CPU/MOBO advice

[dkingman]

I have an old tower, 970ssc, 8 gig of ram, PSU and failing i5 2500k sat in the cupboard collecting dust and the wife is playing on a not so great lappy, so I was wondering if anybody could point me in the right direction of a decent cpu/mobo (possibly ram?) combination so I could get it all up and running again for her.

I've done a bit of research and realised that I'm well out of the loop with pc hardware nowadays! though I keep seeing the RYSEN 3 popping up all over the place, which seems quite affordable (I don't really want to go over £200). Obviously though, I don't want to go rushing into buying anything when I could get some more information from more knowledgeable people than myself.

Any help appreciated. Thanks.

 

[PP Mguire]

Quick question, how is the 2500k failing?

 

[dkingman]

Over heating. I've had it for about 6 years. It's due an upgrade either way.

 

[PP Mguire]

Overheating is going to be an issue with cooling. If you've never cleaned or repasted the heatsink it'll cause overheating. Now, a Ryzen 3 would be quicker but if you're a gamer cleaning up the machine and getting a better GPU and more RAM would be more beneficial. An SSD wouldn't hurt either if you don't already have one.

 

[dkingman]

I have cleaned and repasted the heatsink. It still over heats and games stutter badly. I really don't need a new gpu as I have a 970ssc (I don't think it would bottleneck a RYZEN 3 would it?) in the rig already which is more than adequate for what the wife will be playing, also it will save me a lot of money. Moe RAM maybe but not essential. I'm really just looking to upgrade the mobo and cpu.

 

[PP Mguire]

If it's overheating though that's definitely going to be a cooling issue. Stuttering in games would be directly related to the heat because the chip is throttling. My gf has a TItan X on a 2500k and it performs just fine and all I have on it is an H55 without an overclock. Idk, at 1080p Ryzen is slower (only SLIGHTLY) than Intel's higher end chips (Kaby Lake, Skylake), but only slightly faster than the 2500k. THe only benefit you'll get is more USB 3.0, DDR4 usage, and M.2 support. It's up to you honestly.

8GB is pretty much the bare minimum these days unless your wife is only playing stuff like Minecraft or Farmville.

 

[dkingman]

What else could be causing the over heating issue? I've cleaned and repasted the heatsink properly and the fan is clean and working as should.

Thanks for the info.

 

[carnageX]

Well your said it was in a cabinet - is that still the case? If so, lack of airflow would cause that.

 

[dkingman]

I meant it's packed away in a cupboard, I never had it set up in a cupboard so there was plenty of airflow. Also, I live in the UK so it's not often that outside heat is an issue!

Bit of a conundrum isn't it? This is why I kind of gave up with it and thought about a Ryzen.

 

[PP Mguire]

You haven't really given us much detail to go off, but if you're using the stock cooler that is 100% your problem with the heat issue. Either way, my thoughts on the matter are in my post above so really in the end it's up to you.