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Upgrading an old PC..

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Oldscool

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Nov 30, 2022
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Hi all,
I'm looking to upgrade my old PC & looking for recommendations.
I hope I'll get away with just a graphics card but I'll leave the recommendations to the experts.

It's currently running a Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H with an i5-3570k CPU overclocked to 4.40ghz, 8GB RAM with a pair of GTX 8800 in SLI, all watercooled.
I'm not fussed about running the latest games, although I'd like it to be capable of running Flight Simulator, or DCS. (This may be a bit of an ask, I know)
My PSU is an Enermax Galaxy 1000w

Are there any decent graphics cards which will run this & be compatible? Or am I looking at a new motherboard too?
My case is a Corsair Obsidian 900D so plenty of space if needed.

Thanks in advance.
 
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Welcome.
IMO your system should be able to run a current gen mid-range card fine. What's your budget for a GPU? Are you in the US, EU or somewhere else?
 
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Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Minimum System Requirements
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200.
  • RAM: 8 GB.
  • OS: Windows 10 64-bit.
  • VIDEO CARD: Radeon RX 570 or GeForce GTX 770.
  • PIXEL SHADER: 5.0.
  • VERTEX SHADER: 5.0.
  • FREE DISK SPACE: 150 GB.
  • DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 2048 MB.
 
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I ran FSX on a i7-3770 , at acceptable FPS.

Now I don't think you will have a good experience running MSFS2020 , even on your upgraded system.
If you want to run FSX , i would recommend to get the steam version.

Here is a link to a review: Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition Review
 
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You're better off replacing the entire motherboard, CPU, GPU and RAM.
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/GVBLxs

The 1660 is quite literally more than 10x faster than a GTX 8800, SLI is dead and doesn't scale so don't think two will make a difference in current games.

1669902284015.png
 
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DCS will munch on your RAM. 32GB is a minimum recommended if you plan to get DLC maps/planes.
 
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dgianstefani said:
You're better off replacing the entire motherboard, CPU, GPU and RAM.
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/GVBLxs

The 1660 is quite literally more than 10x faster than a GTX 8800, SLI is dead and doesn't scale so don't think two will make a difference in current games.

View attachment 272446
Click to expand...

yeah, the only reason I'm still running 3570k is because my htpc only needs to hit 60 fps on easier console ports

the moment you try to run AAA games on less than 12 threads is when your performance hits a sub 30fps wall (regardless of GPU you upgrade to)
 
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defaultluser said:
yeah, the only reason I'm still running 3570k is because my htpc only needs to hit 60 fps on easier console ports

the moment you try to run AAA games on less than 12 threads is when your performance hits a sub 30fps wall (regardless of GPU you upgrade to)
Click to expand...
I'd argue 8 threads is enough.

9700K does just fine.
 
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Oldscool said:
I'm in the UK. If I can just upgrade the card & CPU, £500-£600 is my budget. I really don't want to go any farther.
Click to expand...
Full upgrade would be preferred.

If you did want to stretch your current system, then an E3-1230 V2 (basically identical to the i7 3770 non-k) sells on ebay UK for £25. For Ram DDR3 is so old and cheap that if you went to the marketplace section of this forum and did a WTB (willing to buy) ad I wouldn't be surprised if a Veteran user here just donated the ram to you for a small shipping fee.

Graphics card anything (both used or new) that's midrange or higher in the last 4 or 5 years will be a gigantic upgrade.
 
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Oldscool said:
Hi all,
I'm looking to upgrade my old PC & looking for recommendations.
I hope I'll get away with just a graphics card but I'll leave the recommendations to the experts.

It's currently running a Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H with an i5-3570k CPU overclocked to 4.40ghz, 8GB RAM with a pair of GTX 8800 in SLI, all watercooled.
I'm not fussed about running the latest games, although I'd like it to be capable of running Flight Simulator, or DCS. (This may be a bit of an ask, I know)
My PSU is an Enermax Galaxy 1000w

Are there any decent graphics cards which will run this & be compatible? Or am I looking at a new motherboard too?
My case is a Corsair Obsidian 900D so plenty of space if needed.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
I am also seeking for the recommendation
 
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Welcome to the forum! :)

I'd recommend a Core i7-3770 from CeX for 32 quid, and some more RAM to make it 16 GB at least.

Then for GPU, a GTX 1660 or RTX 2060 would be OK. Anything higher would be a waste of money, unless you're planning a system upgrade later. As for Radeons, only the 6600 would be a good choice for your PC. The 6400 and 6500 XT would be severely bottlenecked by the PCI-e bandwidth, and anything higher than the 6600 is the same as higher Nvidia cards: a waste of money for an old PC.
 
