I need to upgrade my sons PC - Help

[SColie]

Hi all,
this is the spec of the PC i bought for my son 4.5 years ago.

I have £1000 to £1500 to upgrade (or source a new) this PC.

Any thoughts on the best way forward?

Thanks
Paul

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB 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
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 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)
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 [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Speakers
LOGITECH Z200 2.0 SPEAKERS - 10W
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo
Price: £0.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/s9GqDczZey/

 

[davhun]

Only you and your son know what you use the computer for and where the performance might be lacking. What sort of improvement do you think you need. Is this for general work or gaming?

 

[SColie]

Only you and your son know what you use the computer for and where the performance might be lacking. What sort of improvement do you think you need. Is this for general work or gaming?

Hi, yes sorry I forgot to mention that.. D'oh!

Its only used for gaming.. Call of duty, SM2, shooters etc...
The thing is when he's on my computer he's good but he says on his he has to turn down the resolution and things to get better performance.

My PC spec is in my footer.

Thanks

 

[davhun]

Hi, yes sorry I forgot to mention that.. D'oh!

Its only used for gaming.. Call of duty, SM2, shooters etc...
The thing is when he's on my computer he's good but he says on his he has to turn down the resolution and things to get better performance.

My PC spec is in my footer.

Thanks

One more question, What monitors do you and your son use.
Unfortunately I am not a gamer and I leave it to someone with more knowledge than me to compare both computers and make suggestions.

 

[Scott]

I don't think there's too much scope for a meaningful upgrade unfortunately. The B450 motherboard selection and the low end PSU are going to be instant blockers for anything powerful or modern.

For something proper you would want a modern CPU. With that comes a modern motherboard and modern RAM though, so the costs can spiral up pretty quickly.

The main limitation with his build as it stands is going to be the GPU, but the CPU will likely be holding back as well as it's quite old and limited in cores. A GPU would be a worthwhile investment as it could be carried across to future systems, but I'm not so sure I would upgrade the CPU without getting a bargain.

The 5700X3D would be the best bet but you would need to ensure compatibility in the motherboard and an available BIOS to support. The B450 is quite limited but the CPU wouldn't require huge VRM support anyway.

If it was my system and my money, I would be selling it on as is and starting from scratch. £1500 won't get you a blazing system, but it'll get you an entry 1080p rig. If you put another £500 or so from the sell on etc then £2k would get you in the door of 1440p at a reasonable level. He would notice an instant upgrade at that point.

 

[SColie]

One more question, What monitors do you and your son use.
Unfortunately I am not a gamer and I leave it to someone with more knowledge than me to compare both computers and make suggestions.

I will have a check on the monitor.. thanks.

 

[SColie]

I don't think there's too much scope for a meaningful upgrade unfortunately. The B450 motherboard selection and the low end PSU are going to be instant blockers for anything powerful or modern.

For something proper you would want a modern CPU. With that comes a modern motherboard and modern RAM though, so the costs can spiral up pretty quickly.

The main limitation with his build as it stands is going to be the GPU, but the CPU will likely be holding back as well as it's quite old and limited in cores. A GPU would be a worthwhile investment as it could be carried across to future systems, but I'm not so sure I would upgrade the CPU without getting a bargain.

The 5700X3D would be the best bet but you would need to ensure compatibility in the motherboard and an available BIOS to support. The B450 is quite limited but the CPU wouldn't require huge VRM support anyway.

If it was my system and my money, I would be selling it on as is and starting from scratch. £1500 won't get you a blazing system, but it'll get you an entry 1080p rig. If you put another £500 or so from the sell on etc then £2k would get you in the door of 1440p at a reasonable level. He would notice an instant upgrade at that point.

Thanks for the reply.. I did have a think about a completely new system including monitor.. 😖👍🏾