Upgrades to get?

[KingUnicorn]

This summer I will be finally at the age where multiple job opportunities open up for me, and I can legally work in a job outside of school. For those of you who don't know the age I'm talking about, that is 16. Anyways, I am planning to use the money I get to upgrade my pc. Gonna take a few weeks to get it, but it's much faster than asking for the money at Christmas. Anyways, I am asking you guys for suggestions on what to get for it. My current idea is to upgrade the cpu and gpu, which would require me to upgrade the mobo and maybe (hopefully not) the psu. My current part list is below, along with what I plan on replacing it with.

 

CPU: AMD FX-6300. Will be replaced. Maybe a ryzen 5.

GPU: GTX 750ti. Will be replaced. Most likely a 1050ti.

MOBO: standard ATX AM3+ board. I don't think much else info is needed, but more can be provided. Will be replaced if CPU socket changes with upgrade.

PSU: Unknown. Came with case. Estimated to be around 400 watts. Not modular. NO PCI POWER LEADS.

PRIMARY SSD: 120 gb ssd. Main boot drive and for some programs/games I want to load fast. Has been maxed out lately, so I may try and move data off of it and only have the OS and important programs.

MAIN HDD: standard 7200rpm 1Tb drive. Where bulk of files are stored.

CPU COOLER: Hyper 212 EVO. Idk if it works with am4.

 

As you can see this is a fairly large upgrade. I don't have a set budget right now, but I am trying to keep the price relatively low. I'm trying not to go over $300 USD, which is half of the money I have put into the system so far. Any suggestions as to what exactly to put in or something else that needs to be upgraded will be greatly appreciated. If you need more info I could give it as needed.

[DocSwag]

If your psu doesn't have pcie power connectors it PROBABLY should be replaced.

[ARikozuM]

Replace your PSU first. Get Ryzen 5 and a 470 4GB.

[Daniel Z.]

psu to a good PSU, go to Ryzen 5, and get a 470

[DocSwag]

This is THE BARE MINIMUM I would go down to. I didn't include a GPU, since for $80 you can't really get much better than a 750 ti...

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($59.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI B250M PRO-VDH Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($69.49 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: ADATA XPG Z1 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory  ($54.89 @ OutletPC) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($44.90 @ Amazon) 
Total: $229.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-10 21:21 EDT-0400

 

And then save up for a 470 (around $150-$170, you can sometimes find em on sale for $150).

[DocSwag]

2 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

Replace your PSU first. Get Ryzen 5 and a 470 4GB.

 

1 minute ago, Daniel Z. said:

psu to a good PSU, go to Ryzen 5, and get a 470

Isn't that like, gonna cost double his $300 budget?

[Daniel Z.]

Just now, DocSwag said:

 

Isn't that like, gonna cost double his $300 budget?

lol yes

[ARikozuM]

Just now, DocSwag said:

 

Isn't that like, gonna cost double his $300 budget?

F#ck it! Unknown a$$ POS PSU shouldn't walk the earth much less be grounded to it.

[DocSwag]

Just now, ARikozuM said:

F#ck it! Unknown a$$ POS PSU shouldn't walk the earth much less be grounded to it.

What if it wasn't grounded and only had a two pin connector?  

[ARikozuM]

1 minute ago, DocSwag said:

What if it wasn't grounded and only had a two pin connector?  

Then it should float until it meets the strongest PSU. 

[Damascus]

10 minutes ago, Potato_King said:

CPU: AMD FX-6300. Will be replaced. Maybe a ryzen 5.

GPU: GTX 750ti. Will be replaced. Most likely a 1050ti.

both solid choices but I would get GPU last.  Get R5 1400 and better PSU at the same time, that will be your $300 budget gone.  Then save up for a decent GPU like the 1050 ti or RX 470

11 minutes ago, Potato_King said:

CPU COOLER: Hyper 212 EVO. Idk if it works with am4.

 

It doesn't but you should be able to get some mounting hardware from Cooler master.

[KingUnicorn]

1 hour ago, DocSwag said:

This is THE BARE MINIMUM I would go down to. I didn't include a GPU, since for $80 you can't really get much better than a 750 ti...

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($59.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: MSI B250M PRO-VDH Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($69.49 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: ADATA XPG Z1 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory  ($54.89 @ OutletPC) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($44.90 @ Amazon) 
Total: $229.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-10 21:21 EDT-0400

 

And then save up for a 470 (around $150-$170, you can sometimes find em on sale for $150).

Well I already have the rig. I'm not needing a brand new rig. My pc runs everything I want it to run, I'm trying to get it to run better. The 300 budget is so I could get it in like a month of getting a job (hopefully). I'm seeing a lot of people say to get ryzen, so I will probs get that. My cpu seems to be the main bottleneck right now, mostly cause games like ksp are pretty cpu bound. I don't want to upgrade my power supply because not only would I have to rewire my whole pc, but if I can get a graphics card that just runs off of the motherboard (which is why I want the 1050ti) then that's money saved that can go elsewhere. I appreciated the suggestion though. With my current knowledge these are the best value parts at this price range, but if there are other options that have better value then please tell me so I could look into it. Just remember that replacing the mobo and the parts that are affected by that (replacing for a new socket if needed and new ram) are as far as I'm willing to go. I don't want to have to rewire my whole pc, but if I absolutely must do it because there is no other option without spending too much money, I will.

 

1 hour ago, Damascus said:

It doesn't but you should be able to get some mounting hardware from Cooler master.

