PC Upgrade for SC

[icy3309]

Hi there,

my current setup is a budget build that I created last year. Now I am way more into gaming and thought of upgrading it, also to counter my low fps in SC.

My current specs are:

• AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (with stock cooler, overclocked to 3800Mhz, normally on 3400Mhz)
• Gainward 6GB GTX 1660 super Ghost OC
• 16 gigs of DDR4 RAM (2x8) running on 3000 (theoretically, I overclocked it but BIOS shows it running at 2100 and other software at even lower speed): G.Skill Aegis F4-3000C16-8GISB DDR4
• Gigabyte x570 Aorus Ultra (got this MB recently on sale specifically for new Ryzen Processors, before that I had an MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX)
• 1TB HDD, 250GB SSD, 500GB M.2 (where SC is on)
• Thermaltake Smart RGB 500W (worst 80+ rating possible)
• Samsung monitor (1080p, 60hz, 23.5 inches) First one on Amazon when searching for a monitor

I thought of getting the new Ryzen 5300 or the x variant, I don’t know which would be more worth it.
Otherwise, a 3080 would most likely be bottlenecked by my current CPU and my 1660 runs nearly every game with 60 fps. Also for a new GPU, I would need a better monitor, otherwise, it would be worthless and the difference unnoticeable. Since SC needs more CPU than GPU I really thought of one of the new Ryzens. Also, I read SC runs better on Intel but I guess it’s too late for that now anyway. Also, some people said Star Citizen needs a lot of RAM which is something I thought about upgrading with the same kit again as well. I appreciate all your help,

Cheers,
Icy

[Nomedias]

My thoughts.

On the CPU, I’ll only say don’t get price gouged on new Ryzens if you can help it. Availability is making it a field day for the scalpers. You might find a good discount on a clearance of the previous gen, but it might not be much of a gain over what you have now for the money.

(Obligatory comment that for new gaming builds we generally recommend Intel CPUs still. That might change if the new Ryzens become more available at their actual MSRP).

Highly recommend 32GB of ram for SC, it made a huge difference for me on my build then (i7-7700K and 1080GTX). You may not see a boost in fps, but it helped with lowering the frequency of lag spikes when the system starts resorting to the swap file. Also, only get an EXACT match for your current pair or replace it. I’ve had part number matches only to find they changed controllers between runs, and XMP would fail.

(Side note, leave the swap file system managed on one SSD. Lots of bad advice out there to significantly reduce in size or eliminate the swap file.)

Unless you are trying to game above 1080p, I’d personally just hold out with that card until GPU availability improves.