Question Salvage my old broken PC, or build a new one for Indiana Jones?

[hunterdahammah]

My computer broke back in December. It was a sub-$600 rig with a B450 motherboard, Ryzen 5 3600 CPU, 32GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM, 512GB M.2 SSD, and 750W PSU that I put together back in early 2021, but abandoned due to GPUs being impossible to find, and was finally able to get operational this past October with an RTX 3050 6GB for $165. It could push 180 FPS in Black Ops 6 at the lowest possible settings in 1080p with DLSS.

But then 2 months later in December, the DisplayPort on the GPU stopped working, so I had to find an HDMI cable, but then I started getting display glitches and had to keep unplugging and restarting. Then it just started lighting up without booting, so I started taking the RAM in and out, and then THAT didn't work, so I tried to pop out the CPU, without unscrewing it good AND without ungluing the thermal paste from the cooler, and pins snapped off. The socket might still be usable, but I don't even know if I trust this rig at this point. The CPU and GPU have both been gutted out, and it's been sitting there unplugged ever since.

I just started working full-time and earning a stable income again, and I'm debating whether to try and salvage my old rig, or build a new one to meet the recommended requirements for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. That seems to be the benchmark game with the higher system requirements right now.

If I do salvage it, what do I even put in? Everyone recommended Ryzen 5 5600 for cheap builds rn, but I'd probably go for a 5700X3D cause if I'm stuck on AM4, I might as well go all out. But then for the GPU, I have no clue. You want 12GB of VRAM, but those cards are like $400 minimum, and that's for a 3060, never mind a 40 or 50 series card. And then will it even work? Is the CPU socket okay? What about other broken things I might not know about? Just seems like a hassle for a computer that wasn't even all that great to begin with.

This Indiana Jones build that I shopped around for on NewEgg costs $1,093.33. It has a B650 motherboard, Ryzen 7 7700 CPU, RX 7700 XT GPU, 32GB of DDR5 6000MHz CL36 RAM, 1TB Gen 4x4 SSD, and 750W PSU. It only meets the recommended specs for minimum ray tracing though, as full ray tracing requires at least a 4080, and anything that good is at least $1,300 (more than the whole rest of the computer). Minimum ray tracing it is.

What would you recommend? I'm leaning more towards the new rig myself, but I don't want my first PC I ever built to be a waste. Would you recommend a different new build rather than the one I picked? I'm using this on a 200Hz 1080p monitor with cheap USB/3.5mm dual speakers for context.

 

[Lutfij]

512GB M.2 SSD, and 750W PSU
Make and model of your PSU(and it's age) as well as the make and model of your M.2 drive? You could recycle the 512GB drive to have as your C:, with the OS, app's and launchers on it. You've generically listed your specs, we generally ask for the make and models of your parts to see if you have dodgy players within the build.

1TB Gen 4x4 SSD, and 750W PSU
Or are you trying to recycle your existing PSU?

What would you recommend?
If you're going to build a system from the ground up, you make sure you're putting in quality components to sere you dividends in the long run. Then again, if the series of mishaps on your build might be the result of an electrical problem, then I'd suggest making sure your wall out is sorted out(after you call in a certified electrician) otherwise you'll see a repeat of the gremlins seen in your old build. To add, if you're not going to go beyond 1080p, you're dropping in a lot of money either which way.

 

[Eximo]

Aside from taking the PC to a repair shop to get the board and memory tested, not much else worth salvaging aside from the storage. I would opt for starting over.

Moderately priced GPUs to target for minimum ray tracing requirements:

Intel B580 12GB (If available) B570 10GB is marginal, but they are easier to find.
Intel A770 16GB - older, but still decent and the drivers have been steadily improving. (400ish right now, but that may change)
RTX 5060Ti 16GB - Avoid the 8GB model.
RTX 5070 12GB (the cheapest ones run about $610)
Potential, but not quite out yet. RX 9070 GRE 12GB, not sure how much the lower VRAM hurts it.
RX 9070 16GB, but not at the current inflated prices, but it might come down.

Radeon 7000 series is only really good on the higher end, 7900XT and 7900XTX when it comes to decent ray tracing performance. 7900 GRE if you can find one. 7800XT is somewhat pricey for the performance level, fine for raster though.

