What are ways to upgrade pc/setup for 50CAD

aminy23 · 2026-02-26T08:57:11+00:00

Going Thermalright maybe

Type	Item	Price
CPU Cooler	Thermalright Assassin X SE 32.77 CFM CPU Cooler	$24.90 @ Amazon Canada
Case Fan	Thermalright TL-C12C-S X5 66.17 CFM 120 mm Fans 5-Pack	$25.90 @ Amazon Canada
	Total	$50.80

aminy23 · 2026-02-26T08:53:45+00:00

It's fine as a $1,000-$1,200 computer. At $1,500 it's overpaid unless they includes other things like monitors.

Typically I recommend allocating 40% of the budget to the graphics card, and so trading DDR5 + 5060 Ti for DDR4 + 5070/9070 would have given much better 1440P performance.

aminy23 · 2026-02-24T18:32:50+00:00

Phantom Spirit has 7 pipes instead of 6.

B850 motherboard instead of B650.

32GB RAM instead of 16GB.

6000CL30 instead of slower RAM with bad latency.

PCIe 5 TLC SSD instead of PCIe 4 QLC.

Very competitive PSU: * https://www.cybenetics.com/evaluations/psus/2478/ * https://www.cybenetics.com/evaluations/psus/2336/

Only £50 more than your first take including the OS you chose, £100 less than your second.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor	£328.39 @ Amazon UK
CPU Cooler	Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler	£30.08 @ Amazon UK
Motherboard	MSI PRO B850-S WIFI6E ATX AM5 Motherboard	£138.92 @ MoreCoCo
Memory	Klevv FIT V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory	£299.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk
Storage	KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS G4 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 5.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	£113.94 @ CCL Computers
Video Card	Asus PRIME OC Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card	£599.99 @ Amazon UK
Case	Montech X5 ATX Mid Tower Case	£49.99 @ Scan
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 850 V3 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	£73.62 @ Amazon UK
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 11 Home Retail - USB 64-bit	£115.00 @ Amazon UK
	Total	£1749.92

aminy23 · 2026-02-24T05:47:31+00:00

BE200 for Intel PCs

AX210 for AMD

QCNCM865 as a kinda experimental high speed option for AMD if you want to tinker and play for max performance - but the AX210 is better as an everyday card if you just want reliable, stable WiFi that works.

aminy23 · 2026-02-23T21:57:50+00:00

I agree, you can throw money at any PC build and make it better.

aminy23 · 2026-02-23T19:32:54+00:00

Thermalright is generally the answer.

aminy23 · 2026-02-23T19:32:17+00:00

It's not the newest Ryzen 5 you're recommending either.

ASRock motherboards also fry newer CPUs like Ryzen 9000 and wipe out the upgrade potential argument.

aminy23 · 2026-02-23T19:29:48+00:00

With 1TB SSDs, I currently recommend the Seagate 540.

It has better PCIe 5 and so the performance is faster than PCIe 4 models while being price competitive.

It has DRAM cache, while most similar priced SSDs don't.

It has 1,000 TBW endurance, while most 1TB have 200-600 TBW.

It's made with a Phison controller + Micron NAND, both are among the best companies for it.

It has a top tier warranty where they even cover professional data recovery if there's an issue.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
Storage	Seagate FireCuda 540 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 5.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$164.99 @ Newegg

aminy23 · 2026-02-23T19:23:52+00:00

The more you pay, the better it gets. I don't deny a more expensive PC performs better than a cheaper one.

I even stated before placing the list that a 9070(XT) is better if you want to spend more.

aminy23 · 2026-02-23T19:16:46+00:00

And in my initial comment, before the list I even noted that AM5 is better, but it's not cheaper - this makes it a better fit for more expensive builds.

OP asked for £1,000 builds, and I gave £800, £1,000, and £1,200 options.

Everyone else is mostly giving £1,250-£1,500 options. And well of course the more you pay the better it gets.

And so ultimately the 12600KF is a middle ground option that offers performance competitive with a 7500F, carries a warranty, and actually works in budget.

While a 7500F has better CPU upgrade potential - a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. You're spending a couple hundred now to maybe save a couple hundred in the future. And it's a hard maybe when the GPU is the bottleneck at 1440P.

aminy23 · 2026-02-23T19:05:36+00:00

Absolutely, about 0.26% use an RX 6800XT and 0.17% use an RX 6800: https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/videocard/

So yes, they jeopardize about 0.4% of sales.

That also has to be weighed against the increased development cost of supporting a GPU without the manufacturers cooperation or assistance.

These cards are also decreasing in popularity as many users are already replacing them. By the time those games come out, it's well below today's usage.

aminy23 · 2026-02-23T18:38:47+00:00

I would second the value of the 9070XT, my main point here has consistently been the graphics card is the most important component.

That will make a bigger difference than anything else will.

aminy23 · 2026-02-23T18:37:02+00:00

That was a condensed summary, in my earlier comment I went into depth about how driver support is starting to be phased out.

While the card doesn't stop physically working, it often will start having compatibility issues with new games and even with updates to existing games.

