Thoughts on upgrade for relative

[skywake]

So I had a computer brought to me yesterday and was asked to upgrade it for my brother's nephew. The list of requirements were:

- they want to salvage as much as is reasonable to keep costs down

- Kid only plays facebook games

- Parent wants more storage

- No specific budget but an implied budget

 

It's basically one of these: http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/acer-acerpower-s290-celeron/4507-3118_7-32497938.html

With a bit more RAM (1.5GB) and a slightly larger HDD (160GB). It runs well for what it is and has a fairly decent CPU cooler given it's pre-built so I was tempted to suggest throwing in some new storage at it and calling it a day. It's very quiet ignoring the HDD and they have the HDD partitioned in two with the first full and the second empty. So a 250GB SSD would probably solve a few problems.

 

..... but it's a Celeron so I thought it was better to push it a bit further. With the HDD partitioning misuse in mind I decided it was best to try and come up with something that was reasonably snappy, had a fair chunk of storage on a single drive and wasn't going to die instantly. If I do anything I'll have to get a new optical drive because the current one is IDE. The only things I'm leaving are the case, 250W still-working PSU and card reader:

 

-edit-

I did a bit of a closer look and it's actually a 1.6Ghz Celeron D not the 3.4Ghz one in the link above. Going a bit deeper it, as I expected, turns any video above 480p into a slideshow. So as good as it does run otherwise I don't think I can get away with just swapping the HDD for an SSD.

-edit-

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($139.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Motherboard:  Asus H81M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($65.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Memory:  Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($45.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Optical Drive:  LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer  ($25.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit)  ($115.00 @ CPL Online) 

Other: Seagate Desktop SSHD 1TB ($124.00)

Total: $513.00

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-28 12:59 EST+1100)

 

Any suggestions for alterations would be welcome keeping in mind that I've already shown them this and they're ok with that price. Or a "that sounds good" if you can't find anything that's just broken would be even more welcome! More importantly I want to know what people's thoughts are on cooling. Currently the only fans in this thing are on the CPU cooler and PSU, both 80mm. The front, back and side have space each for 80mm fans. Should I just leave it as is with just the PSU as exhaust or take the CPU cooler fan and put it on either the front or the back of the case?

Edited October 28, 2013 by skywake

[flibberdipper]

At this rate, you might as well build a new PC for them altogether. Look at mine: It only cost $450 USD with everything through Newegg, and a couple extra things (LED lights, case, keyboard and mouse, etc). And AMD is a better choice since it's usually cheaper going that route.

[flibberdipper]

Let me throw together a rig on there real quick.

[piplupgao]

Get an APU

[flibberdipper]

A complete PC for just under $500 USD. Tell me what you think.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/tmcclelland455/saved/2FS4

[WoodenMarker]

Just get the ssd and see if they still have to upgrade after that.

[Giggitygoebbels]

A complete PC for just under $500 USD. Tell me what you think.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/tmcclelland455/saved/2FS4

It is not australian PCPartPicker site,some parts are not available there.

[skywake]

Just a few things:

- Prices are AUD not USD, so it's probably closer to ~$460US if I was to build this in the US

- They're not PC gamers, they're running integrated graphics on this so I think a GPU would be unnecessary

- There isn't exactly a huge range of new cheap CPUs here, it's APUs and Pentiums then i3s at all of my local retailers

- With the parts available locally CPU + MoBo with AMD's APUs and the i3 end up costing about the same from what I can tell. Pentium is the only cheaper option

 

Very tempted to just replace the HDD with an SSD but I have been down that road before. I have usually done that but I don't want the back and forth with a frankenrig coming out the other side. Plus it's a 2007 Celeron with SiS powered integrated graphics, I'm pretty sure they'll come back wanting it to be faster. They'll probably want youtube/facebook/flashgames to run better primarily

[flibberdipper]

It is not australian PCPratPicker site,some parts are not available there.

I see. Try to find something along the same lines.

