Learn me- upgrading my desktop for gaming

So I'm real otaku, but not a pc nerd. I was given a desktop pc from my MIL. It's from 2009. Then pc games started getting more prolific (I'm a hardcore console gamer) so I upgraded the graphics card to a gtx750 to run sc2. Now my friends have moved on to games like generation zero, which I can't run without it looking like a slide show. FPS are about 9. Yeah, you heard right. Looks like the log jam is the cpu. It's a crappy asus business desktop. I wanna upgrade, but wondering if I just need to buy a whole new desktop. I would like to get into iracing too. At one point I could run iracing on bare bones. Here's my system info, computer nerds unite! 

fyi, my buddy just gave me his gtx1050, and an amd ryzen3 1200. The cpu won't fit this dinosaur  motherboard socket though. When I start looking at motherboards, I start seeing the weak link in everything else that needs upgraded (ddr4 ram, psu, hdd, etc. Newegg desktops are around $500, but come with the hardware I already possess (amd cpu and nvidia gpu). 
 

what to do? Kinda wish someone could take me by the hand a select the crap I need so I can just build it with my bro in-law and call it done. Or, slap down some Uncle Sam cash in a new one (wife says no more than $500). Monitor I'm using is an old 720p Samsung tv.

I don't think upgrading a 2009 system is a viable option.  The Ryzen 3 on a good motherboard and with the gtx1050 would probably do okay, but the Ryzen 3 is the bottom of the Ryzen CPU heap.  Since you have to buy a motherboard, RAM, PSU, HDD, what's another couple hundred for a more capable CPU?

If you are constrained by a budget, I'd use the Ryzen 3 and the GTX1050 and whatever else you gotta have for the build.  The resulting system will be worlds better than the dual core Pentium you're running now.

Any recommendations on a MoBo, taking into consideration my cpu and gpu?

The GTX 1050 was a middle of the road gaming card three years ago; if you have some budget I'd get a new card.  I like Asus motherboards and I'm sure they have something in the just-over-$100 mark that would work, hopefully with your existing case, although you probably need a new power supply.   What's your budget like?

With a $500 budget, and already being in possession of a Ryzen 1200 and a 1050 I'd buy this:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kXyhTC

That should be able to run most games on a 720p television no problem.

_ said:

Kinda wish someone could take me by the hand a select the crap I need so I can just build it with my bro in-law and call it done. 

logicalincrements.com

What are your gaming expectations?  What games are you looking to play?  At what visual quality/performance?

I don't mind bare bones settings. Been used to it my whole life, lol. My biggest gripe is speed, I HATE lag. I want to play Iracing for sure, since I'm really dissatisfied with gran turismo. And other online CoOp games like gen zero. Cyberpunk 2077 seems to be a pipe dream given it's heavy requirements. 

ProDarwin said:

_ said:

Kinda wish someone could take me by the hand a select the crap I need so I can just build it with my bro in-law and call it done. 

logicalincrements.com

 

What are your gaming expectations?  What games are you looking to play?  At what visual quality/performance?

Given that link I think the "modest" is what I could get away with

The best thing you can do then IMO, is pillage what you can from your current build (case, powersupply?).  Sell off the rest if possible and use the extra budget to push the video card up a tier to a 2060/1660ti/?? and a second stick of ram because with just one your memory bandwidth is cut in half.

With AMD, you could start your build using the Ryzen 1200 you've got and upgrade later (check that motherboard supports gen3, but it should - my 3600x  is on a B450 board).  The AMD socket for Ryzen chips remains the same, so you could even go crazy and swap the 1200 for a (presumably) 4600x next year for a huge leap in performance but keep everything else in your PC the same.

Great news, the wife gave me the go ahead for the modest build from logical increments. How safe is that website? Like, how liable are they to be wrong and I get parts that don't work together? (forgive, PC master race, for I am an ignorant one)

_ said:

Great news, the wife gave me the go ahead for the modest build from logical increments. How safe is that website? Like, how liable are they to be wrong and I get parts that don't work together? (forgive, PC master race, for I am an ignorant one)

All the parts will work together, but the video card that they suggest isn't really much of an upgrade over the 1050 you were gifted.  I'd use the 1050 and upgrade their build with a second memory module and switch the hard drive to a m.2 SSD like the one I posted on the pcpartpicker build above.

In reply to red_stapler :

Thanks! Is the ryzen 5 1600 that much of an upgrade over the ryzen3 1200?

_ said:

In reply to red_stapler :

Thanks! Is the ryzen 5 1600 that much of an upgrade over the ryzen3 1200?

Core for core it's only a little bit faster.  Where it mainly outperforms the 1200 is in highly-threaded apps, but that's typically not things like videogames. I'd start with the 1200 for $0 in your budget and decide if it's enough for your purposes or not.  

As an aside, the 1050 overclocks really well with minimal fuss.  You basically just go into a menu and move the slider all the way to the right.  

In reply to red_stapler :

Good to know also. I have a GeForce already, so am a little familiar with overclocking it. here is what I have so far...

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/

keep in mind, I already have win10 cd. Since I'm now not buying a gpu or cpu, should I get another 8gb or ram?

Agreed.  Use the 1200 for now.  Overclock it if you need to (ryzens overclock very well).  The higher core things will outperform it on a lot of newer games, but iRacing is known for   If it didn't come with a cooler, grab a hyper212 and it will work on pretty much anything you replace it with.  Down the road you can jump to something with a ton more power with little issue.

