paul_c Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Windows 10 settings --> about will show the type of CPU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villetuomas Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 (edited) Hello! I am thinking of updating my PC at the moment. It’s a cheap thing from the supermarket which I updated with a GTX 780 GPU a couple of years ago. The GPU runs way too hot for the current case, so that’s my first upgrade and I am thinking of getting the Fractal Define 7 compact and some decent CPU air cooler. Next up I would like to upgrade the current CPU which is i5 2320. I am mostly interested in the second hand market but I am not sure what is the point I would start to see significant improvement. Which generation of i5/i7’s should I target? 4790? 6600? I would like to keep the CPU + Mobo combo under 300€? Edited February 9, 2021 by villetuomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elthy Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 1 minute ago, villetuomas said: Hello! I am thinking of updating my PC at the moment. It’s a cheap thing from the supermarket which I updated with a GTX 780 GPU a couple of years ago. The GPU runs way too hot for the current case, so that’s my first upgrade and I am thinking of getting the Fractal Define 7 compact and some decent CPU air cooler. Next up I would like to upgrade the current CPU which is i5 2320. I am mostly interested in the second hand market but I am not sure what is the point I would start to see significant improvement. Which generation of i5/i7’s should I target? 4970? 6600? I would like to keep the CPU + Mobo combo under 300€? You will have to replace the RAM, too, since you are still on DDR3 and there is nothing worthwile to update to without DDR4 support. You shoud go with at least six cores, otherwise you will have to upgrade again in the near future. I would look for a Ryzen 1600/2600 (or better) on a B450/X470, those should be available quite cheap while still offering a significant upgrade in performance. This should be bundled with 16GB DDR4 Ram, idealy with 3000MHz or more (although you may need to use it at a lower speed with Ryzen 1000/2000). The best thing: You can later upgrade that CPU again for a 3000 or 5000 series CPU without changing the motherboard by just updating the BIOS. If you are lucky you may be able to find a used Ryzen 3600 within your budget, go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_c Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 The case may be okay - depends how big it is and whether it has fitment for standard size, eg 80/92/120/140mm fans. A decent pair of fans would normally resolve cooling issues unless you're constrained by a bad grille, airflow etc. But...a new case is good too (just costs money). Don't forget you'll probably need a power supply too. At that point, its a new PC and its difficult to achieve under E300. If you can re-use case and power supply, you have a fighting chance though. Beware with issues with AM4 motherboards - if they can run Ryzen 1/2/3rd gen, they may not have a BIOS update available to 5000 series, or if they do, its a one-way upgrade. The issue is fitting all the code in for each chip all the way from 1000 series to 5000 series, so they are dropping the mobo support for older CPUs in favour of the 5000 series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villetuomas Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 Thanks for the input. The current case can only fit a single 90mm fan, that's why I'm thinking of replacing it. It doesn't look like it's been designed with any kind of airflow in mind. As I said it's a cheap supermarket PC that I have upgraded with a better GPU. Another reason for upgrading is that it's a black box of ugliness. How about AMD's support for other apps? Besides gaming I use my PC for making music and occasional photo-/video editing. Some years ago at least most DAW's were more stable on Intel CPU's. That's why I am looking at those for the time being. If that's all in history I might go for Ryzen's as well. It's just that I am familiar with Intel's naming scheme so that's easier for me (no need to learn anything new ). And finally yes, I assumed I would need new RAM. So my 300€ budget is for CPU-Mobo. If RAM will fit into it, great. If not I will just need to up my budget. So 300€ is not the definite maximum I can afford, but what I am willing to afford at this point. My power supply was upgraded with the 780 so that's ok. It's not the best but it's sufficient for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_c Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 Is it an ATX power supply? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villetuomas Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 20 minutes ago, paul_c said: Is it an ATX power supply? Yup. It’s a fractal Integra 750W bronze if I recall correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elthy Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 14 hours ago, villetuomas said: How about AMD's support for other apps? Besides gaming I use my PC for making music and occasional photo-/video editing. Some years ago at least most DAW's were more stable on Intel CPU's. That's why I am looking at those for the time being. If that's all in history I might go for Ryzen's as well. It's just that I am familiar with Intel's naming scheme so that's easier for me (no need to learn anything new ). I think Intels "Quicksync" from its IGPU has some sort of advantage in specific video editing scenarios, but i dont know enough about that topic. Otherwise AMD is able to do the same stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villetuomas Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 15 minutes ago, Elthy said: I think Intels "Quicksync" from its IGPU has some sort of advantage in specific video editing scenarios, but i dont know enough about that