Quarterly Upgrade Plan- Is it reasonable?

[okkee]

Budget (including currency): $500

Country: Botswana

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Light gaming at 1080p. Older AAA titles like BF1, BFV and less demanding newer games like the System Shock remakes, Fifa, NBA 2k.

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): Currently sitting with an i5-4590 on a Dell 040DDP motherboard. Motherboard supports ddr3 ram. max 16gb, at 1600mhz (non ecc, unbufferes), has 1 pciex16 slot at  pcie 2.0 and 3 pciex1 slots. Right now, I have 8gb RAM and a 500gb HDD. This is essentially an Optiplex 3020. Also has a 295W psu. And no dGPU. It's running Intel HD 4600 right now.

 

This is not going to perform all that well, i know, but i don't think it'll be too unreasonable for the tasks at hand. The plan is to upgrade singular components on a quarterly basis, every four months. The timeframe allows be to actually save up the cash, make proper preparations and assess deals and prices. or at least that's my reasoning.

 

• First upgrade will have to be the RAM. It's a pretty easy and quick upgrade and doesn't need any additional parts. Motherboard limits me to 16gb and so 2x8gb ddr3 sticks should do. 
• Second upgrade  will be storage. Ideally, an ssd/hdd upgrade. Adding a 120gb ssd  to act as the boot drive and then pairing with a 1tb hdd would really be the best outcome but just adding the ssd  is  good enough. i still have the 500gb hdd.
• Third and Fourth upgrades are something i'm  still debating. These would be the gpu and the psu. Initially, the 8-pin ATX power connector scared  me  away from the thought of upgrading the psu but seeing adapters readily available on ebay changed my mind. Currently still undecided on whether to upgrade the psu first and then get a 5600 or a 6500xt or something or just get  a bus powered card and stick it out with my 295W psu.

Additional Upgrades include pcie wifi/bluetooth adapter, pcie to usb 3.0 20 pin.

 

Really the question is if this is reasonable. If all goes well, i should have a pretty decent low end system come January/February 2024 but is it worth it?

[Lurking]

I wouldn't put any money in an old DDR 3 platform that also won't be able to use Windows 11 (W10 EOL is in October 2025). Better save up for a new platform or a whole new PC with case, PSU in your case. I would say that even if it would have been a nice DIY system at the time (which it isn't)

 

I don't know that case, but Dell cases typically don't have anything I would call cooling. Between ant and the PSU, any high-power hardware is out anyway. In addition, much of Dell is proprietary (PSU/MB/Case).

 

You could get an AM4 6-core, good 16GB RAM, really good PSU and decent case for $500. Then add whatever GPU makes sense and that thing would run circles around what your current system ever can do. Save up for that or what other people, who have much more gaming knowledge than I, suggest.

[brob]

It would be better to save up until there is enough to complete all your desired upgrades. Then re-evaluate the situation.

[okkee]

7 hours ago, Lurking said:

I wouldn't put any money in an old DDR 3 platform that also won't be able to use Windows 11 (W10 EOL is in October 2025). Better save up for a new platform or a whole new PC with case, PSU in your case. I would say that even if it would have been a nice DIY system at the time (which it isn't)

 

I don't know that case, but Dell cases typically don't have anything I would call cooling. Between ant and the PSU, any high-power hardware is out anyway. In addition, much of Dell is proprietary (PSU/MB/Case).

 

You could get an AM4 6-core, good 16GB RAM, really good PSU and decent case for $500. Then add whatever GPU makes sense and that thing would run circles around what your current system ever can do. Save up for that or what other people, who have much more gaming knowledge than I, suggest.

Unfortunately living in a corner of the world with a not very great pc market. Buying online is also not good cause shipping and customs is pretty steep. Luckily (or luckily) it's a 3020 in a new case, so it's only the motherboard and psu that are proprietary. and really, upgrading over buying a whole  new setup makes a lot more sense right now,  considering that the going rate for an 8th gen i5 is about $700. Not really bothered by lack  of win11 or win10 eol tbh. As  long as it runs older  titles at1080p i'll probably be happy.

[okkee]

8 hours ago, brob said:

It would be better to save up until there is enough to complete all your desired upgrades. Then re-evaluate the situation.

that's another option but i really don't have the patience to wait a whole year. 

[Lurking]

7 hours ago, okkee said:

Unfortunately living in a corner of the world with a not very great pc market. Buying online is also not good cause shipping and customs is pretty steep. Luckily (or luckily) it's a 3020 in a new case, so it's only the motherboard and psu that are proprietary. and really, upgrading over buying a whole  new setup makes a lot more sense right now,  considering that the going rate for an 8th gen i5 is about $700. Not really bothered by lack  of win11 or win10 eol tbh. As  long as it runs older  titles at1080p i'll probably be happy.

I didn't realize the location... But I assume the high cost (tariff, shipping?) also will apply to new old-stock hardware. Maybe you can scavenge some older parts, which depends on the local market. Even here in the US we have tariff on items from china (and probably elsewhere). Populists politicians claim the country of origin pays them, which is BS. Of course, the population buying those items ultimately pays the tariff. 

 

I personally also wouldn't care about W10 EOL, especially on older hardware. but it will be come a security risk. But you have 2.5 more years