upgrade HELP WITH UPGRADING!

[pupueys]

Hey guys, I wanted to upgrade my PC but am very unsure with where to go from here. So far, I have a 

CPU: Ryzen 5 5600X

GPU: RX 580 8GB ()

RAM: 2 X 8GB 3200MHz DDR4 RAM

MoBo: ROG STRIX B550-F 

CPU Cooler: Corsair AIO w/ 120mm rad

PSU: EVGA 650W 80+ Gold 

 

Note: I want to game at 1440P 144Hz

 

I have done one upgrade since I built the machine in 2018 and that was from a R5 1600X to the R5 5600X (along with a motherboard upgrade). I'm doing a mix of productivity work and gaming, with productivity using Fusion and SolidWorks as well as programming and gaming being anywhere from VALORANT and CS2 to games like Elden Ring, Cyberpunk (both of which run... not so great) and the upcoming Monster Hunter Wilds (I don't even meet minimum requirements). I am unsure whether I should be building an entirely new PC or just upgrading from what I have.

 

My budget for this upgrade is roughly AUD$1500-$2000 (I wanna keep this as low as possible).

 

I definitely want to upgrade RAM to 32GB as 16GB just isn't enough for me and I definitely want to upgrade my GPU, especially with the new ones coming around the corner. I was looking at upgrading to an RTX 5070 (AU$1109) (or AMD equivalent, awaiting reviews), although I am considering spending the extra AU$400 on the RTX 5070 Ti because of its 16GB of VRAM. If I do this though, will I have to upgrade my PSU to 750-850W? And should I upgrade my CPU as well? And if that's the case should I just spend the extra money to just build a new PC? 

 

Any advice is appreciated, thank you!

Edited January 19, 2025 by pupueys
extra detail + typo fixes

[Why_Me]

Make sure to purchase the same model of 2x16GB set of RAM that you currently have. 

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D 3 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($398.00 @ Centre Com) 
Video Card: *Asus DUAL OC Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card  ($698.77 @ JW Computers) 
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($139.00 @ Computer Alliance) 
Total: $1235.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-01-19 15:27 AEDT+1100

[Dedayog]

7 minutes ago, pupueys said:

Hey guys, I wanted to upgrade my PC but am very unsure with where to go from here. So far, I have a 

CPU: Ryzen 5 5600X

GPU: RX 580 8GB ()

RAM: 16GB 3200MHz DDR4 RAM

MoBo: ROG STRIX B550-F 

CPU Cooler: Corsair AIO w/ 120mm rad

PSU: EVGA 650W 80+ Gold 

 

I have done one upgrade since I built the machine in 2018 and that was from a R5 1600X to the R5 5600X (along with a motherboard upgrade). I'm doing a mix of productivity work and gaming, with productivity ng Fusion and SolidWorks as well as programming and gaming being anywhere from VALORANT and CS2 to games like Elden Ring, Cyberpunk (both of which run... not so great) and the upcoming Monster Hunter Wilds (I don't even meet minimum requirements). I am unsure whether I should be building an entirely new PC or just upgrading from what I have.

 

My budget for this upgrade is roughly AUD$1500-$2000 (I wanna keep this as low as possible).

 

I definitely want to upgrade RAM to 32GB as 16GB just isn't enough for me and I definitely want to upgrade my GPU, especially with the new ones coming around the corner. I was looking at upgrading to an RTX 5070 (AU$1109) (or AMD equivalent, awaiting reviews), although I am considering spending the extra AU$400 on the RTX 5070 Ti because of its 16GB of VRAM. If I do this though, will I have to upgrade my PSU to 750-850W? And should I upgrade my CPU as well? And if that's the case should I just spend the extra money to just build a new PC? 

 

Any advice is appreciated, thank you!

Just add RAM and a GPU.  The 5600X is a decent gaming chip.

 

You don't need a new PSU for the 7800XT or even a 7900GRE.  

[pupueys]

1 minute ago, Dedayog said:

Just add RAM and a GPU.  The 5600X is a decent gaming chip.

 

You don't need a new PSU for the 7800XT or even a 7900GRE.  

Like I said in the post, I was looking to go new gen for the GPU, so RTX 5070/RX 9070 XT. Do you reckon that's worth it or should I just go for the RX 7800XT? I wanna game in 1440P. 

[Dedayog]

6 minutes ago, pupueys said:

Like I said in the post, I was looking to go new gen for the GPU, so RTX 5070/RX 9070 XT. Do you reckon that's worth it or should I just go for the RX 7800XT? I wanna game in 1440P. 

A 6900XT, 7900GRE or better will do 1440p great.  9070XT should be here shortly, and the 5070 will be here in a month.  Will you get either soon?  Doubtful, but possibly.

