Midrange PC Upgrade Help

[6amhotdog]

Budget (including currency): $500-$600 USD

Country: United States

 

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Newer AAA games like the Oblivion Remaster, Baldur's Gate 3, and Diablo IV. I would like to somewhat future-proof it to play titles like GTA6 and TES6 (way further down the line). Adobe Creative Cloud software and the possibility of recording and/or streaming.

 

Other details: 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hbWxNz

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler 
Motherboard: Asus H170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory
Storage: Kingston NV2 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Storage: Seagate FireCuda 1 TB 2.5" 5400 RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive 
Storage: Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: EVGA SC GAMING GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6 GB Video Card
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case 
Power Supply: Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

 

Looking for some upgrade recommendations to help my PC perform better now and in the future, what should I change? To my understanding, I definitely need to upgrade my CPU, GPU, and likely my motherboard too. I am out of the loop on PC related parts and what's a good deal, and what is functioning well for future use, so any help would be appreciated. Whatever parts that I end up getting rid of, I will likely put into a new system to give to my sister as a starter PC. I already have peripherals, and I currently use one 1080p monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate. In the future, I may get another monitor as just a side display for multitasking, not for primary use. I also am aware that now is not the best time to buy parts, especially GPUs, but I am not necessarily looking at this from a buy now perspective.

 

This is my first forum post here, so feel free to let me know if I am missing anything important.

Thanks y'all

[Hinjima]

3 minutes ago, 6amhotdog said:

Budget (including currency): $500-$600 USD

Country: United States

 

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Newer AAA games like the Oblivion Remaster, Baldur's Gate 3, and Diablo IV. I would like to somewhat future-proof it to play titles like GTA6 and TES6 (way further down the line). Adobe Creative Cloud software and the possibility of recording and/or streaming.

 

Other details: 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hbWxNz

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler 
Motherboard: Asus H170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory
Storage: Kingston NV2 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Storage: Seagate FireCuda 1 TB 2.5" 5400 RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive 
Storage: Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: EVGA SC GAMING GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6 GB Video Card
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case 
Power Supply: Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

 

Looking for some upgrade recommendations to help my PC perform better now and in the future, what should I change? To my understanding, I definitely need to upgrade my CPU, GPU, and likely my motherboard too. I am out of the loop on PC related parts and what's a good deal, and what is functioning well for future use, so any help would be appreciated. Whatever parts that I end up getting rid of, I will likely put into a new system to give to my sister as a starter PC. I already have peripherals, and I currently use one 1080p monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate. In the future, I may get another monitor as just a side display for multitasking, not for primary use. I also am aware that now is not the best time to buy parts, especially GPUs, but I am not necessarily looking at this from a buy now perspective.

 

This is my first forum post here, so feel free to let me know if I am missing anything important.

Thanks y'all

Do you live near a Microcenter?

Your system is decent outside of the CPU, Motherboard and GPU.

[6amhotdog]

5 minutes ago, Hinjima said:

Do you live near a Microcenter?

Your system is decent outside of the CPU, Motherboard and GPU.

Yes, not too far, about 40 mins

[Why_Me]

15 minutes ago, 6amhotdog said:

Budget (including currency): $500-$600 USD

Country: United States

 

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Newer AAA games like the Oblivion Remaster, Baldur's Gate 3, and Diablo IV. I would like to somewhat future-proof it to play titles like GTA6 and TES6 (way further down the line). Adobe Creative Cloud software and the possibility of recording and/or streaming.

 

Other details: 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hbWxNz

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler 
Motherboard: Asus H170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory
Storage: Kingston NV2 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Storage: Seagate FireCuda 1 TB 2.5" 5400 RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive 
Storage: Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: EVGA SC GAMING GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6 GB Video Card
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case 
Power Supply: Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

 

Looking for some upgrade recommendations to help my PC perform better now and in the future, what should I change? To my understanding, I definitely need to upgrade my CPU, GPU, and likely my motherboard too. I am out of the loop on PC related parts and what's a good deal, and what is functioning well for future use, so any help would be appreciated. Whatever parts that I end up getting rid of, I will likely put into a new system to give to my sister as a starter PC. I already have peripherals, and I currently use one 1080p monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate. In the future, I may get another monitor as just a side display for multitasking, not for primary use. I also am aware that now is not the best time to buy parts, especially GPUs, but I am not necessarily looking at this from a buy now perspective.

 

This is my first forum post here, so feel free to let me know if I am missing anything important.

Thanks y'all

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($110.49 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: *Gigabyte Z790 S WIFI DDR4 (rev. 1.0) ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($121.48 @ Amazon) 
Memory: *Klevv BOLT X 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory  ($49.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: *MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X 12G GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card  ($329.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $611.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-04-22 18:22 EDT-0400

[Tetras]

8 minutes ago, 6amhotdog said:

I also am aware that now is not the best time to buy parts, especially GPUs, but I am not necessarily looking at this from a buy now perspective.

For CPU/motherboard, I'd ideally want a minimum of a 12th gen or AM5 build, e.g. 12600K or Ryzen 7600/7700. 13th-14th gen CPUs (mainly the higher-end K ones) are potentially a problem, so unless the deal is really good, I would be cautious.

 

GPU: for better use in the future I'd try to get beyond an 8GB card, even though most of them would still be a decent upgrade from what you have. E.g. Arc B580 (12GB) or RX 7700 XT (12GB). The 9060 XT is due shortly and hopefully will be a lot better received than the 5060 Ti.

 

An even better option would be a 9070 or 5070, though that would eat your entire budget, so not realistic right now.

[Dedayog]

53 minutes ago, 6amhotdog said:

Yes, not too far, about 40 mins

https://www.microcenter.com/product/5006986/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d,-asus-b650-e-tuf-gaming,-gskill-flare-x5-series-32gb-ddr5-6000-kit,-computer-build-bundle

 

 

IMO, that's your jam right now.

[DJ_Jay125]

2 hours ago, 6amhotdog said:

Yes, not too far, about 40 mins

Id recommend either of these depending on what you want to do

https://www.microcenter.com/product/5006990/amd-ryzen-5-7600x,-asus-b650m-a-prime-ax-ii,-gskill-flare-16gb-ddr5-6000,-computer-build-bundle
id look at this microcenter bundle and whatever 3060/4060/6600/7600 you can afford left over
to be honest this will play everything today good at 1080p 144hz and itll leave you on a modern platform but itll need a upgrade relatively (1yr or so) soon

 

 

IF you're willing to save now or just accept youll have to spend more later I would reccomend either this ryzen 7 7700x combo https://www.microcenter.com/product/5006968/amd-ryzen-7-7700x,-gigabyte-b650-gaming-x-ax-v2,-gskill-flare-x5-series-32gb-ddr5-6000-kit,-computer-build-bundle or the 7800x3d bundle someone else commented today and then saving for a RX 9060/9070 or a RTX 5060ti 16gb or RTX 5070 all of which will at a minimum run you about $400

doing the 7700x and 5060ti avaliable today at my local microcenter will run you about $850 so waaay over budget but this will keep you solid for years