I'm a simple, poor child who has saved some money, what should I improve first?
I'm a simple, poor child who has saved some money, what should I improve first?
Hi, the title already hints at it, I’m struggling financially and really in debt.
I reside in a nation with a flawed government that somehow let someone siphon off a massive share of our economy.
My present setup
I5-13400f
Nvidia GTX 1650
24 GB RAM (two different modules)
256 GB SSD
1 TB HDD
H610M Bomber DDR4 motherboard
The case? Absolutely too small for the 5060 I inherited from my older brother.
Right now I’m using a very basic 1500 rpm air cooler and intend to upgrade soon.
I aim to replace my RAM with matching sticks tomorrow so I can enable XMP, plus install a 1 TB NVMe M.2 Gen 4 SSD (around 190$ in VND). After that, I plan to upgrade to a larger case, a better power supply, and a new 5060.
I’m completely new to PC building and really inexperienced, so if anyone has any advice or can give me a rough estimate of my current upgrade path, I’d be extremely grateful. Maybe I’ll leave my whole inheritance for your grandchild someday.
Thanks for reading this (your feedback is very welcome), and please remember I’m planning this build with long-term use in mind.
Welcome to the forums, new member! It’s recommended that you format your threads with the information requested in this discussion; *How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice*. Initially, it’s important to acknowledge where appropriate respect is owed—this adaptation comes from the Animal’s *How To Ask For New Build Advice* post. I developed it after noticing many recent inquiries about upgrades both here and on the CPU forums, and I believe... forums. adds context to your situation, encouraging the community to offer helpful advice. The questionnaire was designed to represent a diverse audience, as this platform and its user base are primarily based in the USA. My current setup I5-13400f Nvidia GTX 1650 24 GBs RAM (two different sticks) 256GB SSD 1TB HDD Kindly provide the model of your motherboard along with its BIOS version, details on CPU cooling, and information about your case.
Avoid doing this. RAM is costly right now and combining sticks isn't assured to function. If your current setup works, it's wiser to keep using it until costs drop again.
For a new card purchase, I'd opt for the card and case together. But since you lack a PCIe 5 port, performance may suffer if VRAM runs out—though you can adjust settings to ease the issue.
I'd like to wait for RAM prices to drop even more, but my other RAM is broken and 16GB isn't enough for my system to function properly. Also, I'm purchasing the same model as before—the original 16GB stick that a friend gave me, which still has the other one available. I think if I enable XMP, I might finally get what I want. Thanks.
What’s the problem with 16GB? Your device doesn’t benefit much from that amount of storage.
There seems to be an issue with the Toms website blocking my ability to post replies because I'm flagged as spam/inappropriate/malicious. My system uses about 22 GB of RAM, and I play many CPU-intensive games, which could improve performance with XMP settings. The SSD and HDD I have are quite old—8 years old—and they're not meeting the required RAM speed or storage needs for future use and Windows 11 updates. I currently have over $500 saved. I also think about replacing them with a 3070TI, but most people using similar models say they're already in use and may not last long.
It’s the worst time to think about an upgrade. If you had done it six months ago, it would have been far cheaper. Memory kits that once cost under $100 now exceed $500. The price of a decent memory kit is nearing that of a mid-range video card. SSD prices have been climbing for some time because manufacturers reduced production, and SSDs are also in demand for AI data centers, which is also driving up costs.
The best choice is to wait and not buy anything if possible. Things have become wild with people buying used machines on eBay just to remove the memory and sell them for much higher prices.
i value the complete help that led to the same idea about "prices are done for, blame ai." however, i am a person who finds life quite dull, and thus i am once more in urgent need of an improvement. this will definitely happen, even if i'm unsure whether prices will ever drop or stay stable for a long time. i plan to upgrade it tomorrow.
i should also note that the cost of a memory kit in my country is 76$.
Obtain a new high-capacity HDD.
WD Ultrastar HC560 20TB SATA.
This will provide ample storage for many years.
The impact of RAM speed on performance is much less significant than you might think on Intel systems.
However, it matters more on AMD systems.
With 24GB of RAM, your system should likely have sufficient memory.