Upgrade Suggestions for Old Build

[sorcerermerlin]

Hello everyone! I am trying to get an idea of what I could do with $300 to $350 based on using as much as I can from my current build. I already have some ideas, but here we go!

What is the build, well it was built in Feb 2011 and consists of:

Case: Antec 300 w/ modified side panel and extra fans
MB: ASUS Sabertooth X58 MB
CPU: Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield Quad-Core 3.06 GHz LGA 1366 130W (OC @ 4.0 Ghz)
FAN: Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme Universal CPU Cooler 120mm Magnetic Fluid Dynamic LED Fan and Fan Controller
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
GPU: Palit GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) DirectX 11 NE5X5800F10CB 1536MB 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
SSD: PNY CS1311 120GB 2.5" SATA III
HDD: Western Digital WD Green WD20EZRX 2TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
BRB: LG Black 10x Blu-ray Burner
PSU: CORSAIR CX-M Series CX750M 750W 80 PLUS BRONZE Haswell Ready ATX12V & EPS12V Semi-modular Power Supply

What do I do with it? I like to play WoW BFA @ Ultra (or close to it), I also do a lot of retro gaming (up to and including PS2/Wii/ etc.). I do some website and Photoshop work on the side, and I really like to multi-task. Lots of Chrome tabs open, I run a home media server and also dabble in some WoW Private Server development and 3D Modeling, among many other things. I use two displays, both support HDMI and DVI but no Display Port (adapters are easy to get!).

What am I wanting? Just to breathe some life back into it. It's still very fast, I don't feel laggy, WoW performance seems good, but I am wanting more and on a small budget.

I was gifted a Lenovo ThinkCentre M93 that has an i5-4570 (non-K so not unlocked and no overclock) that I could possibly re-purpose with a new motherboard like an ASUS H87 chipset, likely be finding one used on e-Bay for $60-$100 and hoping that it works well. Not sure how much performance this will net me.

For just a sheer GPU replacement, I could grab a MSI GTX 1660 TI Gaming X 6G for $299. I am afraid that the i7 950 might bottleneck, plus the X58 board only x16 version 2.0 -- I've heard this may not make much of a difference.

Was also looking at Ryzen specs. Thought about getting the following combo:

AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Processor with Wraith Spire Cooler - YD260XBCAFBOX
MSI ProSeries AMD Ryzen 1st and 2nd Gen AM4 M.2 USB 3 DDR4 D-SUB DVI HDMI Crossfire ATX Motherboard (B450-A PRO)
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3000MHz C15 Desktop Memory Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2B3000C15)

for about $310. But I don't know if that will net me any good gains. If I did this one, I would plan to eventually replace the GPU down the line, just not right now.

So, should I try and upgrade the system using i5 4750 (which is locked and cannot be overlocked) w/ new MB from e-Bay or somewhere (i.e. not the Lenovo one)... or replace the GPU with GTX 1660 ti and keep the i7 950 (OC @ 4.0 Ghz)... or try the Ryzen 2600x w/ 16 GB DDR4 and the MSI motherboard?

Are there other suggestions for $300-$350? What do you guys think?

I haven't built a computer since I built this one, so please if you give advice explain your reasoning so that I might understand it. There has been so many changes to how things work that feel very behind and I have been doing alot of reading to try and keep up!

Thanks for reading!

[Temp name]

What is most likely holding you back right now is the CPU. Getting a Ryzen 2000 series CPU is likely to be a decent upgrade, especially in productivity. More, better, faster cores and all that. I wouldn't recommend buying hardware for the 4750 at this point, it's too old.

The 1660ti is a pretty bad value right now. For the same price you can get a Vega56 that will VASTLY outperform it in pretty much everything. But even that is overkill if you aren't doing anything more than 1080p 60fps gaming, for which I'd recommend the RX580 (Not to be confused with the GTX580 you're using).

[sorcerermerlin]

What is most likely holding you back right now is the CPU. Getting a Ryzen 2000 series CPU is likely to be a decent upgrade, especially in productivity. More, better, faster cores and all that. I wouldn't recommend buying hardware for the 4750 at this point, it's too old.

The 1660ti is a pretty bad value right now. For the same price you can get a Vega56 that will VASTLY outperform it in pretty much everything. But even that is overkill if you aren't doing anything more than 1080p 60fps gaming, for which I'd recommend the RX580 (Not to be confused with the GTX580 you're using).

Thanks for the quick reply. So, will my GTX 580 work well with the Ryzen combo I suggested above until I can replace it with an RX 580 for like $180? Or should I be looking at the RX 580 as the first upgrade?

Thoughts?

[Kagthul]

Thanks for the quick reply. So, will my GTX 580 work well with the Ryzen combo I suggested above until I can replace it with an RX 580 for like $180? Or should I be looking at the RX 580 as the first upgrade?

Thoughts?

Itll work fine. I mean, its not going to blow the doors off any games since its so old, but itll work just fine.

[Temp name]

Thanks for the quick reply. So, will my GTX 580 work well with the Ryzen combo I suggested above until I can replace it with an RX 580 for like $180? Or should I be looking at the RX 580 as the first upgrade?

Thoughts?

Your current gpu will work fine until you can save up the money for the new one. For general usage your system would be much better off with the CPU upgrade first. For general gaming I'm not sure (WoW will benefit from the CPU first), since they're both so old that I really don't have much reference for what they're capable of against modern cards, so you might not see that much benefit in games until you also upgrade the GPU, but it wouldn't be different if you upgraded GPU before the CPU in that sense.