Looking to upgrade

[KeiPer]

Hello there I’m looking to upgrade my current build and would like some advice. I mainly run racing simulators like iracing on a 49” ultrawide 1440p 240hz monitor.
I have a budget of around £1500.
Thank you in advance for any help and advice!


Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX MB530P ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700x Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB
3.2 Gen 2, PCle 4.0,CrossFireX) -
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ 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
LED Lighting
50cm ARGB LED Strip
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
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 [KK3-00002]
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 Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Insurance
Simplesurance Purchase Protection inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo
Price: £0.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/ghmsXrM7x7/

 

[SpyderTracks]

You can do a fair amount.

First thing would be a 5800x3d which would significantly boost cpu performance especially for SIMs - roughly £350

Then a 1000w RMx PSU - £142

=350+142 = 600 leaves you with roughly £900 for a GPU

And lastly I'd say an AMD GPU for raw tessellation performance as SIMs don't really benefit as much from ray tracing gubbins.

For around £900 you can just about squeeze in a 7900XTX if you shop about a bit, especially being Black Friday week as of tomorrow, I'm sure you'll find a deal, they're currently sitting around £920 upwards, but there will unquestionably be some good deals on them, check out places like Amazon

But that would take you up to a current top tier PC, the rest of the build is pretty solid and doesn't need anything doing to it.

 

[KeiPer]

Hey spyder, thanks for your quick reply! I was looking at nvidia and never really thought about amd to be honest. I will definitely look out for amd offers!

Will these changes be simple enough for me to do my self as a quite simple person haha

 

[Martinr36]

PSU is a fiddle sorting the cables, but I wouldn't say it's difficult

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hey spyder, thanks for your quick reply! I was looking at nvidia and never really thought about amd to be honest. I will definitely look out for amd offers!

Will these changes be simple enough for me to do my self as a quite simple person haha

With the PSU and the CPU it’s basically going to be a complete system rebuild

If you’re at all uncomfortable with that, PCS could do the cpu and PSU for you (they charge a small fee) and then you could just fit the new GPU yourself which is really easy.

You can go into your order on your account to the upgrades section and select PSU and CPU in there, that way at least you’d get a quote for the work to know if it suits you price wise

I would say to get PCS to do the GPU too but their prices are still quite high for the 7900XTX (over 1k)

 

[KeiPer]

With the PSU and the CPU it’s basically going to be a complete system rebuild

If you’re at all uncomfortable with that, PCS could do the cpu and PSU for you (they charge a small fee) and then you could just fit the new GPU yourself which is really easy.

You can go into your order on your account to the upgrades section and select PSU and CPU in there, that way at least you’d get a quote for the work to know if it suits you price wise

I would say to get PCS to do the GPU too but their prices are still quite high for the 7900XTX (over 1k)

Oh dear complete system rebuild gives me anxiety lol! By this do you mean stripping existing cables and rerouting new ones or does it involve the software and things aswell?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Oh dear complete system rebuild gives me anxiety lol! By this do you mean stripping existing cables and rerouting new ones or does it involve the software and things aswell?

Yes, you'd have to replace all the cables with the ones that came with the new PSU.

 

[KeiPer]

Yes, you'd have to replace all the cables with the ones that came with the new PSU.

Ok thank you for your help! I think I could manage that! And switching from nvidia to amd GPU is that just a change of drivers? Sorry if this is a ridiculous question lol

 

[SpyderTracks]

Ok thank you for your help! I think I could manage that! And switching from nvidia to amd GPU is that just a change of drivers? Sorry if this is a ridiculous question lol

Yes, you'd use DDU to fully uninstall drivers and then install the new ones.

But to be honest, with a CPU upgrade, I would strongly recommend a clean install of windows for optimal performance, especially with 3dvcache CPU's which have additional windows configuration applied and different scheduling

 

[SpyderTracks]

Ok thank you for your help! I think I could manage that! And switching from nvidia to amd GPU is that just a change of drivers? Sorry if this is a ridiculous question lol

But that's just the PSU, to get the PSU out of the case, depending on the case design, you may well have to remove the motherboard, it's possible that case has easy access, I'm not certain.

But yeah, it's basically a full system rebuild.

 

[Kempez]

I would deffo rebuilt everything with a new PSU. The cable routing alone will be worth it. And 100% systems rebuild for a new GPU. I'd wipe and re-install every 6 months anyway, as the clean install alone gives you a performance uplift. Never mind drivers conflicting etc.

