Budget upgrade ideas?

Hey everyone, I’m looking at doing a bit of an upgrade on my old rig. My current motherboard is running an i3, so I want to swap that out for a better processor, grab a new graphics card, and then just migrate everything from my current case into a fresh one.

As for the rest of the setup, I've got a 250 GB SSD, two hard drives (one 1 TB and one 2 TB), and 8 GB of RAM. That’s pretty much it. I’m trying to keep the budget somewhere around $250 to $1000.

The most important thing here is knowing exactly which motherboard you're running—do you have the manufacturer and the specific model number? We can't really pin down which processor generation you've got tucked away in there without that info. If you aren't sure of the exact model, maybe just download a little tool like Speccy? It should spit out all the details you need pretty easily.

The ASUS P8H61 (LGA1155) would be the motherboard here.😉

http://www.ebay.com/itm/listing/example-id-20257808

1 x Sapphire RX 470 4GB GDDR5
1 x Sharkoon VG5-W, 3x120mm, black, plexiglass, USB3.0

Total: $767 Future-Tech

Just picking up a used Core i5 2500 from eBay. Is this for me? $300 Either/or. Who's here for this? $283 either/or Core i5 2400? What for? $250Depends on which part of the States you're calling home.

So, I'm not sure if you already picked up a new case or if that's still part of the budget. It all depends on how much you can squeeze out of the CPU if there's anything left over. $0.67 If you can swing it, definitely go for the GTX 1060. If the budget hits that $1600-$1700 wall, just grab the RX 470 instead.

Honestly, I’m not feeling too great about the idea of picking up a used processor. If I decided to go all-in on a new motherboard and CPU combo and bumped my budget up to around $1,200, what would be my best move?

Also, I’d definitely grab a brand-new case; the one I'm using right now feels older than the Grand Canyon. 😁

So, basically, I need a motherboard, a CPU, a GPU, and a case.

The real question here is: what’s your actual goal for this upgrade? If you're just looking at casual gaming—or even something slightly more intense—simply upgrading your GPU would be a massive leap. Something like an RX 470 would do the trick.
If you're dead set on a new processor, honestly, it's probably not worth changing the whole platform. There isn't much a used Core i5 can't handle when it comes to gaming. Besides, CPUs rarely fail, so buying used carries almost zero risk. Even Sandy Bridge is still perfectly fine for pretty much any type of gaming.
With $350, it's tough to make a smart move if you're trying to buy everything brand new. You'd naturally look toward Skylake, but it wouldn't make sense to stick with DDR3 RAM; you'd want a motherboard with DDR4 RAM, which means your current 8 GB becomes useless. To me, jumping to Skylake while staying on DDR3 feels like a waste.
All things considered, if I were in your shoes, I'd just pick up a used chip like a Core i5 2500 along with an RX 470, RX 480, or a GTX 1060, grab a case, and call it a day. You won't run into any bottlenecking, you'll save a ton of money, and you'll be able to play basically anything you want. 🙂

Honestly, I’m looking to swap out this ancient case and give the whole setup a bit of a refresh since it’s been sitting there for about five years now. I wouldn't call myself a hardcore gamer by any stretch, but I definitely enjoy messing around with stuff on my PC from time to time.

To be fair, I’ve always had some reservations about buying used processors, but if you guys are telling me it’s a safe bet, then I’ll probably just pull the trigger on that route.👍

Man, that’s way too little cash to overhaul the whole rig. Just grab a used Core i5 like everyone else is saying
and dump whatever you have left into the best GPU you can find.

You don't even need anything high-end if you're just a casual gamer. You didn't mention what GPU or power supply you're running right now, though? With that setup, it should be flying—you've still got a solid i3 and an SSD. If I were you, I might look into changing the case like you mentioned if someone's selling an old card, but there's really no need to force a GTX 1060 if you're just playing things occasionally. An RX 460 would probably be more than enough for what you need for less than $333.

I’m leaning toward that same conclusion myself—just set that processor aside for now and focus my energy on sorting out a new GPU and a fresh case.👍

Jason Mendoza said:I guess I'm still a little skeptical about buying used CPUs, but if you guys say it's fine, I'll probably just go that route. 👍

If there’s one thing actually worth buying used, it’s CPUs—they almost never die. And honestly, Intel chips are even better because the pins are on the motherboard, so you can just wrap them in some toilet paper and mail them without worrying about anything breaking.

Buying a new motherboard, CPU, and RAM probably just gives you that little hit of dopamine from having shiny new gear and a warranty. Honestly, you might not even notice the performance jump since CPU gains have been pretty underwhelming over the last five years, I guess.

Jason Mendoza said:I'm leaning in that same direction... thinking about just setting that processor aside for now and focusing on grabbing a new GPU and a fresh case. 👍

What exactly are you running for a GPU right now? Or do you even have a dedicated card installed? If that power supply is some cheap Microsoft junk, you should definitely look into swapping it out too.

I'm rocking a Radeon 7770 HD right now, and the case is just some cheap, generic no-name unit paired with a basic power supply. Either way, my plan was always to swap out both the case and the PSU at the same time anyway.

Jason Mendoza said:The GPU is a Radeon 7770 HD and the case is just some cheap no-name thing with a basic power supply. I definitely planned on upgrading both the case and the PSU at the same time.

If you grab a decent case and power supply, you're looking at about $700-$$333, which leaves you with maybe $1500-$$667 for everything else... if you decide to swap out the CPU, an RX 460 is pretty much the only card that fits that budget right now. Your best bet is to leave the CPU alone and just grab a better card, like an RX 470, for around $1600... see if you can shave a few bucks off those processors, maybe you can swing both 😬