Deals, Discounts, and Best PC Component Buys & Builds

What games are you playing lately, and what resolution are you running at?
What power supply are you using right now?

fadedorca66 said:What are you actually using this rig for? Any specific stuttering issues? If you're gaming, just slap in a better GPU first—then worry about whether you need a CPU upgrade or if you're set. More RAM isn't gonna be a game-changer right now.

I can run most new titles, but I’m stuck on medium or low settings. If I try to crank it up to high or ultra, the FPS drops like crazy and everything starts stuttering.
I get the point about the RAM, and yeah, maybe next year games will demand more, but it's not my main priority right now.

@Zachary Nguyen2/">@@Zachary Nguyen2
Resolution is 1080p, but the big thing is I want a new monitor with a higher refresh rate since my current one is stuck at 60Hz.
Power supply is a 550W Corsair VS550.

Since I'm a total noob, it's hard for me to figure out what's actually worth the money vs. what'll give me the best boost—not to mention what won't fry my setup. I need to know what's compatible with my motherboard and if I risk killing the board itself. This PC was bought back in 2019. I've heard an RX 6600 might be a solid move.

Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone,

I’m currently running a pretty ancient rig that I mostly use for hitting up some older titles. Lately, though, my buddies have been obsessing over Warzone, and now I'm wondering if there's any way to upgrade this setup enough to actually keep up with them. I’ve spent so much time playing games with subpar graphics that I don't really care about visual fidelity; I just need enough FPS to stay competitive without everything stuttering.

Current specs:

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4460 CPU @ 3.20GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB
Nvidia Geforce GTX 960

I was thinking maybe I could swap out the CPU and grab a better GPU, ideally without having to overhaul the entire motherboard.

Eto, I'm looking for the path of least resistance—something that won't break the bank. 😁 thanks

Jacob Kelly32 said:Hey everyone,

I've got a pretty old rig that I use for playing older games every now and then. Now my friends have started getting really into Warzone, so I'm wondering how much I can actually upgrade this setup to keep up with them. I'm used to older games with crappy graphics so I don't care about visual fidelity; I just need enough FPS to stay competitive..

Current specs:

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4460 CPU @ 3.20GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB
Nvidia Geforce GTX 960

So, I'm thinking about maybe grabbing a better CPU and a GPU, assuming I don't have to swap out the motherboard

eto, I'm looking for the most painless and cheapest solution possible 😁 thx

The best bang for your buck would be an RX 6600 for around $270, and your current CPU should handle it just fine with that setup.

Alexander Moore67 said:The best bang for your buck is an RX 6600 for about $270. Your CPU should hold up fine with that setup.

Choosing a new GPU? Sure. But I'm skeptical if that processor can actually handle Warzone.

Both your CPU and GPU are basically sitting right at the minimum specs listed on Steam.

Personally, I'd rather grab a used card for $110 and sell my old one for $55 if you're looking to upgrade... this build doesn't have much room to grow. It's pretty much maxed out as it is.

What's the budget?

Jacob Kelly32 said:Hey everyone,

I’m running a pretty ancient bucket of a PC that I mostly use for older titles. Lately, my buddies have been nagging me to jump into Warzone, so I'm wondering how much of an upgrade I can actually pull off this rig to keep up with them. I've spent most of my life playing games with potato graphics, so I don't really care about visual fidelity—I just need enough FPS to stay alive.

Current specs:

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4460 CPU @ 3.20GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB
Nvidia Geforce GTX 960

So, I'm thinking maybe swap in a better CPU and a GPU, ideally without having to ditch the motherboard entirely.

eto, looking for the least painful and cheapest way to do this 😁 thx

If you want the absolute cheapest route, grab a used RX 580 from some crypto miner... you can usually find a decent used CPU depending on what motherboard you're rocking. You could probably get it all done for around $100. For Call of Duty, the GPU is really what's going to carry you.

