$300 Covid-era PC Upgrade: AMD 3200G to 5500 + GPU + SSD!

Summary

In this video, John the Net Guy takes viewers through the process of upgrading a 2021-built budget gaming PC. Starting with a system that features an AMD 3200G, 16GB RAM, and integrated graphics, John upgrades the CPU to a Ryzen 5500, adds a powerful RTX 2070 Super GPU, and installs a 1TB NVMe SSD. The video showcases before-and-after benchmark results, highlighting massive improvements in both CPU and GPU performance, with FPS gains from 30 to 270 in games. The upgrades boost the system's performance, taking it from the 39th to the 87th percentile, making it ready for modern gaming.

Takeaways

• 😀 Cleaning the PC is essential before upgrading hardware, especially for a system with a lot of junk files and potential malware.
• 🔧 BIOS updates are crucial when upgrading to newer generation CPUs to ensure compatibility and improved performance.
• 💻 Running benchmarking tools like PassMark and Cinebench helps establish a performance baseline before upgrades.
• 📊 The original system's performance was modest, with low frame rates (around 30 FPS) and a 39th percentile ranking in PassMark tests.
• 🖥️ Upgrading the CPU to the Ryzen 5 5500 provides a significant performance boost, with 6 cores and 12 threads compared to the original 4 cores and 4 threads.
• 🎮 Adding a dedicated GPU (RTX 2070 Super) greatly enhances 3D gaming performance, with FPS improving from 30 FPS to over 250 FPS in benchmarks.
• 💾 Upgrading storage with a 1TB NVMe drive boosts both speed and capacity, addressing space issues from the original 256GB drive.
• 🛠️ Using an NVMe caddy for cloning data from the old drive to the new one makes the transition easy without losing any data.
• 📈 After all upgrades, system performance increased significantly, with the machine ranking in the 87th percentile—over double the previous 39th percentile.
• ⚡ The overall performance improvement was massive: 3D graphics performance increased tenfold, and CPU performance improved by over 3 times, demonstrating the power of hardware upgrades.
• 🎮 This upgrade ensures smoother gameplay, better multitasking, and future-proofing for years to come, making it an excellent choice for a 1080p gaming PC.

Q & A

Why did the upgrade focus on the CPU, GPU, and storage?

The upgrade focused on the CPU, GPU, and storage because these are the primary components impacting gaming performance. The CPU upgrade increases processing power, while the GPU significantly boosts graphics performance. The NVMe storage upgrade improves load times and system responsiveness, ensuring a smoother gaming experience.

What was the main limitation of the original PC before the upgrade?

The main limitation of the original PC was the integrated graphics, which limited gaming performance to low frame rates. Additionally, the CPU (AMD 3200G) had only 4 cores and 4 threads, restricting multitasking and processing power for gaming and more demanding applications.

What does upgrading the BIOS do before installing a new CPU?

Upgrading the BIOS before installing a new CPU ensures that the motherboard supports the new processor and can optimize system performance. It also helps in addressing compatibility issues and ensuring that the latest memory profiles, such as XMP, are available for faster memory speeds.

What is the significance of running benchmarks before and after upgrades?

Running benchmarks before and after upgrades provides a clear comparison of system performance, allowing you to measure the improvements in CPU, GPU, and storage. This helps to validate the impact of the upgrades and provides quantifiable data for performance gains.

How did the performance change after installing the RTX 2070 GPU?

After installing the RTX 2070 GPU, the system saw a dramatic improvement in 3D graphics performance, with frame rates increasing from around 30 FPS to over 200 FPS in demanding tests. This improvement made games smoother and more playable at higher settings.

Why did the original system struggle with graphics performance?

The original system struggled with graphics performance because it relied on integrated graphics from the AMD 3200G CPU. Integrated graphics are not powerful enough to handle modern gaming at high settings, resulting in low frame rates and stuttering during gameplay.

What is the advantage of using a discrete GPU like the RTX 2070 compared to integrated graphics?

A discrete GPU like the RTX 2070 offers significantly more processing power for graphics-intensive tasks, such as gaming, compared to integrated graphics. It has dedicated memory and optimized architecture for rendering complex scenes at higher frame rates and resolutions, providing a much smoother gaming experience.

What is the role of the XMP or DOCP profile in improving memory performance?

The XMP (Extreme Memory Profile) or DOCP (Direct Overclock Profile) allows the motherboard to automatically configure the memory to run at higher speeds and optimized timings. Enabling this profile can improve overall system performance by ensuring the memory operates at its rated speed, which is particularly important for tasks like gaming and multitasking.

How did the storage upgrade to a 1TB NVMe SSD impact system performance?

Upgrading to a 1TB NVMe SSD significantly improved system performance by providing faster read and write speeds. This resulted in quicker game load times, faster file transfers, and a more responsive overall system, compared to the previous 256GB NVMe drive.

What software was used to clone the original NVMe drive to the new 1TB NVMe drive?

The script does not specify the exact software used for cloning, but it mentions using a piece of software to clone the data. There are many cloning tools available, such as Clonezilla, Macrium Reflect, or EaseUS Todo Backup, which can copy all files from one NVMe drive to another without losing data.