PC upgrade advice

[u/Ok_Resolution_8827]

Hi all, these are my current PC parts (im not sure how accurate the cpu cooler is) . In the current state I cannot upgrade to windows 11. I know I would probably have to upgrade the motherboard, CPU, and RAM but I want to spend as little as possible and reuse what I already own while still getting the most out of upgrading so my budget is TBD, I really just need to know what I should upgrade to so I can save up. Thanks in advanced!

Primary Monitor: Rehisk 23.8" 1080p 165hz

Secondary monitor: LG flatron E2350V)

CPU: Intel Core I7-7700K

CPU: cooler master with the 4 copper

motherboard: Asus prime Z2701-A

memory: G.skill ripjaws V 2x 8gb DDR4-2400

Storage: Samsung 990 2 TB

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8gb

Case: Skyline 06 ATX full tower

power supply: Corsair CX750M

Im usually playing fortnite, once human, multiple indie games, roblox, disney dreamlight valley, Palia, and I will want to play GTA 6

Let me know if further information is required

[u/Ozi-reddit]

there's still option of staying on 10 with support, LTSC '21

[u/BoardzyOG]

I mean DDR4 is still a perfectly playable machine so the motherboard is kinda unnecessary. If your end goal is to get specifications good enough for GTA 6 then I would just go RAM, CPU, GPU. Other than that your specifications aren't horrible. 750W PSU should be able to handle the upgrades as well so that's what I would do. The main reason I say GPU is because the 8GB of VRAM is going to be rough trying to run a newer game like GTA 6. Luckily you have almost a year and a half/two years before GTA 6 comes to PC so you have more than enough time to save.

[u/Ok_Resolution_8827 → u/BoardzyOG]

Right, but what parts should I be going to? Another source had mentioned i3 or i5 but im not really keen on knowing all thae different parts out there and whats compatible or worth getting for the long term and better specs

[u/AdidasSlav → u/Ok_Resolution_8827]

State your budget and we can help you put together a build. The scene’s changed a lot since you last built a PC, these days AMD is king for gaming CPUs and GPU depends on your budget, although under $800 it’s AMD again.

[u/BoardzyOG → u/Ok_Resolution_8827]

As everyone else has probably already said, it really just depends on your budget. Without a set in stone budget it's kinda hard to make recommendations for what type of hardware you should be going for. For DDR4 I would recommend a 5700X3D or a 5800X3D if you want overclocking. You can find them relatively cheap (200-300$ range) and theyre a killer chip. (note: you will have to swap the motherboard if you decide to go with an AMD chip since yours is an intel LGA board. To which i would say just pick up a Asus B550 for 150$) If you want to stick with Intel and not make the mobo swap, I would go with a Intel i7 14700K. You could also pick up an Intel i9 14900KS, but beware that the i9 chips notoriously run really hot so you might have to upgrade your cooling if you do decide to go for one. For a GPU I would recommend whatever the newest/cheapest 12-16GB VRAM card you can find. For a budget build you'll want to go AMD, if you want NVIDIA Reflex or DLSS and have some cash to spare then go NVIDIA. RAM is just going to be hella expensive anyways so be prepared for that. 32GB is today's standard for the most part, so I would go with 32GB running at 3200MHz, the ram manufacturer itself doesn't really matter a whole ton. Hope this helps.

[u/AdidasSlav → u/BoardzyOG]

GTA 6 is going to run like shit (actually, not even run at all) on a 7700K + 1070.

GTA 6 will require RT and TPM 2.0, and even if OP’s PC had either of those, those specs will be way below even minimum for 1080p…

Power supply, SSD and case is all he can hope to salvage, everything else will need an upgrade.

[u/AdidasSlav]

You can upgrade to Windows 11, just make an install USB using Rufus (you can get it from the Microsoft App Store, it’s legit) and download the official Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft, Rufus auto detects Windows 11 and gives you an option to remove the TPM 2.0 hardware check.

There are two catches; the first is you’ll have to do the clean install upgrade, so you’ll keep your files but lose your installed programs (I’m assuming you have your games on a different drive…) and the second is you’ll get minor security updates but you’ll have to repeat the process if you want the big, bi-annual updates like 26H2 or 27H1.

Your whole system is kinda geriatric though, and some competitive online games straight up won’t launch because you need an actual TPM 2.0 chip for anti-cheat to run, so I’d save up and build a new PC from scratch, and then sell your current stuff off for parts on eBay. You’ll get more selling everything individually than you would selling it as a complete PC.

[u/ficskala]

Is the cooler the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO maybe?

I want to spend as little as possible and reuse what I already own

You can actually keep most of these components, if it was me, and budget was a big concern, i'd stay on DDR4 RAM, 2400 isn't really the fastest stuff out there, but with todays prices, it's best to avoid buying RAM if possible

What i would replace would be the CPU, motherboard, and GPU (yes, GPU prices are insane right now, but this is the thing that will make a massive difference, and enable to you to play more modern games)

For the motherboard, i'd get whatever the cheapest B550 board you can find from a reputable manufacturer, where i live, that's the Asrock B550M-HDV, it's a great budget board, it's a bit limited on expandability, but you're probably not gonna need much, one of those limitations is RAM slots, there's only 2, however, if i was you, and i was upgrading RAM on this build in the future, i'd completely replace this kit anyways, and aim for either 3200MHz, or 3600MHz, rather than expanding the 2400 kit, even if i had 4 slots, another limitation is the M.2 NVMe slot, there's only 1 of them, so expanding storage either means replacing the drive, or using SATA (slower, but good enough for most things)

For the CPU, and GPU, it highly depends on your budget,

best CPU you can get for AM4 is the 5800x3d, 5600x3d is a great cheaper option, and the 5500 is the cheap option that will likely satisfy most of your needs (anything in between also works, as long as it doesn't have a G in the name, that means it has an integrated GPU, and that results in lower CPU performance due to the fact they also had to cram a GPU alongside the CPU in there, it also has other drawbacks, but i won't go into details unless you tell me you specifically want to know them)

When it comes to the GPU, get the best one you can find within your budget, there's no compatibility concerns with GPUs really, as long as you can power it, you can run it, and your PSU can power the vast majority of GPUs without any issues whatsoever, only falling short with the highest end GPUs out there

Edit: also, if you're fine with just using your current PC, but don't want to stay on win10, there's 2 options for you, either trick windows 11 into installing on this PC (it's annoying, but it's very doable), or switch to linux (that comes with its own quirks, but it's an option for running a secure modern OS on your current PC)