First Upgrades

[bumblegames]

I've had my gaming PC for nearly a year and I'm now looking for advice on upgrading some of the hardware. Is it worth upgrading a 1660 Super to the new 3050 graphics card? I'd also like another TB of storage but I'm not sure whether it should be on the SSD or HDD? I'll also be getting Windows 11 Home. Here are my main specs for reference.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/TQrcBR0KH2/

 

[sck451]

Hi. There's absolutely no point in "upgrading" from the 1660 Super to the 3050. At best it's a sideways move, definitely not worth the money. I'd stick with the 1660 Super if I were you unless you are having specific problems or are upgrading your monitor to 1440p.

With the storage, what do you actually need to accomplish? Is your SSD full? What do you need more space for? Probably the smartest thing to do would be to get a faster SSD to act as your boot drive (e.g. the 512GB Intel 670p or the 500GB Firecuda 530 if you want to be indulgent). Then you can move your operating system off the existing SSD and get more space there, so it's just used for games.

That said, to get an extra 2TB hard drive is pretty cheap (like, £40, I think), so it might be worth doing while you're working on the inside of your PC, even if you're also upgrading the SSD situation.

 

[Steveyg]

I'd stick with Windows 10

The 3050 isn't really an upgrade on the 1660 Super. Offers very similar performance and I'd recommend a M.2 for extra storage

 

[bumblegames]

Hi. There's absolutely no point in "upgrading" from the 1660 Super to the 3050. At best it's a sideways move, definitely not worth the money. I'd stick with the 1660 Super if I were you unless you are having specific problems or are upgrading your monitor to 1440p.

With the storage, what do you actually need to accomplish? Is your SSD full? What do you need more space for? Probably the smartest thing to do would be to get a faster SSD to act as your boot drive (e.g. the 512GB Intel 670p or the 500GB Firecuda 530 if you want to be indulgent). Then you can move your operating system off the existing SSD and get more space there, so it's just used for games.

That said, to get an extra 2TB hard drive is pretty cheap (like, £40, I think), so it might be worth doing while you're working on the inside of your PC, even if you're also upgrading the SSD situation.

Hello. Thank you for your response. I'm not having any specific issues with the 1660, I just thought it might be an idea to get a new gen graphics card incase any new games start asking for it in the system requirements. I would consider getting a 1440p monitor but I'm more concerned about performance than graphics, would this improve that too or is it purely aesthetic?

My SSD isn't full, I have 426gb left but there's quite a few coming out this year that I want and I'm concerned I might run out of space. That being said, I only have games I'm actively playing installed as opposed to my entire collection. I have a 1TB SSD so are the Intel and Firecuda options not downgrades? Or are you talking about changing the HDD to a SSD?

 

[bumblegames]

I'd stick with Windows 10

The 3050 isn't really an upgrade on the 1660 Super. Offers very similar performance and I'd recommend a M.2 for extra storage

Thank you for your response. Are there issues with Windows 11?

 

[sck451]

Hello. Thank you for your response. I'm not having any specific issues with the 1660, I just thought it might be an idea to get a new gen graphics card incase any new games start asking for it in the system requirements. I would consider getting a 1440p monitor but I'm more concerned about performance than graphics, would this improve that too or is it purely aesthetic?

My SSD isn't full, I have 426gb left but there's quite a few coming out this year that I want and I'm concerned I might run out of space. That being said, I only have games I'm actively playing installed as opposed to my entire collection. I have a 1TB SSD so are the Intel and Firecuda options not downgrades? Or are you talking about changing the HDD to a SSD?

Technically there are extra features that, e.g. the 3050 has over the 1660 Super, such as ray tracing (though it's not really usable) and DLSS (more useful). But it's very doubtful that they will make a significant difference. You should upgrade when there's a big performance differential, not before. People are happily gaming on two or even three generation-old graphics cards.

With the storage, I'm not talking about replacing your current drive, but adding to it. Your motherboard will take two SSDs. You have one slot filled with the 1TB one; you can put something else in the other one. I'd suggest you get a new boot drive: getting something faster (the 670p, or the Firecuda 520/530) will improve general performance (they're two to four times faster than the drive you have now) and free up the whole of your 1TB SSD for games. That's actually the optimum setup that I and most people would recommend on this forum, except for budget builds. It's all really easy to do.

So now you have a two-tier system (ranked by speed):

1TB SSD: Windows, apps and games
1TB HDD: Other stuff, documents, music, etc, I'm guessing?

I'm suggesting you go to a three-tier system:

512GB SSD: Windows and apps
1TB SSD: Games
1TB HDD: Other stuff

 

[bumblegames]

Technically there are extra features that, e.g. the 3050 has over the 1660 Super, such as ray tracing (though it's not really usable) and DLSS (more useful). But it's very doubtful that they will make a significant difference. You should upgrade when there's a big performance differential, not before. People are happily gaming on two or even three generation-old graphics cards.

With the storage, I'm not talking about replacing your current drive, but adding to it. Your motherboard will take two SSDs. You have one slot filled with the 1TB one; you can put something else in the other one. I'd suggest you get a new boot drive: getting something faster (the 670p, or the Firecuda 520/530) will improve general performance (they're two to four times faster than the drive you have now) and free up the whole of your 1TB SSD for games. That's actually the optimum setup that I and most people would recommend on this forum, except for budget builds. It's all really easy to do.

