PC Upgrade Consideration

[Emn1ty]

First, I have a first generation Ryzen 1700X and a GTX 1070 TI graphics card. 32GB RAM, etc. B550 Tomahawk  (from the time that series released), etc. I noticed I don't have a supported chipset for Windows 11, which to me means that my computer is long overdue for an update. So this brought me to a few questions...

 

1. Is building your own PC still economical at all right now? Or is there anything that is on the horizon that I should wait for? I know some GPU manufacturers are trying to make series that aren't optimal for mining, but I can't seem to find anything below $700 for even a general mid-range GPU (be it 1650 to 3090).

 

2. I don't know if it would be as simple as just updating my board and CPU. I wonder if a 1070 TI is still perfectly adequate for gaming, I don't get great frames, but I would like to bump up at least a bit if possible.

 

3. Are the pre-built pc's more worth it at the moment? Things like NZXT's pre-built machines. They were on sale for 10% off but no longer, but are there any other manufacturers people would recommend that are economical and not filled with bloat-ware, and potentially even not warrantied in a way that upgrading or maintaining it yourself would void it?

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

I had several friends that recvently upgraded to the Ryzen 5k series. It seems ONLY the GPUs are the one that is going sky high in price rn.

 

But they kept their old GPU to update later when prices are more profitable.

 

Actually it isn't the chipset that Win 11 allows, It is the CPU

 

Pre-built is still as they always were. money-wasters. MOST companies use cheap crap...

[Emn1ty]

  On 27/12/2021 at 01:16, Mindovermaster said:

I had several friends that recvently upgraded to the Ryzen 5k series. It seems ONLY the GPUs are the one that is going sky high in price rn.

 

But they kept their old GPU to update later when prices are more profitable.

 

Actually it isn't the chipset that Win 11 allows, It is the CPU

 

Pre-built is still as they always were. money-wasters. MOST companies use cheap crap...

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So buy a new board and chip, and be done with it basically? I suppose that works out the best. And with the extra money I've gotten from Christmas I can probably spruce up some other components in my machine. A nicer and quieter cooler.

The thing I fear though is even after two years GPU's haven't even dipped at all... they're just getting worse. Hopefully soon that won't be true, but ugh. It's getting tiring. A 5+ year old set of components is still a better option than anything new. Incredible, honestly.

[Emn1ty]

In regards to just getting a new set of components, how does this look for an upgrade?

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2HR2p2

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

  On 27/12/2021 at 01:53, Emn1ty said:

In regards to just getting a new set of components, how does this look for an upgrade?

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2HR2p2

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Keeping your PSU and case I take it? Whatare they? Should be OK, just asking.  
 

Your choices look excellent  I personally wouldn't buy NZXT motherboards, BUT that's just me.. Long as it has everything you need.  

 

  On 27/12/2021 at 01:27, Emn1ty said:

So buy a new board and chip, and be done with it basically? I suppose that works out the best. And with the extra money I've gotten from Christmas I can probably spruce up some other components in my machine. A nicer and quieter cooler.

The thing I fear though is even after two years GPU's haven't even dipped at all... they're just getting worse. Hopefully soon that won't be true, but ugh. It's getting tiring. A 5+ year old set of components is still a better option than anything new. Incredible, honestly.

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AMD Wraith coolers these days are great. Keep my system cool and quiet.
 

Yeah, GPUs haven't dipped that drastically, but there are still good cards out there for cheap. I just sold my RX 580 on eBay for $360. I don't need it anymore. And I needed money..

[Emn1ty]

  On 27/12/2021 at 02:14, Mindovermaster said:

Keeping your PSU and case I take it? Whatare they? Should be OK, just asking.  
 

Your choices look excellent  I personally wouldn't buy NZXT motherboards, BUT that's just me.. Long as it has everything you need.  

 

AMD Wraith coolers these days are great. Keep my system cool and quiet.
 

Yeah, GPUs haven't dipped that drastically, but there are still good cards out there for cheap. I just sold my RX 580 on eBay for $360. I don't need it anymore. And I needed money..

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I just like that it's clean board with the panel. But my case is the Fractal R5 and my PSU is 750w Gold iirc.

 

As long as the GPU fits in the board it should be good. And I've wanted a low profile cooler for a while.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

  On 27/12/2021 at 04:12, Emn1ty said:

I just like that it's clean board with the panel. But my case is the Fractal R5 and my PSU is 750w Gold iirc.

 

As long as the GPU fits in the board it should be good. And I've wanted a low profile cooler for a while.

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R5, nice case

 

PCI-E is backward compatible. You should have no problem using your GPU.  

[hellowalkman Reporter]

AMD's Rembrandt APUs, the ones with integrated Navi 2X (RDNA 2) graphics, are likely launching at CES. Word is that the laptop SKUs will be released first, But you should probably wait and see if AMD says anything about desktop Rembrandt.

https://www.neowin.net/news/rumored-amd-rembrandt-ryzen-9-6900hx-specs-reveal-new-radeon-680m-integrated-graphics/

https://www.neowin.net/news/mark-your-calendars-amd-to-share-new-info-on-upcoming-zen-and-rdna-products-at-ces-2022/

[ThaCrip]

Since Windows 10 is still supported until Oct 2025, it would be wise to continue to use your current system until you can't as this will be a more efficient use of your $. because say you upgrade in the future, you can likely get faster components then you would currently for the same price etc.