The video card is going to be the choke point of your system for gaming.

I'm no expert.  I research all the stuff when I need an upgrade to see what has changed in the last few years, but I don't stay current.

Back in the day I built a few towers from components.  I'm talking late 90s/early 00s.  If there is one thing I've learned, upgrading components is not always a winner.  It's like putting a 500-hp engine in a malaise era car.  Sure, it will solve the problem of power, but the marshmallow springs, heavy weight, and poor braking will prevent you from really using that 500 hp.

There are also fantastic options out there for already-sorted combos.  I'm typing on an ASUS ROG that I got open box from Best Buy last year for $1100.  I don't game with it, but editing and processing 4K video, recording 16 tracks of audio, heavy CAD work, or anything else I throw at it is as easy as breathing for this thing.  I was originally looking for a workstation until I saw this one being put back on the shelf with a yellow tag.

God, I wish I had some microscopic clue of what you guys were talking about...  :(

stroker said:

God, I wish I had some microscopic clue of what you guys were talking about...  :(

New Computer = good

Old computer = bad

Caught up now?

Personally just spitballing I think that GTX 1050 is going to be kind of out of its league trying to push a game from the last couple of years around more than the Ryzen 3 is holding things up.  If I were to be trying to build something I wouldn't keep both the Ryzen 3 and the 1050 together and there's an upgrade path if going with an AM4 processor like the Ryzen 3.  Spending $175 or so on a video card now and then spending the same on a CPU upgrade ~18 months from now might be a nice way to slide into a really decent performing gaming PC over time.  Unless there's budget to do both a good CPU and a good video card upgrade at once, that's how I'd try to attack this.  But there's a lot of variables to consider like anything.

I would keep your case, but you will more than likely need a new power supply as well.

So I would go with that, mobo, 816 of ram, you can try and reuse the cpu and graphics card (I'm running a ryzen 5 and a 1070 gpu).   Also, look for a mobo have has an M.2 drive spot for your main hard drive get one of those and if you need more room add on an ssd if you can.  

I just added the M.2 drive to my machine, and it is almost an instant boot now, quite nice.  But that's more of a luxury for later, just make sure the mobo supports it (the one I selected below does).

IF you can add the cpu, I'd go to a Ryzen 5 2600, that would be about 150$ and would include the cpu cooler.

next step would probably be a 2060 Video card (another 300) if you want to keep things budget.

But for your needs, just to start- https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Zj3C9G

Only $500 huh?

We can make some good-ass lemonade, it just all depends on what deals we snag thanks to timing and waiting. Good news for you is- All Ryzen chips use the "AM4" socket, which means you're little $40 Ryzen 3 1200 could be swapped anytime for some bruiser like a Ryzen 9 3900 (just know that your little Ryzen 3 is 50% faster than your current CPU at base and has twice the cores). First, did your friend give you the CPU Cooler too? It'll probably be a "Wraith Stealth" and will look something like this. If not, you can probably pick one up for real cheap on FB or craiglist:

I say you should build a good base and use your free CPU and graphics card to get you by until you get more dosh to toss at new parts. Answer these next few questions, then we can start putting some parts together:

• What's your current PC case? Can you post pictures? That can be an easy $40-100 saved- at this low power level, airflow isn't a big deal.
• How do you get internet? Ethernet cable? Or do you have a wireless card or antenna? Some cases have it built in, and thus we'll need to budget for more.
• What else will you use it for, other than gaming? Do you have things like tons of USB3.0 peripherals? Do you Need a CD drive?
• Are there used PC part stores near you? My Goodwill has "Goodbytes" which sells refurb parts and working machines on the cheap which can be a source for some smaller things.

Finally, load up the "Build a PC Sales" subreddit here and refresh it once a day. Deals sometimes go fast, and ALWAYS read the comments- people sometimes have good info, especially on some of the rarer brands like SeaSonic.

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

I'm gonna try to answer all these in order. I have purchased all ready and am reusing the gpu and cpu (yes came with the wraith) from my buddy. Current box sucks and could probably be reused, but it has power button issues and my cat sprayed it one day (he's now an outside cat), so I bought a cheapy $40 one from Newegg. Internet is Ethernet cable for best connection. The only other thing I use the comp for is watching MTOD, and some accounting crap on PDFs, a little bit of emulator gaming, but nothing heavy. And general net surfing. I don't NEED a cd drive, but my win10 is on a cd. I could put it on a usb for install. A used place would've been good, but my dad used to buy used pc parts in the 90's, he struck out a lot...

Don't forget to upgrade your RAM too.

_ said:

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

I'm gonna try to answer all these in order. I have purchased all ready and am reusing the gpu and cpu (yes came with the wraith) from my buddy. Current box sucks and could probably be reused, but it has power button issues and my cat sprayed it one day (he's now an outside cat), so I bought a cheapy $40 one from Newegg. Internet is Ethernet cable for best connection. The only other thing I use the comp for is watching MTOD, and some accounting crap on PDFs, a little bit of emulator gaming, but nothing heavy. And general net surfing. I don't NEED a cd drive, but my win10 is on a cd. I could put it on a usb for install. A used place would've been good, but my dad used to buy used pc parts in the 90's, he struck out a lot...

Excellent! Post  up a link to your new case so I can get a feel for it and what can be tossed in; i'll post a list of parts as an idea tomorrow.

In reply to swintyulna :

I did. Grabbed two ddr4 8gb, 3200 sticks. 25600