Upgrading your Hone computer – guide for beginners (purchase)
Upgrading your Hone computer – guide for beginners (purchase)
Hello everyone, I'm planning a gradual upgrade and need advice on what to purchase first. I believe my current GPU and CPU should last longer, but I'm seeking your professional opinions. My PC is used for gaming and streaming, mainly World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and mostly Blizzard titles. I'm targeting 1440p resolutions and want to buy one item at a time since a complete overhaul seems unnecessary. Performance-wise, Overwatch runs smoothly around 143 FPS, while World of Warcraft can hit 40-60 FPS max. The specs suggest I should focus on graphics and processing power. I'm considering a high-end GPU like the RTX 2080 Ti or similar, paired with a powerful CPU such as the Ryzen 9 3900 X or equivalent. For storage, I need fast SSDs—something like the NVMe 850GB or higher. I also want a good cooling setup, possibly including additional fans and a robust case. I'm thinking about adding a gaming monitor and possibly a dedicated GPU cooler. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Literally nothing needs to be upgraded here. Your pc is beyond plenty for both games. Just like don't turn on ultra settings in both as those create MASSIVE performance overhead for basically no visual improvements. Wow is old and getting it to run consistently at 60fps simply does not happen. It was not made for that. Overwatch runs on a potato except when you turn on ultra and superresolution/higher resolution scaling. When is the last time you cleaned this system? I assume it's pinned at 80-83c on the gpu? If so then the gpu is thermal limited and well you are leaving performance on the table. I'd also game with the front open and see what that does for temps. The define r6 is VERY restrictive in terms of airflow and a pc like this can easily suffer from that. But genuinly there is nothing to upgrade. Just some slight optimization and potential cleaning and care for the hardware. For streaming make sure you use the gpu as the encoder NOT the cpu. I want you to know that you still have a high end gaming pc. Don't let others tell you otherwise. This is still great stuff.
Your GPU should work just fine. Grab the 5800X3D, World of Warcraft (or any MMO with a zero player lobby cap), and boost the CPU cache performance dramatically—though realistically you’d first check the side panel, tidy up, and reduce graphics settings before spending any money.
I maintain my system two to three times a year. I thoroughly disassemble everything, clean it completely, and reassemble it together. The 2080ti I recently had thermal pads replaced about three months ago because I never reached 80°C on it. I believed there was an issue with the cooling system, so I swapped everything out and used high-quality cooling paste and pads. Still, the performance remains unchanged.
It's a fun idea but make sure to open the side panel carefully and proceed with caution.
You might be losing airflow, but that doesn’t mean you’re wrong—your three hairy cats could be the reason!
The fractal structure limits airflow and is intended for testing purposes. It restricts ventilation, making it ideal for scenarios where components need more fresh air. Originally, this design caused excessive noise because parts ran loud regardless of adjustments. Today, it often leads to unwanted silence due to its tight construction.
Hehe, he’ll attempt to locate some old girlfriend panties to shield the side panel, making it a bit more dust-resistant.
Would pass the test quickly—just run it for about ten minutes in the game. No need for long sessions.
When I was just getting into WoW, I upgraded from a 3950x to a 5800x3D, which boosted framerates by half in crowded zones like cities, raids, and battlefields. My brother has that 5800x3D and his performance nearly doubled after switching from a stock R5 3600 and a slower 3200MHz RAM setup to the 2x16GB 3600MHz kit I used. He still plays, so this happened during DF. The 2080ti remains amazing, but games like WoW really appreciate the top-tier CPU power.