[flibberdipper]

Just a few things:

- Prices are AUD not USD, so it's probably closer to ~$460US if I was to build this in the US

- They're not PC gamers, they're running integrated graphics on this so I think a GPU would be unnecessary

- There isn't exactly a huge range of new cheap CPUs here, it's APUs and Pentiums then i3s at all of my local retailers

- With the parts available locally CPU + MoBo with AMD's APUs and the i3 end up costing about the same from what I can tell. Pentium is the only cheaper option

 

Very tempted to just replace the HDD with an SSD but I have been down that road before. I have usually done that but I don't want the back and forth with a frankenrig coming out the other side. Plus it's a 2007 Celeron with SiS powered integrated graphics, I'm pretty sure they'll come back wanting it to be faster. They'll probably want youtube/facebook/flashgames to run better primarily

In that case, try to look for an AMD A6, and and ASUS, ASRock, or Gigabyte mobo with it. Try to get faster memory with it too, because with an APU, memory speed makes a pretty big difference. And at least 4GB of it too.

[skywake]

In that case, try to look for an AMD A6, and and ASUS, ASRock, or Gigabyte mobo with it. Try to get faster memory with it too, because with an APU, memory speed makes a pretty big difference. And at least 4GB of it too.

 

You're right although they're not into gaming and for general tasks the i3 will run quite a bit better. Doing a bit of research for their the similarly priced Pentium G3220 seems to beat the identically priced A6 5400K in all of the benchmarks and uses less power while doing it. So if I was to cut costs maybe I'd probably be better going with the Pentium G3220.

 

...... which again looking at benchmarks probably isn't that bad of an idea. For $65 less the Pentium G3220 probably isn't that bad an option.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($74.00 @ PLE Computers) 

Motherboard:  Asus H81M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($65.00 @ PLE Computers) 

Memory:  Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($45.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Optical Drive:  LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer  ($22.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit)  ($115.00 @ CPL Online) 

Other: Seagate Desktop SSHD 1TB ($124.00)

Total: $445.00

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-29 23:31 EST+1100)

 

thoughts?

[JAKEBAB]

this on pccasegear.com which is an aussie etailer (if u didnt already know) i made this a few months ago but still would be fine for this situation.

 

 

[flibberdipper]

 

 

You're right although they're not into gaming and for general tasks the i3 will run quite a bit better. Doing a bit of research for their the similarly priced Pentium G3220 seems to beat the identically priced A6 5400K in all of the benchmarks and uses less power while doing it. So if I was to cut costs maybe I'd probably be better going with the Pentium G3220.

 

...... which again looking at benchmarks probably isn't that bad of an idea. For $65 less the Pentium G3220 probably isn't that bad an option.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($74.00 @ PLE Computers) 

Motherboard:  Asus H81M-E Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($65.00 @ PLE Computers) 

Memory:  Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($45.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Optical Drive:  LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer  ($22.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit)  ($115.00 @ CPL Online) 

Other: Seagate Desktop SSHD 1TB ($124.00)

Total: $445.00

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-29 23:31 EST+1100)

 

thoughts?

 

You're gonna need a power supply... See about the Corsair CX430M. Unless you already have a 350-ish watt power supply that will work.

[skywake]

You're gonna need a power supply... See about the Corsair CX430M. Unless you already have a 350-ish watt power supply that will work.

 

Everything's in my first post, it already has one. I just didn't bother putting it on the list given that I already has it.

 

 

So I had a computer brought to me yesterday and was asked to upgrade it for my brother's nephew. The list of requirements were:

- they want to salvage as much as is reasonable to keep costs down

- Kid only plays facebook games

- Parent wants more storage

- No specific budget but an implied budget

 

[....] If I do anything I'll have to get a new optical drive because the current one is IDE. The only things I'm leaving are the case, 250W still-working PSU and card reader:

 

 

Unless there's some reason why 250W isn't enough for such a power efficient build I'll leave that one in there.

[skywake]

this on pccasegear.com which is an aussie etailer (if u didnt already know) i made this a few months ago but still would be fine for this situation.

 

Cheers but I think what I've come to is better. Although I do like how people are repeatedly suggesting I go with a standard HDD instead of the SSHD and an AMD APU instead of a low-end Intel CPU. Definitely the right way around for a better $/FPS but surely backwards for this use case. Yes?

[flibberdipper]

Everything's in my first post, it already has one. I just didn't bother putting it on the list given that I already has it.

 

 

Unless there's some reason why 250W isn't enough for such a power efficient build I'll leave that one in there.

I didn't see that. Silly me.  :wub: