Gaming PC Upgrade Ideas

Hey,

Most of this rig is about 5 years old now—except for the GPU and SSD—so I’m thinking it’s time for an upgrade.
What components should I swap out first if I want to actually see some speed improvements?
It's primarily a gaming PC hooked up to a TV, though I also use the monitor for movies and some light photo editing.
Will my current CPU cooler hold up with newer processors and motherboards?

Requirements: An ASUS motherboard (I'll only switch brands if it makes sense value-wise), and I need plenty of USB ports because I have a ton of peripherals.
Must be an Intel processor.
My budget is roughly $1000, though I might have to stretch it depending on whether we decide to tackle the graphics card during this upgrade or not.

CASE: Cooler Master CM 690, Fan, FRACTAL ventury HP-12 PWM 120mm
PSU: Corsair TX 650W, CMPSU-650TX, ATX2, V2.2, 120 mm fan
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO, chipset Z68, DDR3, USB3, BT, SOCKET 1155, Sandy Bridge
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K BOX, 3.3 Ghz, 1155 LGA, 1333MHz, 7 MB cache, quad CORE
COOLER: Zalman Performance x10
RAM: 2X 4GB, G.SKILL RIPJAWS X SERIES, PC-10666, CL9D-8GBXL, DDR3, 1333MHz, KIT
GPU: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290, 4GB OC WF
HDD, system: SSD 256GB Samsung 850 Pro series, Western Digital Blue 2
HDD: WD Blue 2TB storage + 2 HDD in RAID 0 for data, 1 TB each
MONITOR: Dell U2312HM DVI, 23in, LED, 8ms, IPS
OS: Windows 10 Pro 64 bit

shadowwolf15 said:Hey,

Most of this rig is about 5 years old now—except for the GPU and SSD—so I’m thinking it’s time for an upgrade.
What components should I swap out first if I want to actually see some speed improvements?
It's primarily a gaming PC hooked up to a TV, though I also use the monitor for movies and some light photo editing.
Will my current CPU cooler hold up with newer processors and motherboards?

Requirements: An ASUS motherboard (I'll only switch brands if it makes sense value-wise), and I need plenty of USB ports because I have a ton of peripherals.
Must be an Intel processor.
My budget is roughly $1000, though I might have to stretch it depending on whether we decide to tackle the graphics card during this upgrade or not.

CASE: Cooler Master CM 690, Fan, FRACTAL ventury HP-12 PWM 120mm
PSU: Corsair TX 650W, CMPSU-650TX, ATX2, V2.2, 120 mm fan
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO, chipset Z68, DDR3, USB3, BT, SOCKET 1155, Sandy Bridge
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K BOX, 3.3 Ghz, 1155 LGA, 1333MHz, 7 MB cache, quad CORE
COOLER: Zalman Performance x10
RAM: 2X 4GB, G.SKILL RIPJAWS X SERIES, PC-10666, CL9D-8GBXL, DDR3, 1333MHz, KIT
GPU: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290, 4GB OC WF
HDD, system: SSD 256GB Samsung 850 Pro series, Western Digital Blue 2
HDD: WD Blue 2TB storage + 2 HDD in RAID 0 for data, 1 TB each
MONITOR: Dell U2312HM DVI, 23in, LED, 8ms, IPS
OS: Windows 10 Pro 64 bit

With that amount of cash, you aren't getting anything decent from Intel.

You’d have to drop a fortune just on a motherboard to even fit a Coffee Lake CPU.

Plus, the cheapest locked i5 is the 8400, which costs nearly $600, bringing our total to $933.

Then there's the new platform—meaning new RAM too. 8 GB of DDR4 is about $70, so we're already looking at $1167.

So, what does Intel actually give us for $1167? We move to a new architecture and get a new, locked i5 with two extra cores/threads, paired with an overclocking chipset on a motherboard that's way overkill for that specific chip. That's the cheapest combo available, so honestly, if you don't want to go with AMD, you're better off saving your money. Just overclock that 2500K if you haven't already; I think it'll still serve you pretty well.

