Upgrading to a New Setup

[moonlight-strider]

I am currently planning to upgrade my current system (which is fully working, and in fact, I'm using it to type this out now), and have been a little overwhelmed by the various options for CPUs, Motherboards, and RAM configurations and the such. I know a massive amount about older computers: I've spent most of my time working and studying up on them, and I'm not in any way computer illiterate; I just have little idea about what I'm doing when it comes to hardware released in the past ~4 years or so. 

 

Right now, I've got a Dell Inspiron 620 that I've modified (putting it in a different case, adding hardware, etc.), and I'm mainly looking to build a rig which is faster enough than my current configuration to be worth the upgrade, but that is worth a total of under ~$300 USD. To be clear: I already have a graphics card, case, and storage that I'm happy with keeping, possibly even the PSU if it is adequate enough to support the new build. (Note I purchased the Inspiron 620 for $75USD that had a Core i5 2310 processor in it and 8GB of DDR3 1333mhz)

Current Specs:

Intel Core i5 2310

Samsung 8GB DDR3 1333mhz

PNY nVidia GeForce 1050Ti w/ 4GB GDDR5 VRAM

320GB WD WD3200AAKS Hard Drive for boot

1TB Toshiba HDW110 Hard Drive for games and programs

EVGA 450BT PSU

(The motherboard, for the people that might want to know, is a Dell 0GDG8Y)

Two Dell SE198WFP monitors

This InWin case https://www.amazon.com/Development-C583CH450TB-Haswell-Chassis-C583-CH450TB/dp/B00MIEAT5C/ref=sr_1_57?ie=UTF8&qid=1533251614&sr=8-57&keywords=inwin+case

Razer BlackWidow 2016 keyboard

Rader DeathAdder mouse

Razer Kracken V2 USB headset

 

Seeing as my budget is fairly low, I'm okay with recycling the part(s) I already have into the new rig, namely the case, 1050Ti, Hard Drives, PSU, and even possibly the memory if it can apply to the new rig.

I originally was going to go with an AMD FX9590 build, however the motherboards for it seem to either not be in stock or are insanely expensive, with the exception of one I was going to use (an ASRock - 970A-G/3.1 ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard), however I found out that 9590s have a tendency to fry the motherboard, and because my budget is so limited, I can't risk having my new system fail).

 

My biggest issue is that I am overwhelmed with options and as I said, I am far less intimate with new hardware than older hardware, especially when it comes to the AMD lines of CPUs.

 

TL;DR
I wish to know what would be a worthwhile upgrade to my current setup. I want to update the CPU, Motherboard, and RAM amount. I do not want to purchase a new graphics card, storage options, case, or my peripherals (including my monitors.)

I want to use air cooling, as liquid cooling seems very daunting and my current case really doesn't have anywhere where I could mount a radiator or similar hardware.

I'm in the United States, and am on a budget of $300USD. Any help is appreciated. 

 

 

 

Current Setup as of now: (I also forgot to mention the speaker/subwoofer set but it's just some old Dell stuff from circa 2004, it only plugs in with a 3.5mm jack so it's not very complex or anything)

 

Edited August 2, 2018 by moonlight-strider
Clarification

[Streetguru]

4 minutes ago, moonlight-strider said:

 

So what's your budget/country? *$300 then

If you just need a CPU/Motherboard/RAM

 

You can either get an R5 2600 or 16GBs of 3000mhz RAM from here, probably just get the 2600
 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/6zqtQZ
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/6zqtQZ/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($93.90 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($81.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot - Viper 4 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($80.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $256.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-02 19:21 EDT-0400


Well maybe not exactly...

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/9mypmq
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/9mypmq/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor  ($170.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M PRO4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($81.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot - Viper 4 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($80.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $333.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-02 19:22 EDT-0400

[moonlight-strider]

Oops. Didn't put the budget OR country in the TL;DR. I plan on fixing that.

 

Anyways, I'm in the US and I'm hoping I can get something together for under $300USD.

[Streetguru]

1 minute ago, moonlight-strider said:

Oops. Didn't put the budget OR country in the TL;DR. I plan on fixing that.

 

Anyways, I'm in the US and I'm hoping I can get something together for under $300USD.

I edited my post and added everything after

[moonlight-strider]

Okay, I do see the promise in the Ryzen 5 2600. I know this is a difficult task to accomplish, but bear with me here. 

