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)
Though call. Like i dont want to shame your hardware or anything. But there is a reason those Bulldozer era CPUs almost bankrupted AMD. They’re just not that great. Those Zen 2 cores in your Steamdeck APU are so much faster that the multithreaded performance is still better even though it has half the cores of that FX-8350 .
I mean its a no brainer to just fire that old tower up with some distro and play around with it. That 970 is still plenty powerful for its age. But investing money in it? Idk. I wouldnt a lot. If at all.
Like if you struggle with the nvidia drivers i would maybe look into a cheap RX480 or RX580 with 8GB of VRAM. But anything above that is IMHO(!) wasted money with that CPU.