Upgrading PC

Forums › Desktop computing › Upgrading PC

JamjarsNZ

63 posts

Master Geek

#210236 18-Mar-2017 22:03

Hi, I am not very experienced at building a PC but I would like to upgrade what I have to a more modern setup. My PC is more than 10 years old now and apart from adding some RAM, replacing the GPU and adding a SSD I have not done much with it. It seems to be getting a bit sluggish now and it will not use my full Gigabit fibre connection.

Any recommendations or a starting point to what to buy, I am prepared to buy motherboard, CPU and RAM and recycle everything else if possible.

Currently my setup is

Midi-Tower ATX Case +550W PSU

Asus P5L-VM 1394 Motherboard

Intel Core 2 CPU 6420@2.13GHz, 2128 Mhz,

4GB DDR2 RAM

NVIDIA GeForce GTX550 Ti

Samsung SSD 840 Evo 120GB (Win10 running on it)

500GB & 2TB Harddrives for file storage

DVD and memory card reader as well

I don't know where to start looking for hardware. I don't want to spend heaps on gear I wont really use. I would want a few USB 3.0 ports.

Typically the PC has about a dozen tabs open in Chrome, my genealogy program running, a few torrents downloading, streaming BBC or Sky GO, PLEX server running on the PC, and the most gaming there would be is CIV 6, Simcity or Diablo 3.

Any help would be appreciated, and I will try and give any more info if I have missed anything.

Cheers.

1 | 2

2619 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1743589 18-Mar-2017 22:25

For your needs, basically anything modern would work. Gaming aside, a really straightforward i3 or 5, 4gb ram (8gb recommended) to match the boards required speeds, and your-brand-of-choice Motherboard.

Reuse the SSD and buy the best gaming GPU your saved money can buy IF you want this one to last another 10 years.

TBH I think only VR will begin to push a modern PC's real boundaries, and even then the GPU will probably be the main requirement too... or the headset may even have the grunt built in(?)

darylblake

1162 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1743663 19-Mar-2017 07:56

You will probably want to replace the motherboard to something a bit newer which takes Intel i3/i5/i7 type of chips.

Budget? What would you like to spend. And Purpose are good questions. Do you want something new? Or you not too fussed just best bang for buck?

Depending on your budget you can look at getting a new motherboard and CPU. I would go with at least 8gb of ram, 16gb if you want to run a lot of applications.

If you want to get something brand new on a budget I would look at:

INTEL KABYLAKE CORE I5-7400 3.0GHZ, 6MB, LGA1151 PROCESSOR (About $279)

GIGABYTE GA-B250M-D3H, INTEL B250, DDR4, USB3.1 MATX MOTHERBOARD @ $150

Corsair CMK8GX4M2A2400C14 Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4-2400 CL14 $119

Gigabyte GV-RX470G1 GAMING-4GD Radeon RX470 4GB GDDR5 Graphics Card VR Ready $299

Keep your old PSU, case SSD.

So you are looking at spending a LOT more to buy a new one.

Best bang for buck is to buy something off trademe. Sandy/Ivy Bridge or Haswell i5 or better. I have seen lots of stuff on trademe for about $500.

Also, if you don't game, then you can keep your old GPU. And pop it in the new build with something like an i3 6100 for a bit cheaper than the i5-7400. Those games you listed will run fine with your current GPU.

joff_nz

446 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1743694 19-Mar-2017 09:08

Hi jamjars I've just last night upgraded my PC leaving my i5-4460, 16gb ram & Mobo to be sold. I haven't yet worked out what I want for it & can't tell if you're considering second hand but if it interests you then PM me

Athlonite

1828 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1743699 19-Mar-2017 09:16

By replacing just the mobo ram and CPU you could save yourself a considerable amount of dosh

If I were you I'd be seriously looking at a AMD Ryzen R7 1700 or 1700x system best bang for buck and lower power usage so your existing PSU will be fine

kiwifidget

"Cookie"
3423 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1743713 19-Mar-2017 09:35

Would some of those changes require a new Win10 license?

Delete cookies?! Are you insane?!

darylblake

1162 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1743715 19-Mar-2017 09:36

It's only $20 US to get another OEM license. And only if you have retail win10 then you can just call MS.

joff_nz

446 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1743720 19-Mar-2017 09:41

Having changed Mobo CPU ram last night I can confirm my win 10 licence moved over fine. MS has made some changes late last year that allow you to attach your licence to your MS account & move activation easily.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

JamjarsNZ

63 posts

Master Geek

#1743735 19-Mar-2017 10:51

Thanks for the advise, I didn't have a budget as I had no idea what I was looking for. It has got to be a few hundy as my wife is about to go off on maternity leave. I will look into what you guys have recommended but it may have to what till the end of the year and we are back on 2 wages if it gets up too much. I'm not in too much of a rush.

Cheers.

Brumfondl

1187 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1743740 19-Mar-2017 11:00

Register the Win10 key with a Microsoft account and you shouldn't need another license. You just use the Activation Troubleshooter and point it to the existing license afaik.

mentalinc

3240 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1743792 19-Mar-2017 13:37

I'd suggest you buy a new PSU, the one you have I assume came included with the case, and based on the fact its 10 years old won't have the required connectors for the new motherboard, plus will be starting to get flaky and you dont want the PSU to take out all your new gear.

CPU: AMD 5900x | RAM: GSKILL Trident Z Neo RGB F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC-32-GB | MB: Asus X570-E | GFX: EVGA FTW3 Ultra RTX 3080Ti| Monitor: LG 27GL850-B 2560x1440

Quic: https://account.quic.nz/refer/473833 R473833EQKIBX

Batman

Mad Scientist
29769 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1743796 19-Mar-2017 13:43

I wonder if the built in GPU in the 7th gen Intel CPU (or AMD eq) will be superior to your recycled GPU :)

Buy a new mobo ram and CPU.

Athlonite

1828 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1743941 19-Mar-2017 17:33

kiwifidget:

Would some of those changes require a new Win10 license?

Not sure really as I've changed a fair bit since installing win 10 and never had it ask for a new serial number yet

Athlonite

1828 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1743945 19-Mar-2017 17:36

joker97:

I wonder if the built in GPU in the 7th gen Intel CPU (or AMD eq) will be superior to your recycled GPU :)

Buy a new mobo ram and CPU.

even if it is he can upgrade that later when money allows

darylblake

1162 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1743986 19-Mar-2017 18:20

joker97:

I wonder if the built in GPU in the 7th gen Intel CPU (or AMD eq) will be superior to your recycled GPU :)

Buy a new mobo ram and CPU.

according to http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ the 550 Ti GPU is faster.

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13769 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1744029 19-Mar-2017 19:49

darylblake:

joker97:

I wonder if the built in GPU in the 7th gen Intel CPU (or AMD eq) will be superior to your recycled GPU :)

Buy a new mobo ram and CPU.

according to http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ the 550 Ti GPU is faster.

It'll be faster, but wont have the newer features available to newer cards etc. For general day to day stuff, onboard is fine anyway, its only gaming that you'd want to upgrade the video card.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

1 | 2