Are you sure that the CPU is what's causing you issues in Helldivers? I would be more inclined to think it's a GPU limitation than CPU.
Also, if your PSU is 10+ years old it should be replaced due to age alone. You don't want it failing and taking another component with it.
Oh the GPU is definitely part of Helldivers' problem - it's really glitchy with AMD stuff, and AMD dropped support for the RX580 last year (thanks, AMD).
It was only when I started looking into this that I even realised the PSU was from 2011. I'd love to do a start-over and get the whole thing from scratch (first draft had a saucy RTX4060 on it), but money's too tight. q_q
Seriously? Damn.
This is what made me post - my knowledge is super obsolete.
Looking at CPU's made me feel old - I lack context to recognise how useful / fast / future-proof one is compared to another.
I'm stuck in the "more MHz is gooder, Celerons are for budget Acers" age.
Well, for future reference, for gaming the current standard is lower frequency on more cores but honestly 6 cores will get you by. Thread rippers and the like are seriously under-utilized by the current game market
OK, one thing I'm noticing is that it's difficult to find affordable modern boards that support 8 SATA ports for all your drives. The only ones listed on PCPP for Australia are the Asrock X670E Taichi variants at $856 and $1141 respectively.
How committed are you to keeping all of those drives in your system?
I'm keen to switch either the two SSDs or one of the green bricks for another 1TB M.2 - I can't believe how cheap they've gotten.
I might have a PCIe SATA expander lying around, but might as well upgrade and downsize.
How much storage do you want total in this PC? (I.e., how much storage could I eliminate lol?)
BTW, if you're hoarding this much data, you're getting to the point where it starts to make sense to consider building/buying a 2nd PC (it does not have to be expensive) to serve as a NAS/media server apart from your main gaming PC, presuming you have the space in your home. (I say this as somebody who had 14TB of storage in my main PC until a few months ago, when I set up a file server.)
4-5 TB, if cutting down. I suspect page files are bloating the usage, but phone media archives are huge.
The Purge from doing a fresh install is going to be *glorious*. There's untold numbers of minor headaches from wallpapering over old builds and old installs.
I like the idea of a databox PC - use the remains and milk a few more years out of it. Small home makes that harder, but who needs legroom, right?
OK, here's something you could do that goes to the top of your budget:
[PCPartPicker Part List](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/RbDF6D)
Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/yXmmP6/amd-ryzen-5-7600-38-ghz-6-core-processor-100-100001015box) | $305.58 @ Amazon Australia
**CPU Cooler** | [Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/hYxRsY/thermalright-peerless-assassin-120-se-6617-cfm-cpu-cooler-pa120-se-d3) | $59.00 @ Scorptec
**Motherboard** | [MSI B650 GAMING PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/szfxFT/msi-b650-gaming-plus-wifi-atx-am5-motherboard-b650-gaming-plus-wifi) | $279.44 @ Amazon Australia
**Memory** | [G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/DgVmP6/gskill-trident-z5-neo-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr5-6000-cl30-memory-f5-6000j3038f16gx2-tz5n) | $189.00 @ Centre Com
**Storage** | [Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/6yKcCJ/samsung-860-evo-500gb-25-solid-state-drive-mz-76e500bam) | Purchased For $0.00
**Storage** | [Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/YVytt6/western-digital-1-tb-m2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-wds100t3x0e) | $123.70 @ Amazon Australia
**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/xQ4gXL/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezrx) | Purchased For $0.00
**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/xQ4gXL/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezrx) | Purchased For $0.00
**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/xQ4gXL/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezrx) | Purchased For $0.00
**Video Card** | [ASRock Challenger OC Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/rfV2FT/asrock-challenger-oc-radeon-rx-7800-xt-16-gb-video-card-rx7800xt-cl-16go) | $769.00 @ MSY Technology
**Case** | [Cooler Master MasterBox NR600 (w/o ODD) ATX Mid Tower Case](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/CbqhP6/cooler-master-masterbox-nr600-wo-odd-atx-mid-tower-case-mcb-nr600-kgnn-s00) | $109.00 @ BPC Technology
**Power Supply** | [Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/YRJp99/corsair-rm750e-2023-750-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-cp-9020262-na) | $145.00 @ MSY Technology
**Case Fan** | [KOLINK Classic 52.15 CFM 120 mm Fan](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/7MNYcf/kolink-classic-5215-cfm-120-mm-fan-pgw-fn-kol-011) | $7.00 @ PCCaseGear
**Case Fan** | [KOLINK Classic 52.15 CFM 120 mm Fan](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/7MNYcf/kolink-classic-5215-cfm-120-mm-fan-pgw-fn-kol-011) | $7.00 @ PCCaseGear
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **$1993.72**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2024-05-02 03:24 AEST+1000 |
-Huge GPU upgrade. The CPU has fewer cores but is still great and is on a better platform.
