I bought this PC 5 years ago, today it struggles a bit on some games that require a lot of CPU. The graphics card is doing pretty well.
I’d like to update it, starting with the CPU, and switch to AMD, for better compatibility with Linux and notably to be able to encode videos more easily, I often edit long +4K videos.
Do you have any advice? The aim would be not to change my motherboard. And for the new components to last 5 years too? You can also advise me on graphics cards.
Here’s the PC configuration:
- Processor type: Intel Core i5 9600KF (6 cores - 3.70 Ghz - Turbo 4.60 Ghz - Cache 9 Mo - TDP 95W)
- CPU cooling model: Be Quiet Dark Rock 4
- Motherboard model: MSI MAG Z390 Tomahawk
- Memory size: 16 GB
- Memory type: DDR4
- Memory frequency(s): DDR4 2666 MHz
- RAM brand: Gskill
- Graphics chipset: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
- Video memory size: 8 GB
- Graphics card reference: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER GAMING OC 3X
- Case format: Medium Tower
- Case model: Zalman Z7 Neo
- Power: 550 W
- Power supply model: Seasonic Focus GX Gold
The cheapest thing you could probably do would be upgrade to 32GB RAM at a faster speed like 3200mhz or higher. Your mobo sypports up to 64 GB 4400mhz it looks like. I think the extra ram would help your video processing as well.
The other thing is if you are looking to swap to AMD chipset you HAVE to swap mobo as the sockets are not compatible.
Yeah, the higher the mhz, the faster the PC will run. just make sure that the motherboard is actually compatible with the sticks you decide to get.
The most important part here is the motherboard. That will decide entirely what CPU and RAM is supported.
From your description it says it’s a Z390 chipset. You can Google what CPUs and RAM the Z390 chipset supports.
Here’s a list of compatible CPUs https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/133293/intel-z390-chipset/compatible.html
Edit: for RAM it seems to support a maximum of 32GB of DDR4.
Damn bro! you’re already packing a decent setup. Have you tried getting a better PSU? Sometimes the amount of power your parts can draw is the bottleneck. Like yeah by comparison to the higher end stuff it can use improvement but it’s a good mid range.
Yeah that psu is probably not enough for this setup
Ideally the psu should be double the minimum total wattage required by the pc iirc. pcpartpicker should help
Hey I can definitely help, let me look up the case you’ve listed to make a better recommendation. As others have pointed out 32gb is a great way to get you into the future a little longer. I’ll come back here with a part list. Your cooler might have am4 compatible mounts but it’s cheaper than you might think to get a great cooler for a new chip.
So I’ve put together three lists. Two of these will be able to use your current ram. I’ve included another kit of Ram to complement the one you have for a total of 32gb. You don’t have to do this but it’s recommended.
Here’s a more budget focused 8 core AM4 list. The advantages here are AMD, More cores and threads, reusing ddr4.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/yNkjY9
Here’s a newer 6 core AM5 list. The advantages here are higher clock speeds and faster cores (better for games for sure), Faster ddr5.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xhDJC6
Just for fun here’s an intel alternative. Advantages here are the best multi core performance( when utilizing all E and P cores), Reuse ddr4, single core almost as good as current Zen ( a couple percent).
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ZBmFW4
These are flexible and I’m willing to help based on needs and budget. As some other have mentioned you can upgrade your current platform to its best cpu and maybe faster ram but this upgrades may not provide the best uplift in performance for the cost. I’ll provide some eBay links to processors below. Something else to consider is if you get to the i9 chip I believe a more expensive cooler may be warranted.
There’s two processors that are direct upgrades from your current chip. There are k and non k variants too. Usually small clock speed and the ability to overclock are the differences. F denotes no iGpu which I think your current one has. Here’s. Link to two direct upgrades.
i7 9700k
i9 9900k
Of course if you go with the i9 I’d recommend setting a more aggressive fan curve on your dark rock pro. A liquid cooler could be used if you feel it’s getting too close to 80 C too often.
Here’s a comparison from passmark, comparing a couple of points between all the cpus discussed.
Hopefully this all helps.
