Gaming Upgrade to an old build, If possible... 600-700$

[docnorth]

Thanks for replying mate.

for the PSU - None of them, it's a "sohoo" ATX-550W. Not sure if it's usable (?)

as for the case - I'm looking at this upgrade to hold like ~2 years, then buying a complete new rig with full budget, so I would say something quiet and basic, glass sided panel could be nice, but I can't demand on that budget.

My search for a case was obviously different so my knowledge is rather poor, but if on a budget I would take a look at Coolermaster (maybe masterbox q300l) or a cheap Fractal, if you can find one. Now about PSU my recommendation remains the same, buy a quality one, gold rated, with long warranty, something like a Seasonic focus (the brand serves only as an example) 550 or 650w. The reputable brands have lower tiers, still gold, with 5 or 7 year warranty, but I think it’s not worth it. Hope this helps.

 

[iameatingjam]

10400 will blow your other cpu out of the water. And a 550w power supply would happily run it with a 3060, or even a 3060 ti ( depends if you want more performance, or more vram... would depend on the game). Maybe even the the A770, thats the cheapest way to get 16GB, and I think that might work, you'll have to do the math with your existing parts. Might have to put up with some driver problems but they've come a long way. 6700xt I'm not so sure. That one might be pushing it. The 10GB 6700 should be okay. Somebody with more amd experience may be more knowledgeable on that than me.

Anyway, I mean if you're just trying to bridge a gap, not having to buy a new psu would help your wallet out a lot.

 

[AnotherReader]

10400 will blow your other cpu out of the water. And a 550w power supply would happily run it with a 3060, or even a 3060 ti ( depends if you want more performance, or more vram... would depend on the game). Maybe even the the A770, thats the cheapest way to get 16GB, and I think that might work, you'll have to do the math with your existing parts. Might have to put up with some driver problems but they've come a long way. 6700xt I'm not so sure. That one might be pushing it. The 10GB 6700 should be okay. Somebody with more amd experience may be more knowledgeable on that than me.

Anyway, I mean if you're just trying to bridge a gap, not having to buy a new psu would help your wallet out a lot.

The 6700XT and A770 have similar power consumption, but the 6700XT is faster. The 3060 Ti will be the best option because it spikes lower than the aforementioned GPUs.

 

[iameatingjam]

The 6700XT and A770 have similar power consumption, but the 6700XT is faster.

Thats true. Do you think 550w would be enough with that gpu? I heard rdna2 can... go above its rated power usage a lot. I kind of had that in the back of my mind. And I'm honestly not sure how intel compares in that area. But does state a 550w is required for the A770. And amd states the 6700xt requires 650w. There's got to be a reason for that, is it transients? Idk. Maybe intel is just trying to cast a wider net.

Edit: Nevermind, I guess that requirement didn't come from intel themselves, just from some third party source.

 

[AnotherReader]

Thats true. Do you think 550w would be enough with that gpu? I heard rdna2 can... go above its rated power usage a lot. I kind of had that in the back of my mind. And I'm honestly now sure how intel compares in that area. But does state a 550w is required for the A770. And amd states the 6700xt requires 650w. There's got to be a reason for that, is it transients? Idk. Maybe intel is just trying to cast a wider net.

Edit: Nevermind, I guess that requirement didn't come from intel themselves, just from some third party source.

View attachment 313873

RDNA2 can be power limited to avoid the spikes and it also seems that the spikes are higher in stupid loads like Furmark. Games don't seem to spike as high. The A770 seems to spike about 40 W lower. I suspect that a quality 550 W PSU will handle it fine. The whole system power consumption for a 10400F and a 2080 Ti in Witcher 3 is only about 365 W. The 2080 Ti consumes substantially more power than the 6700 XT so with a 6700 XT or A770, the power draw would be lower.

 

[iameatingjam]

RDNA2 can be power limited to avoid the spikes and it also seems that the spikes are higher in stupid loads like Furmark. Games don't seem to spike as high. The A770 seems to spike about 40 W lower.

View attachment 313874

So do you think it will work in this case? If its ~225w average in gaming, with small spikes.... Its even possible OP has a 60hz monitor, based on his older hardware, and in that case, vsync isn't out of the question either.

 

[AnotherReader]

So do you think it will work in this case? If its ~225w average in gaming, with small spikes.... Its even possible OP has a 60hz monitor, based on his older hardware, and in that case, vsync isn't out of the question either.

