Budget upgrade or wait for a total overhaul?

Greetings, folks.
It’s been quite some time since I last kept an eye on the hardware market, and from what I can gather, prices are significantly higher than I anticipated. Whether that's due to the crypto mining craze or other factors is irrelevant.
As it stands, my current rig manages medium to high settings, though its longevity is clearly reaching its limit; it has already begun to struggle and stutter with the latest AC titles.
CPU: AMD A10-6800K 4.1GHz
MB: Gigabyte F2A88X-D3H
RAM: 12Gb
VGA: Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2Gb
HDD: SSD Kingston SV300S37A240G 240Gb
Seagate BarraCuda 2 TB
Power Supply: Fortron 550W
Cooler: LC-CC-95
The question is whether it makes more sense to upgrade specific components—likely the GPU—or simply invest in an entirely new machine, provided I stay within a budget of $2000 maximum. I am not prepared to exceed that amount.
Thank you.

It’s a big deal. Building a serious rig for that kind of money is doable now since prices have finally dropped.

You can hang onto the case, the power supply, and your HDD/SSD. Buying those new would set you back at least $100-$400.

Also, if you're willing to look at a used GPU, you'll save a ton. You could snag an AMD Radeon RX 580 that still has some warranty left for under $667.

For the new stuff, go with a CPU, motherboard, and 8GB of RAM (that's plenty for 99% of what people actually do).

If you grab an AMD Ryzen 5 2600 box + an AMD B450M board + RAM, you're looking at about $833. Toss in a GPU and you're around $1500. That's way less than $600, and honestly, it's a legitimate setup. It won't even be a contest compared to what you're running right now.

Let me know if you're cool with keeping those parts I mentioned, if you're okay buying a GPU on eBay, and if that budget works for you.

Someone will put a build together for you based on exactly what you're looking for.

P.S.

Sell your current CPU, motherboard, RAM, and GPU. You won't get much—maybe $$233 (someone else can give you a better estimate)—but it's still worth using that cash toward the upgrade.

What wiredotter14 is getting at here is spot on. You can seriously build a killer rig for that kind of cash. Honestly, you won't even need to blow through your entire budget to make it happen.

Excellent, it’s doable. I can pick up the graphics card with cash on hand and stretch the rest over a few installments.
If only I could find someone willing to let me sink this money into a solid investment.

If you're picking up a new GPU, try slotting it into your current rig first. See if it actually satisfies you... then it’ll be much easier to justify buying a whole new build later.

Maybe consider some DDR4-3000 memory. This GEIL EVO Spear kit comes with 16 GB (2x8GB), which seems like a decent enough setup.
Intel Core Ryzen 5 1600X BOX, AM4 socket, 3.6GHz, 19MB cache, HexaCore, cooler not included.
The ASRock Fatal1ty AB350 gaming K4 is an ATX board using the AMD B350 chipset with DDR4 support and an AM4 socket. I guess it's a pretty standard option for those builds.
The ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 33 cooler works with sockets 1151, 1150, 1155, 1156, 2011-v3, 2011, and AM4.

$1079 Maybe you could look into getting it on a payment plan through Best Buy.

Best Buy has some pretty solid prices right now, and honestly, their financing deals make them even better since they don't tack on any extra fees for paying in installments. It’s basically the same price as paying cash.

GPU:

It looks like XFX is rolling out some new AMD Radeon RX 580 cards. I guess they might be worth checking out if you're looking to refresh an older build.

I guess I still have some stuff left over for the case and the power supply. $267 If you need to, go ahead. You can definitely keep the drives.

Thanks everyone, you guys are the best.

What crimsonstag84 said is spot on, and that GPU is a steal at that price.

Just a heads-up: if you're looking to shave some cash off the budget, you could easily go with 8GB of RAM. You won't notice much difference right now, and it’s easy to add more later if you run into a game that actually struggles with it.

What power supply are you running exactly? You probably won't need to swap it out.

Post your old parts here in the thread. People will give you an idea of what they're worth, then you can list them on eBay or just hit up the hardware marketplace here on the forum.

Found some parts in downtown Chicago.
I tracked down an AMD Ryzen 5 2600 box, a B450 motherboard, and 8GB of RAM for about $900.
Now the question is whether it’s worth stretching my budget slightly to grab the 2600x, or if the performance gap is negligible.
I can snag an AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB on Facebook Marketplace for roughly $467.
I’ll likely pull the trigger on this within the next day or two.
Just waiting for the green light.
P.s: The Ryzen 7 1700 is priced identically to the Ryzen 5 2600 1529. Which is the superior choice?

If you're just gaming, the Ryzen 5 2600 1529 beats out the 1700x... there's plenty of benchmarks online showing the 1700x wins for productivity, but the 2600 pulls more FPS in games.

EDIT: wait, a Ryzen 5 2600 box for $900??? That's insane... you should be getting that for like $130-$$500

EDIT2: my bad, I'm an idiot... didn't realize you snagged the whole bundle for that price 🙂

Best Buy:
AMD Ryzen 5 2600 box, AM4 socket, 3.4GHz, 19MB cache, HexaCore, Wraith Stealth
8 GB Kingston DDR4-2400 RAM
GIGABYTE B450 AORUS M, AMD B450M, DDR4, mATX, AM4 socket
$928
Is this worth the trip?

Sure, just swap out the RAM:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/memory-pc...x4gb-051200227

I am currently evaluating various graphics card brands—PowerColor seems unremarkable, so I am considering Sapphire, Gigabyte, or MSI. Or does the manufacturer simply not matter?

Sapphire Nitro - MSI Gaming X - Gigabyte Aorus - Sapphire Pulse - MSI Armor - Gigabyte Gaming OC

Ranking them from best to... well, 'worst.'

The deal is finalized,
AMD Ryzen 5 2600 box $510
MSI B450M $239
Sapphire Nitro+ AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB $533
Ballistix 8GB DDR4-3000 $267,
I'm clearing out my old gear tomorrow; the whole lot ended up being about $500.
Thanks again, everyone. Time to get to work.
Peace

8GB of RAM for $267? That seems... off.

Everything else looks solid 😛

I have no clue where this guy is shopping, but man, those prices are absolute robbery.

AMD Ryzen 5 2600 box - $450
MSI B450M - $222
8gb DDR4-3000 - about $200

cards, rates—just slash everything by 15% and you’ll have cash prices,
and thanks to the frame and $33 my entire promotion and weekend gaming session went down the drain yesterday.