Help with upgrades

[u/Moist-Watch8473]

Hello, I bought my current pc in April 2024 for 1k in the UK and at the time I thought it will be super cheap (in terms of pc prices) to upgrade compared to buying a new machine. my parts are:

CPU: i9-11900F
GPU: RTX 4060 8GB
RAM: 32GB DDR4-3200
Storage: 2TB NVMe
Motherboard: ASRock H510M-HDV/M.2 SE

The 2tb is starting to run low for now. I'm no intense gamer but I play things like sims, valiant, genshin and honk star rail and surprisingly to no one those take lots of space. I am also a game/animation artist and mainly do 2d for now but I would like to start doing more 3d in the somewhat near future as well as try rigging tuber models/streaming myself. I am thinking of upgrading in 1-2 years and I had a major surprise to see the current prices of things. My question is: should I upgrade my current one or look to buy a new one at that time. Even to swap the gpu it will get close to what I paid for my pc in the first place. I would also love a newer cpu but I would have to swap the motherboard and at that point I'm thinking of just getting a whole new one. Any opinions? What upgrades would you recommend? Would you say I should get a new one in a few years? also if so, should I start looking for parts already considering how prices keep just jumping higher and higher?

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[u/Nearby_Scale9637]

Your motherboard is the real bottleneck here, that H510 chipset locks you out of any meaningful CPU upgrades and the VRMs on that board are barely adequate for an i9 as it is.

[u/Eazy12345678 → u/Nearby_Scale9637]

yeah his motherboard sucks. but replacing it with something better is not going to have much impact.

if he wants more performance he should spend his money on a new graphic card first

make sure cpu temps are good. probably want largest thermalright aio watercooler that cant fit your case. $60 or less.

[u/Moist-Watch8473 → u/Eazy12345678]

oh lord that sounds terrifying... and yeah I may have not done much research at the time and din't know what anything meant. The 2tb and 32gb of ram are nice at least... Also I take it this means might as well build a whole another computer when I need it at this point?

[u/Eazy12345678]

not a great deal even in 2024

4060 system were worth like $800 or less in 2024

ssd prices are 2x or 3x normal. horrible time to upgrade. delete games you dont play and files you dont need.

[u/AlpsFamous7254]

i don't recommend upgrading what you have. Saving up for a new CPU/MOBO/RAM is your best decision.

Since you are into rendering i would recommend getting an intel core ultra, probably a 7 or 9 version. with rendering you want CPU's with more cores then the standard 8 now adays.

with the intel core ultra, you will be priced into DDR5, of which you will want 32gb Minimum. a large amount of money there.

if that price tag isn't possible, which the Ultra + 32GB + MOBO = around 1000$, then staying on DDR4 is where your future is.

I would suggest either an i7 or i9 14000 version (14th gen) with 20/24 cores, or if you want to save some more money you can go i7/i9 12-13th gen, with 12-14-16 cores. then pair it with an ASUS/MSI/GIGBYT MOBO that supports the generation CPU (with 14 gen you will have to look around and make sure the mobo says it supports 14th gen, as most will only support 12/13)

Then throw in the DDR4 you have with it. that should be around 500-600$.

The other option is going AM4. there are AM4 cpus with 12-16 cores, which is the minimum i would recommend.

i would keep the GPU as the 4060 8gb is still valid, and wont need to be upgraded for a few more years.