Updating an old PC

[TheGreatYamez]

Hey all, a friend has asked me to build him a new PC that will be relevant for the next 7 or so years but also cost effective. 

He intends to only use the PC for light workloads, with a few programs open at a time. He doesn't intend to game at all on it.

I'm also interested in doing a small form factor build, and with no external GPU needed, this sounds like a good opportunity. However, he's like to use the existing HDD as a backup drive in the future. (maybe an external enclosure?)

Below are his current specs, with his biggest issues being slow loading times.

 

 

As far as an upgrade goes, here's my thinking:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2400G 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$149.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI - B450I GAMING PLUS AC Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard	$119.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory	$59.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$84.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$414.96
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-29 18:32 EST-0500

As for case, I'm not very sure... he doesn't need a window, but does like something aesthetically pleasing and at a good price.

 

Any opinions at all on the build at all are appreciated, and thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Brooksie359]

If you want the pc to last the next 7 years then I would buy 16gb of ram. 

[ch3w2oy]

With Ryzen, you should use at least 3000mhz RAM.

[LogicWeasel]

If he re-uses that video card you could bump the build to a Ryzen 5 2600 or similar and get 2 more cores and more turbo clocks (again on the theory that by 5-6 years from now quad cores will be so 2017 ).

[Cereal5]

You can always wait for Zen 2 and get an R3 3300G which supposedly is a 6c/12t CPU with integrated graphics. For like $100