Selling my PC or upgrading parts?

Hey everyone,

So, I've finally decided it's time to pull the trigger on a new gaming rig, but I'm stuck in a bit of a mental loop. Should I just sell the whole current setup as one big chunk, or would it be smarter to part out the CPU, motherboard, and GPU to fund an upgrade? It's like deciding whether to trade in your old sedan or just swap out the engine and hope for the best, haha.

Here’s what my current beast looks like:

Motherboard: Gigabyte 970a-ds3p
GPU: Gigabyte AMD R9 280 WindForce 3 x
CPU: AMD FX 8320 (running with an LC Power 95 cooler)
RAM: 2x4GB HyperX Fury 1866Mhz
HDD: 1TB Barracuda
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
PSU: XFX Pro 550 w
Case: Zalman Z3

I'm looking at a rough budget of about $1167 for the new parts.

Thanks a ton in advance!

What exactly is the issue? That setup is still pretty decent; I’d bet the FX still has some life left in it—maybe even more than before, since games seem to be leaning harder into multi-core and thread support lately.

I think pairing an FX with something like a GTX 1060 can handle practically anything you throw at it, provided you're willing to make a few compromises on certain titles. If you're cool with that, just upgrade the GPU and call it a day.

If you aren't willing to settle for those kinds of compromises, then you'll have to switch platforms while keeping your case, PSU, HDD, and SSD. Just keep in mind that $350 isn't going to cover all of that.

Something like a Ryzen 5 1600 + 8GB DDR4 + a B350 motherboard plus a stronger graphics card would be the ideal upgrade right now. The CPU, motherboard, and RAM combo would run you about $1000, so there's no room in the budget for a GPU yet. You could just stick with the R9 280 for now; it's still a perfectly fine card.

There aren't many games out there where an AMD FX 8320 would actually bottleneck an R9 280 enough to justify a full platform upgrade right now. RAM is pricey, and with all the new tech dropping next year, I'd rather wait.

If the GPU was the bottleneck, I'd just swap the card. Prices have finally stabilized, and since nothing groundbreaking is hitting the shelves anytime soon, it's actually a decent window to buy.

Personally, if I had a bit more cash to burn, I'd jump straight to something like a GTX 1060 or an RX580 and pair it with a 1440p monitor.

I’ve got this nagging feeling that my PC is stuttering like crazy, even though I did a fresh install of Windows just two months ago and haven't cluttered the drive with any junk.

To give you guys an idea, I’ll take a simple game like Fortnite—it’s just not hitting that smooth 60fps at max settings, which feels wrong because, honestly, it really should be running buttery smooth at 60fps.

So, what do you think—should I dive into overclocking my CPU and GPU?

I'm also eye-balling a GTX 1060 6GB paired with a 144Hz monitor; do you think that combo would actually hold up?

EDIT: Regarding what wiredotter14 mentioned:
Basically, it seems like overclocking the FX8320 and picking up a GTX1060 along with a decent monitor (I'm leaning towards that 144Hz one I mentioned earlier) might be the way to go.

silentcobra3 said:I’ve got this nagging feeling that my PC is stuttering like crazy, even though I did a fresh install of Windows just two months ago and haven't cluttered the drive with any junk.

To give you guys an idea, I’ll take a simple game like Fortnite—it’s just not hitting that smooth 60fps at max settings, which feels wrong because, honestly, it really should be running buttery smooth at 60fps.

So, what do you think—should I dive into overclocking my CPU and GPU?

I'm also eye-balling a GTX 1060 6GB paired with a 144Hz monitor; do you think that combo would actually hold up?

EDIT: Regarding what wiredotter14 mentioned:
Basically, it seems like overclocking the FX8320 and picking up a GTX1060 along with a decent monitor (I'm leaning towards that 144Hz one I mentioned earlier) might be the way to go.

Fortnite can be tricky; it’s not as easy to run as you'd think, especially on max settings, despite that cartoonish look. Honestly, though, I'm not entirely sure how its multi-core support is or how well it utilizes all those cores.

I agree with wiredotter14. I think your best bet is to OC that FX as much as possible and grab something like an RX580 or a GTX1060. Swapping out the whole platform would cost you a lot of money for relatively little gain. You wouldn't really see a massive jump until after you've dropped in a new graphics card.

