Should I buy a brand new PC or just improve my old one?
Should I buy a brand new PC or just improve my old one?
I was going to buy a brand new PC but I'm wondering if upgrading my old one makes sense. Maybe I can just get a new GPU instead? Maybe I could switch to an RTX 5070 TI. Or maybe I'd upgrade the CPU to an i9. Note: My motherboard got upgraded by ASUS when I sent it in to them, and they used Intel's 13th Gen chips. The CPU is an Intel Core i5-13600KF with 14 cores (6 performance + 8 efficiency) and a cooler from Thermalright called the Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB White that uses air cooling with dual fans. My motherboard is an ASUS Prime Z690-A, which supports Intel's LGA1700 socket for CPUs like my i5-13600KF. It has 16+1 DRMOS (Memory Regulation MOS), PCIe 5.0 support, DDR5 RAM slots, and M.2 storage slots. The RAM is two sticks of Crucial RAM totaling 32GB using DDR5 at 4800MHz with low latency. For storage, I have a Teamgroup T-Force Vulcan Z 2TB SSD that uses NVMe technology to read and write data quickly via SATA III in the back. Another solid state drive is an internal M.2 disk from Teamgroup MP34 using PCIe Gen3x4 for faster speeds up to 3,500 MB/s when reading or writing. My current graphics card is a Gigabyte Gaming OC GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with 8GB of GDDR6 memory and a driver version V560.94. It plugs into my ATX power supply unit which is a Corsair RM750x model that offers gold efficiency rating, zero noise when fans spin down, and comes in black with a fully modular design. The power supply was installed on Feb 8th, 2023.
You didn't say what make and model of case you're using. If it's a prebuilt by Asus, just tell them the model and SKU number. The question is, how much are you willing to spend on an upgrade path? I think we should skip anything that needs 13th or 14th Gen Intel, let alone an i9 because Intel has gotten so messy lately. Also, what's the age of the power supply in the build listed above?
I own the HYTE Y60 model right now. The price isn't really important, but these new units started at more than $2,000 on CyberPowerCPU. That PSU is likely several years old anyway, so I would change it regardless because I don't think a 705W unit can handle newer graphics cards. Also, I'm not sure what you're talking about with Intel.
A year ago, there was an issue with 13th and 14th gen processors. We figured out why it happened and made fixes so things work again. You can check this Intel blog post if you need help. If your motherboard BIOS is up to date and you don't overclock, your 13600K computer should still run fine. Regarding upgrades: if gaming is what you do most often, try this quick test: play some of your favorite games but turn down the resolution and graphics effects. This makes the graphics card work a little slower. If your frames per second go up, it shows that your CPU is strong enough to handle better graphics settings. If your frame count stays the same, then you probably have more limits from your CPU than your graphics system.
Your processor (CPU) is working well. You'll get better results from the graphics card (GPU) than any other part, except for high-end cards like NVIDIA's 4090. With regular CPUs and GPUs, there isn't much difference between an i5 and an i9. Only games that rely heavily on specific parts of your CPU will see a real change in performance.
I just want to swap out the graphics card. Your CPU is totally fine for anything up to an RTX 4080, a 5070 Ti, or even an RX 9070 XT. But if you haven't updated your BIOS recently and are planning on adding a new GPU, make sure to follow HYTE's size tips from this guide: https://support.hyte.com/hc/en-us/articl...bility-Y60