@Shrike, I see one of two options here. The reality, given that the mobo is apparently dying, is that the guts of the system needs replacing. Problem is, your budget won’t cover the GPU as well since you plan on keeping it. However, a brand new CPU / Mobo / RAM combo will be held back badly in games by that GPU. So, here goes:
Option 1: Go ahead with your planned upgrade and keep the GPU for now. Then save up for a replacement or hope one of your buddies upgrades soon so you can get a hand-me-down. Benefit: You get a solid new base system that will set you up for the future. Everything apart from games will run vastly better than before. Drawback: You will almost certainly not see an improvement in gaming performance due to GPU limitation.
Option 2: Replace GPU now, and perhaps PSU as well. You can (for example) pick up an RX570 for about R3k that is almost 200% faster at 1080p than the 750Ti. Then start saving up for the rest of the system, and perhaps get a good deal by end of the year with all the sales going on. Benefits: You get an immediate boost in gaming performance. Drawbacks: The old mobo could let you down at any time; overall system performance will not improve.
Sadly there’s very little real difference in performance between the Intel Core i5-9600K, Intel Core i5-8600K, AMD Ryzen 5 2600X and AMD Ryzen 7 2700X for example as they’ll all give similar performance.
However you can literally slap in a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon RX 570 and you’ll see an instant improvement. You have no idea how slow the 750 actually is
I would yes, I am planning to set up my old PC as a standby and for kids to use, but as mentioned, the mobo could give in at any time. I work from home 99% of the time
That requires two fully functional PC’s running side by side then, so you will need two of everything from the get-go. Otherwise there will be a transitional period where you have one-and-a-bit PC’s working until all the parts arrive.I assume the plan would be to use the Intel IGP graphics for the old PC when you move the 750Ti to the new build?
Nope, I got an older GPU for the other machine, I will be using my current one as the standby. So it would be a better for me to go for a cheaper ryzen 5 1600, bm450 mobo and throw in a 3k GPU and it would do a lot better?
Possibly, depending on your expectations. What are you planning to play, at what resolution, with what sort of framerates, and are you OK with maybe Medium / High settings rather than everything Ultra?
Medium is what I play on current gen PC games like Anthem and Division 2, I fiddle a little with shadows usually to get my framerates to around 17-20fps.
Completely out of my area of expertise here, but if your expectations and demands of the upgrade are not that high, would looking for a decent, slightly older gaming laptop in the R10k ballpark not be an option?
I’m sure with a little bit of hunting for specials or sale offers you could find something reasonably specced and get to keep the existing rig for the kiddos as is. Just a thought.
OK, so maybe what we need to do is start from scratch, and then try and build something within your budget (including a new GPU if possible) that will get better than 20fps; preferably close to 60.
Let’s ignore the 750Ti for now. What is there (if anything) from the current system that could carry over to the new system?