Both those suggestions claiming an RX 580 or a GTX 960 are sufficient paired with an i5 4460 are just plain wrong. The GTX 960 suffers from a massive bottleneck, and even a new RX 6600 is being completely held back by that CPU. For about $250, you can grab a brand new GPU with GDDR6 on a 7nm process that's nearly twice as powerful as the 580 while using barely any power. Everything else is just nonsense.

Alexander Moore67 said:Saying an i5 4460 can handle either an RX 580 or a GTX 960 is just wrong. There's a massive bottleneck with the GTX 960, and if you go with a new RX 6600, that CPU is going to choke it completely. For $250, you get a modern GPU with GDDR6 on a 7nm process that’s nearly twice as fast as a 580 while pulling less power. Everything else is just nonsense.

Depends on the game. If the title absolutely hammers the CPU (4c/4t), then a modern card is basically wasted money.

And we don't even know what this guy's budget is. Maybe he's $250 over his limit already.

Alexander Moore67 said:The idea that an i5 4460 is enough for either an RX 580 or a GTX 960 is just wrong. That GTX 960 is hitting a massive bottleneck, and if you step up to a new RX 6600, that CPU is going to choke it out completely. For about $250, you can grab a brand new GPU with GDDR6 on a 7nm process that’s basically twice as powerful as a 580 while pulling hardly any power. Everything else people are saying is just nonsense.

Man, stop talking nonsense. Every single game handles CPU and GPU resources differently. Take Call of Duty—that's 100% GPU usage with the CPU sitting at maybe 50-60%. Basically, if you have a decent graphics card, you could probably run it on some basic Pentium; Warzone might demand more, but you don't need a high-end processor for everything. Then look at something like Need for Speed, where the situation is totally flipped. Just slap a stronger GPU on that i5 and it'll run fine. At that point, your only real concern is whether your power supply can handle it.

If you're really going to obsess over bottlenecks, you might as well just go out and buy a whole new PC right now.

goldenranger6 said:Don't talk nonsense. Every game utilizes CPU and GPU resources differently. With Call of Duty, it’s 100% the graphics card and maybe 50-60% the CPU. This means if you have a solid GPU, you can run it even with a basic Pentium; Warzone might require more, but it doesn't need a top-tier processor. On the other hand, with something like Need for Speed, it's the exact opposite. Just throw a stronger graphics card in there and that i5 will handle everything just fine. It really just comes down to the power supply.

If they're going to obsess over bottlenecks, they might as well just go out and buy a whole new PC right now.

Give yourself a reality check...

Jacob Kelly32 said:Hey everyone,

I’ve been sitting on this aging bucket of bolts for a while now, mostly just using it to scratch that itch for older titles. But lately, my crew has been obsessing over Warzone, and suddenly I’m feeling left out of the loop. It’s got me wondering just how much I can actually squeeze out of this old rig before it gives up the ghost. I need to know if there's a viable upgrade path here that'll let me keep pace with them. To be honest, I’ve spent so much time playing games with graphics that look like they were rendered on a calculator that I couldn't care less about visual fidelity or "ultra" settings. If it looks a little rough around the edges, fine by me—as long as I’m getting enough frames per second to stay competitive. Is it worth trying to revive this thing, or am I just throwing good money after bad?

Here’s what I'm currently running:

I'm currently running an Intel Core i5-4460 clocked at 3.20GHz. To be honest, looking at these specs feels a bit like staring at a relic from a bygone era—it’s functional, sure, but you can definitely feel the years catching up to it. It gets the job done for basic tasks, but whenever I try to push it, I can almost hear the hardware sighing in exhaustion. It’s that classic middle-of-the-road processor that served its purpose well back in the day, but in today's landscape, it feels like driving a reliable old sedan on a highway built for supercars. It's steady, but you aren't winning any races.
I’ve got 16.0 GB of RAM installed.
I’ve been looking back at some old hardware benchmarks lately, and it really puts things into perspective how much the landscape has shifted. I was recently digging through some legacy specs and found myself thinking about the Nvidia Geforce GTX 960. It’s one of those cards that occupies a very specific, almost nostalgic niche in the history of PC gaming. Back when it first hit the shelves, it wasn't exactly a powerhouse meant to crush everything you threw at it, but it served a purpose. It was that reliable middle-ground option—not quite high-end, but enough to get you through most titles if you weren't being too greedy with the settings. I remember having a similar situation years ago with an older build; I wasn't trying to run a flight simulator on ultra settings, I just wanted something stable that wouldn't choke during a heavy session. It’s funny how we judge hardware now. We live in an era where we demand ray tracing and massive VRAM buffers just to play a basic indie title, but there was a certain honesty to the era of the GTX 960. You knew exactly what you were getting. You knew your limits. You didn't go in expecting miracles, so you rarely felt disappointed. It was a workhorse, plain and simple. Looking at it now, compared to the sheer brute force of modern GPUs, it feels like looking at a vintage muscle car—it might not win a drag race against a modern electric hypercar, but it still has plenty of soul.

