upgrade Upgrade Planning Help ^^

[Slania]

Budget (including currency): Variable as I'll be upgrading as I hit the budget points for my plan.

Country: Turkey

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Modern games such as CP2077, Horizon Forbidden West (once it drops to PC), Star Citizen etc.

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): 

(Copied over from my post from r/pcupgrade)

 

Current build is

• Mobo: MSI A320m Pro Max
• GPU: MSI Geforce GTX 3060 Aero ITX
• CPU: Ryzen 5 5600 (up from 2600)
• CPU Cooler: Hyper 212 Spectrum (up from stock)
• Ram: Geil 2x8gb CL15 3200 DDR4
• Storage: 480 m.2 SSD
• Storage2: 256 SATA SSD
• PSU: Corsair CX550F 550W 80+ Bronze
• Case: Just a regular ITX case with 2 120mm fans (it says Xigmatek Vanguard Plus 600W on the invoice, however the product isn't listed anymore for me to get any more details)
• Display: 1920x1080 Philips 23'' 165hz (Freesync)
• Display2: 2160x1080 LG 21.5'' 60hz 

 

I am on 1080p mainly because if I don't want to get used to better visual fidelity before being able to have the performance to match up with it. That means no monitor upgrades before a 4070 (and I'll go up to 1440p only then :3)

 

I don't have exact model numbers due to making this post while away from my PC for a while  

I am trying to plan a path to upgrades that'll keep me able to play the most recent games at least on Medium settings while keeping my things relevant.

I also don't know anything about cases, don't know how they'd affect performance or anything, so I have not planned a case upgrade at all at any point. I know I will switch to Noctua brand case fans at some point due to just liking the brand and hearing good things about it. 

 

My use case is mainly gaming alongside some 3d rendering (Actually got the 12gb 3060 over 8gb 3060ti for this reason). I don't care if a product has RGB or not, I'd prefer not if all things are same though.

 

I was thinking that I should get an ITX mobo and a 650w powersupply to prepare for the future upgrades (ryzen 7 5800x3d and a 4070 once 5000 series drops). The reason I am not waiting for an upgrade to AM5 is that I think my current motherboard is just not enough and I don't have the budget for AM5+CPU anytime soon anyway.

 

https://www.amazon.com.tr/MSI-A650GF-650W-POWER-SUPPLY/dp/B08MWCKD43/ref=sr_1_51?qid=1696838698&s=computers&sr=1-51&th=1 This is the 650W I was thinking about, as I like the MSI brand personally (not to the point of picking them over others if they offer better price for performance though)

 

https://www.amazon.com.tr/B550-Gaming-Plus-Ddr4-Usb3-2/dp/B08B4V6H3N/ref=sr_1_8?__mk_tr_TR=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&keywords=b550+itx+motherboard&qid=1696839406&s=computers&sr=1-8 and this is the Motherboard that'd go along with it.

 

Personally I don't understand much about PSU's besides knowing 80+ is good, gold is better than bronze and modular means less cables overflowing (I have no idea what MPG means though)

Same with the motherboard, I don't know what are the differences between various chipsets, I just want to have an ITX one over m-ITX because I think it looks better.

If anyone has any advice that fits similar budget constraints, I'd be happy to hear it

If I were to wait for an AM5 upgrade that'd take at least 2-3 months and even then I'd have to settle for a mid-low tier CPU. + it'd delay me getting a 4070 anytime soon.

[jaslion]

Any reason for the upgrade?

 

Like I don't see why this pc wouldn't play those games right now?

 

Except star citizen but that game is just a mess.

[bezza...]

i mean if your upgrading in a while then ask in a while because prices will change...

[Slania]

55 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Any reason for the upgrade?

 

Like I don't see why this pc wouldn't play those games right now?

 

Except star citizen but that game is just a mess.

I am just trying to plan my upgrades so I can plan my budget accordingly. It's better (imo) to have a goal of certain pieces and wait/work for favorable conditions rather than just being in a spot where you have X amount of money and you are lacking X. I agree that Star Citizen is a mess though

3 minutes ago, bezza... said:

i mean if your upgrading in a while then ask in a while because prices will change...

I am not trying to get any advice on pricing, I'm just trying to see if the parts I've picked have no outstanding problems and I am not making any mistakes. 

For example I don't know what'd be the effect of staying with AM4+ DDR4 for another set of CPU upgrades or making the switch over to AM5 + DDR5. I know the second one is more future proof, but it's also much more expensive. If AM4 + DDR4 can handle the next 3-4 years of gaming, then that'd the smarter choice for me, but I don't know if that's how the gaming industry looks like currently. 

[SorryBella]

31 minutes ago, Slania said:

I am just trying to plan my upgrades so I can plan my budget accordingly. It's better (imo) to have a goal of certain pieces and wait/work for favorable conditions

It works for long depreciation products like home but it doesn't work for short depreciation products like tech. You really should spend in a lumpsum, itll be financially better for you to a point.

[jaslion]

1 hour ago, Slania said:

I am not trying to get any advice on pricing, I'm just trying to see if the parts I've picked have no outstanding problems and I am not making any mistakes. 

For example I don't know what'd be the effect of staying with AM4+ DDR4 for another set of CPU upgrades or making the switch over to AM5 + DDR5. I know the second one is more future proof, but it's also much more expensive. If AM4 + DDR4 can handle the next 3-4 years of gaming, then that'd the smarter choice for me, but I don't know if that's how the gaming industry looks like currently. 

I mean I'd not do those upgrades because simply put the a520 you have is just about fine for a 5800x3d

[Slania]

2 hours ago, jaslion said:

I mean I'd not do those upgrades because simply put the a520 you have is just about fine for a 5800x3d

Might be a typo, or might not be (as a520 exists), I got an A320 right now.

Most I've seen online is that people claim it's a very low-end motherboard. But if it's good enough for what I have under decent workloads, I'll stay with it for now until I can spare enough budget to make the switch over to AM5 and maybe even DDR5

[jaslion]

17 minutes ago, Slania said:

Might be a typo, or might not be (as a520 exists), I got an A320 right now.

Most I've seen online is that people claim it's a very low-end motherboard. But if it's good enough for what I have under decent workloads, I'll stay with it for now until I can spare enough budget to make the switch over to AM5 and maybe even DDR5

Oh yeah but also id just skip the upgrades and keep going as you legit can play the games as is well and a 5800x3d with a 3060 will not give you anything extra