Yeah if the OP has a 60Hz monitor, then it should be more than ok.

 

[iameatingjam]

The 3060 Ti will be the best option because it spikes lower than the aforementioned GPUs.

Perhaps from a compatibility point of view. But I got to say, the 8gb on my 3070 drove me nuts with all these new vram hungry games. Even at 1080p it can be a problem.

Then again, neither was I happy with performance when I had a 3060, but I was running a 1440p display. I don't know what the answer is. 6700 non xt, has 20% better performance than the 3060, more than 8gb at least, and would be pretty safe from a power point of view. I guess it depends what kind of games OP is playing.

 

[BillyF]

10400 will blow your other cpu out of the water. And a 550w power supply would happily run it with a 3060, or even a 3060 ti ( depends if you want more performance, or more vram... would depend on the game). Maybe even the the A770, thats the cheapest way to get 16GB, and I think that might work, you'll have to do the math with your existing parts. Might have to put up with some driver problems but they've come a long way. 6700xt I'm not so sure. That one might be pushing it. The 10GB 6700 should be okay. Somebody with more amd experience may be more knowledgeable on that than me.

Anyway, I mean if you're just trying to bridge a gap, not having to buy a new psu would help your wallet out a lot.

Yeah if the OP has a 60Hz monitor, then it should be more than ok.

First thanks for the informative replies guys!

Not buying a PSU would help the budget, although I'm not sure I can rely on that "Sohoo" ATX-550W and there's no review/knowledge about this piece. Seems risky :/

Also, prices in my region seems to be abit high, as the 7800 series not "fully" in, can't find it in any store and there are different models for the 6700XT (no 10/12GB ver).

It's gettin abit confusing so I've made a list+price from 2 stores I could find:

Gigabyte - AMD Radeon RX7700XT 12GB GDDR6 OC - Gaming - 685$
Sapphire - AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT PULSE 16GB GDDR6 - 740$
ASUS - AMD Radeon RX7600 - 8GB GDDR6 - Dual Fan - 420$
ASUS - AMD Radeon RX6650XT - 8GB GDDR6 - Dual Fan - 420$
MSI - AMD Radeon RX6600XT GAMING 8GB GDDR6 - GAMING X - 460$

Edit 2 - Another store I've found that offers those:

Sapphire Radeon RX 6700 XT PULSE 12GB GDDR6 HDMI 3xDP - 480$
Sapphire Radeon RX 6750 XT PULSE 12GB GDDR6 HDMI 3xDP - 555$
Sapphire Radeon RX 7700 XT PULSE 12GB GDDR6 - 650$


From our discussion I understand the 7700XT would be the best choice, altough the 550W won't handle it, and 90% of the budget is done.
Say I could add an extra 100$ (that's my top limit) would it help?

*My monitor is a standart 60Hz (1920x1080)
*Games- non-specific, but new Gen: CS2, GTAv, RDR2, Starfield

Thanks again guys!

 

[Lost_Troll]

With the extra 100$ thrown in.......

PCPartPicker Part List

Video Card: PowerColor Fighter Radeon RX 6650 XT 8 GB Video Card (₪1168.82 @ Newegg Israel)
Case: Fractal Design Pop Mini Air MicroATX Mid Tower Case (₪911.81 @ Newegg Israel)
Power Supply: Corsair CX650M (2021) 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (₪573.53 @ Newegg Israel)
Total: ₪2654.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-09-16 19:53 IDT+0300

The 6650 is a very capable card at 1080p, the one I sold to a work mate is playing Cyberpunk in high settings and The Division in high settings with zero complaints.

 

[iameatingjam]

First thanks for the informative replies guys!

Not buying a PSU would help the budget, although I'm not sure I can rely on that "Sohoo" ATX-550W and there's no review/knowledge about this piece. Seems risky :/

Also, prices in my region seems to be abit high, as the 7800 series not "fully" in, can't find it in any store and there are different models for the 6700XT (no 10/12GB ver).

