PC Upgrade Help

[Imnotcarter]

Budget (including currency): <$1250usd

Country: U.S.A. Ar.

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Cities: Skylines/C:S2, Planet Coaster 2, KSP (Tons of Mods), Fallout 4 (Heavy on Mods Too), School Work, YT, Discord, Possibly Minor Editing

Other details: I'm looking to upgrade my pc, by just building a new one. I have a Pcpartpicker list for the build I'm planning, and would like to hear your opinions, on what is good and what isn't I also want to keep it cheap. I want a decent GPU and plenty of ram. I am planning on keeping the storage from the old build too. (hdd, and sata ssd) I'm fine with 1080p 60fps, but would hope for 144fps. I also want to play C:S and Planet Coaster 2 at medium settings and the rest at High to Ultra.

As extra, should I sell my old PC whole or for parts to help gain some money (It's and old Optiplex 9020, Nvidia Quadro K620, i7 4790, 2x 8gb ddr3 1600MHz ram)? Should I save enough to buy the whole PC, or should I sell my current one before buying it all to help pay for it? (I don't have a job yet as I'm under 16 in the U.S. but will try and do the odd job for some money)

Link to the build -> https://pcpartpicker.com/list/FXGz6Q

 

[Spring1898]

First let me commend you for taking the initiative to work and earn for your own designs.

 

It is not a bad build and nothing excessive. I would comment on the power supply being more than your needs, but the price is low enough that it does not matter. I think there may be a better bang for your buck CPU cooler

 

That said, new cards are coming out in January (or at least being announced then). So prices will start dropping on current cards and there will be better performance with the newer ones. So you have options.

 

If there is one thing I would suggest, it would be to try your best and pay a little more to get into the AM5 platform with the ryzen 7000 or 9000 series as more generations of chips will continue to be released on that platform and AM4 is ended

[thrasher_565]

looks good but the slim fans are not too good. they dont push much air.

[Imnotcarter]

1 hour ago, Spring1898 said:

it would be to try your best and pay a little more to get into the AM5 platform with the ryzen 7000 or 9000 series as more generations of chips will continue to be released on that platform and AM4 is ended

I changed it some, how do you think of it now? Any better?

[Spring1898]

The link shows the same build, you may have to repost the link

 

I also realized I mis typed in saying that there might be a better bang for the buck PSU. I was actually meaning the CPU cooler, specifically the Arctic Freezer 36, or for $10 more the peerless assassin or similar if you have enough space

[Spring1898]

Also are you near a micro center?

And what is your time frame to when you may have the full amount to purchase?

[Imnotcarter]

1 hour ago, Spring1898 said:

Also are you near a micro center?

And what is your time frame to when you may have the full amount to purchase?

I'm about 5hrs away from Dallas (The closest Micro Center), and it will probably take 1-2 years. So, I am expecting to have to change the parts list. I'll make another post when I have enough, to double-check before buying.

[BahnStormer]

For gaming, avoid the 5700 - it is only 16Mb L3 cache, so a lot slower than the 5700X.

[BahnStormer]

For a full AM4 PC for ~$1000...

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 3.4 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($149.99 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: ID-COOLING SE-214-XT ARGB 68.2 CFM CPU Cooler  ($18.98 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI B550-A PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($109.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Crucial P3 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: XFX Speedster QICK 319 Core Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card  ($499.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: Montech AIR 903 MAX ATX Mid Tower Case  ($74.98 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850e (2023) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($109.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1083.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-12-29 18:15 EST-0500

 

But let's work it around a little more and try to get you onto AM5....

[BahnStormer]

AM5, but budget is up to $1150...

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($197.93 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: ASRock B650M PG Lightning Wifi Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($88.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN580 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($59.00 @ iBUYPOWER) 
Video Card: XFX Speedster QICK 319 Core Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card  ($499.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: Montech AIR 903 MAX ATX Mid Tower Case  ($74.98 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850e (2023) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($109.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1150.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-12-29 18:17 EST-0500

 

For City Skylines - I know it will use as many cores as possible, but a 6 core AM5 will outperform an 8 core AM4 even on core-heavy workloads.

 

If your budget can stretch* to a Ryzen 7 7700, then even better....

 

*it was going over your $1250 max: CPU is $90 more, but there's no included cooler, so you'll need and $15-20 extra for an ID Cooling SE214XT or Darkrock PX4... maybe $35 for a Peerless Assassin.... they'll all work; the first two are very good value and very capable, but definitely "budget". 

[Spring1898]

It is going to take 1-2 years. This is an excellent exercise in build prep and budgeting

 

In a couple years we will have new GPU's and CPU's. But the categories and hopefully the prices will remain the same