upgrading Advice on upgrading my PC?

[REDACTED_USER]

I have almost no budget.

1. United States, ~$100

 

    Current parts available for use in upgrade build: (FROM BUILD DOWN BELOW)  500 W PSU, 500 GB HDD, 1 x 4 GB DDR3, Wireless Card (probably).  I have a case, no need to worry.  Case can fit all motherboard sizes, checked with manufacturer; however, case no longer exists online!

    A friend of mine gave me a Radeon HD 4300, but my current build's motherboard doesn't have ANY PCI slots!!!

 

2. The system I want will be used for light gaming, in my school's eSports Club (minecraft, online flash games, world of tanks/warplanes/warships, etc. [probs Overwatch - eventually - but only when I get enough money for it])

3. 1 Monitor, standard definition (1200x780, something like that).  No more and no less, only 1. VGA/DVI inputs.

4. No prehiprials needed.  I have speakers, a mouse, a keyboard, monitor, and plenty of cables.  I have a 64-bit WIN 7 ULTIMATE Disk ready to install, with a product key.

5. Why am I upgrading? Take a look at my current build (from a garage sale):

 

Motherboard:

Manufacturer: Pegatron Manufacturer name: IPM61-TB HP name: Tenby-U

      Intel Pentium Dual-Core G2020T (Ivy Bridge) (35 W) 2.5 GHz/Core

     Integrated Intel HD UMA Graphics (No discrete GPU, doesn't support one)

     Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n featuring Single-band (2.4 Ghz) 1 x 1

     4 GB RAM (1 x 4 GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 (runs at PC3-10600 in this system)

     500 GB WD BLUE DESKTOP, 7200 rpm, SATA 6G

     Windows 7 Professional

     Samsung DVD+RW Drive, SATA connector

     500 W Bronze PSU (brand unknown, cannot find either.  Is modular.)

 

In other words: I need a CPU and a Motherboard that will fit my small budget and gaming needs. There are simply too many choices and I don't have the time to do research; High School is busy.  I am sacrificing time right now doing this!  (I will buy more DDR3 RAM later, to make it 8 or 12 GB in total.  You can also recommend me RAM options).

 

 

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1. Budget & Location

You may have listed a heap of parts that all add up to your preferred budget but it is easier if you just list the total amount you'd like to spend and the currency as well as if you'd consider going above that budget for more performance. We need the location as well because $US are different to $AUD and $CAD ect.

2. Aim

What is the system going to be used for? Web browsing, 3D work? Different systems need different levels of performance - a computer based for web browsing and office use won't handle heavy graphic design and video editing and a proper video editing system isn't good for gaming. If your aim is for gaming, please list what sort of gaming. In the same way that different usage types need different systems, you'll need a lot more power to run Far Cry 3 or Crysis 2 than you would Minecraft.

3. Monitors

How many monitors do you plan on running? Do you plan on moving to more monitors in the future? What resolution are they at too?

4. Peripherals

Do you also need to purchase peripherals such as keyboards and mice as well as monitors ect. Also please tell us if you'll need an OS such as Windows.

5. Why are you upgrading?

We ask this because you may see upgrading as the only path to solve an issue but things such as driver updates, reconfiguration or cleaning can boost performance without spending a cent.

Please copy and paste the major dot points into your thread as it makes it easier for us to give you better feedback.

Have fun and keep building

[JohnMLTX]

with a $100 budget, your best bet is to go get an i5-3570 from ebay. that's the best cpu that will run on your platform. otherwise, just swap the board for something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-390-Mini-ATX-DDR3-Motherboard-0M5DCD-LGA1155-Socket-H2-TESTED-OK-/172935052668?epid=1034336047&hash=item2843bb7d7c:g:TqgAAOSwMQBZ6F7p

 

and go pick up a used gpu.

[REDACTED_USER]

Just found this:

CPU: $55

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-i5-3570S-3-10GHz-Quad-Core-SR0T9-CPU-PROCESSOR-DESKTOP-COMPUTER-/182850849520?epid=1553854943&hash=item2a92c28af0:g:uDQAAOSwEWJZvCsF

MOBO: $19

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-9010-SFF-Small-Form-Factor-LGA1155-DDR3-Motherboard-51FJ8-051FJ8-/352019494937?epid=1819704601&hash=item51f5ff3819:g:OOkAAOSwA29Y3wFZ

GPU: Yet to find!  Hopefully I can find a decent one under $50...good luck to me

Edited October 24, 2017 by Nathaniel Uphouse
Found a new part!

[Herman Mcpootis]

23 minutes ago, Nathaniel Uphouse said:

Just found this:

CPU: $55

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-i5-3570S-3-10GHz-Quad-Core-SR0T9-CPU-PROCESSOR-DESKTOP-COMPUTER-/182850849520?epid=1553854943&hash=item2a92c28af0:g:uDQAAOSwEWJZvCsF

MOBO: $19

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-9010-SFF-Small-Form-Factor-LGA1155-DDR3-Motherboard-51FJ8-051FJ8-/352019494937?epid=1819704601&hash=item51f5ff3819:g:OOkAAOSwA29Y3wFZ

GPU: Yet to find!  Hopefully I can find a decent one under $50...good luck to me

https://www.ebay.com/itm/GIGABYTE-Radeon-HD-6870-GV-R687OC-1GD-1GB-256-Bit-GDDR5-PCI-E-2-1-X16-/162694798031?hash=item25e15d9acf:g:35QAAOSwP8BZqtos $50 dollars

btw, i think that sff board uses proprietary case connectors, so you might need another board.

[REDACTED_USER]

Good point...

instead of proprietary case connectors, what type of motherboard would i need?

 

P.S: Thanks for finding that GPU for me!

Edited October 24, 2017 by Nathaniel Uphouse

[Herman Mcpootis]

5 minutes ago, Nathaniel Uphouse said:

Good point...

instead of proprietary case connectors, what type of motherboard would i need?

 

P.S: Thanks for finding that GPU for me!

either get a non-OEM motherboard from asus/msi/etc. or check online to see if the connectors are standard or proprietary.\

also, see if the 750/ti is the same price or slightly more expensive than the 6870 and get that if it is.

[REDACTED_USER]

Like this?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-990-VNP2H-Motherboard-Intel-LGA-1155-DDR3-RAM-C27-/263259769110?hash=item3d4b814916:g:uXQAAOSwMNNZ35Kg

 

 

 

Edit: Not that, this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-DH61WW-Motherboard-I-O-Shield-Socket-LGA-1155-2-Slots-DDR3-Tested-/162711282053?epid=116327945&hash=item25e2592185:g:zWAAAOSw4nhZ5yzK

 

I think this is the motherboard I will aim for

[REDACTED_USER]

Trash everything that I said earlier, I just found a $80.00 Optiplex 9010, i5-3470, 8GB RAM, but no Hard Drive.  No problem, I'll just salvage one from my other PC!