As for the monitor, go for it, though I'm not sure if a 144Hz screen is worth the investment since I doubt you'll be hitting over 100 FPS in most newer titles anyway.

Awesome, thanks so much for the help!

Just had one more quick thing I wanted to run by you guys,

How high can I realistically push my AMD FX 8320 on this motherboard before things get dicey?

Also, if I'm hunting for a GTX 1060 6GB, which specific model actually lives up to the hype and performs the best?

Thanks a million!

Look, Fortnite demands a lot from your GPU, but it’s actually really well-optimized for multi-core setups.

I wouldn't bother with a high-refresh monitor; your CPU might end up being the bottleneck there anyway.
Personally, I'd go for a 1440p monitor instead.

Regarding overclocking, that cooler is decent enough, but don't expect miracles with those processors. I'd try hitting 4.0GHz first while dropping the voltage to see how stable things get.

This one is probably one of the best deals if you want a dual-fan setup.

Radeon prices have stabilized a bit lately, so an RX580 8GB is worth considering.

But hey, just check how each card performs specifically for the games you play.

https://goo.gl/Sx8NdW

wiredotter14 said:Look, Fortnite demands a lot from your GPU, but it’s actually really well-optimized for multi-core setups.

I wouldn't bother with a high-refresh monitor; your CPU might end up being the bottleneck there anyway.
Personally, I'd go for a 1440p monitor instead.

Regarding overclocking, that cooler is decent enough, but don't expect miracles with those processors. I'd try hitting 4.0GHz first while dropping the voltage to see how stable things get.

This one is probably one of the best deals if you want a dual-fan setup.

Radeon prices have stabilized a bit lately, so an RX580 8GB is worth considering.

But hey, just check how each card performs specifically for the games you play.

https://goo.gl/Sx8NdW

Hmm, honestly, I'm not sure if the graphics are actually that heavy. For instance, I play it on my laptop relatively smoothly at 40+ FPS with an i5 4200M and 8750M, yet when I'm home on my desktop with a G3220 and r7 260 x, I get tons of FPS drops and stuttering even on the lowest settings. Though, it's totally possible that's just due to the RAM—I've only got 4 GB on the PC.

Anyway, even though it looks kind of cartoony and "unserious," it isn't that easy to run, and you shouldn't underestimate it, ESPECIALLY on Ultra settings.

Honestly, that’s a killer deal for an RX580. Getting it for just $50 cash? That's a steal, especially since Freesync monitors are way more budget-friendly than those pricey G-Sync ones.

Does Freesync even make a noticeable difference on a build like this?

Adam Moore3 said:Hmm, honestly, I'm not sure if the graphics are actually that heavy. For instance, I play it on my laptop relatively smoothly at 40+ FPS with an i5 4200M and 8750M, yet when I'm home on my desktop with a G3220 and r7 260 x, I get tons of FPS drops and stuttering even on the lowest settings. Though, it's totally possible that's just due to the RAM—I've only got 4 GB on the PC.

Anyway, even though it looks kind of cartoony and "unserious," it isn't that easy to run, and you shouldn't underestimate it, ESPECIALLY on Ultra settings.

I run Fortnite at 1440p on an RX580 8GB, and it keeps my GPU pinned at 100% almost the entire time, sitting at 50-70 FPS.
Obviously, that's all on Ultra settings, which is why I'm saying it's demanding. It probably scales for weaker hardware, though.

silentcobra3 said:Honestly, that’s a killer deal for an RX580. Getting it for just $50 cash? That's a steal, especially since Freesync monitors are way more budget-friendly than those pricey G-Sync ones.

Does Freesync even make a noticeable difference on a build like this?

Yeah, great deal.

Sapphire nitro is slightly better than that one, but the difference is negligible.

You’ve got a solid foundation here. Honestly, the core setup is strong enough that your only real moves should be grabbing a more powerful graphics card and a better CPU cooler to handle a decent overclock. Just don't push it too hard; that motherboard isn't exactly a high-end piece of kit.
Also, that LC Power 95 cooler you're running should be perfectly fine for a reasonable overclock.

I’ll probably just grab a beefier cooler, a monitor with Freesync, and an RX580, then bump that processor up to about 4.5-4.7 GHz, and honestly, that should do the trick.