 

because off the top of my head, unless your running higher resolutions, I suspect a Geforce 1070 GPU is still more than 'good enough' for gaming and probably will be for a while, especially if you don't expect perfection when it comes to frame rates. because in terms of gaming (especially single player)... I think as a general rule as long as you can maintain about 30fps or better you still have a passable gaming system.

 

bottom line... I would continue using your current system as is, especially given GPU's are still too expensive and probably will be for the foreseeable future, which makes it all the more reason to use your current system until you truly need a upgrade.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

new silicon plants are being built and existing plants are in the process of getting back to normal operation so chances are good that GPU prices start to normalize again in the next couple years.

[Emn1ty]

This all makes sense. I've just been so out of the loop with stuff for the last couple years. I'll continue to consider, but I do have $500 in gift cards slotted for this 

 

Maybe instead I repurpose for a good boat cancelling head set with a mic for work.

[adrynalyne]

  On 27/12/2021 at 01:27, Emn1ty said:

So buy a new board and chip, and be done with it basically? I suppose that works out the best. And with the extra money I've gotten from Christmas I can probably spruce up some other components in my machine. A nicer and quieter cooler.

The thing I fear though is even after two years GPU's haven't even dipped at all... they're just getting worse. Hopefully soon that won't be true, but ugh. It's getting tiring. A 5+ year old set of components is still a better option than anything new. Incredible, honestly.

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You don’t need a new board unless you want to. 

[Brandon H Supervisor]

  On 27/12/2021 at 17:07, Emn1ty said:

This all makes sense. I've just been so out of the loop with stuff for the last couple years. I'll continue to consider, but I do have $500 in gift cards slotted for this 

 

Maybe instead I repurpose for a good boat cancelling head set with a mic for work.

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you'd still get a pretty good performance boost going from Gen 1 Ryzen to current, even holding off on a new GPU for a while. Ryzen has come a long way since Gen 1  

[DoctorD]

My son a few days ago went on Marketplace on F-book and found an Alienware R10 with no graphics card ( Ryzen 5600, 512 M.2 ssd, 16 gigs ram, 1tb regular ssd) for $400, nice upgrade from his i5 4750 setup.  Shop around now for deals on people holiday upgrading you never know what may pop up  

[Brandon H Supervisor]

wow that's a hell of a deal for those specs if it's in good shape. quality does very from listing to listing being a user marketplace like craigslist and such

[DoctorD]

  On 27/12/2021 at 17:57, Brandon H said:

wow that's a hell of a deal for those specs if it's in good shape. quality does very from listing to listing being a user marketplace like craigslist and such

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Its a Beast, the Ryzen processor eats my Alienware R8 for lunch.  (Yes, I collect Alienware)

[Emn1ty]

Just going to bump this up, but I've just been on a kick with building a new PC. And I watched a youtube review of NZXT's H510 Flow case. The look of this case really fit my preferences for what an RGB case should look like. Which got me inspired, even without purchasing a new GPU here's the part list.

I know I don't really need a new case or anything, but sometimes it's just nice to treat yourself. And this way everything is up-to-date and all I need to wait on is the GPU prices to - hopefully - normalize. Still not 100%, but wouldn't mind a bit of feedback on this one.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/sHc3z7

 

Here's the youtube video that gave me the inspiration: 

 

Edited January 4, 2022 by Emn1ty

[+Raze Subscriber²]

  On 04/01/2022 at 05:50, Emn1ty said:

Just going to bump this up, but I've just been on a kick with building a new PC. And I watched a youtube review of NZXT's H510 Flow case. The look of this case really fit my preferences for what an RGB case should look like. Which got me inspired, even without purchasing a new GPU here's the part list.

I know I don't really need a new case or anything, but sometimes it's just nice to treat yourself. And this way everything is up-to-date and all I need to wait on is the GPU prices to - hopefully - normalize. Still not 100%, but wouldn't mind a bit of feedback on this one.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/jardis/saved/#view=yhdnpg

 

Here's the youtube video that gave me the inspiration: 

 

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I'm getting permission denied.

[Emn1ty]

  On 04/01/2022 at 06:07, Raze said:

I'm getting permission denied.

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Should be fixed.

[+Raze Subscriber²]

That looks like a solid build.  👍

[Emn1ty]

It's there anything special I need for RGB? I was thinking it was simply just software... I've never done RGB before.

[Emn1ty]

So I decided to head down to my local Microcenter to see if there was a chance of there being any GPU's there at MSRP. Talked with them and they said they're being upcharged by their distributors so they aren't really getting MSRP prices as well. But, they had some RX 6600's in stock for $450, so I nabbed one for the time being. With their protection plan, I have the option over the next two years to bring it back and swap what I paid for the card into a different GPU if I feel like it.

I looked up the card on other sites, and the cheapest I saw it for (and available) was $650+, so I'm pretty happy with that purchase. The rest of my components will be here tomorrow, with the case arriving Sunday (I may cancel and just grab it from Microcenter as well). Overall though, I think it will be a well rounded machine with an opportunity to upgrade the GPU without losing any money in the near future.

[Emn1ty]

Posted the build in the PC setup topic 👍, still debating on the fans though if I want to stick with the Corsair LL's or maybe swap for the NZXT... Corsair seems to be highly adverse to static gradients on their hardware.