Upgrading my PC

[Sirmonas_]

Budget (including currency): 250£

Country: England

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Rust, Forza Horizon 5, League of Legends, CS:GO, Civilization 6 etc.

Other details: I currently have a ryzen 2600 on a tuf b450-plus motherboard, rx 570 4gb, 16gb ram at 3000mhz cl16, 500W 80+ EVGA PSU, 250gb ssd 1tb hdd. Dual 1080p displays one at 75hz and the main at 144hz

I was wondering what i should upgrade, i found on amazon a 5600 for 138£ which seems a good deal, but im not sure what i should upgrade first for the kinds of games i play, i also saw a 5700xt for 220£ used and 6600s for roughly the same price or a tiny bit higher.

 

[Herman Mcpootis]

Get the 5700XT or 6600 first, sell the 570 and save up a bit more for a 5600 or 5800X3D in the future.

[Sirmonas_]

6 minutes ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

Get the 5700XT or 6600 first, sell the 570 and save up a bit more for a 5600 or 5800X3D in the future.

i was told rust which is currently my main game is more cpu intensive, i also play league which is basically a cpu only game from what i heard aswell would that change the order in which i should get the upgrades?

[Herman Mcpootis]

Just now, Sirmonas_ said:

i was told rust which is currently my main game is more cpu intensive, would that change the order in which i should get the upgrades?

With a 570 I doubt you'd really notice the difference with just a CPU upgrade alone, a GPU upgrade would be much better.

[Queen Chrysalis]

7 minutes ago, Sirmonas_ said:

i was told rust which is currently my main game is more cpu intensive, i also play league which is basically a cpu only game from what i heard aswell would that change the order in which i should get the upgrades?

Yeah there CPU intensive, but 12 threads is more than enough (League isn't intense on anything, it's just more CPU intense than GPU intense, but it's relatively easy on both).  The speed of those threads is average, but really that doesn't matter until you are using a much, much faster GPU.  There's a reason that CPU benchmarking usually requires the fastest GPU on the market running at 720p.  With the 570, you could get a 13900k and your framerate would be unchanged.  Upgrading your GPU to a 5700xt or 6600 would more than double your framerate immediately.  The 6600 is usually a bit more expensive, but it uses a lot less power, though it has a smaller memory bus which is really only an issue at 4k.  Neither of those GPUs are bottlenecked by a 2600, even in those games.

[Sirmonas_]

1 hour ago, Queen Chrysalis said:

Yeah there CPU intensive, but 12 threads is more than enough (League isn't intense on anything, it's just more CPU intense than GPU intense, but it's relatively easy on both).  The speed of those threads is average, but really that doesn't matter until you are using a much, much faster GPU.  There's a reason that CPU benchmarking usually requires the fastest GPU on the market running at 720p.  With the 570, you could get a 13900k and your framerate would be unchanged.  Upgrading your GPU to a 5700xt or 6600 would more than double your framerate immediately.  The 6600 is usually a bit more expensive, but it uses a lot less power, though it has a smaller memory bus which is really only an issue at 4k.  Neither of those GPUs are bottlenecked by a 2600, even in those games.

given the budget of around 200-250£ would you recommend the 6600 or the 5700xt? 

[Queen Chrysalis]

18 minutes ago, Sirmonas_ said:

given the budget of around 200-250£ would you recommend the 6600 or the 5700xt? 

6600.  It’s way newer so less likely to be a mess under the heatsink.  A lot of eBay GPUs are totally fine, but often you’ll find an oily mess where the thermal pads should be, and then you gotta drop $20 and a couple hours of your time on making it new again (unlikely but it happens sometimes).

 

But you could probably find a 6600xt for that budget.  I’d say, the 6600 is worth about 25 pounds more than the 5700xt, and the 6600xt is worth about 40 pounds more than the 6600.

[Sirmonas_]

17 hours ago, Queen Chrysalis said:

6600.  It’s way newer so less likely to be a mess under the heatsink.  A lot of eBay GPUs are totally fine, but often you’ll find an oily mess where the thermal pads should be, and then you gotta drop $20 and a couple hours of your time on making it new again (unlikely but it happens sometimes).