It's gettin abit confusing so I've made a list+price from 2 stores I could find:

Gigabyte - AMD Radeon RX7700XT 12GB GDDR6 OC - Gaming - 685$
Sapphire - AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT PULSE 16GB GDDR6 - 740$
ASUS - AMD Radeon RX7600 - 8GB GDDR6 - Dual Fan - 420$
ASUS - AMD Radeon RX6650XT - 8GB GDDR6 - Dual Fan - 420$
MSI - AMD Radeon RX6600XT GAMING 8GB GDDR6 - GAMING X - 460$

Edit 2 - Another store I've found that offers those:

Sapphire Radeon RX 6700 XT PULSE 12GB GDDR6 HDMI 3xDP - 480$
Sapphire Radeon RX 6750 XT PULSE 12GB GDDR6 HDMI 3xDP - 555$
Sapphire Radeon RX 7700 XT PULSE 12GB GDDR6 - 650$


From our discussion I understand the 7700XT would be the best choice, altough the 550W won't handle it, and 90% of the budget is done.
Say I could add an extra 100$ (that's my top limit) would it help?

*My monitor is a standart 60Hz (1920x1080)
*Games- non-specific, but new Gen: CS2, GTAv, RDR2, Starfield

Thanks again guys!

I see what you mean. I looked up that power supply and it does look pretty sketchy.

When it comes to GPUs, out of those, I would probably go with the 6700xt ( you don't want an 8gb card), and maybe undervolt it a bit if you decide to use one of your existing power supplies. Still seems pretty expensive though.

Have you checked out the used market? Somewhere with buyers protection like ebay you might be able to find some better prices. Although it depends where you live on whether the shipping prices will be worth it.

 

[BillyF]

With the extra 100$ thrown in.......

PCPartPicker Part List

Video Card: PowerColor Fighter Radeon RX 6650 XT 8 GB Video Card (₪1168.82 @ Newegg Israel)
Case: Fractal Design Pop Mini Air MicroATX Mid Tower Case (₪911.81 @ Newegg Israel)
Power Supply: Corsair CX650M (2021) 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (₪573.53 @ Newegg Israel)
Total: ₪2654.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-09-16 19:53 IDT+0300

The 6650 is a very capable card at 1080p, the one I sold to a work mate is playing Cyberpunk in high settings and The Division in high settings with zero complaints.

Seems cool but their shipping prices make it abit less attractive :/

Would this work? (MB, GPU)

Sapphire Radeon RX 7700 XT PULSE 12GB GDDR6
Antec CUPRUM STRIKE CSK 650W 80 Plus Bronze 120mm Fan CSK650 (Retail)
Antec NX292 ARGB Mid Tower E-ATX

I see what you mean. I looked up that power supply and it does look pretty sketchy.

When it comes to GPUs, out of those, I would probably go with the 6700xt ( you don't want an 8gb card), and maybe undervolt it a bit if you decide to use one of your existing power supplies. Still seems pretty expensive though.

Have you checked out the used market? Somewhere with buyers protection like ebay you might be able to find some better prices. Although it depends where you live on whether the shipping prices will be worth it.

I havn't, honestly I'd prefer buying new, warranty wise :x

Also, I don't wanna "stir" this away but there are tons of Nvidia models over here in my place unlike AMD so out of curiosity, what would be the head-to-head rival to the 6700XT/7700XT ?

 

[iameatingjam]

Seems cool but their shipping prices make it abit less attractive :/

Would this work? (MB, GPU)

Sapphire Radeon RX 7700 XT PULSE 12GB GDDR6
Antec CUPRUM STRIKE CSK 650W 80 Plus Bronze 120mm Fan CSK650 (Retail)
Antec NX292 ARGB Mid Tower E-ATX




I havn't, honestly I'd prefer buying new, warranty wise :x

Also, I don't wanna "stir" this away but there are tons of Nvidia models over here in my place unlike AMD so out of curiosity, what would be the head-to-head rival to the 6700XT/7700XT ?

Probably the 3060/3060 ti. Now the nice thing about the 3060 is it has that 12GB of vram. Then again its not the fastest card, but it would probably still be okay for 1080p, and you get the benefit of dlss and low power draw. The 3060 ti is about 25% faster...but is limited by 8gb vram, so many new games are likely to stutter, or crash, or have missing textures etc. As for the 40 series, I wouldn't go any lower than the 4070, which isn't a terrible deal and is relatively well balanced, it also doesn't use a lot of power.

I would avoid the 4060 and 4060 ti personally. They both have a 128 bit bus. Nvidia would say the cache makes up for it, but... not in all scenarios.

