After having a Stream Deck and then installing Linux on an old laptop for my wife, I decided to try and resurrect an old desktop I built in 2016. Wondering if it worth upgrading the graphics card, or is the whole thing too old to be of much use.
Parts
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD FX-8350 4 GHz 8-Core Processor | - |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | - |
| Motherboard | Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard | - |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance Pro 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3-2133 CL9 Memory | - |
| Video Card | Sapphire 100292L Radeon HD 5450 1 GB Video Card | - |
| Case | Cooler Master HAF XB EVO ATX Desktop Case | - |
| Power Supply | EVGA 700 B1 700 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | - |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-12-31 21:26 EST-0500 |
In case the above is not viewable
PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/BVTxh7
CPU: AMD FX-8350 4 GHz 8-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3-2133 CL9 Memory
Video Card: Sapphire 100292L Radeon HD 5450 1 GB Video Card
Case: Cooler Master HAF XB EVO ATX Desktop Case
Power Supply: EVGA 700 B1 700 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-12-31 21:33 EST-0500
Edit to add: No Man’s Sky is my most played game. And I was looking at an 8gb Radeon card as an update, if that upgrade would make the system usable, then I will do that. Otherwise I will save for a Steam Machine.
Edit 2: I knew I had a better graphics card, when I got home from work I found it. It is a [ASUS GeForce GTX 970 4GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support Graphics Card STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5](https://www.newegg.com/asus-strix-gtx970-dc2oc-4gd5-geforce-gtx-970-4gb-graphics-card-double-fans/p/N82E16814121899?item=N82E16814121899)
A set of DDR5 RAM now costs nearly as much as a whole PC did a year ago. It’s still worth upgrading the GPU and getting more use out of an older machine. DDR3 RAM is still affordable. There are also M.2 to PCIe adapters if you want a modern SSD, you just can’t use it as a boot drive. If you’re running Linux, you can put everything except /boot on the NVMe SSD.
Something 10 years old wouldn’t even have lanes available for that to work in any meaningful way at all.
Whatchu smoking, son??
The Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 motherboard has two x16 PCIe 2.0 slots running x16/x16 and two running x4/x4. A mid range GPU will be fine. That’s still twice the bandwidth you get with an external GPU on Thunderbolt. NVMe drives will work fine as well. The speed will be limited, but they will still be much faster than SATA.