Do you have any questions? Do you want to get some upgrades for your game? Let's talk about that!
Do you have any questions? Do you want to get some upgrades for your game? Let's talk about that!
Hey everyone, I need to upgrade my computer parts to see what fits with my 4070 Super GPU and how much better it will be than now. The things I want to replace are this: My Motherboard is a MSI B450 Tomahawk Max (MS-7C02). My RAM sticks are Corsair with 8192 MB of DDR4 speed, using XMP 2.0 version. The part number for the RAM is CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 and I have four of those sticks making me a total of 32 GB of memory. My CPU is an AMD Ryzen 5 3600X processor, but it has been sitting there for many years already. My Power Supply unit is a CX750M model rated at 80 Plus Bronze. This power supply was bought back in 2023 and I am not sure of the exact date anymore. I just need to know which parts work well together with my new graphics card so that everything runs smoothly. These are probably the only parts I haven't changed since a while ago. Thanks so much for any advice you can give me before we start!
You should style your thread with info that was asked here or there. First off, respect where respect is due - this is just a copy of an old Animal guide. I made it because so many posts ask for upgrade advice on our forums and other places, and I think we'll give good tips there. When you talk about your current setup, list things like these: CPU, cooler, motherboard, RAM, SSD or HDD, GPU, PSU, chassis, OS, monitor. Also tell how old the power supply is besides make and model. Remember to mention the BIOS version right now. Since you'll be swapping out your motherboard during upgrades, you will need to reinstall your OS. If you have an OEM Windows 10/11 key, then you'll need a new one because OEM keys are tied to the motherboard chip. It's also smart to back up important files before doing this.
You are looking at a list of parts to build a new computer. Here is what you will buy: A CPU that runs three times faster than an old one costs $207.99 from Newegg. You need a cooler for the CPU, and it comes in for $29.99 on Amazon. Your motherboard is an ASRock B650M Pro RS with Micro ATX size. It costs $129.99 at Newegg. You will use 32 GB of RAM from TEAMGROUP called T-Create Expert. This memory runs DDR5-6000 and comes in for $92.99 on Amazon. All these prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts if you find them good enough. The total price is $460.96. These numbers were made by PCPartPicker on May 27, 2025, at 1:05 PM EDT in the Eastern Time zone.
It's an easy fix: just patch the BIOS and swap out a new CPU for something like a 5700X3D. By 2025, I'd rather stick to fewer cores than more power if you're on a tight budget.
It's not about how many cores you have, it's about how well they can work together at once. Look at this: a 9600x way beats out a 5800x or the new 3D versions because it handles multiple tasks much better. That means one six-core chip works just as hard or harder than what you thought, even if it has fewer cores in total.
If you play games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Phantom Liberty on a 6-core chip, it might work okay for a few things. But if you run many modern games at once, or even just older ones that aren't optimized well, the computer might get slow and laggy. This is because those big games need lots of cores to run smoothly while your other stuff runs in the background. Things like Discord, web browsers, and gaming apps all use memory and CPU power. Just having many cores doesn't mean you can handle everything perfectly every single time. It's more important than ever to have enough space on your hard drive for a clean test bench so you can run real games without problems.
Clean test bench, no background noise running right now, sure the 9600 x will beat it. But let's have some fun with that stutter once Windows starts acting up and wants to do something wild. Many people use discord for co-op games, which uses a lot of CPU power too. I also only suggested the 5700x3d as an easy upgrade, not the best choice, because the OP hasn't even given us their budget yet.
The real point is that having many cores doesn't really help you if everyone uses the same computer chip type. A brand new 6-core machine often beats an older one with more cores because each new core does way more work at a single speed, even though they run faster together. I personally use a 5800X3D and have no lag issues at all while gaming, even when many programs like Chrome tabs, Steam, Discord, and monitoring tools are open. My settings are usually set for high resolution, but at the highest quality, DLSS helps me do most of the heavy lifting on the CPU so it feels like I'm running on 1080p instead of 4k.