 

[Lost_Troll]

Would this work? (MB, GPU)

Sapphire Radeon RX 7700 XT PULSE 12GB GDDR6
Antec CUPRUM STRIKE CSK 650W 80 Plus Bronze 120mm Fan CSK650 (Retail)
Antec NX292 ARGB Mid Tower E-ATX

Yes, that would work, but make sure the case comes with at least 2 fans. 3 would be better though.

 

[Mussels]

I have just got another Generic build with:
i5-10400 2.9Ghz
Asus Prime H410M-E
Kingston 2X8 DDR4 2666Mhz
Generic 500W PSU
*No case

A better GPU that works within your 550W limit is probably the only cost effective route here
Cant use faster RAM without a new CPU and board - so in that case, you'd just get a new system entirely.

a 10400 isn't much good for high FPS gameplay, but it can easily handle 60+ in anything that isn't trash tier optimised (the games out there that run <60 for everyone)



You cand find the 10400 in TPU's reviews here, and see that it's minimum FPS values are still 100+ as long as you aren't GPU limited
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Review - The Best Gaming CPU - Minimum FPS / RTX 4090 | TechPowerUp

for the PSU - None of them, it's a "sohoo" ATX-550W. Not sure if it's usable (?)

Probably not, specs would matter a lot but if we've never heard of the brand, it's likely not reliable.
Important to know is that every brand could have dozens of wildly different models in the same wattage so specifics matter a lot.

Pictures might help - makes me think it might be SOHO (An acronym for Small Office/Home Office), a product line of another brand

"Corsair 750" could be over 50 PSU's with some 20 years old (They started in 2006, to be specific)

 

[BillyF]

Probably the 3060/3060 ti. Now the nice thing about the 3060 is it has that 12GB of vram. Then again its not the fastest card, but it would probably still be okay for 1080p, and you get the benefit of dlss and low power draw. The 3060 ti is about 25% faster...but is limited by 8gb vram, so many new games are likely to stutter, or crash, or have missing textures etc. As for the 40 series, I wouldn't go any lower than the 4070, which isn't a terrible deal and is relatively well balanced, it also doesn't use a lot of power.

I would avoid the 4060 and 4060 ti personally. They both have a 128 bit bus. Nvidia would say the cache makes up for it, but... not in all scenarios.

Ummm I see...

Honestly after reading reviews and you guys feedbacks the last days I wanna say 6700/6750XT 12GB and close the deal, seems it will be very capable.
Although still abit hard to decide since the 7700XT offers these new features like RDNA3, etc...

Yes, that would work, but make sure the case comes with at least 2 fans. 3 would be better though.

That Case Specs says: 3x ARGB Front + 1x normal 120mm Rear.
Is that fine?

A better GPU that works within your 550W limit is probably the only cost effective route here
Cant use faster RAM without a new CPU and board - so in that case, you'd just get a new system entirely.

a 10400 isn't much good for high FPS gameplay, but it can easily handle 60+ in anything that isn't trash tier optimised (the games out there that run <60 for everyone)



You cand find the 10400 in TPU's reviews here, and see that it's minimum FPS values are still 100+ as long as you aren't GPU limited
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Review - The Best Gaming CPU - Minimum FPS / RTX 4090 | TechPowerUp


Probably not, specs would matter a lot but if we've never heard of the brand, it's likely not reliable.
Important to know is that every brand could have dozens of wildly different models in the same wattage so specifics matter a lot.

Pictures might help - makes me think it might be SOHO (An acronym for Small Office/Home Office), a product line of another brand

"Corsair 750" could be over 50 PSU's with some 20 years old (They started in 2006, to be specific)

I think this kind of PSU would be used for small office tasks/home exactly like you mentioned

*I have added a picture.


*Eventually if both of this Antec PSU/Case can handle the overall power/components size I think I would go for it (both PSU+Case are the cheapest I could find over here)

Sapphire Radeon RX 7700 XT PULSE 12GB GDDR6
Antec CUPRUM STRIKE CSK 650W 80 Plus Bronze 120mm Fan CSK650 (Retail)
Antec NX292 ARGB Mid Tower E-ATX (would the Prime H410M-E fit well here? also the Sapphire GPU?)

 

[Lost_Troll]

That Case Specs says: 3x ARGB Front + 1x normal 120mm Rear.
Is that fine?

Yes, it saves you money from having to buy 3 fans to put in the case. For what you are building, 3 case fans will be fine.