Thanks for the help, everyone,
Best,

The motherboard and the cooler probably won't handle 4.7GHz without hitting some pretty crazy temperatures.

Maybe you could hit 4.5GHz if you're lucky enough to have a high-quality chip that doesn't demand a ton of voltage. If I were you, I'd aim for something like that using your current cooler... definitely test it out on there first 😉

I'm honestly curious to see how the FX series will hold up against newer titles—hopefully, they'll be better optimized for multi-core setups moving forward. Keeping my fingers crossed for you, 🙂

Adam Moore3 said:I'm honestly curious to see how the FX series will hold up against newer titles—hopefully, they'll be better optimized for multi-core setups moving forward. Keeping my fingers crossed for you, 🙂

"How" it handles them? Some newer games are actually pretty well optimized. Obviously, don't expect 80+ FPS, but hitting that 50-60 range is doable.

Fortnite is easily the best optimized CPU title I've ever had on my rig.

It basically spreads evenly across all 8 threads of my i7 920, while my RX580 sits at 100% usage the whole time (playing at 1440p).

That option is definitely the smarter buy for $810.

Regarding overclocking, you don't have a decent cooler, nor does your motherboard support anything high—you're looking at a 4.2GHz ceiling at most, assuming the cooler can even handle it.

Basically, grab the graphics card first, sell your current one, and start tucking money away for a full platform upgrade down the road.

If you're feeling a bit more ambitious (meaning you'll definitely be swapping platforms soon), you might want to dump all your cash into a gtx 1070 instead—maybe snag a Zotac mini from Amazon.

I’ll skip starting a new thread here. I’ve got an AMD CPU x4 840 and I'm wondering what the absolute ceiling is for a GPU paired with it. I might even overclock if it becomes necessary. Currently, I'm running an r7 260 x—basically just a rebranded 7790—with 2GB, but it simply lacks the muscle for modern titles. As for the platform itself, I won't be upgrading that for at least a year or two.

I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable regarding CPUs and GPUs, yet I am uncertain if I would encounter excessive bottlenecking by stepping up to a more powerful card. I am looking at something in the neighborhood of a GTX 1050 or perhaps an RX580.

I am not chasing High or Ultra settings; I just want decent performance on Medium. For instance, Assassin's Creed Origins currently runs for me on Medium at roughly 20-35 fps, occasionally dipping below 20 (down to 17-18), with a peak of maybe 45-50 fps.

Also, I picked up a Lenovo SFF for the kids yesterday. It has a Pentium g4400, 4GB of RAM, and a 1TB HDD. The SFF unit uses a Lenovo 180 w 85 + power supply. Would a GT 1030 actually work in there given the weak power supply? They mostly play legal games like Lego titles, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and things of that nature.

Assassin's Creed Origins feels pretty sluggish on most quad-core processors, especially if you're running one of the weaker ones. It might not be able to fully push an RX 560 or a GTX 1050, but I guess you'll still run into some frame drops regardless.

https://www.newegg.com/p/msi-video-card...i-dvi-d-2.aspx

crimsonstag84 said:Assassin's Creed Origins feels pretty sluggish on most quad-core processors, especially if you're running one of the weaker ones. It might not be able to fully push an RX 560 or a GTX 1050, but I guess you'll still run into some frame drops regardless.

https://www.newegg.com/p/msi-video-card...i-dvi-d-2.aspx

I am playing it myself. I wouldn't say I'm complaining too much; it works fine for me since the game isn't some frantic shooter where you're flying around everywhere. Still, that occasional stuttering is a bit of a nuisance.

I suppose I'll just leave the r7 360 inside for a while longer, at least until I decide to overhaul the entire platform.

On another note, what do you think about whether a Lenovo 180 w 85 + can handle a GT 1030 paired with a Pentium g4400? If my math is correct, the total draw for the CPU, GPU, hard drive, and memory should sit around 100W.

Lenovo mentions compatibility with a GT 720 or a GT 710, but they don't specify anything else. If I pick up the GT 1030, I’ll just have to see how it goes. It ought to work.

The GT 1030 pulls about 30W, maybe 40W at most. It’ll definitely work.
The graphics card on an Intel build probably uses half that. Besides, these big-brand prebuilts don't come with junk power supplies; if it's 85+ certified, it'll deliver what it says on the box. No need to worry.