 

Personally, I am not a fan of hurrying my life.  If I want something, I want it now.  It should be readily available for me to get it now.  I don't get hyped up for a release, so I don't advocate camping Microcenter, or sitting online at a site trying to beat a bot.

 

You have to ask yourself if you are going to do that, as it's the only way to beat the bots and scalpers for a new gen card, at a decent price.  

 

I just don't see most people paying MSRP within 6 months of release realistically, as we saw with the 40 series for example.  AMD has a LOT more exposure now, as we saw with the 9800X3D release, so their GPU's may be sought after as much too.

 

If you need a build now, look at current gen stuff.    For an inexpensive upgrade, I would look hard at the 7800XT + RAM combo.   Use it for 3-6 months and re-evaluate, as then you should be able to easily upgrade.  But the 5070 and 9070XT may require a new PSU, and you'll want a new CPU probably too.

 

At 1109CAD, that';s FUCK NO for a 5070.  It's listing at $549USD, and I know the USD-CAD conversion rate isn't 1:2.  

[pupueys]

23 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

A 6900XT, 7900GRE or better will do 1440p great.  9070XT should be here shortly, and the 5070 will be here in a month.  Will you get either soon?  Doubtful, but possibly.

 

Personally, I am not a fan of hurrying my life.  If I want something, I want it now.  It should be readily available for me to get it now.  I don't get hyped up for a release, so I don't advocate camping Microcenter, or sitting online at a site trying to beat a bot.

 

You have to ask yourself if you are going to do that, as it's the only way to beat the bots and scalpers for a new gen card, at a decent price.  

 

I just don't see most people paying MSRP within 6 months of release realistically, as we saw with the 40 series for example.  AMD has a LOT more exposure now, as we saw with the 9800X3D release, so their GPU's may be sought after as much too.

 

If you need a build now, look at current gen stuff.    For an inexpensive upgrade, I would look hard at the 7800XT + RAM combo.   Use it for 3-6 months and re-evaluate, as then you should be able to easily upgrade.  But the 5070 and 9070XT may require a new PSU, and you'll want a new CPU probably too.

 

At 1109CAD, that';s FUCK NO for a 5070.  It's listing at $549USD, and I know the USD-CAD conversion rate isn't 1:2.  

Thank you! I'll definitely upgrade my ram to 2 x 16GB 3600MHz and I'll probably have a look at the 7900 GRE, however it says that the recommended PSU is 700W. I assume 650W with 80+ gold efficiency should be enough, especially with the 5600X? I'm not in any rush so I may wait just a bit longer to see if prices drop any further than right now (currently around ~899AUD). Then again, the RTX 5070 is only 200AUD more (1109AUD is the confirmed price, probably inclusive of 10% tax) but like you said that may require a CPU and PSU upgrade.

 

If, hypothetically, I were to upgrade to the 5070 and would have to upgrade my CPU and PSU, would getting a 5700X3D and a 850W PSU be a better option than just saving a bit more and buying a new PC?

[Somerandomtechyboi]

1 hour ago, pupueys said:

CPU: Ryzen 5 5600X

5700x3d

1 hour ago, pupueys said:

GPU: RX 580 8GB ()

as @Dedayog said the new cards will be scalped into oblivion so id reccomend just buying a used 6950xt instead

 

should be similarly priced to the 7800xt but performance nearing the 4070ti super which itself isnt too far behind the 4080 super which the 9070xt is supposed to be going up against and no psu upgrade not neccesary as the thing probably wont even hit 500w considering the cpu

 

1 hour ago, pupueys said:

RAM: 2 X 8GB 3200MHz DDR4 RAM

for convenience sake you can resell and buy whatevers the cheapest 3200c16 or 3600c18 32gb kit you can find, branding doesnt matter as theyre all using the same few ic manufacturers (samsung micron hynix) only diff heatsinks and maybe diff pcb which is irrelevant below 5000

 

you can also go the route of finding matching sticks thatll just work at xmp, for this you check thaiphoon burner for ic and then source rams with the same ic for example hma82gu6cjr8n 16gb hynix 8gbit cjr, you can also do 48gb configs with this and that should also work reliably with xmp as the ics are matching but unless you play modded minecraft or some other ram hungry game you are probably better off just going for the convenience route as this takes abit of effort

[Dedayog]

19 minutes ago, pupueys said:

Thank you! I'll definitely upgrade my ram to 2 x 16GB 3600MHz and I'll probably have a look at the 7900 GRE, however it says that the recommended PSU is 700W. I assume 650W with 80+ gold efficiency should be enough, especially with the 5600X? I'm not in any rush so I may wait just a bit longer to see if prices drop any further than right now (currently around ~899AUD). Then again, the RTX 5070 is only 200AUD more (1109AUD is the confirmed price, probably inclusive of 10% tax) but like you said that may require a CPU and PSU upgrade.

