Upgrading PC - Advice appreciated.

[Mozroy]

Hi All,

I have recently decided to upgrade some parts of my PC - the ram specifically as I found that 16gb of ram is not optimal for a heavily modded FO4 build although as I began to browse I added a few more bits (as always seems to be the case)

Anywho, I was looking for some advice on compatibility with my current build before I go ahead and order the parts. i.e. that these new parts won't require a bigger power supply and that the RAM is compatible with my motherboard as i have recently heard that not all RAM's are compatible etc, so any advice is welcomed and appreciated here! I have a budget limit of ~1,000euros

The 2 big changes I would like to make are to the RAM and the Storage drive

RAM from 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB) to 32GB Corsair RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)

Storage from 2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE to 2TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW

Would I see an imporvement in perfromance with these upgrades? or are they somehow incompatible with my current specs in a way that it would be pointless to make these additions?

So, this leaves me with ~600euros still and I was then thinking to upgrade my motherboard however there doesn't seem to be an option to upgrade that in the dropdown menus. Only when creating a new PC. Can I assume then that changing the motherboard is a big task and one I may have to do without PCS?

Below is a list of my computer specs note the RAM and Storage drive are of my CURRENT specs, the proposed changes are above.

I must apologize for my lack of computer knowledge, if anyone notices any computer sacrilege in my build, I am sorry lol.


Case
PCS SPECTRUM RGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
16GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6800 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB CORSAIR MP400 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 3480 MB/R, 3000 MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W 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
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
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo

 

[B4zookaw]

I’d look to upgrade the CPU rather than the motherboard. Would depend on what games and other tasks you do as the whether you’d see a performance increase. For example if the game is GPU limited rather than CPU, the upgrading CPU might not be worth the expense.

 

[SpyderTracks]

It all depends what monitor the system is paired with? At higher resolution changing the CPU is going to have zero impact as you're heavily GPU bound.

Similarly adjusting GPU isn't going to matter depending on resolution and refresh.

Would I see an imporvement in perfromance with these upgrades? or are they somehow incompatible with my current specs in a way that it would be pointless to make these additions?

This is what's important, this is a very new PC, typically you wouldn't be making any amendments for like 3 years or so. You don't just upgrade for the sake of it, you upgrade because a specific area of performance has started to fall behind, and you target that area.

The monitor it's pairing with will heavily influence where it's worth making amendments if any are required?

 

[Mozroy]

I’d look to upgrade the CPU rather than the motherboard. Would depend on what games and other tasks you do as the whether you’d see a performance increase. For example if the game is GPU limited rather than CPU, the upgrading CPU might not be worth the expense.

Hrmm I'll look into that. thanks. I wouldn't do much apart from using this to run games. It is nice to know I don't have to look at the motherboard though.

I guess in the case of Fallout4 I would be running the game and it's mod manager (vortex) then again though the mods that I am running are more than 60gb with things like 2k resolution mods and textures etc. So it would be an intense game to run. I have heard if you intend to mod AAA games you'd be looking for 32GB of RAM but I could be mistaken there. My CPU utilization is never maxed out, I checked the metrics when running the game, the only thing I see close to max is the clock speed on the VRAM.

Then again, I dont know if FO4 is GPU or CPU limited but again I think just upgrading the RAM is generally a good way to increase my performance.

 

[stegor]

I would add 2 extra sticks of 8GB RAM rather than throw the existing ones away. Won't make much difference unless you really want RGB.

 

[stegor]

Then again, I dont know if FO4 is GPU or CPU limited but again I think just upgrading the RAM is generally a good way to increase my performance.

As said above it depends on your monitor.

 

[Mozroy]

It all depends what monitor the system is paired with? At higher resolution changing the CPU is going to have zero impact as you're heavily GPU bound.

Similarly adjusting GPU isn't going to matter depending on resolution and refresh.



This is what's important, this is a very new PC, typically you wouldn't be making any amendments for like 3 years or so. You don't just upgrade for the sake of it, you upgrade because a specific area of performance has started to fall behind, and you target that area.

The monitor it's pairing with will heavily influence where it's worth making amendments if any are required?

So the system is paired with a tv, not a monitor as such. So it's an LG TV 4K HDR smart tv with a 60hz refresh rate. for the sake of performance though I run most games at 60Fps @ 1080p. Do you think that if I changed to a smaller PC style monitor that the performance would increase?

 

[Mozroy]

I would add 2 extra sticks of 8GB RAM rather than throw the existing ones away. Won't make much difference unless you really want RGB.

That's a great suggestion. I'll do that.

 

[stegor]

So the system is paired with a tv, not a monitor as such. So it's an LG TV 4K HDR smart tv with a 60hz refresh rate. for the sake of performance though I run most games at 60Fps @ 1080p. Do you think that if I changed to a smaller PC style monitor that the performance would increase?

Not familiar with running on a TV but on a monitor FO4 at 60FPS 1080p is limited by the monitor i.e. upgrading is pointless. I would a add the memory if you think the mods are causing swapping out.

 

[SpyderTracks]

for the sake of performance though I run most games at 60Fps @ 1080p. Do you think that if I changed to a smaller PC style monitor that the performance would increase?

So that's entirely wasting the capabilities of the GPU at 1080p 60Hz as you're CPU bound for starters plus you'll be capped by the monitor.

60Hz for any gaming is IMHO a huge no no. By todays standards it should be minimum of 120Hz.

I would suggest putting some money into a proper monitor, personally I'd suggest Ultrawide or Superwide, but I'm a fanboy, but I own a 4k monitor and find the aspect ratio of superwide far more rewarding than 4k. For a decent monitor you're looking around £600 - £800 in Black Friday sales to match your GPU

As @stegor says, the other thing would be the extra RAM.

There are other factors of the build that could do with addressing, it's a shame you didn't follow the advice when you ordered as you would have got something far more rounded.

 

[Mozroy]

So that's entirely wasting the capabilities of the GPU at 1080p 60Hz as you're CPU bound for starters plus you'll be capped by the monitor.

60Hz for any gaming is IMHO a huge no no. By todays standards it should be minimum of 120Hz.

I would suggest putting some money into a proper monitor, personally I'd suggest Ultrawide or Superwide, but I'm a fanboy, but I own a 4k monitor and find the aspect ratio of superwide far more rewarding than 4k. For a decent monitor you're looking around £600 - £800 in Black Friday sales to match your GPU

As @stegor says, the other thing would be the extra RAM.

There are other factors of the build that could do with addressing, it's a shame you didn't follow the advice when you ordered as you would have got something far more rounded

I will put some research into a monitor then, if that would allow me to gain better performance. and do some research into the Ultrawide/Superwide monitors. I had put it off when I first got my rig as the TV was already there and 600- 800pounds when I got the computer wasn't really an option unfortunately.

More RAM seems like a certainty though. and I thank you all for confirming it.

What other factors if you don't mind me asking? I posted the specs of my purchase back here in 2021 before I bought it and made changes based on the recommendations of the forum. I did have to make small amendments as after purchasing I was contacted by PCS about part shortages and had to subsidize with other parts to complete the order.