PC Upgrade Ideas

Greetings to everyone.

Twice now, I have turned to this community for guidance on upgrading my rig, and I must say, your advice has been impeccable; the machine has performed flawlessly after every single modification.
The reason we find ourselves contemplating yet another overhaul is twofold: my "successors"—my children, if you will—are growing up far too quickly, and the inevitable release of the next Call of Duty is looming on the horizon. They have essentially played through the entire franchise since they were small enough to sit in my lap.
Beyond that, their afternoons are consumed by Grand Theft Auto V, Battlefield V, Titanfall 2, and an endless rotation of other titles.

My current setup consists of:

Intel i5 4570 Gigabyte Ga-H87-HD3 Corsair
Gigabyte Ga-H87-HD3
Corsair 4x4GB DDR3 1600 C9
AOC IPS 23" 12367Fm 1080p monitor.
Gigabyte 1070 Windforce
EVGA Super Nova 550 GS
Kingston 250 GB SSD
Two 1 TB WD HDDs
Phanteks Eclipse 400 S

The last time I tinkered with this beast was about three years ago when I brought in the GPU, the PSU, and the case.

We don't hold any particular allegiance to either Intel or AMD, so I am seeking your wisdom regarding what would constitute an optimal path forward.
In perusing some of the previous discussions here, the Ryzen 5 3600 seems to emerge as a sensible solution.

I am wondering which of my existing components might be salvaged and which must be discarded to ensure this computer remains capable for another two or three years.
Is it even possible to assemble something decent with a budget of $300? $1167

If I were you, I'd just drop in a Ryzen 5 3600 CPU, a B450 motherboard, and 16GB of DDR4 RAM. That GTX 1070 is actually still a pretty solid card, especially if you're sticking to 1080p. The processor is definitely the major bottleneck here.

A Ryzen 5 3600 paired with a slightly better motherboard, the MSI B450 TOMAHAWK Max, and 16GB of DDR4.

Thanks.
I find myself pondering one more lingering question regarding the Ryzen 5 3700x bundle.
It sits at a noticeably higher price point, nearly $333 more expensive than the alternative.
Is it actually worth stretching the budget that far, and if I do take the plunge, would I be forced to upgrade to a superior motherboard just to keep up—and if so, how much of a meaningful leap in performance would we truly be seeing?
I am asking strictly to gauge just how far we can push our limits before it becomes irrational.

You'll see better multi-threaded performance. As far as gaming goes, if that's your only focus, I wouldn't bother sweating it.

The sole reason I’m even looking at this is for gaming.
So, we're talking about the Ryzen 5 3600.
Does anyone have any solid advice when it comes to DDR4? What should I actually be picking up?

At Micro Center, they’ve got a Ryzen 5 3600 $493 paired with an msi motherboard $306 if you pay cash.

I’ve been browsing through Best Buy, and frankly, my head is starting to spin with all these technicalities.
As someone who isn't exactly a hardware expert, I'm struggling to wrap my mind around the actual distinctions here.
Specifically, I am looking at the $67.

https://www.bestbuy.com/amd-ryzen-5...46591/product/

https://www.bestbuy.com/amd-ryzen-5...46387/product/

Then there is the matter of RAM, which is an absolute mystery to me.
The price gaps are quite substantial, so if anyone could lend some guidance on what truly matters during the selection process, I would be immensely grateful.

Regarding the motherboard, they have this option:
https://www.bestbuy.com/msi-b450-to...88048/product/

But what exactly does moving up to a B550 offer?
I suppose we might have a little extra breathing room in the budget, and since the price difference doesn't seem astronomical, I find myself wondering if it would actually be a wise investment to opt for one of those instead.

Alexander Moore67 said:At Best Buy, you can snag that Ryzen 5 3600$493 along with an MSI motherboard$306 if you're paying cash.

Much appreciated, though I was actually just browsing their site myself a moment ago.

So, if I were looking at picking up:

https://www.amazon.com/amd-ryzen-5...46591/product/

https://www.amazon.com/msi-b450-to...88048/product/

https://www.amazon.com/patriot-vip...45556/product/

It all adds up to roughly $1000.
Though, honestly, I could probably stretch my budget by another 200-$100 if I really had to push myself.
Does anyone have any suggestions for what else I should be looking at?

Regarding the processors and those price gaps—it's the exact same chip. It’s just that different suppliers set their own margins, so you see varying prices for the same item. Obviously, you just grab the cheapest one; the hardware doesn't change. As for the build, that's pretty much it. The B450 Tomahawk is a total steal when you pair it with a Ryzen 5 3600 and 16GB of fast DDR4. You can't go wrong there. 😉

Adam Moore3 said:When you look at processors and those wildly varying price tags, it’s really just the exact same silicon under the hood; I suspect they’re simply pulling from different suppliers, which means you end up seeing the same item priced differently depending on who's shipping it. Naturally, you go for the cheapest option because, at the end of the day, a processor is a processor. As for the build itself, that's the gist of it. That B450 Tomahawk is an absolute steal, and if you pair it with a Ryzen 5 3600 and 16GB of high-speed DDR4, you honestly can't go wrong.😉

Alright, thanks for the insight.
So, the plan is to stick with the B450 and not bother messing around with a B550.

