looking for a birthday gift recommendation.

[announced]

So my friend has a birthday coming soon and I was looking for something nice that he could use to upgrade his PC. He mostly plays Black Desert Online, WoW, Diablo 3, and other games like Witcher 3 and possibly AION and I'm wondering what would be the best upgrade that I could get him. As in one piece of computer hardware to choose from.
He's mostly looking for something like more ram, a better GPU, most likely wont need a SSD (since he has a Samsung Evo 256GB from back in the day that's not even used right now.

Also he wants to know how easy it is to install a gpu (if I get him one)
here are his specs on his current computer https://www.newegg.ca/abs-computer-t...82E16883102377

Budget: around $200-400 CAD
Resolution: as high as you can go
Games / Settings Desired ((Black Desert Online, WOW, Diablo 3, AION)
Any other intensive software or special things you do (nothing intensive)
Country(Canada)
Parts that can be reused (doesnt need a monitor keyboard or mouse (he has a Razer Naga mouse, corsair keyboard and an AOC monitor(( AOC C27G1 27-inch Curved Display, 1920x1080))
Do you need an OS? No
Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc) No

[Temp name]

He has a 144hz monitor. Buy him a 1660ti (Might be able to fit a 2060 in the budget if you find a sale). He'll get more fps, so he actually take advantage of that fact. Installing one is pretty easy, open the PC, pull out the power connector(s), unscrew it from the back, undo the latch at the front of the slot it's in (Some don't have one), and lift it straight out, then slide the new one in and do the others in reverse. There are guides for how to do it on Youtube if you want video. JayzTwoCents, Linus Tech Tips, BitWit, and more, are all good places to look and have build guides showing how to put a complete system together, just find the GPU part of their videos


Some other things if you don't wanna get him a GPU:
Buy him a kit of 16gb 3000MHz RAM. Should give a small performance bump, not much, but a little
Buy him more storage, either SSD or HDD. I'd die if I had to live with just over 1TB.. But I also do video stuff on my PC, so I kinda need more storage. Getting him a 500GB/1TB SSD is doable in the budget though. Don't buy NVMe, they have no real-world performance gains for the average consumer.
Buy him a better case. Would mean having to do a full unbuild and rebuild, but he'd get a prettier case


Edit: Wrote 1440p in the first sentence, meant to write 144hz, fixed that

[announced]

He has a 1440p monitor. Buy him a 1660ti (Might be able to fit a 2060 in the budget if you find a sale). He'll get more fps, so he actually take advantage of that fact. Installing one is pretty easy, open the PC, pull out the power connector(s), unscrew it from the back, undo the latch at the front of the slot it's in (Some don't have one), and lift it straight out, then slide the new one in and do the others in reverse. There are guides for how to do it on Youtube if you want video. JayzTwoCents, Linus Tech Tips, BitWit, and more, are all good places to look and have build guides showing how to put a complete system together, just find the GPU part of their videos

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm thinking the GPU would probably be the best, also since it would help with higher fps that's a bonus. I'm wondering what is a good site to use to find a deal on one in Canada. I usually go by Newegg and I'm okay with going up to $500 but i was wondering if there's any better sites that deliver.

Also what is the difference between these two cards https://www.newegg.ca/gigabyte-gefor...-115-_-Product

and https://www.newegg.ca/gigabyte-gefor...-117-_-Product

are they both compatible in his computer? one comes with Wolfenstein which seems neat as well but it's not necessary, just a bonus.


Also is there any way to overclock his computer and would that help him get more FPS in his games and is it possible with his setup and how?

[Temp name]

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm thinking the GPU would probably be the best, also since it would help with higher fps that's a bonus. I'm wondering what is a good site to use to find a deal on one in Canada. I usually go by Newegg and I'm okay with going up to $500 but i was wondering if there's any better sites that deliver.

Also what is the difference between these two cards https://www.newegg.ca/gigabyte-gefor...-115-_-Product

and https://www.newegg.ca/gigabyte-gefor...-117-_-Product

are they both compatible in his computer? one comes with Wolfenstein which seems neat as well but it's not necessary, just a bonus.


Also is there any way to overclock his computer and would that help him get more FPS in his games and is it possible with his setup and how?

The larger one runs at faster speeds (1755 vs 1695MHz), and has a better cooler, so it'll be quieter.

As for overclocking: Overclocking the CPU is probably out of the question. Prebuilts normally cut down on the MOBO, so I very much doubt it's possible. And if it was, the cooler they put on seems a little anemic, so I wouldn't push it too hard.
As for OC'ing the GPU: Download EVGA Precision X1 or similar software and crank the power limit, should get you some extra performance

[announced]

quick update. so I decided to buy my friend a SSD evo 860 Vnand and I was trying to install it in his motherboard but he doesn't seem to have the right power cables, he only had a spare sata 3 cable. I tried plugging in the CD drive power cable into the SSD to see if that might work but it doesn't seem to appear in the disk initialize window for some reason.
I was wondering what power cable would be the correct one to buy and where to put it on the motherboard? his motherboard doesn't seem to have a spare sata power cable.
I have some pictures of the motherboard but they are phone quality so they may not look great.
This link also seems to have some better view of the motherboard https://www.newegg.com/abs-computer-...82E16883102377
I'm also trying to figure out where i could find the motherboard manual so i could better understand where to plug in the power cord when i get one.
https://ibb.co/CVQs6gC

https://ibb.co/g708fGw

[Temp name]

Power cables come from the power supply, data cables go into the MOBO.

As for where to put them, on the first picture you have the MOBO power cables (the rainbow coloured ones), then below that you have a cable sticking straight up, then right below that you have a block of connectors that plug in to the side, those should be SATA data

For the power connector, have a look at the back of the computer where the other drives are plugged in, most SATA power cables are split in 4, they so you can just use one of those if there is one

[announced]

Power cables come from the power supply, data cables go into the MOBO.

As for where to put them, on the first picture you have the MOBO power cables (the rainbow coloured ones), then below that you have a cable sticking straight up, then right below that you have a block of connectors that plug in to the side, those should be SATA data

For the power connector, have a look at the back of the computer where the other drives are plugged in, most SATA power cables are split in 4, they so you can just use one of those if there is one

So his computer is kinda weird. the side doors that you can remove have access to the power cables it seems like the power cables are tied together and they are really difficult to cut loose. I was wondering if i could instead just plug in the SSD into one of those spare cables pictured here and would that work?https://ibb.co/MZbHzkQ

Also what tool would be ideal for cutting a cable loose? I was trying to just use a knife or some scissors.

[Temp name]

So his computer is kinda weird. the side doors that you can remove have access to the power cables it seems like the power cables are tied together and they are really difficult to cut loose. I was wondering if i could instead just plug in the SSD into one of those spare cables pictured here and would that work?https://ibb.co/MZbHzkQ

Also what tool would be ideal for cutting a cable loose? I was trying to just use a knife or some scissors.

As long as it fits, you should be able to plug it in with no adverse effect.

As for what to use, small sharp scissors are the best. Wire cutters are nice