 

But you could probably find a 6600xt for that budget.  I’d say, the 6600 is worth about 25 pounds more than the 5700xt, and the 6600xt is worth about 40 pounds more than the 6600.

tbh im kinda scared of buying used, i know that most likely im gonna 0 issues, but i just keep thinking like, what if i do have an issue? its just wasted money because i cant complain to a company and ask for warranty or something, so i usually buy new, but i'm either bad a researching or prices seem like a huge mess here in the uk and i cant find a website that i think is reputable with prices within the 200-250£, the only reason i considered the 5700xt is because it was sold by CEX, which is a used store but they offer a 2 year warranty.

[Queen Chrysalis]

44 minutes ago, Sirmonas_ said:

tbh im kinda scared of buying used, i know that most likely im gonna 0 issues, but i just keep thinking like, what if i do have an issue? its just wasted money because i cant complain to a company and ask for warranty or something, so i usually buy new, but i'm either bad a researching or prices seem like a huge mess here in the uk and i cant find a website that i think is reputable with prices within the 200-250£, the only reason i considered the 5700xt is because it was sold by CEX, which is a used store but they offer a 2 year warranty.

Sure, but warranties are short anyway.  The 6600 and 6600xt are less than a year old.  The chips last decades.  Some cards die young but you can usually trace it to some kind of issue with power or misuse.  If you buy on eNay and it doesn’t work on arrival, you get your money back.  If it works, realistically, it’s good as new.  If something were wrong with it you’d be able to tell immediately.  After two years a new card’s warranty is up anyway, and you’d probably have a GPU a lot longer than that.  

[Sirmonas_]

3 hours ago, Queen Chrysalis said:

Sure, but warranties are short anyway.  The 6600 and 6600xt are less than a year old.  The chips last decades.  Some cards die young but you can usually trace it to some kind of issue with power or misuse.  If you buy on eNay and it doesn’t work on arrival, you get your money back.  If it works, realistically, it’s good as new.  If something were wrong with it you’d be able to tell immediately.  After two years a new card’s warranty is up anyway, and you’d probably have a GPU a lot longer than that.  

I currently have this gpu for around 3 years now, im only upgrading because i got a small bonus and decided why not, otherwise yeah i'd trust it to live for another 3 easily without any issues, but thats what i most scared of, getting a faulty gpu, but not realizing untl it is too late, or getting a mining card and the memory on it being completely dead, the 2 years warranty kind of gives me a sort of safety that after 6 months if i realise, "oh the memory is bust" i can just call them up and i'll get my money back or a replacement card, i've also never bought anything on ebay and have no idea how the buyer protection stuff works here in the uk

on ebay here im seeing them go for between 240£ and 270£, which is a pretty good deal i have to be honest, im just scared of taking that jump, what tips would you give me to make sure i have the best chance of getting a good card

[Queen Chrysalis]

11 hours ago, Sirmonas_ said:

I currently have this gpu for around 3 years now, im only upgrading because i got a small bonus and decided why not, otherwise yeah i'd trust it to live for another 3 easily without any issues, but thats what i most scared of, getting a faulty gpu, but not realizing untl it is too late, or getting a mining card and the memory on it being completely dead, the 2 years warranty kind of gives me a sort of safety that after 6 months if i realise, "oh the memory is bust" i can just call them up and i'll get my money back or a replacement card, i've also never bought anything on ebay and have no idea how the buyer protection stuff works here in the uk

on ebay here im seeing them go for between 240£ and 270£, which is a pretty good deal i have to be honest, im just scared of taking that jump, what tips would you give me to make sure i have the best chance of getting a good card

Honestly, mining cards are usually better taken care of than gaming cards:

• Lower voltage.
• Lower heat spikes.
• Somewhat professional approach to handling (usually).

