The summer holidays are over, in the first weeks of autumn, schoolchildren and students got involved in the rhythm of the school year, which means you can return to other worries – for example, think about whether to upgrade your PC. After all, it is on it that we make presentations, prepare term papers and, of course, play fresh blockbusters of the new season. And someone might need a powerful PC to master the profession of a 3D artist in IT.
In this article, we’ll take a look at how to properly upgrade your PC in order to prepare to conquer new high-tech horizons.
Do you really need an upgrade?;How to upgrade your PC
Today, hardware is not becoming obsolete as quickly as it was 10 years ago. Processors and video cards live quietly for 2-3 generations. Most games work effectively with no more than 8 CPU cores, and due to DLSS and FSR, graphics cards of the last couple of generations will be relevant for quite a long time.
Also, not everyone needs a nextgen . Many play mostly only popular online games, most of which “fly” on five-year-old systems with 4-core processors and a GTX 1060-level graphics card (and this is just the average configuration for today, according to Steam statistics ). We are talking about Valorant , Fortnite , Lost Ark and other titles that have been on the first lines of Twitch for a couple of years.
On the other hand, an upgrade is needed if you want to go to a higher resolution . This may not be relevant for the category of people mentioned in the previous paragraph, since high-frequency Full HD monitors today are quite inexpensive (from 12 thousand rubles). But if you often play fresh blockbusters, then at resolutions below 2560×1440 you simply won’t see all the beauty of modern game graphics with its highly detailed picture and hyperrealism (we discussed this issue in more detail in a separate article).
What current assembly can be considered optimal in 2022?
As a graphics card, the best choice for today is the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. In overclocking, it catches up with the RTX 3080, and 8 gigabytes of memory is still enough for resolutions up to 1440p. For September 2022, the average price for the RTX 3070 Ti is about 60 thousand rubles.
Games are becoming more complex and larger, which has greatly increased the requirements for the processor. Therefore, it should also be taken with a margin and not less than 8 cores. The best options would be Ryzen 7 5800X and Core i5-12600KF for 24 and 23 thousand rubles, respectively. Their power will be enough for a couple of video card upgrades.
As for motherboards, PCI-E 4.0 support is relevant today . This will allow you to install an ultra-fast SSD with a write speed of up to 4000 megabytes per second, which will be useful for new games in the open world and large-scale online shooters like Battlefield. Also, RAM with low latency and high frequency was always in place.
In addition, do not forget about the powerful power supply 750 watts and with a gold certificate of reliability. And as a case, you can look at the reasonably expensive MPG GUNGNIR 110M from MSI. It comes with 4 fans, dust filters and a tempered glass side window.
| AMD + NVIDIA | Intel + NVIDIA (recommended) | |
| Video card: | KFA2 GeForce RTX 3070 Ti — 62,000 ₽ | KFA2 GeForce RTX 3070 Ti — 62,000 ₽ |
| Processor: | AMD Ryzen 7 5800X OEM — 24 000 ₽ | Intel Core i5-12600KF OEM — 23 000 ₽ |
| Cooling: | Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB — 5000 ₽ | Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB — 5000 ₽ |
| Matt. cloth: | MSI MPG X570 Gaming Plus — 21 000 ₽ | ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus D4 — 26 000 ₽ |
| RAM: | G.Skill Ripjaws V DDR4 3600 DIMM 16+16 GB — 12,000 ₽ | G.Skill Ripjaws V DDR4 3600 DIMM 16+16 GB — 12,000 ₽ |
| SSD drive: | Kingston KC3000 1 TB — 14,000 ₽ | Kingston KC3000 1 TB — 14,000 ₽ |
| Power Supply: | Corsair TX750M 750W — 8000 ₽ | Corsair TX750M 750W — 8000 ₽ |
| Frame: | MSI MPG GUNGNIR 110M — 8000 ₽ | MSI MPG GUNGNIR 110M — 8000 ₽ |
| TOTAL: | 156 000 ₽ | 158 000 ₽ |
As you can see, a completely new assembly today is not cheap . Therefore, further we will figure out how to upgrade a PC pointwise so that it normally pulls modern games and does not have to rob a bank.
- Get rid of the outdated platform
Even Skylake should be retired
The better the game is worked out in terms of detailing the world, the more algorithms in it that influence each other, the more processing power is required from the processor. The most notable examples are open-world games like GTA, large-scale online shooters like Battlefield, and epic strategy games like the Total War series. And there are more and more such examples.
Therefore, in 2022, any processors with less than 6 honest cores are too outdated . In addition, games require a high frequency per core (at least 4 GHz) and high IPC – performance per clock. For this reason, old multi-core CPUs like the AMD FX are also on their way.