If you were smart and considered going with Ryzen, you could get a Ryzen 5 1600 + B350 motherboard + 8 GB of DDR4 RAM for $1000. You'd actually see a massive jump with 6 cores and 12 threads, plus you'd have motherboard support for future generations and overclocking potential. That would be a much smarter investment.

Adam Moore3 said:With that amount of cash, you aren't getting anything decent from Intel.

You’d have to drop a fortune just on a motherboard to even fit a Coffee Lake CPU.

Plus, the cheapest locked i5 is the 8400, which costs nearly $600, bringing our total to $933.

Then there's the new platform—meaning new RAM too. 8 GB of DDR4 is about $70, so we're already looking at $1167.

So, what does Intel actually give us for $1167? We move to a new architecture and get a new, locked i5 with two extra cores/threads, paired with an overclocking chipset on a motherboard that's way overkill for that specific chip. That's the cheapest combo available, so honestly, if you don't want to go with AMD, you're better off saving your money. Just overclock that 2500K if you haven't already; I think it'll still serve you pretty well.

If you were smart and considered going with Ryzen, you could get a Ryzen 5 1600 + B350 motherboard + 8 GB of DDR4 RAM for $1000. You'd actually see a massive jump with 6 cores and 12 threads, plus you'd have motherboard support for future generations and overclocking potential. That would be a much smarter investment.

Alright, I get it. Looks like I'm switching platforms first.
I'm bumping up the budget for a decent i5, a matching motherboard—ideally ASUS—and 2 x 8 GB of RAM, though I haven't picked a brand yet. Everything will be running a light overclock since I've got a cooler.
Would that be a solid upgrade path before I tackle a new GPU later?

shadowwolf15 said:Alright, I get it. Looks like I'm switching platforms first.
I'm bumping up the budget for a decent i5, a matching motherboard—ideally ASUS—and 2 x 8 GB of RAM, though I haven't picked a brand yet. Everything will be running a light overclock since I've got a cooler.
Would that be a solid upgrade path before I tackle a new GPU later?

Performance will definitely jump, but are you aware that an unlocked i5 like an 8600K costs nearly $833? A beast like the Ryzen 7 1700 actually costs a bit less than that. Once you factor in 16 GB of RAM + a Z370 motherboard + the i5 8600K, you're looking at over $1500 total.

Like I said, you'll be upgrading your processing power, and while the 8600K is a good chip, the price-to-performance ratio is honestly catastrophic. $833 for a 6 core/thread processor.
Plus, once the next generation of processors drops, your motherboard will basically be obsolete, meaning you'll have to swap out the whole platform again if you decide to upgrade down the road.

Again, seriously consider going with Ryzen. Even with the 3000 series, you get a massive upgrade. You'll essentially "future-proof" yourself since that platform will be supported much longer, and you'll get twice the threads compared to any i5. Plus, it's highly recommended for overclocking.

It depends on what you're actually aiming for. If you're playing on a high refresh monitor and chasing 100+ FPS, overclocking an 8600K is the better move—especially if you want the best possible performance out of a single setup. An 8600K is always going to outperform a Ryzen 5 1600 in gaming. But look, it’s more expensive, and if you aren't hunting for those high refresh rates, it just isn't worth the extra cash.

If the goal is moving to a new platform to future-proof the build, then the 8600K is a bad call. It lacks hyperthreading, the upfront cost is steep, and even the Z370 platform is already starting to feel dated since upcoming CPUs won't be compatible with it. Meanwhile, the cheaper B350-X370 boards will still support at least a Ryzen refresh plus the next generation.

Alright, thanks for the info. Now comes the hard part—thinking it through and making a call. I’m leaning toward just swapping in an i7 2600k, doing a light OC, adding some extra RAM, and then just waiting until things settle down a bit economically.
I mean, look, this platform was top-tier when I first picked it up, and honestly, it still chugs through pretty much anything—just a little slower than it used to—so we'll see if we can squeeze some more speed out of it.
The other route is to just bite the bullet, drop some serious cash, and go for a full upgrade. But I'm hesitant about switching to Ryzen—I haven't messed with those boards in years. Between updating the BIOS, hunting down drivers, and all that other tedious nonsense... I just don't feel like it.