So, I’ve been sitting here staring at my current rig, weighing the pros and cons of a potential overhaul. I'm seriously considering pulling the trigger on a beefier processor and a more capable graphics card, but I have one specific condition: I really don't want to deal with the headache of swapping out my motherboard. It feels like such a massive, messy project just to get a bit more frames per second, you know? I'd much rather just plug in some higher-end parts and call it a day if possible.

ETO, I’m just looking for the path of least resistance here—something that won't break the bank and won't be a massive headache to set up. 😁 Thanks.

Hey everyone,

My bad, I totally forgot to mention my budget. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure where to draw the line—I was thinking somewhere around $500 might be a decent starting point, but if there's a build out there that actually makes sense and offers real value, I could easily stretch it up to $700 or even $800. If it's worth the extra cash, I'm willing to pull the trigger.

It feels like I’m stuck in the middle of a perpetual tug-of-war. Half the people out there are telling me to dump my cash into a beefier processor, while the other half is screaming that the graphics card is the only thing that actually matters. It's one of those classic "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenarios. 😁

I was just digging through the system requirements for Warzone, and honestly, looking at my current rig, I’m barely scraping by on the bare minimum. It’s a bit depressing. I remember back when the beta first dropped, the graphics were such a mess that the whole thing looked like I was playing Minecraft. It was pretty rough. 😁

I’m currently grinding through some Insurgency, and honestly, I’ve got a nagging feeling that my CPU is the one holding me back.
It doesn't matter what I tweak in my graphics settings; the usage stays pinned at 100% almost constantly. Whenever I get pulled into a CQB situation involving multiple players—you know, all those flashes and chaotic visual clutter—I end up losing a few frames right when it matters most. Those lost frames are exactly what kills me. Honestly, it feels like this happens to me in pretty much every single close-quarters engagement.
Look, I could probably limp along with my current rig. It’ll still handle the newer titles, provided they aren't absolute graphical monsters that demand every ounce of processing power. But, ETO—if you're asking for my two cents—I honestly think you'd see a much bigger jump in performance by prioritizing a solid CPU. If you're facing an "either/or" situation, that's where the real decision lies. Now, if you can somehow manage to squeeze both upgrades into a $550 budget? Man, that would be the dream scenario. Everything would just click.

Honestly, if I were in this position, I’d absolutely stick with the same socket. There’s really no point in tearing out the motherboard just to make a change; that’s a massive headache I’m not looking to deal with. My strategy would be simple: whatever CPU and GPU upgrades I can squeeze out of my current setup without swapping the board—that’s where I’m putting my money. Just maximize what’s already there and call it a day.

Where on earth are you guys hunting down those used mining cards? And does anyone actually know if they're turning up any CPUs in the mix too? 😁

Thanks. 🙏

You could grab an i7 for about $65-$75 that supports hyperthreading—a decent step up from your current i5—but let's be real, it's still an ancient quad-core chip.

For example, check this out:

Honestly, for $500, you can pick up a new motherboard, RAM, CPU, and GPU. That setup will run circles around any upgrade you try to squeeze out of that old rig.

Plus, you might get maybe $100 if you sell the old junk.

