Posted 14 February 2023

Best "value" CPU / Mobo / Ram upgrade? From i5 6600k

Hey.

Had my rig since 2015/2016 so she has served me well! But showing her age a bit. I can't upgrade to Windows 11 lol my cpu isn't supported.

I have bought a used 6600XT GPU and replaced my R9 390 for about £100 which was great. I'd like to get a good upgrade now on CPU/MOBO/RAM. From the limited search I've done so far, Ryzen 5 seems the best value? Paired with a B motherboard and some 16GB 3200MHZ dual channel ram.

Can you recommend any current combo or individual part deals? I have a massive fractal design case which Id like to drop down to a mATX at some point too.

Worth noting I have a 650W EVGA PSU.

To me "value" would be spending maybe around £350ish

Cheers!
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  1. Cisco060606's avatar
    Personally will spend the extra for Ryzen 7 if you can afford.
    No point going for Ryzen 5 for AM4 platform.

    PCPartPicker Part List: uk.pcpartpicker.com/lis…s3y

    CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 3.4 GHz 8-Core Processor (£179.23 @ Amazon UK)
    CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock 2 CPU Cooler (£34.98 @ Ebuyer)
    Motherboard: ASRock B550M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£97.76 @ Technextday)
    Memory: Kingston FURY Beast 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL17 Memory (£46.50 @ Amazon UK)
    Total: £358.47
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-02-14 07:51 GMT+0000 (edited)
    imcg1989's avatar
    Author
    That seems similar in price to the AM4 platforms I have been looking at. Is it more future proof?
  2. nemesiz's avatar
    Of course require your specifications before providing a more detailed answer. Although you're on the right path for an economical, good value system. An R5 5600 (non X) could be a perfect balance with the 6600xt if you underclock voltage, timings or adjust the optimiser curve. For a few minutes work you'll get better performance, quieter, cooler processor, and likewise similarly with underclocking the graphics card too! Don't throw away the case, do some spring cleaning and see the benefits from good circulation and save money. So unless desperate to save space, keep the case. Concerning the B series motherboard B450 (yes older generation) could be a viable option, for a cheap cheerful upgrade (needs a bios upgrade), but most users would probably suggest a B550 chipset. With systems migrating to DDR5 the longevity and upgrade path is limited so don't overspend on a DDR4 memory.
    imcg1989's avatar
    Author
    Can you explain more about the bit regarding the underclock and optimiser curve? I am in no true rush about the case, plenty of space right now yeah. I don't tend to upgrade too frequently anyway, so as long as the setup will let me dip my toes into 1440p for a bit then I'm happy. I never have had a system that is top of the range anyway!
  3. Uridium's avatar
    You could run Win11 if that's the only thing pushing your upgrade. Just use Rufus to build an install usb stick using the "legacy" option .

    If you just fancy a hardware upgrade though good on you and go for it
    imcg1989's avatar
    Author
    Lol I was considering it before I checked the win 11 bit, it was a surprise just! But yes keen for more frames in games
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