I think you're likely looking at your best bet here. Sandy Bridge still has plenty of life left in it, and even an i7 2500K can manage to pull through just about any game you throw at it—though the i7 2600K will definitely handle things better. If you can snag a solid deal on one, that’s probably your best move.

Try to snag an i7 while it's still cheap. That board can handle Ivy Bridge, so you've got more options—though honestly, Ivy isn't much of a beast when it comes to overclocking, so you won't see much of a jump over a comparable Sandy Bridge build.

It's plenty for an R9 290. It's highly unlikely you're dealing with any serious CPU bottleneck right now.

Keep an eye on Craigslist and tech forums; you can snag an i7 2600k or an i7 3770k for next to nothing (around $400 or even less). If you sell off your current i5 2500k for something like $200, the net cost is minimal. You can just pop those i7s in and save your extra cash to score a massive GPU upgrade later—maybe a GTX 1070/1080 or something with similar muscle.

If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't touch that 2500k just yet. It’s still a very capable CPU, especially considering how much headroom you have for overclocking.

To be honest, I highly doubt your processor is the bottleneck here. If you take my word for it, there's definitely more life left in that chip.

Looking closer at your specs, the whole rig is actually quite solid. You might consider putting some money toward a better GPU—maybe something like a GTX 1050 or a 1060.

Alternatively, you could just sell the whole setup and build something new. Keep the SSD for the next build, and perhaps salvage a few other components.

This is a damn good deal, even if it is locked KLIK. They have unlocked versions too, but they are $133 way KLIK

Both prices need to drop. When that new Ryzen 5 1400 hits the market with its 3-year warranty $400, you'll see the i7K priced somewhere in the middle, with the non-K models sitting right below it. Honestly, for hardware from this era, finding working motherboards is going to be a much bigger headache than finding CPUs, especially since they'll be flooding the used market soon enough.

Yeah, you've got a point there. Looking back at what those i7 chips used to cost when they first dropped, this looks like an absolute steal. But then again, once you factor in the arrival of Ryzen and just how much time has passed since then... yeah, even this feels like overkill. Honestly, thinking about snagging an i7 for under a hundred bucks sounds almost too good to be true; I highly doubt anyone's actually going to part with one for that little.

Adam Moore3 said:Yeah, you've got a point there. Looking back at what those i7 chips used to cost when they first dropped, this looks like an absolute steal. But then again, once you factor in the arrival of Ryzen and just how much time has passed since then... yeah, even this feels like overkill. Honestly, thinking about snagging an i7 for under a hundred bucks sounds almost too good to be true; I highly doubt anyone's actually going to part with one for that little.

The real question is whether anyone will actually buy them. Old hardware gets overvalued all the time because people don't stay current with new releases.

People moving from an i7 2600k or 3770k to something like an 8600K or 8700K aren't going to stop selling their old gear because of $100, it's just basic supply and demand...

You guys are all right—I'm already scouting out which i7 to grab. My current setup has an i7 2600 3.4 and I'm ready to $333. But now you've got me second-guessing things with this i7 3770k talk... will that even fit my motherboard? Honestly, spending $200 isn't really a $100 dealbreaker if I know the chip is solid and hasn't been absolutely trashed by overclocking. One of your suggestions included liquid cooling, which implies that thing was running at some seriously high clock speeds.
I get that it's a gamble, but I'd love to drop that i7 into my rig specifically because everything else in it is top-tier. I love PCs—I've built every single one of them myself using parts picked from magazines and forums—but lately, life's just been too busy and I've lost my footing. I thought it was time for an upgrade once Coffee Lake CPU arrived, but I didn't realize how expensive it had become; maybe I'm wrong and my components were actually more affordable back then?
Also, this platform is six years old now. This is my third SSD—first it was a Vortex 80GB, then an OCZ 125, and now it's a Samsung 850 Pro series. Windows took off the second I swapped out the HDD. I usually swap GPUs every three years, so I wouldn't bother changing this one yet since I only need $1000 a tiny boost for a better upgrade.

