Looking for advice on PC upgrades

BBB

Member
Hi all,

With some very helpful advice from this forum, I ordered a PC from here in 2020 with the spec below.

I've been thinking of upgrading for a while now, but have been put off by the fact I feel pretty out of my depth with the choices of hardware! So I thought I'd reach out on here again.

I'm thinking of upgrading the GPU to an RTX 4070. What would be the necessary upgrades to the rest of the build in order to accommodate this, and what would the best options be?

Monitor-wise, could a PC built around this GPU manage 4K, or best suited to 1440p?

I'd really appreciate any advice. Many thanks in advance!

Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY C BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.25GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
500GB Samsung 860 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
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 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
 

Ekans2011

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Hi all,

With some very helpful advice from this forum, I ordered a PC from here in 2020 with the spec below.

I've been thinking of upgrading for a while now, but have been put off by the fact I feel pretty out of my depth with the choices of hardware! So I thought I'd reach out on here again.

I'm thinking of upgrading the GPU to an RTX 4070. What would be the necessary upgrades to the rest of the build in order to accommodate this, and what would the best options be?

Monitor-wise, could a PC built around this GPU manage 4K, or best suited to 1440p?

I'd really appreciate any advice. Many thanks in advance!

Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY C BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.25GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
500GB Samsung 860 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
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 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Unfortunately, your PSU is incapable of supporting any recent GPUs; the minimum allowable with the current power needs is a 750W RMe, which leaves almost no room for future upgrades. What is your maximum budget?
 

BBB

Member
Is this not a part which can also be upgraded?

Was thinking around the £800 mark but could go a bit higher.

Thanks.
 

Ekans2011

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Is this not a part which can also be upgraded?

Was thinking around the £800 mark but could go a bit higher.

Thanks.
Personally, I consider the replacement of a power supply, motherboard, or case to be a rebuild, not an upgrade.
In any case, I doubt the PSU is modular because it is incredibly low-end (VS), so you will have to remove all and redo the cable management properly by adding a much higher-quality PSU.

Upgrades for 1440p:

CPU: 5700X3D (BIOS update needed) - £194.99

Cooler: Arctic Liquid Freezer 280mm - £60.82

RAM: Corsair 32GB - £68.99

GPU: 7800XT - £398.99

PSU: Seasonic Focus GX 1000W ATX 3.0 - £169.99

Total £893.78
 
Last edited:
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BBB

Member
Thank you!

Since the power supply needs to be changed, would it make sense to change to a new motherboard as well? Or is the current one still passable?

Just trying to work out where I can still keep the value from the current hardware, but understand the technology has moved on a lot since I bought the current setup.

From looking on other threads (I probably should have done that before posting!) it seems a smart thing to do would be to wait until early 2025 for GPU prices to drop after the new releases, so I may revisit in a few months.

Thanks
 

Ekans2011

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Since the power supply needs to be changed, would it make sense to change to a new motherboard as well? Or is the current one still passable?
That motherboard was already a low-end one when it was released six years ago... honestly, I don't know what to say. 🤷‍♂️
 
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Ekans2011

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
It should be fine for a 5700X3D. It’s on the very edge of being suitable, but the 5700x3d is so efficient it should be ok
I agree on this, but I'm not so convinced it's worth ''upgrading'' that PC.
I mean, he needs to change almost everything but the case. I honestly can't say I'd do it. 😢
 
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