Upgrade or buy new PC?

[Moss]

Hello, i'm looking for advice on whether I should buy a new PC or continue trying to upgrade my current build.

I bought a desktop from PC specialist back in 2016, mostly for gaming with a bit of software dev, and it's held up extemely well. In 2021 I decided to do some upgrades as newer games were not running too well. I upgraded the graphics card, added some RAM, switched from hard disk to SSD, increased the power supply, and switched one of my 1080p monitors for a 1440p. Since I made these changes I've found newer games run much more smoothly. However, my CPU also started running a lot hotter than it did previously, sometimes causing games to crash. I replaced the thermal paste, and tried to buy a new fan but have had trouble finding something that fits. I've been able to tweak some settings on my existing fans to mitigate the problems, but I still occasionally have to remove the side casing to get the temperature down.

So now i'm looking to upgrade, I have a budget of around £1500-2000, but i'm not sure if this would be best spent on a new rig or attempting further upgrades. When previously looking at switching the CPU it appeared I would have to get a new case and motherboard, and then move over a few parts like GPU and memory. But if I'm also considering a new graphics card, I figured I might as well buy a new PC all together.

My considerations for upgrades:
- Gaming and software dev
- Support two monitors (1440p or potentially a single 4k at some point)
- CPU with a long life span
- Quiest-ish cooling system (just a personal preference)

My build now looks like this (some of the upgrade names are from the receipts) :

Case
InWIN GT1 BLACK GAMING CASE

Processor
(CPU) Intel® CoreTMi7 Quad Core Processor i7-7700k (4.2GHz) 8MB Cache

Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z270-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs

Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
----added-----> Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 3000 MHz C15 XMP 2.0

Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP
----replaced with--> GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB VISION OC Graphics Card

1st Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
----replaced with --> Corsair MP400 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe x4 Gen3 SSD (Sequential Read Speeds of up to 3,480 MB/s, Write Speeds of up to 3,000 MB/s, High-Density 3D QLC NAND) Black

DVD/BLU-RAY
Drive NOT REQUIRED

Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIESTM VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
----replaced with--> HX Series™ HX750 — 750 Watt 80 PLUS® PLATINUM Certified Fully Modular PSU (UK)

Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)

Processor
Cooling Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler

Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)

USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

Operating System Genuine
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single Licence

Monitors
2 1080p monitors
---replaced one monitor with--->ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQ HDR Gaming Monitor - 27 Inch WQHD (2560 x 1440), IPS, 155Hz*, ELMB Sync, G-SYNC Compatible, Adaptive-sync, 1 ms (MPRT), HDR10, Black

Any advice would be hugely appreciated!

 

[TonyCarter]

Does it have any other cooling than the single CPU cooler? Any case fans? Has the CPU ever been repasted?

If not, a liquid cooler may fit in the top of the case and should keep that CPU cool.

But there's not really much else you can upgrade for performance other than the CPU and GPU, and the motherboard probably is only compatible with a 6/7th gen Intel.

However, a £2k budget should get you a much cooler, modern 1440p build...and we've had a few on here recently for that sort of budget...will see if I can find something similar...

 

[SpyderTracks]

I’d definitely suggest replacing it, a modern AMD system would just smash it all over the place at 1440p with your budget.

8 years is a healthy lifetime for a pc, and the advances since AMD became competitive have been pretty huge.

 

[TonyCarter]

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE - gone for this as you don't mention a need for lots of ARGB case fans
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.0GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5) - current daddy of gaming CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6) - one tier above the Prime option, and the platform will probably support 2 or 3 CPU generations further (current Intel platform is end-of-life, and the 13/14th gen are the same CPUs with different clocks/boosts)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB) - plenty, and the current sweet-spot for AMD
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 SUPER - HDMI, DP, LHR - alternative is the AMD 7900GRE 16GB, but it's on back order
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW) - fast boot drive for Windows and Apps only
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 3325MB/sW) - secondary SSD for games
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET - plenty for the current CPU/GPU combo, but you could future-proof with a newer generation PCIe5/ATX3 PSU for about £50 more
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR ICUE LINK H100i RGB HIGH PERFORMANCE CPU COOLER - overkill for the current gen AMD CPUs, but will add a little colour to the case and keep it silent
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED - I'm assuming you have a Windows licence to transfer from the old PC
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
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)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Price: £1,968.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/h6XW0n0246/

 

[Moss]

Thanks for the responses!

It's been repasted once, and has a smaller case fan. It's sounding like a new build would be a good option, I wasn't sure how my current pc would compare with whats available within my budget.

I will take a look at the build you suggested, thank you!

 

[sck451]

You could save a little, actually, on the build @TonyCarter suggested. Your SSD in your current system is a solid drive and, if you're happy transferring it over, could be the secondary SSD in your new system.