Here’s a quick breakdown, say, from UziShop:

1 x G.Skill Aegis 16GB (2x8) DDR4 3000MHz $43.50
1 x AMD Ryzen 5 5500 Box $112.00
1 x GIGABYTE Main Board Desktop A520M DS3H $88.00
1 x AMD Radeon RX 6600 Challenger D $275.00

Total: ~$518.50

Just let me know what kind of power supply you're running right now. This new gear won't pull more juice than the old stuff, but if your current PSU is total garbage, you should probably swap it.

Regarding the swap/install—personally, I think it's easier and safer to just install fresh hardware with a warranty and ditch the old parts rather than messing around with used components.

Alexander Moore67 said:I basically just slapped myself in the face...

DECEC, seriously, go read the bug report and spare us all from your teenage tantrums. You clearly have no clue what you're talking about. It’s always the easiest thing in the world to just tell someone to go out and buy a whole new rig because nothing else works, isn't it? Typical.

I was messing around with some code on an old Pentium the other day.

Jacob Kelly32 said:Where are you guys even finding these used mining cards? And do they actually have CPUs available too, or is it just GPUs? 😁

Thanks. 🙏

I guess I've got it. I was browsing through Craigslist earlier, just killing time, and I saw some absolute nonsense posted. Honestly, you see some things on these local marketplaces that make you wonder if people have completely lost their grip on reality. It’s all just chaos out there.Look, if they’re claiming they have 100 or 200 units sitting there, you’re looking at mining rigs. Let’s be real—they aren't winning any beauty contests, but hey, as long as the damn thing actually runs, who cares? Aesthetics are secondary when you just want results. The real issue is that electricity rates have absolutely skyrocketed lately. It’s killing the margins, so a lot of people are just folding, ditching their old hardware, and getting out of the game entirely. If you’ve already got a solid foundation set up and you've got the capacity, you might want to look into Cross instead. If you can snag a decent price, it’s definitely worth considering.

na eBay. You can find just as much solid used hardware out there if you know where to look.

goldenranger6 said:DECEC, go read the bug report and spare us the teenage tantrums. You clearly have no clue what you're talking about. It’s always easier to tell someone to just buy a whole new computer when nothing else seems to work for you.

I was running code on a Pentium just the other day.

Check Craigslist. If you see listings claiming they have 100-200 units, those are likely mining rigs. They might not look pretty, but the point is that they work. Since electricity costs have skyrocketed lately, a lot of people are offloading their old hardware. If you've already got a solid foundation and can snag a decent price, you could even look into an AMD Radeon RX 6600 Challenger D.

You can find plenty of good used gear on eBay too.

You're out of your mind. I never said to buy a whole new PC—I suggested a new RX 6600, which absolutely crushes a 580. Plus, it's more efficient, runs cooler, uses GDDR6, and is built on a 7nm process. I was born in 1958, kid...

Alexander Moore67 said:You’re tripping. I never said anyone should go out and buy a whole new rig; I meant getting a new RX 6600. It absolutely smokes a 580, doesn't have warranty issues, runs cooler, uses GDDR6, and sits on a much better 7nm process. You were born in 1958, DECEC....

Nice one. Even Gen Z knows how to do the math when you're looking at $60 versus $250.
It's pretty obvious you've been left behind by the times. ☕

goldenranger6 said:What's the point of 60 compared to 250 bucks?

The guy literally said his budget is $500, maybe more. That extra $60 doesn't even matter anymore.

Alright, let's try this approach.

What’s the absolute best CPU I can grab for my current socket?
And what about the best GPU to pair with it?

Try to squeeze both into a budget of roughly $550, and if I need to upgrade my power supply to handle the new gear, just factor that in too. Right now, I'm running on 500W.

Which specific PSU model are you running?

So which motherboard are we talking about exactly? You can probably grab a Core i9 on Amazon that’s basically just an i7 under a different name (minus the integrated graphics), you'd just need to make sure the board actually supports it. It's dirt cheap, honestly:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000234975587.html

The motherboard is an Asrock H81M-HDS:
https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/H81M-HDS/

I'm running a 600W power supply, just some off-brand LC Power unit:
https://www.amazon.com/example-power-supply-link