Salvage and Upgrade

[TPMx]

Hi, I am considering an upgrade from a prebuilt pc (hp envy 750 to be specific), and I was wondering if I could get some help with a) figuring out what I can take from my prebuilt in order to save money, b) any recommendations on the parts I will need to buy, and c) directing me to the right parts for what I hope to do with this computer. I should mention that I am from the United States, and my budget is around $400-$500, not including any parts I can save or the graphics card which will probably be bought later.

 

First, what I mostly do on my computer is play lighter games such as Overwatch or CS:GO, but I would also like to play heavier games, like Battlefront 2, comfortably. The main reason for my upgrade though, especially the graphics card, is that I do some occasional CAD work on my computer that, although it works most of the time, is not a fun experience. Another reason why I want to make this build is so that I can have a clearer upgrade path in the future. Currently with my prebuilt, there isn't much I can do to improve its performance other than by a new system, which I'm not making that mistake again. I should also mention that I would be driving a 1080p screen and a smaller 4:3 screen.

 

So the pieces that I can salvage from my current prebuilt are the ram, the hard drive, my graphics card (750ti), and the power supply. I don't know if the cpu can be taken out, and I couldn't find any information about it. If anyone knows any information about whether or not the cpu could be taken out of the motherboard, that would be a huge help, and costs saver.

 

That leaves mainly the motherboard, case, any extra coolers, the graphics card (for later), and the cpu (if it can't be taken out from the motherboard of my old computer.) I am planning this to be an atx build, and have NZXT S340 midtower in mind for the case. I'm not sure what fans I would need to purchase, or whether I should go with Nvidia or AMD for the graphics card. My budget for that would be around the 1060 or 580, I'm leaning towards 580 because of it's price and ability to add another card in crossfire later. For the cpu I have only ever used intel cpus, but I am open to trying a amd cpu

 

Thanks for any help that anyone can be able to provide me.

 

Also side note, I don't need to buy any peripherals or monitors, the budget I stated earlier is entirely for the parts.

 

 

[Droidbot]

What's the current specs? The page for the machine has varied specs. 

[TPMx]

Just now, Droidbot said:

What's the current specs? The page for the machine has varied specs. 

Sorry, should have been more clear.

 

Current specs are:

i5-6400

750ti 2gb

12 gb of ram

2 tb hard drive

[Droidbot]

4 minutes ago, TPMx said:

Sorry, should have been more clear.

 

Current specs are:

i5-6400

750ti 2gb

12 gb of ram

2 tb hard drive

The CPU is not soldered, so you can re use it. 

 

Pick up a B150 or B250 motherboard, an S340, and a 1060, as well as a good PSU (I recommend Seasonic S12II or Corsair CX/M). Should hit around the $500 mark. Is the ram DDR3 or DDR4? Check using CPU-Z for me.

[TPMx]

It is DDR3, would it be worth getting DDR4 ram?