Upgrade your PC this holiday season.
Upgrade your PC this holiday season.
Hello everyone, I'm considering switching to a Ryzen or possibly a newer Intel setup. I'm not sure if just upgrading to an i7-2600 and adding 16GB RAM would be enough. My current configuration is: i5-2400 OEM Mobo with 8GB RAM at 1600MHz, AMD R9 270x, Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD. I run at 1080p on a 60Hz monitor. This new PC marks my first serious move toward PC gaming, since most AAA titles are now available on PC instead of consoles. With upcoming consoles and Microsoft releasing games for PC, I feel less pressure to buy a console. My budget is capped at $300, and I'm located in Germany, so no access to local stores like Microcenter or CEX.
Do you want everything built together? Switching the CPU and RAM might work best, but the GPU could still limit your performance.
I’d choose the i7-2600 / i7-2700 / i7-2700k with 16 GB of RAM, particularly if there are any extra slots available. I’d opt for the most affordable RAM possible because it’s an OEM board and likely won’t support XMP. This setup would keep costs under $100 USD locally—even cheaper if you refurbish the old CPU/RAM and invest the savings. If the price is higher than that, I’d switch to a Ryzen option.
You might want to consider a Ryzen 7 5800X. It’s a solid choice that fits your budget better.
You receive funds by trading your used items for budget support?
MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ~110€ Ryzen 5 3500X from Aliexpress - 110€ 16GB DDR4 - 55€ Remaining budget likely for the GPU? Hard to imagine selling an OEM board.
Thanks for the idea. For the motherboard I’d pick this one from Gigabyte with a Micro ATX form factor: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B07KX42...B7XF&psc=1. It’s only 60€ and it’s a 3500x model on Aliexpress. Compared to a 1600, that should be a significant upgrade. Where did you locate the RAM?