My current pc specs are:
- Asus Prime H310M-K r2.0 (pcie 3.0 x16 max)
- I5-9400f
- Deep cool i35 cooler
- AMD Radeon Rx 580
- Kingston ddr4 1x16gb
- Corsair TX650
- Gigabyte G27Q monitor
- And two ssd’s and a HDD
I have two options I have a budget of about 400 euros and I am thinking of upgrading as the PC is getting a little unresponsive in general use and gaming. Leaning towards option 1 as the cpu is almost always above 50% usage at idle as I use my PC as a server for jellyfin and some other services ,but with them off in-game the cpu is almost at 100% in tf2 and pretty much any other game and the gpu is at 70% unless in cs2 ,then if the quality is set any higher than low it is a literal slideshow.
Option 1:
- MSI Pro b650-s wifi
- AMD Ryzen 7600
- Crucial/Kingston ddr5 2x8gb
Option 2:
- Nvidia rtx 3060/3070 with broken HDMI output (both used)
Requirements:
- Motherboard Atx
- Cpu am5
- Must be available in Lithuania/EU for used parts only skelbiu.lt or eneba.lt
If the CPU is at 100% and the GPU is at 70% then you are being limited by the CPU.
What framerate are you targeting?
I find it highly unusual that your CPU is reaching 100% in TF2 of all games.
Your system also shouldn’t be “unresponsive in general use” with these specifications.
Based on paper specifications alone, I’d be leaning towards the 3060/3070 as the most meaningful upgrade in gaming performance. However, I suspect there may be an issue with your software environment or an undiagnosed hardware issue.
I mean with a pcie 3.0 x16 motherboard a rtx 30 series gpu would be extremely bottlenecked .And that’s because I have docker running
It’s not. I have a 4090 in my pcie 3.0 system and it’s like a 5% performance hit. On the 4080 or 30 series (especially a 3060) the hit is negligible.
Option 1. AMD is gonna help you upgrade in the future. Their AM5 CPU socket will be upgradeable for a few generations of processors (Intel makes a new socket for each generation).
Currently, your processor and single stick of RAM (single channel is half the performance of dual channel) are slowing you down. Your graphics card is also getting old, but if you keep your settings reasonably low, it’ll still work fine. I would make that your next upgrade.
Option 1 would be the better way to go first imo. The 9400 was an ok CPU but those 9th gens are really starting to show their age. You’re also holding it back by only using a single stick of ram. Your RX580 can hold out a bit longer with a better CPU and faster memory in dual channel, but if you upgrade the GPU first you’ll still be seeing the same performance issues. If you do go with option 1, make sure you have the proper mounting kit for your heatsink. AM5 is very different from 1151.
I already checked my cooler is completely incompatible so I will probably use the one in box wraith stealth cooler
Seems reasonably decent gear. You didn’t mention, but first try the free stuff? It might be a case that you need to update BIOS and other firmware and software (radeon boost)?
After update to latest bios, you could also try a 2nd DDR4 to run dual channel and see if that helps. Hopefully your existing stick is max clock speed for the processor.
Otherwise, yep probably option 1!
Bios updated multiple times no improvement and I forgot to mention the motherboard is kinda busted sometimes usb 2.0 devices don’t work ,sometimes when I try to rearrange boot order it crashes
Of the two options given it is definitely option 1.
Personally I would consider an AM4 build if parts are available for cheap in your country.
Prices for PC parts rarely go down and the used market is pretty barren at the moment it is mostly just people buying incompatible parts and reselling them without warranty for about the same price of a new one.
Your monitor is 1440p, are you playing at that resolution?
Trying the gpu can’t even reach full refresh rate monitor is 177hz but the gpu can output max 120hz
No, yeah, I get that, I was asking about that “100% CPU usage and 70% GPU usage and if I turn details up I get a slideshow”. Is this at 1440p or are you playing at 1080p?
Edit: actually, I watched some benchmarks and the RX580 should deliver some solid FPS at 1440p so the CPU is the actual bottleneck here. Go first option and that will give you a very big framerate boost
For around 400 euros I’d consider building a dedicated server based around a NUC or similar for running the media server, your current computer should not be struggling with the games you’ve listed
If I would upgrade I could just use the old parts + PSU to make a server (I don’t transcode so I probably wouldn’t need a gpu)
I think this should be your priority, however you go about it, 50% at idle is your problem
Probably because I am using my PC as a server which has some torrent software in total around 6 always on docker services
Yes exactly, offload that before you think about upgrades to the main rig
The only thing that I can offload docker services are a RPI zero or a Toshiba satellite from 2005-2007 and you noticed Lithuania a nuc is way more rare here so a nuc costs about the same as an upgrade so it would be really stupid to offload to a nuc.
Well it doesn’t have to be exactly a NUC, just in my country you could probably get a pretty decent one capable of transcoding 2nd hand for less than €300.
And the main thing is you’re wasting half your compute capacity on your media server processes. There’s no single upgrade you will be able to make to your current computer, under €400, that will have a bigger impact than putting the server on its own dedicated hardware.
Where do you think the parts go after an upgrade? And I can just pre transcode