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Looking at budget and circumstances, one of many examples of a sub £600 new build in the UK could be something similar to this that may work, I am not advocating any preference for brand etc, just basing this on availability and pricing of one of the stores I use online but as an example ......................

Ebuyer.jpg
 
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Any remotely new-ish GPU you get will be bottlenecked to hell and gone by your ancient 4-core CPU and tiny 8GB of RAM. As @dgianstefani posted, you can get a full new system that will serve you far better, for under 600 quid.
 
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Oldscool said:
Hi all,
I'm looking to upgrade my old PC & looking for recommendations.
I hope I'll get away with just a graphics card but I'll leave the recommendations to the experts.

It's currently running a Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H with an i5-3570k CPU overclocked to 4.40ghz, 8GB RAM with a pair of GTX 8800 in SLI, all watercooled.
I'm not fussed about running the latest games, although I'd like it to be capable of running Flight Simulator, or DCS. (This may be a bit of an ask, I know)
My PSU is an Enermax Galaxy 1000w

Are there any decent graphics cards which will run this & be compatible? Or am I looking at a new motherboard too?
My case is a Corsair Obsidian 900D so plenty of space if needed.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Stumbled about a really good YT channel that copes with these topics in detail. It's called Iceberg Tech.
 
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Tatty_One said:
Looking at budget and circumstances, one of many examples of a sub £600 new build in the UK could be something similar to this that may work, I am not advocating any preference for brand etc, just basing this on availability and pricing of one of the stores I use online but as an example ......................

View attachment 272502
Click to expand...
DCS and other sim games use CPU much more than GPU. 12400 is much better CPU than 11400.
 
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dgianstefani said:
DCS and other sim games use CPU much more than GPU. 12400 is much better CPU than 11400.
Click to expand...
Agreed, I only selected those to stay within budget, the 12400 is almost £50 more with the equivalent motherboard around 25 more, if I were to cut £73 off the graphics card price it would move it into 6500XT or 1650/60 territory which may be acceptable for the OP.
 
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I somehow doubt that upgrading the CPU to a 3770 (not overclocked like the OP's 4.4 GHz, runs at 3.4 - 3.9 GHz) or 3770K is the best thing to do.Yeah it feels great to max out that decade old system but what's the point.

You can just buy a graphics card for now and see how far it takes you, but you might need some more ram then.


I found this:


1669925510017.png


For £50 more you'll get a 6650 XT which is 20 % faster at 1080p.
 
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Thanks for the recommendations folks! I'll look into them a bit more. I'll also add, that if I end up changing the mobo, ram etc, then I'll probably stretch to 7-800 mark. This would have to include water blocks for cooling, unless any of these cards are available with a liquid cooling option...

I have to admit, I had visions that a full upgrade would push it over £1k so its a pleasant surprise so far!
 
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Mats said:
I somehow doubt that upgrading the CPU to a 3770 (not overclocked like the OP's 4.4 GHz, runs at 3.4 - 3.9 GHz) or 3770K is the best thing to do.Yeah it feels great to max out that decade old system but what's the point.

You can just buy a graphics card for now and see how far it takes you, but you might need some more ram then.


I found this:


View attachment 272514

For £50 more you'll get a 6650 XT which is 20 % faster at 1080p.
Click to expand...
With that generation, Core i7s have HT (extra 4 threads) enabled, which didn't mean much back then, but it means a lot nowadays.
 
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AusWolf said:
With that generation, Core i7s have HT (extra 4 threads) enabled, which didn't mean much back then, but it means a lot nowadays.
Click to expand...
Will that really make a difference on such an old CPU in games today? The 3770 still runs at lower clock speed, which is a drawback, and I don't think HT can still make that a win.

You're welcome to share a link. :)

No big difference here at least, it really depends on the game tested of course. Either way, the OP needs more RAM.

 
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Mats said:
Will that really make a difference on such an old CPU in games today? The 3770 still runs at lower clock speed, which is a drawback, and I don't think HT can still make that a win.

You're welcome to share a link. :)
Click to expand...
It depends on the game, but since OP wants to run Flight Simulator, I'm guessing that it does. For £32, it's kind of a no-brainer, imo. :)

I recently upgraded my brother's PC with an i7-870 from an i5-760 and his 8 GB RAM to 16, and the difference in Kingdom Come: Deliverance is night and day.

I'll try to find a link with tests later, but I have to go to work soon.

Mats said:
Either way, the OP needs more RAM.
Click to expand...
That I very much agree with.
 
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Mats said:
The 3770 still runs at lower clock speed, which is a drawback, and I don't think HT can still make that a win.
Click to expand...
Not to mention the IPC of newer processors.
 
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