5 Year Old Rig - Looking to upgrade

[WHW]

Hi,

I brought a reasonable system from overclockers about 5 years ago (stats below). I most edit audio (quite big plug-in heavy projects) and video on it. Don't do as much gaming as I used to on it but wouldn't mind an excuse to be able to turn all the settings up a bit and have a good machine.

Which parts would you recommend I upgrade? I've never upgraded a part before and am very nervous of breaking something so easy to install things or advice on hiring someone to upgrade my machine would be highly appreciated.

I've started gets these weird 100% CPU spikes and Chrome seems to eat all my memory urgh (memory on task manager sitting at 88% mostly from Chrome)! Seen forums recommending I replace my PSU and that could help the issue. I feel if I'm going to do that may as well upgrade other 'more fun' bits as well.

Sorry for the ramble but if anyone can spot glaring weaknesses in my build or knows of obvious upgrades I could consider I'd be very grateful for any recommendations.

Thanks so much.

WHW


FS-080-OG "Titan Dagger" Intel G3258 Anniversary Edition @ 4.2GHz Nvidia

GeForce Gaming PC

HD-255-SE Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM

(ST2000DM001) HDD HD-190-SA Samsung 120GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D

V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E120B/EU MY-174-KS Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit

- Black/Gold (HX318C9BGK2/8-OC) CA-164-BX BitFenix Neos ATX Tower Black/Red XX-048-XX No Security Software SW-165-MS Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD

- OEM (WN7-00614) BU-000-XX OcUK Standard System Warranty

- 3 Year (24 Month C&R + 12 Month Labour) XX-003-OP Standard Build Systems - Dispatched within 7 working days FS-187-OE No Sound Card Upgrade GX-010-GX KFA2 GeForce GTX 970 OC Silent "Infin8 Black Edition" 4096MB

GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **WorldWide Exclusive** MB-122-AK Asrock H81 Pro BTC Intel H81 (Socket 1150) ATX Motherboard CP-531-IN Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail CA-001-SF SuperFlower Golden Green HX 350W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply

- Black HS-039-PL Prolimatech 65 CPU Cooler - 120mm CD-003-OK OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM CB-107-AK Akasa USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 Adapter Cable

 

[MissChief]

A new PSU isn’t going to help Chrome run better. Sadly that’s just Chrome eating memory like it’s the last slice of cake at a fat kids party.

keep hard drive and SSD, upgrade the rest of it. Do you have a budget?

 

[WHW]

Yeah fair enough, people were talking about underwatting or something like that and I wasn't sure I really brought the argument even with my very limited knowledge. I'd rather not spend more than 500 pounds (preferably less). It's a case of little upgrades to keep me going rather than - look at my shiny new rig.

Where can I get the most bang for my buck? I think some new (or just more) RAM would be nice for example.

Thanks for helping out @MissChief

 

[MissChief]

Yeah fair enough, people were talking about underwatting or something like that and I wasn't sure I really brought the argument even with my very limited knowledge. I'd rather not spend more than 500 pounds (preferably less). It's a case of little upgrades to keep me going rather than - look at my shiny new rig.

Where can I get the most bang for my buck? I think some new (or just more) RAM would be nice for example.

Thanks for helping out @MissChief

AMD 3300X
B450 motherboard
16GB 3200MHz Ram.

around £300 for that. New PSU too really, another £60-70.

 

[Quartz]

Chrome is deliberately RAM-intensive.

There's a Youtuber called Neil Parfitt who recently recorded his upgrade to a Mac Pro rack. You're not in that price range. But I suggest you have a gander to see what he does.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core 4.2GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £188.99
• 1 x MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £119.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 16GB (2x8GB) 3600 MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory Dual Kit= £85.39

Total: £404.87 (includes shipping: £10.50)​

​

I've deliberately not included a GPU as there are new ranges in the offing.

 

[WHW]

If it's worth spending more money I can do. Also similarity, the machine is running just fine at the moment, think it might be worth holding off for another year or two till stuff gets cheaper better and then going bigger on the upgrade?

 

[Quartz]

If it's worth spending more money I can do. Also similarity, the machine is running just fine at the moment, think it might be worth holding off for another year or two till stuff gets cheaper better and then going bigger on the upgrade?

From your own stats the CPU and RAM are holding you back. There's never a perfect time to upgrade. If you want to improve modestly upon my offering above, go for a B550 or X570 motherboard for PCIe v4 support. If you want to spend £30k+ then look to Neil Parfitt.

 

[WHW]

I'm going to be boring and just upgrade the RAM for now (as it's the only component I'd feel comfortable upgrading myself - it's fairly easy right???). Once lockdown is over properly I might change things.

What RAM would you suggest I buy instead that would work well with my current CPU @Quartz ?

Thanks so much btw the way. I really appreciate this.

 

[bagel]

You need DDR3, how many slots do you have free on your motherboard?

Be aware you will have to buy more RAM again if you upgrade your CPU as DDR3 is outdated now and all recent CPUs use DDR4 ,so would really advise just doing the CPU/mobo/ram upgrade together now in terms of not wasting money

 

[Quartz]

What RAM would you suggest I buy instead that would work well with my current CPU @Quartz ?

That motherboard has only two DIMM slots for DDR3/DDR3L 1600/1333/1066 non-ECC, un-buffered memory so you'll have to replace what you already have. OCUK appear to be completely out of 16 GB kits of DDR3 and we're not allowed to mention competitors.

 

[WHW]

Looks like i'm gonna have to shake the magic money tree @Quartz @bagel

I guess it's necessary to get a professional to do the CPU/mobo/ram upgrade? If I'm doing that I guess I may as well get a new GPU and PSU as well right?

 

[MissChief]

Looks like i'm gonna have to shake the magic money tree @Quartz @bagel

I guess it's necessary to get a professional to do the CPU/mobo/ram upgrade? If I'm doing that I guess I may as well get a new GPU and PSU as well right?

Nonsense. Watch a few build guides, ask for some advice here. It’s really not massively difficult, everything is designed to only go where it’s supposed to. Do it yourself, then you can change things yourself too later!

 

[bagel]

Yeah it is straightforward to do it yourself, just watch some videos and take your time.

GPU is very easy to change and no compatibility issues to worry about, no real need to do it at the same time. PSU upgrade being necessary depends on what you've got at the moment really

 

[MissChief]

Yeah it is straightforward to do it yourself, just watch some videos and take your time.

GPU is very easy to change and no compatibility issues to worry about, no real need to do it at the same time. PSU upgrade being necessary depends on what you've got at the moment really

Retail CA-001-SF SuperFlower Golden Green HX 350W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply

He'll need something better.