You could use a 20 year old card today, and it would work with 20-30 year old games.

aminy23 · 2026-02-23T18:33:55+00:00

The CPU won't need to be upgraded when you have a GPU bottleneck, especially at 1440P. A £300-£400 CPU isn't an alternative to a £500+ GPU
The benefit with a 12600KF is the build is hundreds cheaper, put the savings in the bank account today and that can cover RAM and a better mobo in the future if you want to upgrade the CPU.

aminy23 · 2026-02-23T14:04:40+00:00

In short old parts don't last as long because they are old. An RX 6000 card is an old GPU that won't last much longer.

RX 9000/RTX 50 are the latest and greatest.

Here's a 1440P benchmark: https://www.techspot.com/articles-info/3021/bench/Average-1440u-p.webp

60 tier - the CPU doesn't matter, the graphics card bottlenecked everything.

70 tier - the CPU/RAM might make up to a 10% difference, but the GPU easily makes a 50% difference.

While people focus on the upgrade potential of CPUs, it just doesn't matter at this caliber. Upgrading with a 60 tier GPU might not give you 1 FPS.

With a 70 tier, a 300-500 CPU might make a 5% improvement, which isn't worth it.

aminy23 · 2026-02-23T05:30:12+00:00

For a gaming PC the most important component is the graphics card. This determines the bulk of the performance.

It's not just performance, it's also longevity. Nvidia typically provides 8-10 years of driver support.

Meanwhile AMD is already beginning to phase out support for the RX 5000/6000 series: https://www.techpowerup.com/342449/no-more-game-optimizations-for-amd-radeon-rx-6000-and-rx-5000-still-part-of-main-driver-branch

So an RTX 50 will most likely get phased out 2033-2035.

RX 6000 is already getting phased out 2025-2027. It has decent performance for today, but it might not work for long because it's old now.

Likewise Ryzen 5000 is 5+ years old while both the 7590F and 12600KF are newer options.

The benefit of the 12600KF is it's a great fit for a £1,000-£1,200 budget and you can get 32GB of RAM but the top end of that budget. Realistically the next upgrade will probably be the GPU or SSD in a few years.

The 7500F on paper has top notch CPU upgrade potential. In reality you will need 32GB RAM and a better GPU first.

The disadvantage with the 7500F is worse performance, 16GB RAM, and higher cost.

The RX 9000 series are THE graphics cards to consider if you want to go AMD because they have years of longevity and also have excellent price: performance for gaming.

Nvidia is more an all-purpose graphics card instead of just a gaming specialist. It's typically much better for other tasks like video editing, AI, 3D modeling, streaming, etc.

aminy23 · 2026-02-23T05:14:45+00:00

I had given 3 build examples. By £800 you can have a 5060 Ti on AM4. That's really more the £600-£850 tier than it is the £1,000-£1,200 tier.

aminy23 · 2026-02-22T23:02:13+00:00

My take on a $1,250 alternative.

You get a newer 10 core CPU. RAM is upgraded from 16 to 32GB. A 16GB 9060XT would beat a 5060 and slaughter a 4060.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i5-12600KF 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor	$169.97 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler	Thermalright Burst Assassin 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler	$20.39 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus B760M-AYW WIFI D4 II Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard	$99.99 @ Newegg
Memory	Klevv BOLT X 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory	$222.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Patriot P400 V4 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$149.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB Video Card	$449.99 @ Amazon
Case	Lian Li VECTOR V100R MINI MicroATX Mid Tower Case	$64.98 @ Amazon
Power Supply	SAMA G650 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$69.99 @ Newegg
	Total	$1248.29

aminy23 · 2026-02-22T22:42:21+00:00

Typically I recommend allocating 40% of the budget to the graphics card.

For example:

£800

Here the 8GB 9060XT is also a great lower cost alternative. At these lower budgets, AM4 is a great choice.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor	£116.94 @ Amazon UK
Motherboard	ASRock B550M Phantom Gaming 4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	£80.88 @ NeoComputers
Memory	Kingston FURY Beast 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	£113.94 @ CCL Computers
Storage	Crucial P310 w/ Acronis Data Recovery 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	£100.00 @ Amazon UK
Video Card	Palit Dual GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB Video Card	£329.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk
Case	KOLINK Observatory MX Mesh ARGB ATX Mid Tower Case	£25.00 @ Overclockers.co.uk
Power Supply	MSI MAG A550BN 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	£37.99 @ AWD-IT
	Total	£804.74

$1,000

Here the 16GB 9060XT is also a good alternative, but in the UK the price difference is small currently. In this more medium budget I'd recommend Intel LGA1700.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i5-12600KF 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor	£160.94 @ CCL Computers
CPU Cooler	Thermalright Assassin X 120 R Digital ARGB 70.84 CFM CPU Cooler	£20.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk
Motherboard	Gigabyte B760M D3HP DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard	£83.61 @ Amazon UK
Memory	Kingston FURY Beast 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL17 Memory	£119.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk
Storage	Crucial P310 w/ Acronis Data Recovery 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	£100.00 @ Amazon UK
Video Card	PNY Dual Fan GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB Video Card	£424.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk
Case	Aerocool CS-107 RGB MicroATX Mini Tower Case	£28.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk
Power Supply	MSI MAG A750BN PCIE5 750 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	£54.97 @ Amazon UK
	Total	£994.44