 

[Mussels]

Translating that label for you: That's a generic chinese brand but also a very very old design from the pentium 4 era.

The 12 volt line is 24A, which is respectable - but 288W maximum, if they're not overstating what it can do. That might be 288W peak for 10 seconds.
The way to know it's old, is the 5 volt rail is 30 amps... and 5V hasn't been used a lot in modern PC's for a very long time, over a decade.
5x30 = 150W, so even adding the 288W from the 12 volt rail in they're over-estimating it quite a bit with that 550W value (438W, combined)

I've found it for sale as a cheap bulk unit in russia, of all places
ATEHNO - Power Supply ATX 550W Sohoo, 12cm Fan, Bulk - ATEHNO

It doesn't even have SATA power connectors, let alone PCI-E connectors for a graphics card. It's *old*

Corsairs budget 550W from here
CV Series™ CV550 — 550 Watt 80 Plus® Bronze Certified PSU (corsair.com)

Shows how better brands math things out - and remember this is one of their cheapest, 'worst' units

The 3.3v and 5v seem high comapred to what i stated above, but they're a shared rail - they can only provide 120W total between the two.

To corsair, their 550W PSU has 528W on the 12V rail - almost all of the rated wattage.
12V + 5V maxes out at 640W - so they're rating it down, to ensure it can handle that 550W sustained and not just for a few seconds.

Yes, it saves you money from having to buy 3 fans to put in the case. For what you are building, 3 case fans will be fine.

completely agreed with this
The three front ones pull in fresh, cold air and the rear one guides that airflow past all the hot components in the case - you don't need matching in/out numbers or anything.
Your PSU Fan is also an exhaust and pulls hot air from the motherboard VRMs (This is a good thing), if it's located at the top of the case like in your above image.

I have used my very impressive skills with a highlighter tool to demonstrate vaguely how that works - with no rear/top fan, the cold air doesnt get pulled this way at all.
The fans pull the hot air away, towards them - and then that low pressure spot pulls the cold air forward. Repeat slowly every spin of the fans, and you get the idea of how they work - no fan to guide the flow, and it leaks out the nearest gap in the case instead. (Like an open side panel - they make case fans pointless)

 

[BillyF]

Translating that label for you: That's a generic chinese brand but also a very very old design from the pentium 4 era.

The 12 volt line is 24A, which is respectable - but 288W maximum, if they're not overstating what it can do. That might be 288W peak for 10 seconds.
The way to know it's old, is the 5 volt rail is 30 amps... and 5V hasn't been used a lot in modern PC's for a very long time, over a decade.
5x30 = 150W, so even adding the 288W from the 12 volt rail in they're over-estimating it quite a bit with that 550W value (438W, combined)

View attachment 314141
I've found it for sale as a cheap bulk unit in russia, of all places
ATEHNO - Power Supply ATX 550W Sohoo, 12cm Fan, Bulk - ATEHNO

It doesn't even have SATA power connectors, let alone PCI-E connectors for a graphics card. It's *old*
View attachment 314143

Corsairs budget 550W from here
CV Series™ CV550 — 550 Watt 80 Plus® Bronze Certified PSU (corsair.com)

Shows how better brands math things out - and remember this is one of their cheapest, 'worst' units
View attachment 314142
The 3.3v and 5v seem high comapred to what i stated above, but they're a shared rail - they can only provide 120W total between the two.

To corsair, their 550W PSU has 528W on the 12V rail - almost all of the rated wattage.
12V + 5V maxes out at 640W - so they're rating it down, to ensure it can handle that 550W sustained and not just for a few seconds.


completely agreed with this
The three front ones pull in fresh, cold air and the rear one guides that airflow past all the hot components in the case - you don't need matching in/out numbers or anything.
Your PSU Fan is also an exhaust and pulls hot air from the motherboard VRMs (This is a good thing), if it's located at the top of the case like in your above image.

I have used my very impressive skills with a highlighter tool to demonstrate vaguely how that works - with no rear/top fan, the cold air doesnt get pulled this way at all.
The fans pull the hot air away, towards them - and then that low pressure spot pulls the cold air forward. Repeat slowly every spin of the fans, and you get the idea of how they work - no fan to guide the flow, and it leaks out the nearest gap in the case instead. (Like an open side panel - they make case fans pointless)
View attachment 314144

That's very informative and helpful mate, thank you!