More specifically, the eighth generation Intel Core i7 and the second AMD Ryzen can be considered conditionally relevant today. Some i7-8700K or Ryzen 7 2700X still play well . They can work effectively with GeForce RTX 2070 or RTX 3060-level graphics cards even at 1080p (the lower the resolution, the higher the processor load and vice versa).
Most of the time the video card is loaded above 90% – that means the processor is enough
Therefore, if you are the owner of a motherboard for Coffee Lake or Zen of the first generations, then soon such a platform will have to be changed . But for another year or two, if there is no money for an upgrade, you can still sit on it – just put the maximum compatible processor: the same i7-8700K or Ryzen 7 2700X (sometimes even Ryzen 7 3700X gets up on AMD B350 or X370). The main thing is that your “motherboard” has a mid-range chipset (Intel B360 or AMD B350) or high-end (Intel Z370/390 or AMD X370).
It is high time for owners of older solutions to change the platform , if not entirely, then all, except for RAM – DDR4 is still relevant, since DDR5 is still too expensive and raw.
But the owners of the 9th generation Intel Core, AMD Ryzen 3000 or newer series do not have to worry for now . It will be enough to put the maximum compatible processor (corresponding to i7 or Ryzen 7), if something weaker is currently installed.
- Finally install an SSD
M.2 format optional but preferred
Today, if a game or other heavy program is installed on a regular hard drive, then a modern processor has to stand idle many times in anticipation of its slow colleague. As a result, performing tasks such as starting the OS, loading levels, or working with media files in a professional editor is several times slower than it could be.
However, this does not mean that it’s time to completely abandon the classic HDD . For storing a personal collection of movies, photos, music or gameplay videos, they are even better, since in this case the speed of work is not so important.
It turns out that it is best to get not only a fast SSD, but also a capacious HDD . At the same time, you should not take a hard drive less than 1 terabyte, and a hard drive less than 480 gigabytes.
Here are a couple of interesting storage options:
Samsung 970 Evo Plus with 500 GB
Western Digital WD10EZRZ on 1 TB
- The optimal SSD is a 500 GB Samsung 970 Evo Plus (~7000 ₽). Reliable M.2 storage from the monopolist in the production of almost all types of memory. The Pro series is overkill for everyday use, so we settled on the Evo.
- The optimal HDD is Western Digital WD10EZRZ for 1 TB (~5000 ₽). Silent twin brother of the popular EZEX from Western Digital. It costs exactly the same.
- Add RAM
Any memory (not just RAM) can never be too much , although a large amount of memory by itself does not make the computer faster. Rather, it removes restrictions on data transfer. For example, many objects in Adobe After Effects or dozens of tracks in Adobe Premier will require much more RAM than the standard 16 gigabytes. And already at 32 there will be noticeably less lags during work, and the project will start to be displayed faster.
As for games, 32 gigabytes is still more than enough for most new products . But 16 in 4K resolution is sometimes not enough.
- Replace the video card with a more powerful and modern one
GeForce RTX 3060 could be the new people’s favorite
The best years of the popular GeForce GTX 1060, unfortunately, have already passed. Most of the “graphic” blockbusters of the last couple of years, it no longer pulls out at a stable 60 FPS, even at 1080p resolution (except at medium-low settings). Of AMD’s counterparts, the Radeon RX 480 and RX 570 are closest to it in terms of power. And it’s time to change all these video cards (as well as weaker ones) to something more powerful and modern.
Taking something like a GTX 1660 or RX 5600 XT as a replacement is definitely not worth it , even if you were previously sitting on a very weak graphics adapter. These models are outdated within a year of their release. And in 2022, the RTX 3060 and Radeon RX 6600 XT are much more relevant. In terms of pure performance, they are approximately equal, but due to better upscaling (DLSS vs. FSR), the first one looks preferable. We add that in September, prices finally dropped to a reasonable level: both models cost only a little more than 40 thousand, and we do not see the prerequisites for a reverse jump.
And in general, DLSS technology allows you not to wait for a new generation of GeForce video cards, but to take one of those that are now. Even the RTX 3060 is enough for many new products in 2K resolution, and if you want a margin, take the RTX 3070 Ti. And since there is no truly high-quality upscaling on Radeon and ray tracing does not work well, among AMD graphics adapters today only budget models of the latest (at the moment) generation make sense: RX 6500 XT and the already mentioned above RX 6600 XT.
- Upgrade your cooling system and case
It is not necessary to install a dropsy, but additional coolers in the case will not hurt
A powerful processor and graphics card produce not only a lot of FPS, but also a lot of heat. Modern cases are well thought out and designed to accommodate additional fans at the front, top, and rear (the illustration above shows one of the correct airflow options for a case). Therefore, your old budget black box may be long overdue for a change.
