General and Specific PC Upgrade questions

Hi all,

My apologies if this isn't the most efficient way to find out this info.

This is what I have:

MSI B85M-G43 LGA 1150 Intel B85 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX High Performance CF Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i5-4460 Haswell Quad-Core 3.2 GHz

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3

GTX 950 2 GB

EVGA 500 80+ WHITE 500W Power Supply

WD Blue 1TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM

I want to be able to max out setting on 1080p intense games (ala new Call of duty, Assassin's Creed, Metro) and get 60fps on very close. Not interested in 1440p. No streaming either or going for VR

So, I'm looking to get a gtx 1660ti in a week or so. That should be a huge FPS boost. I hear the Ryzen CPUs are a good investment now compared to AMD.

1. Which Ryzen CPU would be good for 1080p maxing out settings? (as budget friendly as possible)

2. What budget-friendly motherboard is a solid choice? (Micro ATX) I'm not interested in lighting or anything cosmetic.

3. Do I need to get a new version of windows 10 with a new motherboard, or is it as straightforward as connecting the hard drive to the new CPU? I'm trying to Frankenstein it together with the old hard drive if possible.

4. If I just get an SSD, is there an idiot-proof way to clone the HDD to a new SSD?

5. If I do upgrade the motherboard and CPU, will I need a new PSU?

Thanks for the info!

I can have a shot at some of these

3. If you mean can you proceed without reinstalling Windows the answer is yes, sometimes but drives issues mean it is rarely worth it. If you are asking if changing the motherboard will require you buy a new license of Windows it depends. If it is an OEM install I am pretty sure if it detects a significant hardware change (I actually don't know how it determines this, post if you do know) it will not recognize it as the same PC and ask you to renew your license. For non OEM win10 I've had decent luck so far slowly changing piece by piece and it staying licensed.

4. Copying the OS install would require Clone software but I haven't used any but it can work. Just google "migrate OS install" or similar.

5. The only case I'd see you needing a new PSU is if you are currently just on the threshold of providing enough power and the new stuff is more greedy. It's not a perfect tool but https://pcpartpicker.com/ has a built in tool. Just build out what you think the new pc will have and it will say if there are issues, including power but also other incompatibilities.

Hayt has already given you good answers for 3 through 5 so I'll tackle the first two:

1. I'd go for a Ryzen 5 3600 which should pair nicely with a 1660ti. You could also look at a 2700, which is older but should be available for roughly the same price. It has more cores and more threads, but I'd still probably opt for the 3600 which will usually be slightly faster in games and can drive higher memory clocks. Both come with an OK CPU cooler, but if noise is a concern you may want to pick up something a bit quieter.
2. There aren't a ton of AM4 microATX boards so your options are limited, but your best bet is probably the MSI B450 Mortar. The MAX variant support 3rd-gen Ryzen out of the box, but older versions will need a BIOS update before you can use it with something like the 3600.

Also, keep in mind that you'll need some DDR4 RAM.

if you bought a non OEM version of windows 10 you won't need to buy a new one. You will probably need to reinstall windows though, especially if you go with AMD as it will need new drivers. Although windows 10 seems to be pretty good about switching motherboards I think, but it's a best practice thing as old drivers can cause conflict you don't want. So you could just do a back up or get some clone software etc. I would get an SSD, at least a small one to run the OS on and just have the hardrive for the majority of games.

For questions 1 and 2: I'll support conmulligan's suggestions for lack of any better ideas.

For 3: If you bought an OEM key or upgraded from Windows 7, you'll have to buy another license since the license key is tied to the motherboard. But I'd call scdkey a reliable grey market for Windows 10 keys for less than $20. Tried it for myself almost two months ago, and I haven't had any issues.

4: Acronis True Image OEM came with a SATA PNY SSD that I bought a year ago, so that would be my suggestion. So, look into buying an SSD that includes drive cloning software. But, as other have mentioned, clean installing Windows and transferring you files is the best practice for getting rid of those leftover drivers, registry entries and other crap that just gum up the works.

5: In most cases, no; you don't need to buy a new power supply. But if you want a stronger GPU in the future, I like to look at a GPU's "recommended system power" rating and add 100 watts. But, and I recently learned this from Greg of Science Studio, getting a wattage estimation from PC Part Picker and multiplying it by 1.5 seems like a sound "rule of thumb" method.