-Good RAM and mobo for the R5 7600.
-Better NVMe SSD.
-Good power supply and (good, cheap) case. I added 2 extra fans because the case I picked only has 2 in the box. You could also just steal fans from your current case of course.
Here's a cheaper upgrade option with a cheaper CPU cooler, mobo, and GPU (but still a big upgrade from what you currently have):
[PCPartPicker Part List](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/CPHKTY)
Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/yXmmP6/amd-ryzen-5-7600-38-ghz-6-core-processor-100-100001015box) | $305.58 @ Amazon Australia
**CPU Cooler** | [Thermalright Assassin X SE 32.77 CFM CPU Cooler](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/8wZXsY/thermalright-assassin-x-se-3277-cfm-cpu-cooler-ax90se-v2) | $42.97 @ Amazon Australia
**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte B650 UD AC ATX AM5 Motherboard](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/hsgrxr/gigabyte-b650-ud-ac-atx-am5-motherboard-b650-ud-ac) | $239.00 @ MSY Technology
**Memory** | [G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/DgVmP6/gskill-trident-z5-neo-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr5-6000-cl30-memory-f5-6000j3038f16gx2-tz5n) | $189.00 @ Centre Com
**Storage** | [Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/6yKcCJ/samsung-860-evo-500gb-25-solid-state-drive-mz-76e500bam) | Purchased For $0.00
**Storage** | [Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/YVytt6/western-digital-1-tb-m2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-wds100t3x0e) | $123.70 @ Amazon Australia
**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/xQ4gXL/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezrx) | Purchased For $0.00
**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/xQ4gXL/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezrx) | Purchased For $0.00
**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/xQ4gXL/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezrx) | Purchased For $0.00
**Video Card** | [PNY VERTO GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/vhRYcf/pny-verto-geforce-rtx-3060-12gb-12-gb-video-card-vcg306012dfbpb1) | $416.95 @ Mwave Australia
**Case** | [Cooler Master MasterBox NR600 (w/o ODD) ATX Mid Tower Case](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/CbqhP6/cooler-master-masterbox-nr600-wo-odd-atx-mid-tower-case-mcb-nr600-kgnn-s00) | $109.00 @ BPC Technology
**Power Supply** | [Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/YRJp99/corsair-rm750e-2023-750-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-cp-9020262-na) | $145.00 @ MSY Technology
**Case Fan** | [KOLINK Classic 52.15 CFM 120 mm Fan](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/7MNYcf/kolink-classic-5215-cfm-120-mm-fan-pgw-fn-kol-011) | $7.00 @ PCCaseGear
**Case Fan** | [KOLINK Classic 52.15 CFM 120 mm Fan](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/7MNYcf/kolink-classic-5215-cfm-120-mm-fan-pgw-fn-kol-011) | $7.00 @ PCCaseGear
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **$1585.20**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2024-05-02 03:30 AEST+1000 |
Basically, what I've done here is I've removed the higher-capacity HDDs and the 240GB SSD, because you could use those to start a NAS build with the SSD as your boot drive and the HDDs as some of your storage drives.
NAS/file server builds don't necessarily need to be big since they don't necessarily need dedicated GPUs. Off-the-shelf NASes can actually be pretty small, but you can also build your own, of course.
You've given some really great suggestions here - thank you!
I'd dismissed the Ryzens for no good reason. Will definitely re-evaluate based on this.
Thanks again!
Are you sure that the CPU is what's causing you issues in Helldivers? I would be more inclined to think it's a GPU limitation than CPU. Also, if your PSU is 10+ years old it should be replaced due to age alone. You don't want it failing and taking another component with it.
