Dinosaur needs upgrading

[Fattybb1]

Hi my kids are driving me mental with nagging about the refurbished pc I bought in first lockdown.

I bought it purely for school work at the time but now they want it to be a gaming rig but budget is tighter than a tight thing.

The current set up is a based on a hp280 g1 mt.

I5 4460s 2.9ghz, 8gb ddr3 (2×4gb unmatched mhz),gt710,500gb hp branded hdd, 175w hp branded psu.

I can't afford to upgrade everything or buy a new system at once so was thinking of firstly getting all these used i7 4790 3.6ghz,16gb ddr3 (2×8 pc12800 1600mhz) and a Kingston kc600 512gb ssd as a new boot drive, this is costed at £153.80

My question is can I do anything different in order to enable me to further upgrade at a later date with out having to rebuy all this again?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

[Jack Dvorak]

what kind of games? I would go for a GT 1030 (used or new, used will be significantly cheaper) and a better PSU, because 175W seems... very unrealistic for anything. The 4460S isn't too terrible, but if you decide to get a 4790 make sure it is compatible with your motherboard. The gt 710 is abismal in any setting, and a GT 1030 is pretty much the cheapest thing you can get right now that can still run stuff.

 

EDIT: if you do go for a GT 1030, make sure it is the GDDR5 version.

[Radium_Angel]

1 minute ago, Jack Dvorak said:

and a better PSU, because 175W seems... very unrealistic for anything. T

Assuming the HP uses a standard PSU layout and size, which isn't guaranteed with HP

[YoungBlade]

With a GT 710, the i5 4460S is more than sufficient, so I wouldn't bother with a CPU upgrade until you get a new graphics card. The i5 4460S can usually handle cards like the RX 570 and GTX 1060 3GB just fine in most games.

[Radium_Angel]

2 minutes ago, YoungBlade said:

GTX 1060 3GB

Which requires a 350-400 watt power supply...

Something the HP doesn't have

[Fattybb1]

6 hours ago, Jack Dvorak said:

what kind of games? I would go for a GT 1030 (used or new, used will be significantly cheaper) and a better PSU, because 175W seems... very unrealistic for anything. The 4460S isn't too terrible, but if you decide to get a 4790 make sure it is compatible with your motherboard. The gt 710 is abismal in any setting, and a GT 1030 is pretty much the cheapest thing you can get right now that can still run stuff.

The main games are Rust, farming simulator 19 but wants to upgrade to the new farming simulator 22 ,minecraft and loads of role-playing type games based on roblox style.

The gpu I was going to wait for a few months for the predicted price crash when the crypto miners find out the rigs are no longer going to be profitable.

 

6 hours ago, YoungBlade said:

With a GT 710, the i5 4460S is more than sufficient, so I wouldn't bother with a CPU upgrade until you get a new graphics card. The i5 4460S can usually handle cards like the RX 570 and GTX 1060 3GB just fine in most games.

Thanks I think I would need to upgrade the psu and cooling or am I over thinking

 

6 hours ago, Radium_Angel said:

Which requires a 350-400 watt power supply...

Something the HP doesn't have

Ah I thought as much thanks

[YoungBlade]

Just now, Radium_Angel said:

Which requires a 350-400 watt power supply...

Something the HP doesn't have

 

1 minute ago, Fattybb1 said:

Thanks I think I would need to upgrade the psu and cooling or am I over thinking

I was not saying to get those specific cards. I was saying that the CPU is able to keep up with cards of that caliber, so upgrading to the i7 while a GT 710 is in there is mostly useless for improving gaming performance.

 

For this situation, a GTX 1650 would actually be ideal, as it sometimes doesn't even require supplemental power, but in the current market, that's a hard find at a reasonable price.

[Fattybb1]

6 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

Assuming the HP uses a standard PSU layout and size, which isn't guaranteed with HP

Now I'm starting to think maybe they have a proprietary board power combo I best take a closer look I think

[Radium_Angel]

5 minutes ago, Fattybb1 said:

Now I'm starting to think maybe they have a proprietary board power combo I best take a closer look I think

If in doubt, post pics here of it and where it connects to the motherboard

[Fattybb1]

6 hours ago, Radium_Angel said:

If in doubt, post pics here of it and where it connects to the motherboard

I'll give it a go once the Herbert's have gone to bed

 

6 hours ago, Radium_Angel said:

If in doubt, post pics here of it and where it connects to the motherboard

Got a few pics whilst he was making a tea so couldn't get right in 

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[Radium_Angel]

24pin power connector to mobo, that's a bonus, I did not expect that.

