Upgrading workstation to gaming

ectoraige

I'm looking for a bit of advice on an upgrade path, my son is using an old workstation for gaming and streaming, mostly Fortnite and Rocket League.

Current specs are:
* Xeon W-2123 3.6GHz
* nVidia Quadro P4000
* 1x 16GB DDR4 2666MHz
* Corsair RM750x
* Lenovo SDK0Q40112

I think I'm limited to Xeons due to the motherboard, it's a C422 chipset that doesn't support overclocking to the best of my knowledge.

I've only about €300 to spend at the moment but I'm thinking of I can pick up a second hand GTX 10xx or even a RTX 20xx I could sell on the P4000.

Or would a second DIMM and better processor be more effective?

Thanks for the help.

K.O.Kiki

The CPU is a Skylake 4core/8thread so it should be fine enough.

There's just enough in the kitty to get an RTX 2060 KO: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B083JVFX64?linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&smid=A3JWKAKR8XB7XF&creativeASIN=B083JVFX64&tag=geizhalspre03-21&ascsubtag=4ZlVzu7UHAiCFUeQHtEtA

Being an RTX card it can also use Geforce Streaming.

ectoraige

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

The CPU is a Skylake 4core/8thread so it should be fine enough.

There's just enough in the kitty to get an RTX 2060 KO: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B083JVFX64?linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&smid=A3JWKAKR8XB7XF&creativeASIN=B083JVFX64&tag=geizhalspre03-21&ascsubtag=4ZlVzu7UHAiCFUeQHtEtA

Being an RTX card it can also use Geforce Streaming.

Does the RTX still have an advantage for streaming over GTXs that have NVENC support? He does like to do editing too so alternative thought with a GTX in the 200-250 bracket and another 16Gb RAM

minitrue

The P4000 is a 1070 equivalent so moving to something like a 1660/1660 Super would be a side-grade or even slight downgrade in general but would get you the much improved nvenc (1650 super is the cheapest card that has it). If you got the 2060 KO (or a second hand RTX) I'd presume you would get enough from the P4000 from someone who wants the Quadro features to add the ram and a (or another) ssd which would both help out on the editing side.

Homelander

Some games are very sensitive to single channel ram. Others are not. But it can vary anything from 5-50% performance loss.

The Quadro P4000 is also worth a lot of money even 2nd hand so it would cover upgrades. And, have to remember it's close to a GTX1070 in performance.

Being honest, unless this is running at 4K or 144hz, there is no need for any upgrade for Rocket League or Fortnite....but maybe newer cards would help with streaming.

Given the value of your workstation, you could actually sell it and buy a whole new superior PC with the cash, one actually orientated towards gaming/streaming.

ectoraige

Thanks all, I think I'll keep an eye for RTX 20xx/super second hand, and if I can't get anything then a new 2060 6gb will do. Hopefully as the 30xx line ramps up the second hand prices will improve. Selling on the P4000 will pay for extra memory then and then we can see where we are in terms of mobo/CPU/monitor upgrades down the line.

I don't want to replace the whole system as it's in daily use and I'd have to sell it before buying a replacement.