Computers & Electronics

Help to plan PC upgrades

  • Last Updated:
  • May 3rd, 2022 7:28 pm
Sr. Member
User avatar
Feb 7, 2009
817 posts
328 upvotes
Toronto

Help to plan PC upgrades

Hi all,

Looking to upgrade my existing PC, and hoping for some good feedback.
I only really play league of legends and lost ark, occasionally CS GO and starcraft 2.

Current setup:
  • i3-6100
  • 16gb ddr4 2133ram
  • GTX1050Ti
  • MSI B150I gaming mobo
  • Thermaltake Core V1 mini ITX
I'm looking to upgrade because my PC lags sometimes when i multi-task. I find it can barely handle lost ark, and I'm thinking the CPU is the bottleneck.

Current thought process is to:
  1. Just upgrade my cpu to i5 or i7 and keep mobo (can only do 6 and 7 series intel) and everything else. This hopefully wouldnt be more than 100-150.
  2. Upgrade cpu + mobo & case to mATX size - likely will cost >$300. Would it be worth it going this route as I'm basically replacing my whole PC?
Thanks!
3 replies
Deal Addict
User avatar
Apr 20, 2012
1876 posts
1480 upvotes
Waterloo, ON
Definitely option 2. Even a 12100f would be faster than a 7700k which is the best CPU you could fit in your current motherboard.
Deal Fanatic
Jul 26, 2004
5450 posts
2433 upvotes
The games your listed have fairly low requirements. Although you're at the minimum requirement for Lost ark. What kind of " multi-tasking" are you doing when you game? If you have a million chrome tabs opened or trying to stream/record then maybe thats where your problem is.

+1 on total platform upgrade. Go for at least an i5 12gen. You might not be able to find a economical itx 12gen board, so good decision on going up to at least matx. You can technically carry over your ddr4 ram but 16gb ddr4 at 3200mhz or more can be found below $100, even cheaper if you're ok with used. 1050ti can be reused if the listed games are the only one you're playing, but getting the i5 will allow you to grow into it with GPU upgrade in the future.

So potential upgrade is i5 12400F @ $220, H610 motherboard @ $130, maybe 16gb 3200mhz DDR4 @ $80 = $430. Sell your existing setup for $150ish and you're $280 out of pocket.


So yeah, unless you can source a i7 7700k for super cheap.. like $80 or less cheap, go full platform upgrade. You'll have a much better experience with full upgrade.
Sr. Member
User avatar
Feb 7, 2009
817 posts
328 upvotes
Toronto
Wow didn't realize how recent and good these new alder lake chips were!

Since I need wifi, I'd have to go for a mobo ~$200 like this: https://www.canadacomputers.com/product ... _id=213282
+ $220 for the i5 12400 + tax = ~$475

If I can sell my CPU and mobo for ~$150 then its a $325 upgrade...
That's a little more than I was hoping to spend on upgrading... but maybe its worth it

Top

Thread Information

There is currently 1 user viewing this thread. (0 members and 1 guest)