Budget 21-30k Looking to upgrade my office desktop from core i3 to something new

vebk

vebk

Adept
Hi All, I am looking to upgrade my office computer which I built in 2016. The main motivation is that I have decided to upgrade my monitor (which I bought in 2008!) to a LG Ultrawide wQHD (3440 x 1440 @ 60Hz). I don't know if my current build will do justice to it.The way I see it, I need to at least update my motherboard and CPU. Would I need to get a GPU too just to use the monitor?

I am completely open to recommendations - so do help!

  1. What is your budget?
    • 20-30K
  2. What is your existing hardware configuration (component name - component brand and model)
    • CPU - Intel Core i3-6100 (Intel 6th Gen)
    • Motherboard - Asus B150M-Plus (LGA 1151)
    • GPU - Nil
    • RAM - Corsair 8GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4 Vengeance LPX 2400Mhz
    • Monitor - Dell S2409W
    • PSU - ANTEC SMPS VP450P
    • Hard drives: Samsung 850 EVO 120GB SSD (OS), Kingston A400 2.5" 480GB SATA III TLC SSD (documents etc), Seagate ST3500418AS 500GB SATA Hdd (Random stuff)
    • Cabinet: Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-M2 MicroATX
    • Microsoft Sculpt ergonomic desktop + mouse
  3. Which hardware will you be keeping (component name - component brand and model)
    • RAM - Corsair 8GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4 Vengeance LPX 2400Mhz (maybe - can upgrade if it makes a big difference - or will it be better to get another 8GB 2400Mhz?)
    • PSU - ANTEC SMPS VP450P
    • Hard drives: Samsung 850 EVO 120GB SSD (OS), Kingston A400 2.5" 480GB SATA III TLC SSD (documents etc), Seagate ST3500418AS 500GB SATA Hdd (Random stuff)
    • Cabinet: Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-M2 MicroATX
    • Microsoft Sculpt ergonomic desktop + mouse
  4. Which hardware component are you looking to buy (component name). If you have already decided on a configuration then please mention the (component brand and model) as well, this will help us in fine tuning your requirement.
    • CPU - AMD?
    • Motherboard - Any compatible motherboard
    • GPU - Do I need this?
    • Monitor - I am planning on buying the LG 34WL750 Ultrwawide wQHD (3440 x 1440) IPS Monitor.
  5. Is this going to be your final configuration or you would be adding/upgrading a component in near future. If yes then please mention when and which component
    • No plan on upgrading for a while.
  6. Where will you buy this hardware? (Online/City/TE Dealer)
    • Delhi
    • Open to online purchase (Amazon, dcomputer, ITDepot etc)
  7. Would you consider buying a second hand hardware from the TE market
    • Yes
  8. What is your intended use for this PC/hardware
    • Browsing
    • Desktop Processing
    • Watching HD movies
    • Possibly some video editing
  9. Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them and the reason for your preference/dislike.
    • Nil
  10. If you will be playing games then which type of games will you be playing?
    • Nil
  11. What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage
    1. wQHD or 4K
  12. Are you looking to overclock?
    • No
  13. Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration?
    • Windows 10
 
No need to upgrade your rig that IGPU is capable of handling your monitor resolution if you dont do any gaming on it
If you want to upgrade then intel i3 10100 and any basic H410 mobo
 
Last edited:
As per intel:
For 2nd and 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ Processors the maximum supported resolutions are:
  • DisplayPort 1.1 = 2560x1600 at 60 Hz
  • HDMI 1.4 = 1920x1200 at 60 Hz
  • DVI (Single-link) = 1920x1200 at 60 Hz
  • VGA = 2048x1536 at 75 Hz
 
No need to upgrade this rig, as this is for office use.
Buy the monitor and use it, you board has HDMI and it can support upto 4k 24p.
 
nac said:
No need to upgrade this rig, as this is for office use.
Buy the monitor and use it, you board has HDMI and it can support upto 4k 24p.
Click to expand...
Would being restricted to 24Hz have a real world effect on watching Netflix etc. (I have the 4K subscription)? Displayport would be ideal since it goes up to 60Hz - but my mother board unfortunately does not have that. Is there a cheap way of getting displayport?
 
If you need something portable then I will recommend Intel NUC 8th i5. It will cost you 21K for the NUC (includes CPU, motherboard, psu, wifi+bluetooth and case) and you will need to bring RAM and hdd.
 
vebk said:
Would being restricted to 24Hz have a real world effect on watching Netflix etc. (I have the 4K subscription)? Displayport would be ideal since it goes up to 60Hz - but my mother board unfortunately does not have that. Is there a cheap way of getting displayport?
Click to expand...
For watching videos, I would assume there would be any adverse effect. For office use, browsing, working in documents there would be no issues @ 24hz.
Cheap way of getting DP is either by getting a dGPU or a new motherboard.
 
vebk said:
Would being restricted to 24Hz have a real world effect on watching Netflix etc. (I have the 4K subscription)? Displayport would be ideal since it goes up to 60Hz - but my mother board unfortunately does not have that. Is there a cheap way of getting displayport?
Click to expand...
The CPU supports 4k60Hz, why would u want to restrict yrself to 24?
 
