You can just order the parts online and select the in-store pickup option (though I guess some locations might not carry everything), then they'll give you a heads-up once they arrive.
The processor only supports up to 2666MHz, so I guess there's really no point in grabbing a more expensive kit. You probably need a case if you aren't just reusing some old 😬... plus, a slightly better power supply with a 5-year warranty might be worth it.
You shouldn't lose anything in terms of an upgrade path; I guess BIOS support and compatibility will stick around for a few more generations on the AM4 socket.
If you flash your BIOS to the F6H version, this motherboard actually supports those 95W Socket AM3 processors. This looks like a pretty decent deal to me:
Regarding the RAM, I'd just grab another 1GB stick of DDR2 for about $17 and you'll get dual channel working. Honestly, 4GB should be plenty for basic tasks.
The biggest jump in performance will definitely be an SSD, since that old PATA drive is painfully slow. You can find newer 120GB ones for around $57.
Though, I guess I'm not entirely sure how reliable adding new parts will be if you're running some 10-year-old junk power supply 😁
It looks like we're looking at an Intel Core i7-9700K with 12MB of cache running at 3.60GHz—just the processor itself, boxed but without a cooler included (BX80684I79700K). So, I've been looking at the MSI RTX2080 Ventus 8G OC. It’s got 8GB of GDDR6, running at about 1800/1750MHz (V372-007R). Maybe it'll do the trick. I guess it’s the Gigabyte Z390 gaming x, LGA1151 V2. G.Skill Aegis DDR4 16GB kit (2x8GB), PC4-24000U, 3000MHz @ CL16 (F4-3000C16D-16GISB). So, I'm looking at the Corsair Series RM550x 2018 power supply—it’s an ATX 2.4 unit. I guess it might work for my setup. Fractal design Define R5 White, no power supply included, white. It’s a 1TB WD Blue HDD, 3.5" at 7200RPM with 64MB cache and a SATA3 interface (WD10EZEX). I guess it's just your standard drive. It looks like we're looking at a 500GB Samsung 970 EVO, M.2 2280, MZ-V7E500BW. I guess it’s a solid choice for an SSD. It’s an MSI Core Frozr L. Dimensions are roughly 140mm x 155mm x 84mm, and I think the fan speed ranges from somewhere between 500 and 1800 RPM. It looks like it should fit most sockets—775 through AM4 and all those Intel ones like 115x or 2011—but I guess compatibility depends on your specific setup.
crimsonstag84 said:Maybe just grab the GPU first to see how things run. You'll definitely get better visuals without losing much FPS, though I guess you might hit a little bit of a CPU bottleneck.
I guess you don't really have a bottleneck issue here; the setup is actually pretty well-balanced. Because of that, if you want a massive jump in performance, you’ll likely need to upgrade both the CPU (which means a new motherboard and RAM too) and the GPU at the same time.
If I were looking for a baseline upgrade, I'd aim for this:
Maybe just grab the graphics card first to see how it handles things. You'll definitely see better visual details at the same frame rate, though you might run into a little bit of a CPU bottleneck.
AMD is just teasing the new processors at CES, though hopefully they’ll drop most of the specs and maybe a few demos. They might hit the market as early as May, but I suspect June or July is more likely. GPUs will probably follow a bit later than that.
I don't really see much point in ditching your current 16GB of DDR4 RAM just to buy another 16GB, unless you want to sell what you have now for maybe $110 and pick up a better kit for roughly the same price toward the end of February. Same goes for the HDD; I'd say just hang onto it.
As for buying parts early, you might get lucky and snag a Ryzen on sale to use as a temporary fix for about six months. If you're buying a motherboard, it's probably best to wait until right before you actually build or use it, just so you get the maximum warranty coverage.
Regarding the monitor, I guess you’d end up with a slower panel and a pretty grainy image using a 27" screen at 1080p resolution.
As for everything else, I think I've already accounted for those details while putting this together, so you probably don't need to worry about them. 😉
DDR5 RAM isn't hitting the market until sometime in 2020, and it doesn't have anything to do with the VRAM on a dedicated graphics card.