And thanks for the info on the cooler. Twas a pain to get it in when I first got it so I hope I can get the mounting hardware so I don't have to buy a new cooler.

[DocSwag]

1 minute ago, Potato_King said:

Well I already have the rig. I'm not needing a brand new rig. My pc runs everything I want it to run, I'm trying to get it to run better. The 300 budget is so I could get it in like a month of getting a job (hopefully). I'm seeing a lot of people say to get ryzen, so I will probs get that. My cpu seems to be the main bottleneck right now, mostly cause games like ksp are pretty cpu bound. I don't want to upgrade my power supply because not only would I have to rewire my whole pc, but if I can get a graphics card that just runs off of the motherboard (which is why I want the 1050ti) then that's money saved that can go elsewhere. I appreciated the suggestion though. With my current knowledge these are the best value parts at this price range, but if there are other options that have better value then please tell me so I could look into it. Just remember that replacing the mobo and the parts that are affected by that (replacing for a new socket if needed and new ram) are as far as I'm willing to go. I don't want to have to rewire my whole pc, but if I absolutely must do it because there is no other option without spending too much money, I will.

 

And thanks for the info on the cooler. Twas a pain to get it in when I first got it so I hope I can get the mounting hardware so I don't have to buy a new cooler.

If your psu is that worrisome, it's probably not very good quality and could, at the very least, lead to other components dying faster, hence why I recommend upgrading it. It's only $45 and could save you more.

[KingUnicorn]

2 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

If your psu is that worrisome, it's probably not very good quality and could, at the very least, lead to other components dying faster, hence why I recommend upgrading it. It's only $45 and could save you more.

No it's not that the psu is sketchy or anything. It's nearly silent and I haven't had a single problem with it. I just don't know the manufacturer cause it came with the case I bought. The problem with replacing it is I would have to take out literally every single wire in my system and wire it up again. That would be tedious and take a lot of time that I just don't want to deal with. If I happen to make enough money in the first month to afford an externally powered gpu (like an aftermarket 1050ti with a factory overclock) and a psu to match, then I would consider going through with it. However, at this point I don't see myself really doing that, so I'm trying to plan it based on having at least 300 dollars, maybe 350. I haven't looked for jobs yet cause my birthday is in July, so I have some time to wait so the job openings are more accurate. Till I know more, I'm keeping it closer to the minimum

[KingUnicorn]

Oh and I forgot to mention that I'm only trying to output at 1080 at 60hz, so no need to power 12 4k monitors at 144hz (just imagine that though)

[DocSwag]

9 hours ago, Potato_King said:

No it's not that the psu is sketchy or anything. It's nearly silent and I haven't had a single problem with it. I just don't know the manufacturer cause it came with the case I bought. The problem with replacing it is I would have to take out literally every single wire in my system and wire it up again. That would be tedious and take a lot of time that I just don't want to deal with. If I happen to make enough money in the first month to afford an externally powered gpu (like an aftermarket 1050ti with a factory overclock) and a psu to match, then I would consider going through with it. However, at this point I don't see myself really doing that, so I'm trying to plan it based on having at least 300 dollars, maybe 350. I haven't looked for jobs yet cause my birthday is in July, so I have some time to wait so the job openings are more accurate. Till I know more, I'm keeping it closer to the minimum

The thing is, when it comes to PSUs noise and efficiency and wattage aren't the only things that matter. There are other things such as voltage ripple (how much the voltage fluctuates due to AC oscillating back and forth and so once you convert it to D.C. there's a ripple). Usually cheaper PSUs don't have very good quality and so stuff like voltage ripple is bad. This can increase stress on other components due to the quality of the electricity they're receiving not being good, potentially leading to other components dying taster.

 

Would you rather pay $45 for a better psu now or pay maybe $100 in the future because your psu caused your motherboard to break?

 

See what I'm saying?

[KingUnicorn]

2 hours ago, DocSwag said:

The thing is, when it comes to PSUs noise and efficiency and wattage aren't the only things that matter. There are other things such as voltage ripple (how much the voltage fluctuates due to AC oscillating back and forth and so once you convert it to D.C. there's a ripple). Usually cheaper PSUs don't have very good quality and so stuff like voltage ripple is bad. This can increase stress on other components due to the quality of the electricity they're receiving not being good, potentially leading to other components dying taster.

 

Would you rather pay $45 for a better psu now or pay maybe $100 in the future because your psu caused your motherboard to break?

 

See what I'm saying?

I see what you mean, but I'm trying to keep the expectations on what I make low to be more realistic. If I happen to get the money fast enough then I will most definitely get a new psu. For now let's assume I won't have it. The cpu and gpu are the priority, and the parts affected by that will be accounted for. The psu isn't directly affected by the changes, but if I am able to afford it I will get a better one with pcie connectors for a better gpu. Until I know more, I will assume I can't do that. It's just so I can be sure of what I can get at the minimum.

[DocSwag]

1 hour ago, Potato_King said:

I see what you mean, but I'm trying to keep the expectations on what I make low to be more realistic. If I happen to get the money fast enough then I will most definitely get a new psu. For now let's assume I won't have it. The cpu and gpu are the priority, and the parts affected by that will be accounted for. The psu isn't directly affected by the changes, but if I am able to afford it I will get a better one with pcie connectors for a better gpu. Until I know more, I will assume I can't do that. It's just so I can be sure of what I can get at the minimum.

If I were you though, I'd make the psu the priority.