I’m helping a family member upgrade their PC, and thought it might be good to get a second opinion on it since I’m not a pro either when it comes to PC parts.
Here are the specs:
- Intel Core i5 6600K
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
- Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (and a 2TB HDD)
- 2x4GB DDR4 RAM from Corsair
- ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger
- Corsair RM750i
Intent of the upgrade is to enhance gaming experience.
My first thought was to upgrade the SSD since 500GB isn’t a lot anyways and the product page of the 850 EVO says it has 540 MB/s read speed which doesn’t seem like a lot to me these days. Then also maybe the RAM, but I have no idea how much of an impact upgrading it has.
The other thing is upgrading CPU and/or GPU, but for that to be worth it I think you need to spend a lot more. I was thinking about giving them my RTX 3070 when I upgrade my own PC soon, in that case what would be a good CPU to go with it. Or would it be fine to just upgrade the GPU?
Sooner or later that CPU will need to be updated, especially if you’re going to give them a 3070 to use with that machine. For gaming, your best bet is generally gonna be either the 5700X3D, 7800X3D, or 9800X3D, it just depends on budget and availability. Keep in mind you’ll need to budget for a new motherboard and RAM (get 32GB if you can) as well. I would prioritize all of that over upgrading from a SATA SSD to NVMe.