The monitor isn't even part of the equation right now, mostly because my bank account won't allow for such luxuries.
But just purely for the sake of curiosity—hypothetically speaking—would there actually be a noticeable difference if I eventually upgraded to a monitor with a 144 Hz refresh rate?

Honestly, this B450 Tomahawk is a better value than any B550 board you could grab for similar cash, so I'd stick with the B450.

Regarding the monitor, you'll mostly notice the difference in competitive games where quick reflexes are everything. But if you want 144Hz, you need a GPU that can consistently push over 100-120 FPS. The GTX 1070 handles that easily in lighter titles like CS:GO or maybe BF4. Battlefield V is still a bit iffy, though. So, in my opinion, if you're upgrading to a 144Hz monitor, you should probably look into a beefier graphics card too.

Much appreciated.

So, it looks like I’ll just be soldiering on with this current monitor until I can finally pull the trigger on a proper upgrade.
To be honest, I was bracing myself for a much more significant hit to my bank account than this turned out to be.

He doesn't necessarily need a beefier GPU if he picks up a monitor with FreeSync support. Personally, I'm running a 1080p 144Hz setup paired with a GTX 1060 3GB, and since almost everything I play falls within that FreeSync range of 55-144Hz, I don't deal with any stuttering or weird hiccups at all. It honestly feels 🙂
just like I'm playing at a native 144Hz.

Jonathan Barrett said:He doesn't necessarily need a beefier GPU if he picks up a monitor with FreeSync support. Personally, I’m running a 1080p 144Hz setup paired with a GTX 1060 3GB, and honestly, almost every title I throw at it fits right into that FreeSync window—somewhere between 55 and 144Hz—and there isn't a single hint of stuttering or any of those annoying micro-hitches. It feels AS IF I'm playing at a native 144Hz all the time. 🙂

Thanks, that's actually quite helpful to keep in mind.

So, let me just provide a quick refresher on where things currently stand.
We haven't actually pulled the trigger on any purchases yet, and since those new Ryzens have suddenly surfaced on the market, I find myself wondering: just how significant is the performance jump when moving from a Ryzen 5 3600 to a Ryzen 5 5600x?

Furthermore, I am debating whether it would be more fiscally sound to opt for a Ryzen 5 3700x instead of going with the newer Ryzen 5 5600.

To be perfectly clear, this entire upgrade is being driven exclusively by my desire for better gaming performance.
There is absolutely no rush on my end; I can certainly afford to sit tight for another two or three months until the market prices finally settle down into something reasonable.

For context, here is the rest of my current rig:
CPU Intel i5 4570 Gigabyte Ga-H87-HD3 Corsair
Motherboard Gigabyte Ga-H87-HD3
RAM Corsair 4x4GB DDR3 1600 C9
Monitor AOC IPS 23" 12367Fm 1080p.
GPU Gigabyte 1070 Windforce
PSU EVGA Super Nova 550 GS
SSD Kingston 250 GB
Two 1 TB WD HDDs
Case Phanteks Eclipse 400

It’s worth waiting for the 5000 series. Honestly, the Ryzen 5 5600x performs about the same as a Ryzen 5 3700x in multithreaded tasks, but it’s way better for gaming and single-threaded workloads overall.
If you can hold out for a few months, just hang tight until the Ryzen 5 5600 drops in January or whenever. It should be significantly cheaper than the 5600X, and performance-wise, it'll still be much closer to the 5600X than the 3600 was.

Then again, it depends on what you actually need. If you aren't chasing 100+ FPS and still want decent multithreaded power, the 2700X is an option right now—it comes with a solid stock cooler and costs less than $400.

https://www.amazon.com/processors/amd...price-61928851

wiredotter14 said:Is it worth holding out for the 5000 series? Honestly, the 5600x sits right around the 3700x when you're looking at multithreaded tasks, but once you get into gaming, its single-threaded performance is significantly better.
If you can stomach waiting a few months, my advice would be to hold your breath until the 5600 drops in January or whenever that happens. It should end up being much easier on the wallet than the 5600X while still delivering performance that's closer to the X-model than the 3600 ever could.

Then again, it really boils down to what you actually need the machine for. If you aren't chasing that high-end 100+ FPS lifestyle but still demand beefy multithreaded power, you might want to look at the 2700X, which comes with a decent enough stock cooler for under $400.

https://www.amazon.com/processors/amd...price-61928851

To be perfectly honest, it’s mostly my sons who will be tearing through whatever we put together.
The last time we touched this rig was back in 2014, and we just slapped in a new graphics card in 2018.
So, logically speaking, this upgrade should carry us through another three or four years without much fuss.
Because of that, I think we're leaning toward the slightly more powerful option.

Is it actually viable to stick with the ASUS ROG STRIX Z790-E Gaming WiFi, or am I just asking for trouble by not upgrading to something more heavy-duty?
As for the RAM, we’re definitely pulling the trigger on that too, obviously.