Upgrade options and advice

SJC2016 · 1 Aug 2021 at 17:46

Hi Everyone,
I have the following spec from a PC I bought from here in overclockers 5 years ago. Now, I'm looking to potentially upgrade the processor, memory and graphics card on this set up and wondering what options I have with a say a £300-500 budget. Been a while since I've tinkered under the hood so to speak, so any advice would be great;

Your selected configuration:
Kolink Aviator Midi Tower Gaming Case - Gunmetal
Intel Core i5-6600 3.30GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2B30
Gainward GeForce GTX 980 "Triple Fan" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Seagate SSHD 7200RPM 3.5" 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DX001) SSHD Hybrid Drive
Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)

Thanks for any help.

Tetras · 1 Aug 2021 at 18:13

You could go for something like a 3060 or 3060 Ti, but it will use your whole budget.

My suggestion would be do the CPU, motherboard and memory and get a M.2 drive and re-use the graphics card for now.

Haz123 · 2 Aug 2021 at 01:27

You do not have anywhere near enough in your budget to be able to upgrade cpu+mobo and also the gpu.

Because you do not have the funds to upgrade gpu any gaming performance gains will be very limited. You may just want to look into getting a decent value pcie 3 NVME drive, this small change would make a noticeable difference. WD Blue SN550 are a good choice. When you do upgrade to a larger extent that ssd could then be a second storage device for you so not a waste.

Your system is not terrible by any means.

Joxeon · 2 Aug 2021 at 07:22

This would be a good option, ok it takes you over budget by £170 but by then selling your old MB, CPU and GPU you should be able make around £300 back.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX II (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £59.99
1 x **B Grade** AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core 4.2GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - MPK= £139.99
1 x Zotac GeForce RTX 3060Ti Twin Edge OC LHR 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £458.99

Total: £670.07 (includes shipping: £11.10)

SJC2016 · 2 Aug 2021 at 19:21

Thanks for your responses and advice everyone, much appreciated I'll go and do a little more research!

jigger · 4 Aug 2021 at 14:08

The only real options are £100~ on a used 6700K, 7700K depends on the particular motherboard you have as to which. Or A520 board and a 5600X. A 5600X would get the most from your current graphics card and give you the best possible gaming experience.