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Help upgrading older i5-2500k system


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Hi everyone, my current Win7 system has served me well since about 2011, but I'm looking to upgrade and could use some guidance.

My current system is listed below; if it makes sense to do so, I'd like replace the CPU, motherboard, RAM, SSD, and install Win10 while keeping the secondary storage HDD, optical drive, GPU (for now), case, PSU, and monitor. I think the GTX 760 might be a bottleneck if paired with a new CPU but given GW2's relationship with CPUs vs. GPUs, I'm okay keeping that for now and potentially replacing it later.

Current System (Looking to replace items in itals)

  • CPU: Intel i5-2500k @ 3.3 Ghz w/ stock cooler
  • Board: GIGABYTE GA-Z68AP-D3 1155 ATX
  • RAM: CORSAIR 8GB 2X4 D3 1600 C9 DIM
  • Drive 1: SSD for OS: Kingston SA400S37/240G (240 GB)
  • Drive 2: HDD for storage and programs: Western Digital WD10EZEX-00WN4A0 (1 TB)
  • Drive 3: Bluray: ASUS BC1-2B1ST
  • GPU: MSI Geforce GTX 760
  • Case: Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW ATX Mid Tower
  • PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 550 G3, 80 Plus Gold 550W
  • Monitor: AOC C24G1 24" Curved Frameless Gaming Monitor
  • OS: Win7-64
  • Fans: One front-lower, one back-middle

Apart from replacing the PSU and monitor in the past year or two (with what's listed above), I haven't really kept up with hardware specs and what's new and great these days. In doing "Guild Wars 2 hardware upgrade" searches, I see a lot of folks recommending the Ryzen 5 3600. Does that have good single-core results compared to the 2500k while still performing well with other overall functions? If so, I'd just need to figure out a motherboard and RAM to pair with it.

That's all I can think of for now, but by all means please ask more questions if needed and I'd be happy to elaborate or expand on this information. Thanks ahead of time, much appreciated.

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You need to upgrade lots of hardware just to play in mid settings of the game, here are some recommendations:-MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard, need this to upgrade to higher risen cpu.-AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor , this is ok but keep in mind in GW2 , the more cores the better. also, if you can find a risen 7 2700x is better because its cheap and its 8 cores. better still go for Risen 7 3700x 8 core, a low to mid cost cpu.-G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2x8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory, cheap, fast and it fits the boards well. only need 16 GB except if you are a creator using pholoshop, illustration, etcc then go min of 32 GB.-MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 2060 6GB Graphics Card, if you can afford it go for the super version which is less than $300.00 (don't get the rtx 2070 super, for the price the difference in framerates are small). this also give you access to rtx extensive games, or wait for the rtx 3070 (which the msi motherboard supports also) to get better graphics.-Corsair 800 Gold 800 watts, here is another important hardware that gamers forget, the higher the wattage the better the games play especially if you are multitasking like live game streaming. also rtx 3070 need a min of 750 W to work well.

  • other hardware recomendation: at least install 3 120 mm fans in your case (check videos in youtube on how to porperly have a good air circulation inside a computer?), upgrade your case, the bigger it is the better air circulation like Corsair iCUE 220T RGB Airflow ATX Computer Case this case already have 3 fans included, I know you love win 7 but its not supported anymore you can install win 10 free if you want (check youtube on how to do this), upgrade to 1440 p monitor, and go all ssd hardrive.

Hope this help you out, I selected low price hardware on this set up so it will make it cheap and at the same time its all good for future upgrades. btw I forgot to mentioned, install MSI afterburner, set it up to monitor what your computer is doing inside the game, you don't need to have a MSI product to use this software and its also free. check youtube on how to install and use this software. have fun.

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Thanks for the feedback; much appreciated.

  • Ryzen 5 3600x sounds good, I'm reading good things about it for gaming in general and GW2.
  • I've seen others mention the Tomahawk board so I'll look into it.
  • Like I mentioned, I'm not looking to update the GPU, PSU, or case for now and entering all the old+new components into PCPartPicker says they will run fine on my 550W supply, so I'll be sticking with those.
  • I'm not doing any livestreaming (nor ever will).
  • Yep I'll be installing Win10.

I think my biggest concern was how going from the older i5-2500k to a Ryzen 5 would be performance-wise, but from what I gather it should be worth it?

@thom.5174 said:but keep in mind in GW2 , the more cores the betterThat confused me. Literally everything I've read while looking into hardware updates indicates GW2 is strongly single-core dependent and won't use multi-cores effectively, so why would more be better in this case?

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If you've held on to this potato since 2011, hold on to it a month more.

Literally everything is getting released now, AMDs new cards and CPUs this and next month, Nvidias low end RTX card everything will drive prices on the old crap down. Recommending a RTX2060 class card for $300 today when you maybe will be able to get RTX2080Ti class card in a month for $400 (or $200 on ebay lol) isnt good.

Even AMD new CPUs is rumoured to have better single core performance than Intel for once.

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@thom.5174 said:this is ok but keep in mind in GW2 , the more cores the better.

This is not quite right.

For GW2 you should choose a single core CPU with high performance or a CPU that can put some of its unsued cores to sleep and then can use the remaining cores with much higher performance. Because the game engine does not use a lot of cores, so the money for more cores is wasted.

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@MorganOneNine.1025 said:

@"thom.5174" said:but keep in mind in GW2 , the more cores the betterThat confused me. Literally everything I've read while looking into hardware updates indicates GW2 is strongly single-core dependent and won't use multi-cores effectively, so why would more be better in this case?

You're right. The other guy gave you bad information. A higher clocked 4 core outshines an 8 core in this game. Source : I went from a 1700 to a 3300x.Try out the Direct3D 12 wrapper first. You may not even really need a hardware upgrade that badly.

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Thank you for the additional thoughts, folks.

@XenoSpyro.1780 said:You may not even really need a hardware upgrade that badly.

Yeah I'd considered that, but I definitely need to switch to Win10 for various reasons and the current system (outside of GW2) is showing its age with some hiccups and hitches here and there. Nothing major, but noticeable enough that I figured it makes more sense to start a new update path--just keeping a few components that I know are still fine--vs. trying to work with the old limitations. Potentially having GW2 run even a little better would just be a bonus. :)

@Dawdler.8521 said:hold on to it a month more.

Ahh okay, good to know: that's why I'm definitely out of the loop! The GPU status doesn't interest me much, but if the CPUs and boards potentially drop in price, that's a bonus. I'll see what happens with prices in November, thanks.

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