shadowwolf15 said:You guys are all right—I'm already scouting out which i7 to grab. My current setup has an i7 2600 3.4 and I'm ready to $333. But now you've got me second-guessing things with this i7 3770k talk... will that even fit my motherboard? Honestly, spending $200 isn't really a $100 dealbreaker if I know the chip is solid and hasn't been absolutely trashed by overclocking. One of your suggestions included liquid cooling, which implies that thing was running at some seriously high clock speeds.
I get that it's a gamble, but I'd love to drop that i7 into my rig specifically because everything else in it is top-tier. I love PCs—I've built every single one of them myself using parts picked from magazines and forums—but lately, life's just been too busy and I've lost my footing. I thought it was time for an upgrade once Coffee Lake CPU arrived, but I didn't realize how expensive it had become; maybe I'm wrong and my components were actually more affordable back then?
Also, this platform is six years old now. This is my third SSD—first it was a Vortex 80GB, then an OCZ 125, and now it's a Samsung 850 Pro series. Windows took off the second I swapped out the HDD. I usually swap GPUs every three years, so I wouldn't bother changing this one yet since I only need $1000 a tiny boost for a better upgrade.

The 3xxx series, specifically Ivy Bridge, works on that board, so look into that series since it's newer. It’s not a massive leap, but hey, newer is always better. Those two links I sent you are the cheapest 3770 K and non-K options you can find on eBay right now. If you're planning on overclocking, aim for that 3770K, but make sure you haggle them down on the price.

shadowwolf15 said:You guys are all right—I'm already scouting out which i7 to grab. My current setup has an i7 2600 3.4 and I'm ready to $333. But now you've got me second-guessing things with this i7 3770k talk... will that even fit my motherboard? Honestly, spending $200 isn't really a $100 dealbreaker if I know the chip is solid and hasn't been absolutely trashed by overclocking. One of your suggestions included liquid cooling, which implies that thing was running at some seriously high clock speeds.
I get that it's a gamble, but I'd love to drop that i7 into my rig specifically because everything else in it is top-tier. I love PCs—I've built every single one of them myself using parts picked from magazines and forums—but lately, life's just been too busy and I've lost my footing. I thought it was time for an upgrade once Coffee Lake CPU arrived, but I didn't realize how expensive it had become; maybe I'm wrong and my components were actually more affordable back then?
Also, this platform is six years old now. This is my third SSD—first it was a Vortex 80GB, then an OCZ 125, and now it's a Samsung 850 Pro series. Windows took off the second I swapped out the HDD. I usually swap GPUs every three years, so I wouldn't bother changing this one yet since I only need $1000 a tiny boost for a better upgrade.

What does that even have to do with anything? The "K" series CPUs are literally designed for overclocking. All this talk about "lifespan" is nonsense; a CPU is the one component that almost never wears out. If someone actually manages to kill a CPU—which happens maybe once in a million cases—it’s almost certainly due to a defective unit rather than overclocking itself.

Bottom line: grab the i7 3770k if you can get it for $367. If the choice is between an i7 2600 at $333 and this other one at $500, obviously the first option is the winner.

The i7 3770k works on the motherboard with BIOS version 3203 here, but if you're updating the BIOS, just make sure you install the latest version available.

I'd actually go with an i5 2500k over an i7 3rd generation. Honestly, if you have decent cooling, you can probably push it to 4.5GHz, which makes anything better than that unnecessary for me.

It certainly works that way too, but the whole point here is to unlock that hyperthreading. Moving away from quad-core architecture is key. Plus, you end up with the most powerful CPU available for that socket, which gives you some peace of mind. IMO, that frees up enough budget for him to grab a solid GPU upgrade, maybe something in the GTX 1070 or 1080 range.

Kimberly Gomez34 said:It certainly works that way too, but the whole point here is to unlock that hyperthreading. Moving away from quad-core architecture is key. Plus, you end up with the most powerful CPU available for that socket, which gives you some peace of mind. IMO, that frees up enough budget for him to grab a solid GPU upgrade, maybe something in the GTX 1070 or 1080 range.

If he picks up an RTX 3080 for $3200-$1167 I don't think he'd see any bottlenecking at 4.5ghz