What can I help with?
What can I help with?
I just assembled an arcade machine using a vintage Dell system with a 2Duo 4300 core. It struggles to hit even 60 fps in Bloons TD 6, so upgrading sounds necessary. You mentioned a PC part picker link—though I’m not sure how it applies to your setup. You’ll also be using a GT 1030 you received from school during your build. Your game preferences include BLOONS, Duck Game, Stick Fight, MAME, Software Inc, and Just Cause 4.
I’d suggest starting with the R5 2600 at around $120. A 16GB DDR4 chip for $70 and a B450M processor for $60 brings you to roughly $350 total. The used X570 at $100 adds another $100, making it about $450 overall. If you want something even cheaper, you can go lower, but the big drop in performance makes it less worthwhile. Any extra spending should focus on the GPU—like a 580 or 590 model—to get better value.
USD, you really can't drop below that level, because I mentioned the performance decline is significant—by that point, you're not really saving money.
Consider selling the GT 1030 and allocating that amount to your budget. I’d strongly suggest purchasing a GPU like the RX 470-580 series, which costs between $80 and $120, sometimes up to $99 new. It’s about four times faster than the GT 1030. Alternatively, you could opt for a 2400G with 3200MHz RAM—it performs similarly to the GT 1030 with built-in graphics, though you’d need to buy a 2400G on eBay, as they’re no longer available at regular retail prices. The rest can be new components.
consider this option: Ryzen 5 2600 165 CAD, 95 CAD gigabyte B450, 8GB RAM, 2666MB, Kingston A400 240GB, 40 CAD. Corsair 450W, 55 CAD. Total stays around 397.95 CAD.
the mobo link is https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/hpRz...b450m-ds3h I’m not sure what a vrm is, but the 1030 should work for your games unless you’re playing jc4. A wd green ssd might be better since the a400 doesn’t support dram edits. Your ram should be changed to: Patriot Viper Steel 8 GB 3200
The VRM consists of the chips surrounding the CPU socket. This one qualifies for a $35 rebate and should work fine. Rebates can be uncertain. The WD Green model also features less cache. The burst includes a DRAM cache.