topic. Otherwise AMD is able to do the same stuff. My photo-/video editing is so occasional that I can definitely tolerate a little bugginess in that department. But my music software has to run smoothly. I mainly use Native Nstruments Reaktor and I have read on their forums that Ryzens have some issues. Mainly hogging up CPU usage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_c Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 Given the market share of AMD and the fact their own 64-bit instruction set became the de-facto standard (rather than Intel's Itanium), I'd say these days CPU compatability is a non-issue. There might be sparodic issues with bits of unusual hardware (drivers) here and there, but not CPUs themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villetuomas Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 Right! I’ll have a look at Ryzens as well then. I’ll just upgrade the case for start and then see what I’ll do with the rest of the machine. Diving deeper into the markets I am actually thinking of just forking out the money for brand new components rather than second hand. I suppose that reduces the need for future upgrades. I’m all for second hand stuff in most cases, but of course PC components are one of the things that usually don’t improve with age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star-Eagle Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 (edited) Hello everyone I'm looking to help my parents update a desktop computer they use as a general use and entertainment machine (web browsing, video streaming, playing DVDs ect). I'd prefer to do an AMD based self build and I've found what seems to be a good deal on several Ryzen 3 3300x + motherboard bundles in the UK from the same seller. I'm particularly interested in their b450 and x470 bundles and have made a short list based on whats in my budget range, but I'm not sure which motherboard option would give the best value for the money so I hope someone here can help me pick one out or at least some pointers on what to look for. In particular I'm looking for a board that would support further upgrades and expansion in the future. The motherboards are the following. Gigabyte B450 Gaming X Motherboard Gigabyte B450 AORUS ELITE Motherboard MSI B450-A PRO MAX Motherboard MSI B450M MORTAR MAX Motherboard Gigabyte B450 AORUS M MotherboardGigabyte B450M GAMING MotherboardGigabyte B450M DS3H Motherboard MSI X470 GAMING PLUS MAX Motherboard ASUS TUF B450-PLUS GAMING ATX Many thanks for any help you can offer. Edited March 3, 2021 by Star-Eagle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_c Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 I am surprised you can obtain a 3300X - is it definitely in stock for delivery? Without going through the specs in detail, I'd recommend a motherboard with built-in Wi-fi and 2x M2 NVMe slots, for neatness and future longevity reasons. But otherwise, any current motherboard has more than enough functionality for a general-use PC these days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star-Eagle Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 @paul_c You make a good point, from what I can see all available indicators show that they have the 3300x's bundles actually in stock in stock. The company I'm looking to buy from is ccl computers in the UK more specifically their ebay store and yes I have checked its really theirs by contacting the company about it through their website. All indicators seem to show them to be a reliable business and going through ebay and paypal offers another layer of security. The only reason I can see that they haven't been snapped up is that their pre-assembled though that seems pretty flimsy to me. If apart from the built-in Wi-fi and 2x M2 NVMe slots there's no functional difference in what motherboard I think I might get the ASUS TUF B450-PLUS . Thanks for your input Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_c Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 I went for the Gigabyte B450M DS3H because it was cheap and technically I didn't need wifi (if I did, I would have probably gone for a motherboard with it). However it only has 1x M2 slot, and I ran out of disk space! I started with 1x256GB NVMe SSD and 1x 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD. I have about 600GB of data over the years, lots of digital pics etc amongst other stuff. Once I'd gotten into gaming and downloaded a number of big games, it was getting tight constantly shuffling stuff around. I wish I'd gone for a motherboard with 2 slots. In the end, my solution was to buy a 2TB hard disk (as in, spinning iron) as a 3rd drive, figuring that its a backup of data and I can move games I don't currently play onto it too. So if it goes pop, I can re-download those games and the data was a backup. But obviously 2 M2 slots would have meant I would have had more upgrade options. Its uo to you whether you want the future flexibility of easy upgrades. Don't forget that you'll need a dedicated graphics card. Also, with a M-ATX board, they often take up 2 slots, and also the 3rd slot becomes awkward to use because its use might block the fans of the graphics card. But I imagine for general web browsing etc you don't need a powerful one, a £50 card will do fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star-Eagle Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 @paul_c Well, I was thinking of getting a GT 710 just to have a video output. My parents aren't that fussed about "ultra" HD resolutions 720 to 1080 is fine with them. And thanks for the heads up on the Gigabyte B450M DS3H; you just saved me having to search for spec on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrandedonEarth Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Okay, headache time. My son has been saving up his money and buying a desktop PC, piece by piece. That last piece arrived today (the water cooling assembly) and