Do I need to upgrade?

[Rakugaki-ni]

I want to start this post by saying that I wasn't entirely sure where to post this question, this seemed appropriate as it's for planning a new build.

recently I've been playing Hogwarts legacy on PC. I'm fully aware that the game has optimization issues, but it did get me thinking is it time for an upgrade?

Background information

this PC was a Christmas gift that I got a few years ago I'm not exactly sure when but the board manufacture date is in 2019 so I'm going to guess that that is around the time that I acquired this build. It's a prebuilt from ibuypower. The system has been running fine over these past few years the only real major issue is occasional blue screens for reasons that I can't figure out.

point being it's that the system has had no major issues over these past couple of years which is partially why I'm hesitant to do any sort of upgrade, I would consider myself to be technologically savvy but I figured the more information I have the better.

I couldn't really find anything in terms of specifications for the case so maybe that's also something I need to upgrade as this order was a few years ago.

hardware specs:

Motherboard: TUF Z390-PLUS GAMITUF Z390-PLUS GAMING (WI-FI)NG (WI-FI)

CPU: Intel core i7 9700KF

Ram 16GB DDR4 3300HRTz

GPU NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super

Storge:

1x SSD (boot drive) 952GB

1x HDD (Mass Storage) 1TB

 

Closing thoughts

my thoughts are that if I was to replace anything it would be to go full solid-state For my drives but also upgrade the ram. any recommendations even if it's just as simple as upgrade the drive would be useful.

Please let me know if you need any more information I'll be happy to answer questions.

[PcBeExpensive]

15 minutes ago, Rakugaki-ni said:

I want to start this post by saying that I wasn't entirely sure where to post this question, this seemed appropriate as it's for planning a new build.

recently I've been playing Hogwarts legacy on PC. I'm fully aware that the game has optimization issues, but it did get me thinking is it time for an upgrade?

Background information

this PC was a Christmas gift that I got a few years ago I'm not exactly sure when but the board manufacture date is in 2019 so I'm going to guess that that is around the time that I acquired this build. It's a prebuilt from ibuypower. The system has been running fine over these past few years the only real major issue is occasional blue screens for reasons that I can't figure out.

point being it's that the system has had no major issues over these past couple of years which is partially why I'm hesitant to do any sort of upgrade, I would consider myself to be technologically savvy but I figured the more information I have the better.

I couldn't really find anything in terms of specifications for the case so maybe that's also something I need to upgrade as this order was a few years ago.

hardware specs:

Motherboard: TUF Z390-PLUS GAMITUF Z390-PLUS GAMING (WI-FI)NG (WI-FI)

CPU: Intel core i7 9700KF

Ram 16GB DDR4 3300HRTz

GPU NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super

Storge:

1x SSD (boot drive) 952GB

1x HDD (Mass Storage) 1TB

 

Closing thoughts

my thoughts are that if I was to replace anything it would be to go full solid-state For my drives but also upgrade the ram. any recommendations even if it's just as simple as upgrade the drive would be useful.

Please let me know if you need any more information I'll be happy to answer questions.

an M.2 ssd would be a nice upgrade, GPU looks fine for now though, 2080 super is fine. CPU isnt that bad either.

[Pikatchu]

12 minutes ago, Rakugaki-ni said:

recently I've been playing Hogwarts legacy on PC. I'm fully aware that the game has optimization issues, but it did get me thinking is it time for an upgrade?

If the program is badly optimized, it will be really expensive to brute force some performance out of it.

 

For every generation of hardware, there will be new games that will bring it to its knees, even though they are from the same "generation".

Like Cyberpunk 2077, even for a 3090 it is struggling to run maxed out setting at native 2k, or lite DLSS at 4k.

 

Now, for Hogwarts Legacy specifically, I have read that this game consumes a lot of video memory (VRAM).

The only way to increase VRAM is to change your GPU, which is the most expensive part in today's gaming systems.

 

In conclusion, you may upgrade your Hard Drive to a SSD to start with. It will have less noise and generate less heat in the case, and faster speed as well, even a SATA one. Then, you may look into a GPU upgrade depending on your current allowed budget.

[PcBeExpensive]

5 minutes ago, Pikatchu said:

If the program is badly optimized, it will be really expensive to brute force some performance out of it.

 

For every generation of hardware, there will be new games that will bring it to its knees, even though they are from the same "generation".

Like Cyberpunk 2077, even for a 3090 it is struggling to run maxed out setting at native 2k, or lite DLSS at 4k.

 

Now, for Hogwarts Legacy specifically, I have read that this game consumes a lot of video memory (VRAM).

The only way to increase VRAM is to change your GPU, which is the most expensive part in today's gaming systems.

 

In conclusion, you may upgrade your Hard Drive to a SSD to start with. It will have less noise and generate less heat in the case, and faster speed as well, even a SATA one. Then, you may look into a GPU upgrade depending on your current allowed budget.

yep, well said. Though why would you get a SATA ssd? M.2 SSDs basically cost the same as a Sata ssd.

[johnno23]

you pretty much answered yourself but as a confirmation...moving to ssd M.2 is a game changer and moving from 16 to 32 GB memory will enhance overall system and be a great improvement.

[Pikatchu]

5 minutes ago, PcBeExpensive said:

yep, well said. Though why would you get a SATA ssd? M.2 SSDs basically cost the same as a Sata ssd.

Ahh, you have a point. I have been working with business machines too much, most of them do not have M.2. My first thought went to SATA storages.

[Rakugaki-ni]

So here's a follow up question, at what point do I need to start considering any major upgrades like a GPU or CPU?

 

[Mark Kaine]

all ssd is nice, more ram is nice, but none of that will improve performance significantly, unless this hogwarts game uses a lot of ram?

4 hours ago, Rakugaki-ni said:

So here's a follow up question, at what point do I need to start considering any major upgrades like a GPU or CPU?

 

when you're overall not happy with the performance 

[PcBeExpensive]

9 hours ago, Pikatchu said:

Ahh, you have a point. I have been working with business machines too much, most of them do not have M.2. My first thought went to SATA storages.

I mean, if they are older business machines then I don't expect them to have M.2 ssds because its only in the past maybe 6 months or so that the price of M.2 ssds has started to match the price of Sata Ssds

[PcBeExpensive]

7 hours ago, Rakugaki-ni said:

So here's a follow up question, at what point do I need to start considering any major upgrades like a GPU or CPU?

 

whenever you feel that your limited by your GPU or CPU.

[PcBeExpensive]

3 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

all ssd is nice, more ram is nice, but none of that will improve performance significantly, unless this hogwarts game uses a lot of ram?

when you're overall not happy with the performance 

yes, but they still make difference, RAM will definetly make a difference. Something like a M.2 SSD is just for convenience, the system is already pretty decent.

[Mark Kaine]

5 minutes ago, PcBeExpensive said:

RAM will definetly make a difference

maybe in certain tasks.

 

i mean im not sure if do i need to upgrade is really asking for more ram or ssds... OP should know if they run into ram limitations,  typical use case 16GB is just fine.  

[PcBeExpensive]

12 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

maybe in certain tasks.

 

i mean im not sure if do i need to upgrade is really asking for more ram or ssds... OP should know if they run into ram limitations,  typical use case 16GB is just fine.  

yep. But the system is fine, 2080S and i7 9th gen isnt bad at all. Ram and SSD are the small upgrades, I believe the OP is not asking about any big upgrades like CPU or GPU. What else can you upgradde. The motherboard is good too.