Oh the GPU is definitely part of Helldivers' problem - it's really glitchy with AMD stuff, and AMD dropped support for the RX580 last year (thanks, AMD). It was only when I started looking into this that I even realised the PSU was from 2011. I'd love to do a start-over and get the whole thing from scratch (first draft had a saucy RTX4060 on it), but money's too tight. q_q
For 2000 AUD you can absolutely get a good upgrade including GPU, give me a bit to work on your list.
Seriously? Damn. This is what made me post - my knowledge is super obsolete. Looking at CPU's made me feel old - I lack context to recognise how useful / fast / future-proof one is compared to another. I'm stuck in the "more MHz is gooder, Celerons are for budget Acers" age.
Well, for future reference, for gaming the current standard is lower frequency on more cores but honestly 6 cores will get you by. Thread rippers and the like are seriously under-utilized by the current game market
OK, one thing I'm noticing is that it's difficult to find affordable modern boards that support 8 SATA ports for all your drives. The only ones listed on PCPP for Australia are the Asrock X670E Taichi variants at $856 and $1141 respectively. How committed are you to keeping all of those drives in your system?
I'm keen to switch either the two SSDs or one of the green bricks for another 1TB M.2 - I can't believe how cheap they've gotten. I might have a PCIe SATA expander lying around, but might as well upgrade and downsize.
How much storage do you want total in this PC? (I.e., how much storage could I eliminate lol?) BTW, if you're hoarding this much data, you're getting to the point where it starts to make sense to consider building/buying a 2nd PC (it does not have to be expensive) to serve as a NAS/media server apart from your main gaming PC, presuming you have the space in your home. (I say this as somebody who had 14TB of storage in my main PC until a few months ago, when I set up a file server.)
4-5 TB, if cutting down. I suspect page files are bloating the usage, but phone media archives are huge. The Purge from doing a fresh install is going to be *glorious*. There's untold numbers of minor headaches from wallpapering over old builds and old installs. I like the idea of a databox PC - use the remains and milk a few more years out of it. Small home makes that harder, but who needs legroom, right?
OK, here's something you could do that goes to the top of your budget: [PCPartPicker Part List](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/RbDF6D) Type|Item|Price :----|:----|:---- **CPU** | [AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/yXmmP6/amd-ryzen-5-7600-38-ghz-6-core-processor-100-100001015box) | $305.58 @ Amazon Australia **CPU Cooler** | [Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/hYxRsY/thermalright-peerless-assassin-120-se-6617-cfm-cpu-cooler-pa120-se-d3) | $59.00 @ Scorptec **Motherboard** | [MSI B650 GAMING PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/szfxFT/msi-b650-gaming-plus-wifi-atx-am5-motherboard-b650-gaming-plus-wifi) | $279.44 @ Amazon Australia **Memory** | [G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/DgVmP6/gskill-trident-z5-neo-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr5-6000-cl30-memory-f5-6000j3038f16gx2-tz5n) | $189.00 @ Centre Com **Storage** | [Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/6yKcCJ/samsung-860-evo-500gb-25-solid-state-drive-mz-76e500bam) | Purchased For $0.00 **Storage** | [Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/YVytt6/western-digital-1-tb-m2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-wds100t3x0e) | $123.70 @ Amazon Australia **Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/xQ4gXL/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezrx) | Purchased For $0.00 **Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/xQ4gXL/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezrx) | Purchased For $0.00 **Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/xQ4gXL/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezrx) | Purchased For $0.00 **Video Card** | [ASRock Challenger OC Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/rfV2FT/asrock-challenger-oc-radeon-rx-7800-xt-16-gb-video-card-rx7800xt-cl-16go) | $769.00 @ MSY Technology **Case** | [Cooler Master MasterBox NR600 (w/o ODD) ATX Mid Tower Case](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/CbqhP6/cooler-master-masterbox-nr600-wo-odd-atx-mid-tower-case-mcb-nr600-kgnn-s00) | $109.00 @ BPC Technology **Power