I invested roughly $1500 in my setup but it’s not delivering the expected results. Can you help me upgrade it?
I invested roughly $1500 in my setup but it’s not delivering the expected results. Can you help me upgrade it?
I'm fairly new to the PC building community. I built my first desktop last year and it was great for a while but now it seems to me to be somewhat of a let down. As I said I'm new to this and when I built it. I had no idea as to what parts should I choose. I just did. Here's the current config. Msi Z370 pc pro motherboard Intel i5-8400 Cpu Nvidia Gtx1660 To video card. 8 gigs of 2400 mhz ram* 1tb Wd Black 5400rpm hdd Circle 700 watt psu Acer Predator XB241H G-sync monitor And other msi peripherals. I figured that the ram is certainly not performing well. So I've bought 8*2 3200MHz Thermaltake ram. I haven't installed it yet. But I think 16 gigs ram would be enough. What else do I need to change/upgrade? What optimisations can I do to the software to make it better?
Sorry to hear you're feeling that way about the purchase. It seems quite expensive for what you're getting. What exactly is this PSU? And could you clarify what you mean by "abysmal performance"?
This 5400 rpm drive seems extremely demanding, especially since it's your boot drive. Clearly, this project isn't worth the price of $1500.
It seems the $1500 covers everything you need, like the monitor, mouse, and keyboard. For around $1000, it might just be a basic setup. Even with a higher price, it could be a prebuilt unit rather than something custom-made, especially if parts are costly.
It feels like certain components are not delivering their expected performance. The lack of an SSD seems to be the main bottleneck, especially for everyday tasks and loading times. Having a faster drive would noticeably boost overall responsiveness. Upgrading to an SSD would significantly improve speed across most activities, including games and software. I’d appreciate it if you could confirm your current storage setup—checking whether you have a WD Blue or WD Black drive and whether you already own an SSD would help. A 16GB drive at 3200Mhz or 8GB at 2400Mhz should suffice, but the latter might be fine too. The most critical improvement would come from installing an SSD, preferably one like the Kingston A2000. I can only offer more tailored advice once I understand your specific performance issues.
I believe the price should cover the monitor since it doesn’t justify itself at all. Regarding performance, the top priority is an SSD. A 5400 RPM drive is completely outdated today. Back in 2012 it was fine, but now it’s not. Invest in a 1 TB SSD for Windows and your main games – you’ll find good options under $100. Samsung 840 EVO, Samsung 840 QVO, WD Blue, ADATA are all solid choices. The graphics card isn’t the main concern; it’s a decent upgrade. For frame rates, the GPU will be your biggest boost. If your system feels sluggish, an SSD is essential. I’m in favor of an 8700K, but I wouldn’t push a 5 GHz overclock on that motherboard. Its VRM isn’t strong enough. Many Z370 boards have weak VRMs – they can handle the stock 8700K, which is fine for gaming, but I’d avoid pushing it to 5 GHz all cores. I’d aim for at most a 4.7 GHz turbo across all cores, and ideally the 8700K could sustain it around 1.275 Vcore or less. This drive really impacts performance; just having an SSD alone can transform a slow machine into a modern PC. Also, I hope you didn’t overspend on the monitor – maybe $1100 instead of $1500 would be better.