But miners were not interested in the 6600 or 6600xt.  They came out in January, didn't mine well for their release price, and most of them were limited stock on release, and were likely made sometime last spring or summer.  You may even be able to swing a purchase receipt from the original seller if you buy from craigslist or facebook marketplace and get the warranty anyway.  A good deal may not even be used, but are being resold new in box by unsuccessful scalpers (at least that was the case this summer and fall).

 

But the other thing is, eBay has the buyer protection (not sure how long, but long enough to inspect in upon receipt).  If you wanted to ensure the GPU was fine, upon receiving it you should:

• Record yourself using your system normally.
• Install the GPU with a fresh installation of windows and run a benchmark (userbenchmark is usually pretty good for checking the relative performance of a GPU against other models of the same GPU).  Record this.
• If it benches well, 99.99% of the time you are fine.  The card works and it will continue to work for a very long time.
• If it benches poorly, ensure the fans are plugged in and/or that it is clean under the heatsink.   With an rx 6600xt or 6600, these cards are too young to be dirty under there, so highly unlikely that's an issue. 
• If it benches very poorly or does not work, submit a claim with eBay buyer protection and you'll get your money back.  You don;t need the recordigs for this, they'll still favor the buyer every time, but the recordings would be a good insurance against a shady seller.  But frankly, people who sell GPUs on eBay won't sell dead ones as working because they know it will kill their feedback score and they'll waste a bunch or money on shipping.
• READ THE ENTIRE ITEM DESCRIPTION.
• DO NOT BUY FROM SELLERS OUTSIDE YOUR COUNTRY.

[Sirmonas_]

3 hours ago, Queen Chrysalis said:

Honestly, mining cards are usually better taken care of than gaming cards:

• Lower voltage.
• Lower heat spikes.
• Somewhat professional approach to handling (usually).

But miners were not interested in the 6600 or 6600xt.  They came out in January, didn't mine well for their release price, and most of them were limited stock on release, and were likely made sometime last spring or summer.  You may even be able to swing a purchase receipt from the original seller if you buy from craigslist or facebook marketplace and get the warranty anyway.  A good deal may not even be used, but are being resold new in box by unsuccessful scalpers (at least that was the case this summer and fall).

 

But the other thing is, eBay has the buyer protection (not sure how long, but long enough to inspect in upon receipt).  If you wanted to ensure the GPU was fine, upon receiving it you should:

• Record yourself using your system normally.
• Install the GPU with a fresh installation of windows and run a benchmark (userbenchmark is usually pretty good for checking the relative performance of a GPU against other models of the same GPU).  Record this.
• If it benches well, 99.99% of the time you are fine.  The card works and it will continue to work for a very long time.
• If it benches poorly, ensure the fans are plugged in and/or that it is clean under the heatsink.   With an rx 6600xt or 6600, these cards are too young to be dirty under there, so highly unlikely that's an issue. 
• If it benches very poorly or does not work, submit a claim with eBay buyer protection and you'll get your money back.  You don;t need the recordigs for this, they'll still favor the buyer every time, but the recordings would be a good insurance against a shady seller.  But frankly, people who sell GPUs on eBay won't sell dead ones as working because they know it will kill their feedback score and they'll waste a bunch or money on shipping.
• READ THE ENTIRE ITEM DESCRIPTION.
• DO NOT BUY FROM SELLERS OUTSIDE YOUR COUNTRY.

Thank you so much for the detailed help, i just have one last question, what should i look for in a ebay listing i've never bought anything there so if theres particular things i should look for in a seller and/or descriptions i'd love if you had some tips

[Queen Chrysalis]

2 hours ago, Sirmonas_ said:

Thank you so much for the detailed help, i just have one last question, what should i look for in a ebay listing i've never bought anything there so if theres particular things i should look for in a seller and/or descriptions i'd love if you had some tips

Things to look for:

• Look at the seller.  The more feedback they have, the less likely they are to be scammer.  Users with only 1 or 2 listing may be playing games with you.  Users with many listings have more to lose so they will almost always be as honest as possible.
• Filter your search results to include 'US SELLERS ONLY'.  This option will be towards the bottom of the page on the left.
• When you see a listing as a search result, be sure to filter the conditions to include only:
  • New 
  • Open Box
  • Refurbished
  • Used
• Do not buy a GPU listed as 'Parts Only'.  These are the broken ones people are selling for parts or repair.
• You can filter by 'buy it now' if you want to buy an item and be on your way.  Sort by price 'lowest to highest'.
• If a 'Buy it Now' listing has a price that is way too low, be suspicious.  READ THE ENTIRE ITEM DESCRIPTION.
• You can sort auction listings by 'ending soonest' and add items to your watchlist if you want to try to get a really good deal.  If an items bid is way under value, you may be able to get a steal on it by watching the auction, preparing a bid with about 1 minute remaining, and submitting a bid with about 3-8 seconds remaining.  By doing this, I got my Husbands Red Devil 6700xt for $370 when they were going for about $650 new, and I got my 5700xt for $150 when they were about $300 new.  This works best for auctions that are ending very late at night.
• The max bid you submit is not necessarily what you will pay.  It is the most you are willing to pay.  If the current bid on a GPU is $150, and you submit a max bid of $200, it will raise the bid to $151, and compare the max id of others until the bid reaches a price where only one bidders max bid exceeds the current bid.  For example, if my max bid was $200, and the next highest bidder's max bid was $160, I would win the item for $161.  
• This is why it's good to set your max bid as the most you'd be willing to pay, because you likely won't pay that exact price, but if you underbid you may not win the item.  If the bid was $150, and I set my max bid as $160, and another bidder set it to $165, they would win the item for $161 and I would get nothing, tut if my max bid was $180, I would get the item for $166.  It's also good to wait to submit your bid until the last possible moment, that way other bidders cannot increase their max bid to beat you out.
• Or if this sounds like too much work, just go for a 'Buy it Now' listing.  Sometimes users will entertain 'Buy it Now' offers, and you might be able to get a good deal this way.

READ THE ENTIRE ITEM DESCRIPTION.

 

DO NOT BUY FROM SELLERS OUTSIDE YOUR COUNTRY.  NOT EVEN FROM CANADA.

[Sirmonas_]

Okay thank you, im from England so i'll just assume you mean to look for england only deals, in the images is there anything particular im looking for?

[Queen Chrysalis]

Just now, Sirmonas_ said:

Okay thank you, im from England so i'll just assume you mean to look for england only deals, in the images is there anything particular im looking for?

Yes (sorry I confused you with another user, it would be 'UK SELLERS ONLY'), and not really.  Obvious things like broken fans and missing pins would render the GPU obviously 'parts only'.  Though broken fans IMO are actually a good deal if you are willing to zip-tie regular 120mm fans onto the radiator, as this usually leads to better temps, quiter operation, and a way lower purchase price.

 

Usually, having photos that look like they were taken by the seller as opposed to only having stock images lends to reliability of the seller being legitimate.

[Sirmonas_]

6 minutes ago, Queen Chrysalis said:

Yes (sorry I confused you with another user, it would be 'UK SELLERS ONLY'), and not really.  Obvious things like broken fans and missing pins would render the GPU obviously 'parts only'.  Though broken fans IMO are actually a good deal if you are willing to zip-tie regular 120mm fans onto the radiator, as this usually leads to better temps, quiter operation, and a way lower purchase price.

 

Usually, having photos that look like they were taken by the seller as opposed to only having stock images lends to reliability of the seller being legitimate.

Thank you very much, since they are around 230-250£, should i look for maybe a 20 series RTX card? or is the 6600xt a better option for that price range.

[Queen Chrysalis]

6 minutes ago, Sirmonas_ said:

Thank you very much, since they are around 230-250£, should i look for maybe a 20 series RTX card? or is the 6600xt a better option for that price range.

The 6600xt is a lot faster than the 2060.  It's faster than the 2070, and it's slightly faster than the 2070 super while using less power than any of them.  A 2080 is faster but is likely much more expensive.  

[Sirmonas_]

thank you so much, i will take your tips and do my best to find a good deal, you are a godsent