Advice on upgrading my PCS build

[JoshtheTosh]

Hi all,

I bought the spec below in mid-2020 for gaming, and I've since upgraded the GPU to an RTX 3060Ti, and it's still serving me pretty well.
I have two monitors, a 1440p 75Hz and a 1080p 60Hz, with the 1440p being the one I use for gaming.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL II GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 SUPER - HDMI
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 12 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo

With Starfield and Cities Skylines II coming out soon, I figure that I might want a new CPU to keep up but I'm not sure how far I want to go with the upgrade.

The motherboard I have is an AM4 one, so if I want to keep that I feel like my only option would be the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. I've heard that this CPU is great for gaming, but less good than others for non-gaming purposes (which I use my PC for regularly).
If I want a newer AMD CPU, or any Intel, I'd need a new motherboard too and I've been looking at the Ryzen 7 7700X, which I can find in bundles that also come with a code for Starfield.

As for GPU, I can't see myself getting any upgrade until the RTX 50 series, unless something really good comes up on FB marketplace (with a heavy pinch of salt).

Which of these sounds like a better upgrade path?

Cheers for having a look!

 

[TonyCarter]

The easiest upgrade would probably be the 5800X3D...and whilst it's correct to say it's not the 'best' in non-gaming scenarios, it would still be significantly better than your 3600 in applications that can take advantage of the extra cores. Plus the 3D cache may make a difference in any 3D/rendering/Photoshop/Video production you do.

Have you made any other changes to your build other than the 3060Ti upgrade, as I'd suggest a speedy new OS m.2 would make the system feel 'snappier'...and if the PCS SSD is your only SSD in the system, a second, larger one for game installs would reduce overheads on the m.2 anyway.

You will also need to invest in a AIO cooler, as the standard AMD cooler simply won't be sufficient to cool the 5800X3D.

As for going for a new motherboard for an AM5 system, it's not just the CPU & motherboard you'll have to buy, you will also require new DDR5 RAM as there is no DDR4 option for AM5.

Whist you've got the machine stripped down you'd probably want to take the opportunity to put in a PSU that will be ready to handle your next GPU upgrade...as 650W is probably at the edge of being acceptable for the 3060Ti and 5800X3D (that's if you want the PSU to run optimally and not produce excess heat).

You should be able to view what upgrades PCS offer for your system in your account page. Open up your final build/invoice and there's an 'Upgrade' button at the bottom. Don't know how reliable it is though, as it says I can put a 7800X3D into my AM4 system

 

[JoshtheTosh]

The easiest upgrade would probably be the 5800X3D...and whilst it's correct to say it's not the 'best' in non-gaming scenarios, it would still be significantly better than your 3600 in applications that can take advantage of the extra cores. Plus the 3D cache may make a difference in any 3D/rendering/Photoshop/Video production you do.

Have you made any other changes to your build other than the 3060Ti upgrade, as I'd suggest a speedy new OS m.2 would make the system feel 'snappier'...and if the PCS SSD is your only SSD in the system, a second, larger one for game installs would reduce overheads on the m.2 anyway.

You will also need to invest in a AIO cooler, as the standard AMD cooler simply won't be sufficient to cool the 5800X3D.

As for going for a new motherboard for an AM5 system, it's not just the CPU & motherboard you'll have to buy, you will also require new DDR5 RAM as there is no DDR4 option for AM5.

Whist you've got the machine stripped down you'd probably want to take the opportunity to put in a PSU that will be ready to handle your next GPU upgrade...as 650W is probably at the edge of being acceptable for the 3060Ti and 5800X3D (that's if you want the PSU to run optimally and not produce excess heat).

You should be able to view what upgrades PCS offer for your system in your account page. Open up your final build/invoice and there's an 'Upgrade' button at the bottom. Don't know how reliable it is though, as it says I can put a 7800X3D into my AM4 system

Thanks for the reply!

I forgot to mention that I've got another M.2 and a Sata SSD in, so I've got plenty of speedy storage.

Sounds like the 5800X3D is the way to go then, cheers.
I've had a look at coolers and the Dark Rock Pro 4 gets suggested a good number of times. I can see that there are other products in the Dark Rock line, but I can't really see the difference outside of marginal improvements?
Also, PCS doesn't offer it as an upgrade so I'd be going it alone here.

Would a 750W PSU be enough for the CPU upgrade? I'd rather not upgrade that if I only need to do it later on, but it seems like I'll have to.

 

[TonyCarter]

The 650w should be okay for the 5800X3D and 3060Ti…but that would be about the limit of GPU for that power level.

Don’t know much about tower coolers, but I use a relatively ‘old’ Corsair H100i Platinum with a non-3D 5800X (but there are newer Elite/Capellix versions out with even quieter pumps and magnetic fans). I’d also check the space required for some of the big boy tower coolers.

The PSU upgrade was only if you were going to do a complete rebuild with a AM5 build…as everything would have to be disconnected anyway…and you’d be looking at a 1000W one to give you headroom for the AM6/AM7 CPU and 40/50/60-series GPU upgrade.

 

[JoshtheTosh]

The 650w should be okay for the 5800X3D and 3060Ti…but that would be about the limit of GPU for that power level.

Don’t know much about tower coolers, but I use a relatively ‘old’ Corsair H100i Platinum with a non-3D 5800X (but there are newer Elite/Capellix versions out with even quieter pumps and magnetic fans). I’d also check the space required for some of the big boy tower coolers.

The PSU upgrade was only if you were going to do a complete rebuild with a AM5 build…as everything would have to be disconnected anyway…and you’d be looking at a 1000W one to give you headroom for the AM6/AM7 CPU and 40/50/60-series GPU upgrade.

Sounds good, I think I'll go with the Cooler Master Hyper 212 cooler then and leave the PSU upgrade til later on.

I don't want to complicate things, but I've been looking at various benchmarks comparing the 5800X and the 5800X3D and, at 1440p with a 3060Ti, I'm not sure the extra £100 is worth it for the 3D. This review is the main one I saw. I know that's on a 3090Ti, but it seems that the CPU gains are on more sim-heavy games which I don't really play a lot, though I'll be playing a lot of Cities Skylines II.

I think, given the £100 gap, the 5800X seems like the better option for me, since it's still pretty good at multi-core stuff.

 

[sck451]

Sounds good, I think I'll go with the Cooler Master Hyper 212 cooler then and leave the PSU upgrade til later on.

I don't want to complicate things, but I've been looking at various benchmarks comparing the 5800X and the 5800X3D and, at 1440p with a 3060Ti, I'm not sure the extra £100 is worth it for the 3D. This review is the main one I saw. I know that's on a 3090Ti, but it seems that the CPU gains are on more sim-heavy games which I don't really play a lot, though I'll be playing a lot of Cities Skylines II.

I think, given the £100 gap, the 5800X seems like the better option for me, since it's still pretty good at multi-core stuff.

I'd suggest going for the 5700X over the 5800X with a tower cooler. For gaming, it would probably be OK, but the lower power consumption (and near-equal performance) of the 5700X has a lot to recommend it. (And you can enable PBO and Curve Optimizer and probably get the performance, at the cost of adding that heat back!)

 

[JoshtheTosh]

I'd suggest going for the 5700X over the 5800X with a tower cooler. For gaming, it would probably be OK, but the lower power consumption (and near-equal performance) of the 5700X has a lot to recommend it. (And you can enable PBO and Curve Optimizer and probably get the performance, at the cost of adding that heat back!)

Ooh yeah, thanks for pointing that out.

That's a significant dip in base power use for (from some quick benchmark comparisons) not much gain in performance.