B580 for $310, higher than it should be, but pretty much the best bang for the buck right now.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/bwh2FT/onix-lumi-oc-arc-b580-12-gb-video-card-8346-00278


You might consider the used GPU market. Getting a 3080 or even a 4060 Ti might be feasible. I would say shop around for GPUs, and build the rest once you have something in hand.

If you are near a Microcenter, that is about the best place to get a GPU in the US.

 

[hunterdahammah]

I wanna build me a new PC, and I had the idea to build one to meet the recommended system requirements for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, with full path tracing enabled.

The parts I have in my Newegg shopping cart are a Ryzen 7 7700 CPU, RTX 5070 Ti GPU, 32GB DDR5 6000 CL30 RAM, B650M WiFi motherboard, and micro ATX case. The 750W PSU and 512GB M.2 SSD will be recycled from my previous build that broke last December. Total cost of all these parts? $1,482.64. Upgrading my SSD to 1TB would bump the price up to $1,542.19.

Is that even really worth it though? Is the game really that good? Is full path tracing worth paying this much for? Are there other path tracing games that would make this build worth it? Would it be more worthwhile without the tariffs and shortages hiking prices?

Or should I just say forget Indiana Jones and build a cheap $500 rig to play whatever, like I did for my first PC build? (Though I'd at least like to be able to run 1080p ultra at 120FPS with no DLSS).

This build will be played on a 200Hz 1080p monitor.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Indiana Jones is cool at first. I honestly quit playing it. So many puzzles etc. maybe I’ll go back to it one day? As far as path tracing etc can’t really answer that. Graphics card market is high right now though.

 

[Flayed]

Unreal engine 5 based games are really hard on graphics cards. I feel like they assumed there would be more performance available across the board when they designed it. The Lumen ray traced lighting does look good though. You can forget 120fps in UE5 games without framegen though the one I'm currently playing is Oblivion remastered and I'm getting 60 to 80 fps but it does look great.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I’ve got a 5060ti 16gb and I will say you definitely want frame generation and dlss. It would be ok if those were turned off I guess, but with dlss and frame generation I can hit a like over 100fps on oblivion remastered with mostly high settings. It goes towards the 50s and 60s without those options unless I compromise more settings. 5070ti is a decent card but if you’re getting this pc, don’t get it for just one game. Though there’s no shame in doing a compromise build with a cheaper gpu until you trade up later. In my case the 5060ti 16gb is a good enough card to hold me until I have more money or the market really straightens out. As in getting a 9070xt for msrp etc.

On the idea of a compromise build, I was reminded today by a video how potent a cheap i7 12700k/kf on a midrange board can be if you’re on a budget and can a play about anything out there.

 

[Flayed]

I’ve got a 5060ti 16gb and I will say you definitely want frame generation and dlss. It would be ok if those were turned off I guess, but with dlss and frame generation I can hit a like over 100fps on oblivion remastered with mostly high settings. It goes towards the 50s and 60s without those options unless I compromise more settings. 5070ti is a decent card but if you’re getting this pc, don’t get it for just one game. Though there’s no shame in doing a compromise build with a cheaper gpu until you trade up later. In my case the 5060ti 16gb is a good enough card to hold me until I have more money or the market really straightens out. As in getting a 9070xt for msrp etc.

On the idea of a compromise build, I was reminded today by a video how potent a cheap i7 12700k/kf on a midrange board can be if you’re on a budget and can a play about anything out there.

I thought you had a 7900 XTX?

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I did. Had some bills that I needed to pay and while I could have kept it, seemed the responsible thing to sell it to help pay for that bill. I found the 5060ti 16gb at the actual msrp and picked it up, was able to still the xtx for around double.

The xtx seemed a bit frivolous. But truthfully I’d watched the new gpu launches and maybe had a little butters remorse as well that it didn’t have newer tech like fsr 4 etc for what it cost. Once I get some stuff taken care of I’ll probably consider upgrading to something like the 5070ti or a 9070/9070xt if those come down. Though I think I read about the possibility of an 18gb 5070 super? So that would be one I’d consider. I’m at 4k so a card like the xtx is overkill as well.

 

[helper800]

I’m at 4k so a card like the xtx is overkill as well.

Nothing is overkill at 4k.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Why on earth did I say 4k lol. I’m at 1440p. Oops