On the processor itself in a gaming PC, in a good way, not the usual weak fan from the bundled box should be installed, but at least a tower cooler with 3-4 heat pipes and a copper base.
Coolers from DeepCool have long been considered the best choice in terms of price / quality
As for the water cooling of the CPU, these systems, of course, are less noisy and remove heat better, but they are more expensive and in some cases require a good case. So the “towers” for most assemblies of the middle class will be enough with a margin.
- Tune your RAM
Proper memory setup is very important
Today, overclocking a video card and processor is not as important as RAM. For many games, the standard “factory” DDR4 values \u200b\u200bmay be enough, but there are also many who love fast “RAM”. And if you are still sitting on DDR3, then overclocking RAM for new products is simply necessary for you. But it is not necessary to do this manually – at least enable one of the XMP profiles in the BIOS (we wrote how to do this here ).
Note that AMD processors are noticeably more dependent on the speed of RAM . However, this applies more to budget models and the middle class. Top-end solutions from Intel like Core i7/i9 often also lack standard DDR4-2400 bandwidth:
It is also important to know that when increasing the frequency of RAM, you usually have to increase the timings to return stability . For example, when overclocking from 2400 MHz to 3200, you will have to increase the delays according to the 15-15-15-35 scheme to 18-18-18-38. But ideally, both the frequency should be high and the timings should be as low as possible. Otherwise, overclocking will be ineffective. Therefore, sometimes it is better to lower the frequency a little so that you do not have to raise the timings too much.
We wrote more about overclocking RAM in a separate article.
- Optimize Windows for gaming
It must be done wisely
The internet is full of advice on tweaking Microsoft’s operating system for gaming, but most of it comes from the days of Windows XP, very tight RAM, and hardly GHz processors. Therefore, further we give a number of recommendations that are really relevant for Windows 10 and 11:
- Update ALL drivers. Not only for the video card, but also for the motherboard chipset, network card, and sound. In addition, you can look for the latest BIOS firmware on the computer or motherboard manufacturer’s website.
- Delete the Xbox app. It runs a rather heavy background process along with all the games. To uninstall, launch Windows Powershell and type Get-AppxPackage *xbox* | Remove-AppxPackage, and then restart your PC.
- Install runtimepack. This is a set of all libraries necessary to run games.
- Disable mouse pointer acceleration. This is a useful feature for touchpads, but not normal mice. In the same shooters, it would rather interfere with aiming. You can turn off the increase in speed as you approach the edge of the screen in the mouse options in the Control Panel.
- Defragment only the hard drive where the games are installed. Moreover, it is better not to defragment the SSD at all.
But stopping additional Windows services, cleaning the registry or disabling indexing today is definitely not worth it.
- Update your monitor and other peripherals
Not only the picture is important, but also the comfort when playing
A high-quality screen can improve the picture even more than buying a GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card instead of a GTX 1060. In addition, the display can easily survive several PC upgrades. And from a good monitor, eyes get tired much less.
For today, a 27-inch monitor with a resolution of 2560×1440 would be ideal – you will immediately notice a noticeable increase in image quality and detail (especially in landscapes and distant plans). And besides, a modern display should have a high refresh rate (from 144 hertz) to make it easier to aim in shooters.
MSI Optix G273QF at 144 hertz will cost about 24 thousand, but it’s worth it
For gaming headsets, the most important thing is the quality of sound positioning in space , so that you can not only hear the steps of a creeping enemy, but also understand from which direction they come. And listening to music in such headphones will most likely turn out only in the background due to an excess of bass or insufficient detailing of high frequencies. In addition, comfort is very important: how well the headset has a fit and how soft the ear cushions are depends on how long you can sit in them.
Fabric ear cushions keep your ears sweat-free with the Steelseries Arctis 1
As for the keyboard and mouse, it is not at all necessary to buy expensive manipulators with a bunch of marketing technologies – at least get rid of frankly office models and get a large mouse pad. The number of frags in your favorite shooter will immediately increase, and your hands will stop hurting after a couple of hours of playing.
Steelseries Rival 3 is one of the best value for money mice on the market today
A4Tech Bloody B188 is a good choice when there is no money for full-fledged mechanics (only WASD keys and some neighboring ones on mechanical switches)
That’s all. At the end of the year, new video cards and processors will be released. But what prices will be on them is still unclear (most likely rather big). It’s good if this reduces the cost of previous generations of chips, but given the economic situation in our country and the high cost of parallel imports, this will most likely not happen. For this reason, we do not recommend waiting for the release of a new hardware – it is better to upgrade if necessary now.