Upgrade options 2020 PC

[brigil]

So I bought the below PC 4 years ago using a spec I was advised to go for on these forums. I use it for general office stuff (web browsing, word, emails, discord) and photography. No gaming. Well, I recently bought BG3 in a moment of weakness, but that's it, no other PC gaming, promise. I have an illyama monitor 1440p 70hz. I use dxo photo lab 6 and to upgrade to the latest version (8) I think I may need to upgrade my PC at some point as the recommended spec is -
Intel® Core™ processor or AMD Ryzen™ with 8 cores
16 GB RAM
4 GB available disk space
1920 x 1080 display
Microsoft® Windows® 10 version 22H2 or 11 version 22H2 (64-bit)
For DeepPRIME, DeepPRIME XD and DeepPRIME XD2s:
- NVIDIA RTX™ 2080, AMD Radeon™ RX 6700 with latest drivers with 8GB of VRAM

My set up will run the dxo minimum spec which is RTX with 4GB VRAM, but I'm wondering if it's worth a graphic card upgrade at this point? And if I do is there anything else I need to upgrade? Budget would be £500 maximum. I don't have any other issues with the PC, it runs everything I use it for perfectly well. So if the advice is 'don't mess with what's working for you' that's fine too.

The upgrade configurator suggested I could get a 3060 for around £300 (which would cover my dxo bases), is it worth it to get that alone, or would I need new power supply/cooling etc? I know that's a older card, but I really don't do much graphic intensive stuff on the PC. Any other thoughts on upgrades welcomed. Would be hoping to upgrade myself with a mate who's a bit more PC literate than me.

Any advice welcomed.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL II GAMING CASE
Promotional Item
Get FarCry 6 with select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (AM4, DDR4, PCIe 4.0)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
2TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
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
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
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 [KUK-00001]
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)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (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/5TDdTnpN9M/

 

[sck451]

Looks like a solid system, easily upgradeable. Is it just the VRAM on the graphics card that is insufficient for your needs?

If so, the 3060 will be the cheapest option. If you wanted to upgrade to a more powerful card overall, which might well have benefits though I'm not familiar with your software, then the 4070 is possible for under £500 and would drop straight in. My guess is that it wants that extra power, rather than just the VRAM, but it's hard to say.

 

[brigil]

Thanks for the swift respons! I’m afraid I don’t really know, photography software usually likes vram but not sure what powers the AI stuff they use now. But to be clear 3060/4070 are just a straight swap, no other stuff (power supply or cooling upgr needed?)

 

[sck451]

I would imagine AI would use the full power of the GPU, but I'd probably look on any specialist forums to do with that specific software.

Yes, a 3060 or 4070 (or the equivalent AMD cards like the 7800 XT) would just slot straight in. The power supply is sufficient for either, and the cooling is only for the CPU, which you aren't touching. The graphics cards have their own integrated coolers (in fact, most of what you see is cooler).

It's a well-specced system because all you need to do to get your upgrade is buy one part. So good choices four years ago!

 

[brigil]

Good choices from @SpyderTracks and others! Thanks again. New card it is.

 

[SpyderTracks]

That was right around the cusp of the 3000 series being released when suddenly the 80 tier cards went from 650W (which they'd been at for years) to 850W for the aftermarket cards.

If we'd had any inkling that was going to happen we would have specced the PSU higher, but it's just great that you're not looking for a high end card (they're far too damn expensive anyway!!!).

But this is why the platform is so completely important at the outset, we've unfortunately had quite a few people recently who didn't get advice and specced 550W or something and unsuitable CPU's and are having to spend £1200 or something for another entry level GPU and the required other components to get them up to scratch.

That's what's so important to avoid, not just from a cost factor, but also from having to basically rebuild the whole system, which most people buying from a System Integrator won't know how to do.

I'm really pleased you're getting long term fit out of it, really pleased.