major upgrade

xwrench3 · March 9, 2016

after 10 long years, and surviving a lightning strike with only minor damage, i have decided to upgrade. i am on a fixed income, which is tight, but my old HP is giving me problems, and i can hardly stand how slow it is. anyway, its a HP a1720n (micro atx case), and my plan is to rebuild it rather than build an entirely new computer. i have decided on a 6th gen Intel i5 6500 cpu. i have not decided on a motherboard yet. i know it needs ddr4 memory (i want usb 3.1 functionality for the future), and i figure 8gb should be enough. there will not be a graphics card. as i am not much of a gamer. i do play a few, but there noting demanding. i want as much future expansion possibility as i can afford. i WILL NOT be spending more than $140-150.. on a motherboard under any circumstances. at present, i am leaning towards MSI boards, as i like several features that they have that others do not (mainly the l.e.d. diagnosis "EZ Debug" feature). i am not sure about their "military grade" claim, but if that is true, that could not be a bad thing. all the boards in this class use 2133mhz memory. i am not sure if buying faster would be any gain or not. i am at this point, considering buying one 8gb stick, so that if 8gb is not enough, i will not have to buy 2 sticks later on. i plan on using a 1tb wd blue hard drive. which should last me the rest of my life. this will be my first build. though i did "help" (mechanically only) on one other build. any helpful thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

verydogesuchwow · March 9, 2016

2 minutes ago, xwrench3 said:

do you have a color scheme you're going for?

xwrench3 · March 9, 2016

no, the computer sits down under my desk, and the only time any of it (besides the face) will be seen is when i pull it out every other month to blow the dust off the insides.

xwrench3 · March 15, 2016

well, i think i have this pretty much figured out. i am going to use an MSI H-170M ECO motherboard, with the Intel i5-6500, a pair of G Skill ddr4 2133 memory sticks (4 GB each), a WD Blue 1TB 7500 rpm hard drive, a Rosewill 400 watt power supply, and possibly ( if my old case gives me to much trouble) a Cougar Solution 2 case. the reason for the H170 board is it will give me a lot more upgrade options than a B150M ECO will, and its a lot cheaper than going all the way to a z170 board. if anyone sees a problem with this, please let me know. buying these parts is costly enough. making costly mistakes will push this build out at least another month.