 

[KeiPer]

But that's just the PSU, to get the PSU out of the case, depending on the case design, you may well have to remove the motherboard, it's possible that case has easy access, I'm not certain.

But yeah, it's basically a full system rebuild.

Yeah the psu looks like it will come out easy enough! That part seems ok but I’m unsure about the clean install of windows as I’ve personally not done that before. Is there a good guide you can recommend. Appreciate your help and thanks again

 

[Martinr36]

Clean install instructions

Download a new copy of Windows using the Media Creation Tool (Second option on linked page) to an 8GB (min) USB.
Boot that USB and choose a Custom Install.
Delete all UEFI partitions on the system drive (EFI System, Recovery, MSR Reserved, Primary).
Select the unallocated space that results and click the Next button. The installer will create the correct partitions and install Windows.
Run Windows Update repeatedly, even across reboots, until no more updates are found.
You may need/want to download and install the latest graphics driver from the Nvidia/AMD website (they change so regularly the latest version isn't always in the Windows libraries).

This is also worth a watch

 

[KeiPer]

Clean install instructions

Download a new copy of Windows using the Media Creation Tool (Second option on linked page) to an 8GB (min) USB.
Boot that USB and choose a Custom Install.
Delete all UEFI partitions on the system drive (EFI System, Recovery, MSR Reserved, Primary).
Select the unallocated space that results and click the Next button. The installer will create the correct partitions and install Windows.
Run Windows Update repeatedly, even across reboots, until no more updates are found.
You may need/want to download and install the latest graphics driver from the Nvidia/AMD website (they change so regularly the latest version isn't always in the Windows libraries).

This is also worth a watch

Thank you very much

 

[KeiPer]

You can do a fair amount.

First thing would be a 5800x3d which would significantly boost cpu performance especially for SIMs - roughly £350

Then a 1000w RMx PSU - £142

=350+142 = 600 leaves you with roughly £900 for a GPU

And lastly I'd say an AMD GPU for raw tessellation performance as SIMs don't really benefit as much from ray tracing gubbins.

For around £900 you can just about squeeze in a 7900XTX if you shop about a bit, especially being Black Friday week as of tomorrow, I'm sure you'll find a deal, they're currently sitting around £920 upwards, but there will unquestionably be some good deals on them, check out places like Amazon

But that would take you up to a current top tier PC, the rest of the build is pretty solid and doesn't need anything doing to it.

Hello spyder me again sorry to bother you another time but if I could get my hands on a 4090 will this be a total waste with the 5800x3d?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hello spyder me again sorry to bother you another time but if I could get my hands on a 4090 will this be a total waste with the 5800x3d?

No, would be a good fit. Even though the 5800X3D is last gen it's still a very competitive chip for gaming, still beats a lot of chips out there, it's only really the 7000X3D chips that comfortably beat it.

Would be a good fit with your monitor.

 

[KeiPer]

No, would be a good fit. Even though the 5800X3D is last gen it's still a very competitive chip for gaming, still beats a lot of chips out there, it's only really the 7000X3D chips that comfortably beat it.

Would be a good fit with your monitor.

Thanks that’s good to know! I might just hold off and save up see if I can get a 4090. My case is mid tower and states it can support cards of up to 410mm so should fit?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks that’s good to know! I might just hold off and save up see if I can get a 4090. My case is mid tower and states it can support cards of up to 410mm so should fit?

I don’t know if they’re still available, but I’d always say to find the Founders Edition models where possible, they’re built to such high standards and the cooling is totally over engineered. They’re also ironically smaller than a lot of aftermarket models.

But 410mm is pretty generous, the founders edition for example is just over 300mm long, you should be fine

 

[KeiPer]

I don’t know if they’re still available, but I’d always say to find the Founders Edition models where possible, they’re built to such high standards and the cooling is totally over engineered. They’re also ironically smaller than a lot of aftermarket models.

But 410mm is pretty generous, the founders edition for example is just over 300mm long, you should be fine

Ok I will do, You’ve been a great help thank you, much appreciated

 

[SpyderTracks]

Ok I will do, You’ve been a great help thank you, much appreciated

More than welcome, it’s always a pleasure when people are seeking worthwhile upgrades to a system rather than needlessly replacing them early. You’re taking exactly the right approach, and it’s a testament to the strong platform you designed at the outset.

None of us envisioned the TDP uplift when the RTX cards were released, so the PSU being a bit low is just unfortunate.