So now you have a two-tier system (ranked by speed):

1TB SSD: Windows, apps and games
1TB HDD: Other stuff, documents, music, etc, I'm guessing?

I'm suggesting you go to a three-tier system:

512GB SSD: Windows and apps
1TB SSD: Games
1TB HDD: Other stuff

I see what you mean now. I'll definitely take that into consideration. I don't think there's anything on my HDD at the moment, I wasn't sure how to use it but I'm guessing you just move/create folders through Windows Explorer?

 

[sck451]

I see what you mean now. I'll definitely take that into consideration. I don't think there's anything on my HDD at the moment, I wasn't sure how to use it but I'm guessing you just move/create folders through Windows Explorer?

Yep, it'll show up probably as the D:/ drive in Explorer. You can even give it a sensible name if you want to. For example, here's mine from the "This PC" listing (I have stupidly ended up with two 500GB SSDs, which was poor planning):

 

[bumblegames]

Yep, it'll show up probably as the D:/ drive in Explorer. You can even give it a sensible name if you want to. For example, here's mine from the "This PC" listing (I have stupidly ended up with two 500GB SSDs, which was poor planning):

View attachment 32206

Thank you for clarifying. Is there a way to move the default Windows folders (Pictures, Documents ect.) over or will I have to start from scratch? The reason I ask is that when I try to do this by dragging the folders into the HDD, it only creates a shortcut.

Going back to the graphics card, would the 3060 or 3060 Ti be a sufficient upgrade or would I need a 3070? Sorry for all the questions 🤣

 

[sck451]

Thank you for clarifying. Is there a way to move the default Windows folders (Pictures, Documents ect.) over or will I have to start from scratch? The reason I ask is that when I try to do this by dragging the folders into the HDD, it only creates a shortcut.

Going back to the graphics card, would the 3060 or 3060 Ti be a sufficient upgrade or would I need a 3070? Sorry for all the questions 🤣

You should just be able to "copy" and "paste" them from one drive to the other. Do the contents of the folder, rather than trying to copy "Pictures" or "Documents" itself.

It is possible to configure Windows so that's where your default folders go: I've done it, but I can't remember precisely how to do it now!

It depends on what monitor you're using. The 3060 would be an upgrade over the 1660 Super, though personally I'm still not sure it's worth it. The 3060 Ti/3070 are aimed more at 1440p displays, so you'd be looking at a monitor upgrade as well. Personally, I don't think the 3060 would be a sensible upgrade: it's better, but it's not enough better, if you catch my drift. Better to wait until prices drop or a new generation comes out later this year.

Unless, of course, you're experiencing problems gaming with the 1660 Super?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thank you for clarifying. Is there a way to move the default Windows folders (Pictures, Documents ect.) over or will I have to start from scratch? The reason I ask is that when I try to do this by dragging the folders into the HDD, it only creates a shortcut.

Going back to the graphics card, would the 3060 or 3060 Ti be a sufficient upgrade or would I need a 3070? Sorry for all the questions 🤣

In windows explorer, if you right click on the default folder in the tree view on the left, go to properties and then go on the "location" tab, there you can move the folder and contents to the new location.

Move your libraries to a second drive or partition

"Commander Dave" Turner wants to move his documents, photos, and other data files to another drive

www.pcworld.com

 

[bumblegames]

You should just be able to "copy" and "paste" them from one drive to the other. Do the contents of the folder, rather than trying to copy "Pictures" or "Documents" itself.

It is possible to configure Windows so that's where your default folders go: I've done it, but I can't remember precisely how to do it now!

It depends on what monitor you're using. The 3060 would be an upgrade over the 1660 Super, though personally I'm still not sure it's worth it. The 3060 Ti/3070 are aimed more at 1440p displays, so you'd be looking at a monitor upgrade as well. Personally, I don't think the 3060 would be a sensible upgrade: it's better, but it's not enough better, if you catch my drift. Better to wait until prices drop or a new generation comes out later this year.

Unless, of course, you're experiencing problems gaming with the 1660 Super?

No issues at all. Everything performs great, I was just concerned about the prospect of newer games having higher spec requirements so I think I'll have to wait and see when they're released. Thank you for all of your help.

 

[bumblegames]

In windows explorer, if you right click on the default folder in the tree view on the left, go to properties and then go on the "location" tab, there you can move the folder and contents to the new location.

Move your libraries to a second drive or partition

"Commander Dave" Turner wants to move his documents, photos, and other data files to another drive

www.pcworld.com

Thank you

 

[SpyderTracks]

No issues at all. Everything performs great, I was just concerned about the prospect of newer games having higher spec requirements so I think I'll have to wait and see when they're released. Thank you for all of your help.

When it comes time to upgrading the GPU because performance is suffering, you'll benefit greatly from also upgrading the monitor.

1080p sucks by todays standards, so have in mind to look into upgrading to 1440p and a suitable GPU at the next upgrade cycle. That's where you're going to notice a massive improvement.

But that's not likely for a while yet.