 

If, hypothetically, I were to upgrade to the 5070 and would have to upgrade my CPU and PSU, would getting a 5700X3D and a 850W PSU be a better option than just saving a bit more and buying a new PC?

700w recommendation is the outside safe wattage, taking into account the hungriest CPU and a good bit of other components.  They don't want someone with a 14900K getting a 7900GRE and having power issues, for example.

 

Yes, a 5700X3D is still a very good CPU and at 1440p it rocks.  So yes, if you were to get a 5070.... a 5700X3D drop in would be an excellent CPU for it.

 

Now, if you want to ge the 5700X3D now and enjoy it, like WhyMe suggested... that's cool too.  I was just trying to give you the cheapest upgrade, as you mention.  Personally, the 5700X3D is a no brainer.  I love the X3D chips, currently have 4 in the family now.   If I could rationalize getting one for the server I would.

[pupueys]

36 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

5700x3d

as @Dedayog said the new cards will be scalped into oblivion so id reccomend just buying a used 6950xt instead

 

should be similarly priced to the 7800xt but performance nearing the 4070ti super which itself isnt too far behind the 4080 super which the 9070xt is supposed to be going up against and no psu upgrade not neccesary as the thing probably wont even hit 500w considering the cpu

 

for convenience sake you can resell and buy whatevers the cheapest 3200c16 or 3600c18 32gb kit you can find, branding doesnt matter as theyre all using the same few ic manufacturers (samsung micron hynix) only diff heatsinks and maybe diff pcb which is irrelevant below 5000

 

you can also go the route of finding matching sticks thatll just work at xmp, for this you check thaiphoon burner for ic and then source rams with the same ic for example hma82gu6cjr8n 16gb hynix 8gbit cjr, you can also do 48gb configs with this and that should also work reliably with xmp as the ics are matching but unless you play modded minecraft or some other ram hungry game you are probably better off just going for the convenience route as this takes abit of effort

Thank you! I'll probably just go for the convenient option for the RAM; it's moreso for productivity and while I will be running CFD on Ansys, I think 32GB should suffice. As for the 6950 XT, I can't seem to find many used options here in Australia, so I will probably look at either a 7800 XT (719-850AUD) or a 7900 GRE (~900AUD) unless I find a 6950 XT at a good price.

 

EDIT: I just straight up lied LMAO https://www.scorptec.com.au/product/graphics-cards/amd/104491-rx-695xatbd9/exdemo found a refurb 6950XT for 799AUD

[pupueys]

41 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

700w recommendation is the outside safe wattage, taking into account the hungriest CPU and a good bit of other components.  They don't want someone with a 14900K getting a 7900GRE and having power issues, for example.

 

Yes, a 5700X3D is still a very good CPU and at 1440p it rocks.  So yes, if you were to get a 5070.... a 5700X3D drop in would be an excellent CPU for it.

 

Now, if you want to ge the 5700X3D now and enjoy it, like WhyMe suggested... that's cool too.  I was just trying to give you the cheapest upgrade, as you mention.  Personally, the 5700X3D is a no brainer.  I love the X3D chips, currently have 4 in the family now.   If I could rationalize getting one for the server I would.

Thank you! I'll take this all into consideration ‍‍‍

[Dedayog]

40 minutes ago, pupueys said:

Thank you! I'll probably just go for the convenient option for the RAM; it's moreso for productivity and while I will be running CFD on Ansys, I think 32GB should suffice. As for the 6950 XT, I can't seem to find many used options here in Australia, so I will probably look at either a 7800 XT (719-850AUD) or a 7900 GRE (~900AUD) unless I find a 6950 XT at a good price.

 

EDIT: I just straight up lied LMAO https://www.scorptec.com.au/product/graphics-cards/amd/104491-rx-695xatbd9/exdemo found a refurb 6950XT for 799AUD

6950XT for 799 beats the 7800XT all day long, and is roughly equal in performance to the 7900GRE, and in many cases beats it.

 

My 7900XTX is a refurb, I love a good official refurb.

 

CHECK:  Does your PSU have the power connectors for the 6950XT?  It needs 2.  

 

If so, get that 6950XT, a 5700X3D, and more RAM.  You'll be set for a good while, and you will be gaming in high fps 1440p with plenty of time to see how the new GPUs shake out.     That is how I would approach things.  

 

Grain of salt, but this gives ballpark comparisons...