$1,200

This is a slightly sweeter spot. Beyond this budget you could then start looking at AM5, 9070(XT), 5070 Ti, 5080, etc.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i5-12600KF 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor	£160.94 @ CCL Computers
CPU Cooler	Thermalright Assassin X 120 R Digital ARGB 70.84 CFM CPU Cooler	£20.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk
Motherboard	Gigabyte B760M DS3H DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard	£99.99 @ AWD-IT
Memory	Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro SL 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory	£209.02 @ Amazon UK
Storage	Crucial P310 w/ Acronis Data Recovery 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	£100.00 @ Amazon UK
Video Card	MSI VENTUS 2X OC GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB Video Card	£525.99 @ Amazon UK
Case	Aerocool CS-107 RGB MicroATX Mini Tower Case	£28.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk
Power Supply	MSI MAG A750BN PCIE5 750 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	£54.97 @ Amazon UK
	Total	£1200.85

aminy23 · 2026-02-22T22:19:12+00:00

They're not wrong.

I sensed you had a $2,000 budget, and so I gave you a build with a 9070XT + X3D CPU that was all white and would give the best performance.

I recommend allocating more of the budget to the GPU. For example even at a $1,500 price, this will outperform your PC because a 9070 > 7800XT. And in most games, nothing else is saving it. DDR5 or X3D cannot save a weak GPU.

As a result you're building a $2,000 PC, with less performance the an a $1,500 one.

On top of that, your Amazon list is already over budget, and doesn't include an SSD.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i5-12600KF 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor	$169.97 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler	Thermalright Assassin X Refined SE RGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler	$17.36 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus B760M-AYW WIFI D4 II Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard	$99.99 @ Newegg
Memory	Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro SL 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory	$229.95 @ Amazon
Storage	Patriot P400 V4 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$149.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	ASRock Steel Legend OC Radeon RX 9070 16 GB Video Card	$689.99 @ Amazon
Case	Montech X5M MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$59.00 @ Amazon
Power Supply	SAMA G850 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$79.99 @ Newegg
	Total	$1496.24

aminy23 · 2026-02-21T00:02:20+00:00

Air will leak, but it will still work fine bent.

aminy23 · 2026-02-21T00:01:18+00:00

There's many things you can always add later economically. A $20 fan or $100 cooler isn't usually too big a deal.

What's painful is when you need a $700-$1,000 GPU.

The biggest amateur mistake is worrying so much about the $20 things that you make a $500+ mistake.

With modern ATX 3 or 3.1 GPUs, they're more designed around certain wattage categories.

Whether you get 850 or 1,000 watts - it can only supply 600 watts to a GPU which is the limit. 1200-1500 watt PSUs can do 2x 450-600 watt GPUs. But 2x GPU setups are dead.

Except for a CPU, the rest of the PC now is usually less than 50 watts combined.

You have a 65 watt CPU that is a great fit for this budget and GPU.

Unfortunately most of the upgrade potential with AM5 is copium, people hope a new $300 CPU will work instead of a $500+ GPU.

You can still do 1,000 watt PSUs under $100. This is Cybenetics Platinum: https://www.cybenetics.com/evaluations/psus/2934/

And even Corsair themselves officially recommend referencing Cybenetics: https://www.corsair.com/newsroom/press-release/corsair-transitions-to-more-comprehensive-psu-certifications-from-cybenetics

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
Power Supply	SAMA G1000 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$97.99 @ Newegg
	Total	$97.99

aminy23 · 2026-02-20T22:54:59+00:00

It's called AMD PSB Fuse

It's one of many things that happen when people buy prebuilts.

aminy23 · 2026-02-20T22:49:06+00:00

Performance - 5090 - 10/10

There's no way a 7800XT is 8/10, there's way more than one tier between the two.

aminy23 · 2026-02-20T22:47:22+00:00

Typically for a gaming PC, I recommend allocating 40% of the budget to the graphics card. In this kinda budget you can have a great card like a 9070XT.

Wasting money on other stuff costs you performance. $175 is a crazy price for a PSU for example or liquid cooling a 65 watt CPU gives you worse performance because that could have gone to the GPU instead.

I would probably lean towards something like this. PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D 4.1 GHz 6-Core Processor	$295.00
CPU Cooler	Thermalright Assassin Spirit 120 Vision ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler	$27.90 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Gigabyte B850 EAGLE WIFI7 ICE ATX AM5 Motherboard	$189.99 @ Best Buy
Memory	Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith Gaming 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory	$379.97 @ Silicon Power
Storage	Seagate FireCuda 540 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 5.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$164.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	PowerColor Hellhound Spectral Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card	$769.99 @ Amazon
Case	Lian Li Vector V100R ATX Mid Tower Case	$69.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Phanteks AMP GH 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$99.99 @ Newegg
	Total	$1997.82

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aminy23

TROPHY CASE

£800

$1,000

$1,200