Looks like a pair of sata connectors to the drives.

 

When I get a moment at home I'll do more research and ensure it's a standard size.

[Fattybb1]

1 minute ago, Radium_Angel said:

24pin power connector to mobo, that's a bonus, I did not expect that.

Looks like a pair of sata connectors to the drives.

 

When I get a moment at home I'll do more research and ensure it's a standard size.

Thanks last time I did any pc repairs/upgrades was on a 5 day course in 1998 so little out of touch lol

[Radium_Angel]

Ha, you might be better off, then, bringing it to a professional repair shop and let them do the upgrades. Just to be on the safe side

[Fattybb1]

16 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

Ha, you might be better off, then, bringing it to a professional repair shop and let them do the upgrades. Just to be on the safe side

Probably a good idea but I'm too tight lol. I've got a bit of time fixing up my kids tablet and phone screens so hopefully being bigger components and proper antistatic grounding my fat fingers can't do too much wrong hahaha

[Radium_Angel]

ok, according to this site

https://www.cpumedics.com/hp-745414-001-180w-atx-power-supply-unit-for-hp-280-g1/

The dimensions of the PSU are as follows:

Dimensions: 150mm x 86mm x 140mm

 

A standard PSU measures 

150 mm width, 86 mm height, and typically 140 mm depth So for a change, HP used industry standard sizes, this is good news, so the first thing I'd do is consider a better PSU, especially if you want to get a better video card.

[wasab]

install an emulator and give them old super ninetndo entertainment system games to play. 

[SansVarnic]

6 hours ago, Fattybb1 said:

I can't afford to upgrade everything or buy a new system at once

As a Dad myself my first response would be Tuff.. to the kids of course.

 

My advice, save. Get yourself to a comfortable amount you feel is appropriate. [Roughly 1000-1300 usd is my recommendation] Then start planning on what you think you will be doing with this, you really don't need top tier as with availability you're going to pay to much for top tier so settle for 2nd tier.

 

With that said, if your financial position is as I presume it to, be by your admittance, what you have is fine to get by for a little while and gaming for the kiddos is not a priority. I would focus on building your savings [20% of your annual pay is best for preparedness] first and getting yourself on a good footing. But that is my 2cents from one parent to another.

[Fattybb1]

4 hours ago, SansVarnic said:

As a Dad myself my first response would be Tuff.. to the kids of course.

 

My advice, save. Get yourself to a comfortable amount you feel is appropriate. [Roughly 1000-1300 usd is my recommendation] Then start planning on what you think you will be doing with this, you really don't need top tier as with availability you're going to pay to much for top tier so settle for 2nd tier.

 

With that said, if your financial position is as I presume it to, be by your admittance, what you have is fine to get by for a little while and gaming for the kiddos is not a priority. I would focus on building your savings [20% of your annual pay is best for preparedness] first and getting yourself on a good footing. But that is my 2cents from one parent to another.

Thanks that is sound advice 

[Fattybb1]

8 hours ago, Radium_Angel said:

ok, according to this site

https://www.cpumedics.com/hp-745414-001-180w-atx-power-supply-unit-for-hp-280-g1/

The dimensions of the PSU are as follows:

Dimensions: 150mm x 86mm x 140mm

 

A standard PSU measures 

150 mm width, 86 mm height, and typically 140 mm depth So for a change, HP used industry standard sizes, this is good news, so the first thing I'd do is consider a better PSU, especially if you want to get a better video card.

Thanks I'll get one as soon as I can

[Fattybb1]

4 hours ago, wasab said:

install an emulator and give them old super ninetndo entertainment system games to play. 

Good call but I'll be on it all the time so kids will moan more hahaha 

[Fattybb1]

Small update. 

I have replaced the hdd with a sata ssd and the 8gb ram is now 16gb with matched mhz and the 710 has been swapped for a used 1050. 

I did a full clean up off all the fans etc and removed some bloatware and so far the kids are well happy so that gives me time to save up a bit.

 

My next foray into component switching will probably be the case with mesh panel and psu so that it will handle the later planned upgrades.

 

Thank you for the advice and no doubt I'll be asking for more options and opinions