Upgrade an old i3

Smithy · 29 Mar 2020 at 14:38

Hi, I'm looking to upgrade from the following spec which is all now several years old;

Mobo - MSI Z87M-G43 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard
CPU - Intel Core i3-4130 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor
RAM - Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
GPU - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780
Case - Silverstone TemJin TJ08B-E Midi Tower Case
PSU - Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply

I think the GTX 780 will be fine for now, so I'm looking at upgrading the i3 and ram. Could you help me with a budget Ryzen option - happy to look at entry-level parts as I'm sure that even those will provide a significant performance boost over my current setup.

Can much be done CPU + mobo + ram around the ~£300 range?

Minibiker · 29 Mar 2020 at 14:49

For £300 you could get a decent ryzen bundle tbh

Used Ryzen 2600's go for prices around £70 - £90

Pair that with a B450 BOARD and some RAM (3000mhz +) and you'll have a nice system, then down the line you could add a GPU upgrade

[-Stash-] · 29 Mar 2020 at 17:46

For under £300 you can get:

AMD Ryzen 5 3600 – 3.6GHz 6 core
B450 mATX motherboard
2 x 8GB DDR3-3200

Many of the more recent B450 boards will support all the way up to the 3950X, although I wouldn't recommend that on a board that cheap – my point being that you have room to upgrade your CPU in the future, without having to change anything else.

This isn't even what I would call "budget" – more "solid". You will be held back by your old Graphics card with this however.

I think you would be better served by swapping out the CPU for a Ryzen 3 3200G and grabbing a 2nd hand RX 580 for around £100. That was you have around 50% more graphics performance and the CPU will still be a big upgrade over what you currently have. Then you can upgrade your CPU to something MUCH faster at a later date if you so choose.

If you don't like 2nd hand graphics cards, even getting a brand new RX 580 (with that budget CPU option) still only takes you to £350.

Smithy · 29 Mar 2020 at 21:15

Thanks both.

[-Stash-] said:
I think you would be better served by swapping out the CPU for a Ryzen 3 3200G and grabbing a 2nd hand RX 580 for around £100. That was you have around 50% more graphics performance and the CPU will still be a big upgrade over what you currently have. Then you can upgrade your CPU to something MUCH faster at a later date if you so choose.

Thanks for the suggestion, that's a decent idea.

Smithy · 11 Apr 2020 at 16:51

Just looking at GPU comparisons and the RX 580 doesn't seem to come with that much of a performance increase over the GTX 780. Is it really worth dropping £100 (£150 if I buy new) on one of them?

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-780-vs-AMD-RX-580/2164vs3923