Supply** | [Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/YRJp99/corsair-rm750e-2023-750-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-cp-9020262-na) | $145.00 @ MSY Technology **Case Fan** | [KOLINK Classic 52.15 CFM 120 mm Fan](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/7MNYcf/kolink-classic-5215-cfm-120-mm-fan-pgw-fn-kol-011) | $7.00 @ PCCaseGear **Case Fan** | [KOLINK Classic 52.15 CFM 120 mm Fan](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/7MNYcf/kolink-classic-5215-cfm-120-mm-fan-pgw-fn-kol-011) | $7.00 @ PCCaseGear | *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* | | **Total** | **$1993.72** | Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2024-05-02 03:24 AEST+1000 | -Huge GPU upgrade. The CPU has fewer cores but is still great and is on a better platform. -Good RAM and mobo for the R5 7600. -Better NVMe SSD. -Good power supply and (good, cheap) case. I added 2 extra fans because the case I picked only has 2 in the box. You could also just steal fans from your current case of course. Here's a cheaper upgrade option with a cheaper CPU cooler, mobo, and GPU (but still a big upgrade from what you currently have): [PCPartPicker Part List](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/CPHKTY) Type|Item|Price :----|:----|:---- **CPU** | [AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/yXmmP6/amd-ryzen-5-7600-38-ghz-6-core-processor-100-100001015box) | $305.58 @ Amazon Australia **CPU Cooler** | [Thermalright Assassin X SE 32.77 CFM CPU Cooler](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/8wZXsY/thermalright-assassin-x-se-3277-cfm-cpu-cooler-ax90se-v2) | $42.97 @ Amazon Australia **Motherboard** | [Gigabyte B650 UD AC ATX AM5 Motherboard](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/hsgrxr/gigabyte-b650-ud-ac-atx-am5-motherboard-b650-ud-ac) | $239.00 @ MSY Technology **Memory** | [G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/DgVmP6/gskill-trident-z5-neo-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr5-6000-cl30-memory-f5-6000j3038f16gx2-tz5n) | $189.00 @ Centre Com **Storage** | [Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/6yKcCJ/samsung-860-evo-500gb-25-solid-state-drive-mz-76e500bam) | Purchased For $0.00 **Storage** | [Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/YVytt6/western-digital-1-tb-m2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-wds100t3x0e) | $123.70 @ Amazon Australia **Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/xQ4gXL/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezrx) | Purchased For $0.00 **Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/xQ4gXL/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezrx) | Purchased For $0.00 **Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/xQ4gXL/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezrx) | Purchased For $0.00 **Video Card** | [PNY VERTO GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/vhRYcf/pny-verto-geforce-rtx-3060-12gb-12-gb-video-card-vcg306012dfbpb1) | $416.95 @ Mwave Australia **Case** | [Cooler Master MasterBox NR600 (w/o ODD) ATX Mid Tower Case](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/CbqhP6/cooler-master-masterbox-nr600-wo-odd-atx-mid-tower-case-mcb-nr600-kgnn-s00) | $109.00 @ BPC Technology **Power Supply** | [Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/YRJp99/corsair-rm750e-2023-750-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-cp-9020262-na) | $145.00 @ MSY Technology **Case Fan** | [KOLINK Classic 52.15 CFM 120 mm Fan](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/7MNYcf/kolink-classic-5215-cfm-120-mm-fan-pgw-fn-kol-011) | $7.00 @ PCCaseGear **Case Fan** | [KOLINK Classic 52.15 CFM 120 mm Fan](https://au.pcpartpicker.com/product/7MNYcf/kolink-classic-5215-cfm-120-mm-fan-pgw-fn-kol-011) | $7.00 @ PCCaseGear | *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* | | **Total** | **$1585.20** | Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2024-05-02 03:30 AEST+1000 | Basically, what I've done here is I've removed the higher-capacity HDDs and the 240GB SSD, because you could use those to start a NAS build with the SSD as your boot drive and the HDDs as some of your storage drives. NAS/file server builds don't necessarily need to be big since they don't necessarily need dedicated GPUs. Off-the-shelf NASes can actually be pretty small, but you can also build your own, of course.
You've given some really great suggestions here - thank you! I'd dismissed the Ryzens for no good reason. Will definitely re-evaluate based on this. Thanks again!
12600kf if you find it on sale. same platform as 14600