked out doesn't have good airflow. How do I determine if a case has good airflow? Is this one better? 

Really airflow is just determines by how much of the front panel is mesh in relation to exhaust. It seems that the case you listed previously has a solid front panel and the one you listed now has a little bit of mesh opening so it'll do better at least. It's not necessarily bad go go of psu ratings, but I'd rather go off of the psu teirlist posted above.

[Jorgemeister]

18 hours ago, Punccino said:

Good to know all I have to do is switch the SSD. I feared having to spend $100+ for Windows... As in what brand is the case? All I know is that its an HP. I'll put a link to a computer the same as mine just not the same specs.

 

I did some looking around and I really like this case. If I don't need a new motherboard then I want this case! Also, doesn't a motherboard have a limit? As in, do I have to be careful how much memory the GPU has? I need a GPU with at least 8GB.

 

PC Link: https://www.newegg.com/hp-m01-f1224-business-desktops-workstations/p/1VK-001E-4DR05

Case Link: https://www.newegg.com/black-phanteks-eclipse-p360a-atx-mid-tower/p/N82E16811854103?Item=N82E16811854103&nm_mc=AFC-RAN-COM&cm_mmc=AFC-RAN-COM&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-PCPartPicker&AFFID=2558510&AFFNAME=PCPartPicker&ACRID=1&ASID=https%3a%2f%2fpcpartpicker.com%2f&ranMID=44583&ranEAID=2558510&ranSiteID=8BacdVP0GFs-Txaxxgf4jsUZ5Tvuh4fxRA

 

You are planing to get a ne Motherboard as well? because as per this discussion I found, that one isnt standard ATX 

 

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/replace-proprietary-hp-psu.3402642/ (in the comments someone mentioned your model)

 

Id advise you to watch videos regarding that PC, I found some tear downs but cant watch them at the time. 

[Punccino]

@Ryuikko @Jorgemeister

Thank you for the insight on cases and the heads up on the motherboard. I did the extra research on my computer. I think I'll be better off selling it (keeping the SSD of course ) and building a new one. How scary... but exciting!

 

Time for a change in plans! If I can get some feedback on this list, that'd be great.

New Budget: $1,100 - $1,200

Adding on this case should put me close to $1,100. I tend to overestimate prices just to be on the safe side.

I'm prioritizing airflow now, so if anyone has a batter case in mind let me know. Case: https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16811445002?Item=N82E16811445002