 

I might also need recommendations for air coolers on this thing. I can search by TDP and try and find one that fits, but I feel far more comfortable talking with people who know the good/bad brands off of the top of their heads rather than go through and read Amazon reviews and the such. 

 

I would prefer for it to have 16GB of RAM, but as I said, I'm aware that this is a difficult task and putting something together for such a low amount of money isn't exactly easy. So if I do seem picky, I'm not doing so in a snide way, much more just in concern for a worthwhile upgrade to what I've currently got. The biggest problem I have is that I have a very small budget, and therefore am very limited in what I can choose and what I can do. 

[Streetguru]

3 minutes ago, moonlight-strider said:

 

The Ryzen stock coolers are fine

But that motherboard is probably the minimum to buy, or it's B350 versions might be a bit cheaper but may need BIOS updates.

The R3 chip will be fine for gaming, you can just look for like an R5 1600/1700 later on ebay on the cheap with 16gbs of RAM now

[moonlight-strider]

Alright. I'm not planning on OC'ing so if that's the case, I'll use the stock cooler on it. 

 

I'm also not really worried about the brand per se, so if there's an Intel solution in the same price range that is more powerful than an AMD solution, I'll choose the performance for the best price. This also applies vice versa.

 

I'm also open to use used/refurbished hardware to further reduce the price if that's possible. The processor/motherboard/ram combo I have right now is from 2011, so an upgrade to 2014 standards would work fine, which is why I was looking at the 9590 for that small amount of time there.

 

My big deal is that the new combination of hardware be substantially more powerful then the Core i5 2310; not the newest hardware necessarily, but something faster in general.

 

(I'm trying to get multiple options that I can sort of sift through, if that makes sense.)

[Streetguru]

4 minutes ago, moonlight-strider said:

 

There isn't any intel solution that competes with the core/thread count at those price points. Something like the i5 8400 will be ahead in games, but I'm not sure it's worth it just for that.

 

and AM4 is supposed to get new CPUs until 2020, with Ryzen 300 next year, and possibly a Ryzen 4000 after that, likely only minor upgrades from previous generations though. Will have to wait and see.

If you aren't overclocking it's likely worth getting the 2600X, will boost higher and has a better stock cooler than the 2600, bit more expensive though of course.

[moonlight-strider]

I usually don't consider OC'ing an option, to be honest, I've always been a bit timid with it. I don't want to kill hardware that is as expensive as this stuff is, especially, and I feel like it increases the risk quite a fair bit. I haven't ever OC'd anything before, and when I have wanted to OC (keep in mind this was when I wanted to OC older hardware), looking it up and seeing stuff like "slowly increase the voltage, but pay attention, if it smells like something is burning, shutdown the system".

 

I really don't like the idea that I have to pay attention to make sure my CPU isn't melting itself into the socket or something. I'll admit I am extremely unfamiliar with overclocking on hardware which is in my area of expertise, much less hardware I don't know as much about.

 

I am open to trying it if things have changed since the Athlon XP/64 days and overclocking is much less of a gamble than it was before.

[Streetguru]

24 minutes ago, moonlight-strider said:

 

Overclocking is simple, any everything is going to have over current and over thermal protection anyways. You just buy a decent B350/450 board like the ASrock Pro4 Set your voltage to 1.375V and see how high the frequency will get without crashing in Cinebench or something.

With any decent $25 120mm air cooler of course

[moonlight-strider]

Oh. I feel a little silly now.

 

Which air cooler would be the best in terms of quality? Of course, I am talking about the ~$25 coolers. I've seen one from be quiet! as well as a cryorig? (can't remember the name off of the top of my head right now) when I was looking over Amazon for coolers for the 9590.

 

[Streetguru]

57 minutes ago, moonlight-strider said:

Oh. I feel a little silly now.

 

Which air cooler would be the best in terms of quality? Of course, I am talking about the ~$25 coolers. I've seen one from be quiet! as well as a cryorig? (can't remember the name off of the top of my head right now) when I was looking over Amazon for coolers for the 9590.

 

If they have 4 heat pipes and a 120mm fan they're all basically the same

The Cryorig H5/H7 are typically a bit thicker than a Hyper 212 and will perform a bit better.

Should be fine on the stock coolers for a while though