If performance isnt an issue, why upgrade now? Tech keeps improving and things are overpriced right now anyway..

If the integrated gpu cant handle the resolution smoothly, get a cheap video card .. something that handles 4k.. should get it for ~5k.. or a lot less if you dont mind getting it used..
 
Ebil said:
The CPU supports 4k60Hz, why would u want to restrict yrself to 24?
Click to expand...
The CPU restricts it to 24Hz on HDMI. 60Hz can only be attained on Display port.
karan85 said:
If performance isnt an issue, why upgrade now? Tech keeps improving and things are overpriced right now anyway..

If the integrated gpu cant handle the resolution smoothly, get a cheap video card .. something that handles 4k.. should get it for ~5k.. or a lot less if you dont mind getting it used..
Click to expand...
Yeah, thinking of a cheap video card. Any recommendations?

I have an old (2010) GPU lying around in an old (unused) system (MSI R5770-pm2d1g) - I wonder if that will work with my current system and do the trick.
 
vebk said:
The CPU restricts it to 24Hz on HDMI. 60Hz can only be attained on Display port.

Yeah, thinking of a cheap video card. Any recommendations?

I have an old (2010) GPU lying around in an old (unused) system (MSI R5770-pm2d1g) - I wonder if that will work with my current system and do the trick.
Click to expand...
Gt 1030 if u can find at a reasonable price
 
nac said:
First get the monitor and see if it's actually an issue. If it is you can get a dGPU.
Click to expand...
Sound advice. Have already ordered it on Amazon as it was not available anywhere locally (even LG's site says "Coming soon"). It will only come by next week. Seems everything is delayed on Amazon, presumably due to the farmer's protest.

Will try it out and report back.

If my Surface Pro is back form the repair shop by then, that would also be an interesting reference point to compare with the experience on my desktop. (It has a mini display port and IIRC can output up to 4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz).
 
So got the monitor - it's awesome! Through HDMI, my current setup is running it at 2K (3440 x 1440) at 50Hz. That's not bad at all.

However, my system is starting to crap out. The Processor often reaches 99% usage, and it shows up for example when I hit Full Screen on a youtube video - earlier it used to be instantaneous, but now it takes anywhere from a couple of seconds to 10-15 seconds to go full screen (and vice-cersa).

It's usable right now, but not ideal. What do you guys suggest as an upgrade? I will not only be using it for office use, but also intend to do some video editing. If spending a little extra means that I can use it for gaming, that would be ideal too. Budget as indicated is 21K to 30K.

It should also be good for running a dual monitor setup (with the ultra wide screen being one monitor, and the other my exiisting 1080 Dell Monitor to be upgraded at a later stage.
 
It may spike, it won't stay there for just one 2k video. Keep the task manager open in one screen and run the video or other work in another screen and watch CPU utilization. Or you can install HWinfo and check. For playing higher resolution, this set up is fine, IMO. But for video editing and gaming, you could use a better set up but the budget is not that good.

For video editing, you could skip dGPU and spend the most on CPU something like 4650G+B550+16GB RAM. But can't say the same for gaming. At least should go for 1650 (don't see a point going anything less than this for gaming), since 1650S doesn't cost a lot more, better get that one.
Though 450w is good enough, I am not sure if you should run dGPU with your Antec VP unit. A decent bronze rated would cost upto ~4k. 1650S would cost about 15k. There goes 2/3rd of your budget.
You can use your existing RAM, but @ 2400mhz means you will leave some performance on the table.
With the rest of the money, you can't buy CPU+board.

You can skip new RAM kit and use your existing ones for now. That saves about 6k.

Ryzen 4650G + B550 + 16GB RAM - ~32k - This is good for video editing, casual esport gaming @ low/mid setting.
Ryzen 3100 + B450 + 16GB RAM + 1650S + 450W Bronze rated PSU - ~42k - Need to increase your budget for this. This is better than the Intel setup.
i3 10100F + B460 + 16GB RAM + 1650S + 450W Bronze rated PSU - ~42k - If you want Intel setup.
 
i3-6100 will struggle with the VP9 codec (the youtube issue).. even a dGPU before the 10 series (partial support from what I remember) wont be idea for that. 16 series and up should be fine.

Try editing some video when not playing youtube to see if it feels slower than usual..

If you decide to upgrade, start with a graphics card to see if that alone can fix the issue.. 1650 super is perfectly fine.. Get one for ~15k..

Upgrading the processor will obviously be an improvement over the 6100 too.. but thats a lot more than what you want to spend..
 
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