we put it together. It still needs a video card, but running on the onchip GPU will do for now to make sure everything is working. The moment of truth arrived: We powered it on and things started whirring, the screen came alive, and we were able to get into BIOS. Yay! It's aliiiiive! The POST LEDs show all systems go! But something is abby-normal. When I try to install Windoze from a thumb drive, it reads the drive for a few seconds, the windows logo comes up, and then it does one of three things: freezes up, throws the blue screen of death (thread exception not handled) or the screen glitches like a graphics problem. Temperatures are nice and low. I updated the BIOS, but no change. I'm at a loss, and am ready to take it to a local computer shop to figure out. And this is why I prefer a prebuilt.... System build: (anything else just ask) Spoiler GB Aorus Z390 Pro Wifi mobo i7-9700k CPU 16GB DDR4 RAM (not sure what make/model atm) Corsair 750W PSU I haven't built a PC in ages. The RAM is in the A2 and B2 slots, that shouldn't matter? It shows up in the BIOS. What confused me was the power connections: The MOBO had a 2x4 12V ATX connector, which I connected to the PSU with the matching cable labelled "CPU." Beside it was another 2x2 12V ATX connector, for which I did not have a matching cable or spot on the PSU. So I left that open. Is that correct? It appeared to be set up as "use one or the other" situation; it shouldn't have booted otherwise, is my understanding. Only thing I've heard that makes sense is a bad CPU? Anyone have any ideas as to what is going on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_c Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 1. Try a different USB port 2. Try reseating the memory and power connection cables 3. Try remounting the CPU cooler (you will need some alcohol to clean the old paste off, then more paste) If none of those work, I'd take it to the PC shop, since they would have the ability to swap-test other stuff eg try a different CPU, try your CPU in another system, etc. You CPU power connections sound fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrandedonEarth Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Thanks for the suggestions. I tried two different thumb drives in a bunch of different USB ports. I'll try reseating the cables and RAM. The annoying thing is having to move the water-cooler radiator out of the way, which would probably be a good thing anyways. I noticed the fans on that were sucking in; Wouldn't they be better off blowing out? The case (CoolerMaster MB511) has three big fans in the front sucking in already.... I hate remounting CPU coolers... Temps are good and I used a non-conductive paste... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_c Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 That's why I put it third. Its very much a last resort, before taking it to a PC repair shop and spending money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrandedonEarth Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 (edited) Reseated the RAM and power cables with no joy. Now researching RAM compatibility, as I just noticed that the RAM my daughter and her bf bought him for Christmas is not what was on the newegg pc builder wish list. I don't know what this is, but it's not the Corsair RAM that was on the list... Spoiler Found this page: https://pangoly.com/en/review/gigabyte-z390-aorus-pro-wifi/compatibility/ram which lists this RAM: TEAM TLZGD48G3000HC16C01 Not quite a perfect match, all but the last three characters... Things that make me go hmmmm... E: And off it goes to the shop for diagnostics. A week wait for its turn. At least it's only $35... Edited March 20, 2021 by StrandedonEarth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul23 Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Well I currently am running an MSI gp 60 laptop (with some added ram to make it 32 gb). However I notice that KSP is slow as snail on this setup, really not running well and playing terrible at times, even simply modded instals with just a 100ish rocket parts drain framerates to abysmal levels like 5-10 frames per second. So much that I often give up on larger missions like eve space stations. (With USI life support to be fully self sustained). I've now looked into buying a normal pc and am looking for advice regarding the video card/processor (and motherboard) to buy. Can anyone give me suggestions? For cpu, I am thinking between: amd ryzen 5 5600x/ AMD Ryzen 7 5800X / intel i5-10600k / intel i7-10700k For GPU: the gtx 1660S or (high end) rtx 2060. I also wish to have at least 64 GB of ram, though those price are much lower. In total I wish to pay around 1200, max 1500 euros for the total build, so the GPU + CPU should be below 1000 euros. What I mainly use my pc for will be kerbal space program, and (modded) minecraft. As well as for programming (hence the requirement for at least 64 GB ram). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VoidSquid Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 In descending order of priorities: Max. single core CPU clock. Amount of RAM. Graphics card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanamonde Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 @paul23, this is such a common kind of question that we have a thread full of suggestions and info for it. Your question has been merged into that thread so you know where to find it. Have fun with your new PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul23 Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 23 minutes ago, VoidSquid said: In descending order of priorities: Max. single core CPU clock. Amount of RAM. Graphics card. It's easiersaid than done for "single core cpu clock". Since different architectures can do vastly different things during one such cycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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