Budget 0-20k Upgrade need for Office Computer

vebk

vebk

Adept
I want to upgrade my 5 year old desktop, as it's getting slow and sluggish, long boot times, doesn't support USB 3.0 etc.
  1. What is your budget?
    • 20K (but flexible)
  2. What is your existing hardware configuration (component name - component brand and model)
    • CPU - AMD Athlon X4-630
    • Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-US2H
    • GPU - MSI R 5770
    • RAM - GSkill 2GB x 2 (F3-10600CL9S)
    • Monitor - Dell 2409
    • PSU - CM Extreme Power 460W
    • Chassis - CM Elite 330
    • Hard Drives - 500GB and 250GB (both pretty full - but can delete a bunch if required)
  3. Which hardware will you be keeping (component name - component brand and model)
    1. GPU - MSI R 5770 (Don't intend on playing games on this machine as it's now in my home office)
    2. Monitor - Dell 2409 (unless there is some great reason to upgrade)
    3. PSU - CM Extreme Power 460W (quite happy - unless there is a reason to)
    4. Hard Drives - 500GB and 250GB (both pretty full - but can delete a bunch if required)
  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.
    • USB - I have a couple of devices that are USB 3.0, so would really like that. Open to motherboard upgrade or external option.
    • SSD - If it's budget-wise possible, I wouldn't mind upgrading to a SSD o get fast boot times.
    • CPU - Should I upgrade?
    • Motherboard - Should I upgrade? See USB 3 above.
    • RAM - Should I upgrade?
    • Chassis - Willing to change if it makes sense.
  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 upgrades planned in the near future (am only upgrading this machine after 5 years!)
  6. Where will you buy this hardware? (Online/City/TE Dealer)
    • Delhi - Nehru Place
    • Open to online purchase
  7. Would you consider buying a second hand hardware from the TE market
    • Sure
  8. What is your intended use for this PC/hardware
    • Basically office use, and watching movies, TV etc.
    • Browsing
    • Desktop Processing
    • HTPC
    • Download rig, 24x7 operation
    • Watching HD movies
  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?
    • Don't intend on using this for games. If at all, only what my existing GPU supports.
  11. What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage
    1. Desktop - 1920x1080
  12. Are you looking to overclock?
    • No
  13. Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration?
    • Currently using Windows 7 64 bit
    • Would prefer to use Windows 8 or upcoming Windows 10.
 
  • CPU - Intel Core i3 4150 -7500,
  • Motherboard - Gigabyte H81M-S1 -3500,
  • RAM - Kingston HyperX 8GB -4900,
  • PSU - Antec VP450P -3000,
  • SSD - Samsung 850 EVO 120GB -5100.
  • TOTAL -24,000.
That Cooler Master PSU does not cut the deal and might even cost you your whole system in the future so suggested another PSU.

No need to change the Chassis as the present cabinet is more than enough.
 
Thanks for your suggestions!

Am I reading this correctly that there isn't such a huge difference between my current processor and the i3 4150?? (Link: http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i3-4150-vs-AMD-Athlon-II-X4-630) Is it really worth spending an additional 7.5k over? What if I just buy a newer motherboard and use my current CPU?

also the PSU as served me just fine for the last 5 years - is there any particular reason (with regard to the new config you have suggested) that would mandate a PSU upgrade?[DOUBLEPOST=1429106934][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, what do you think about upgrading in ssteps? I think if I buy the SSD first, that would have the most immediate impact (and most bang for the buck).
 
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For an office / home general usage PC , your config is almost fine! No need to upgrade the whole thing.

Just get a nice SSD ( its not just for fast boot times), maybe a 2gb stick And make sure to remedy the biggest cause of sluggish PC's - tonnes of shitty coded applications , running at startup. Check startup tab in msconfig (win+r) for that
 
vebk said:
Thanks for your suggestions!

Am I reading this correctly that there isn't such a huge difference between my current processor and the i3 4150?? (Link: http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i3-4150-vs-AMD-Athlon-II-X4-630) Is it really worth spending an additional 7.5k over? What if I just buy a newer motherboard and use my current CPU?

also the PSU as served me just fine for the last 5 years - is there any particular reason (with regard to the new config you have suggested) that would mandate a PSU upgrade?[DOUBLEPOST=1429106934][/DOUBLEPOST]Also, what do you think about upgrading in ssteps? I think if I buy the SSD first, that would have the most immediate impact (and most bang for the buck).
Click to expand...

Just get the following upgrades without actually going for a complete overhaul.

MB - Gigabyte GA-970A-D3P -7500,
SSD -Samsung 850 Evo 120GB -5100,
RAM - Kingston 8GB 1600Mhz HyperX Fury -5000.
TOTAL -17,600.

Your boot times will be hugely boosted by the SSD and the RAM upgrade is the most important as it will also boost your speed considerably.
 
Thanks for your suggestions!! I think I have almost finalized it.
@cute.bandar - Agreed. The more I look at it, I feel I don't have such a bad system as I initially thought. But I do need USB 3.0 and my current MB only has 3Gb/s SATA not 6 Gb/s, so IIRC I would only get 50-60% benefit of the SSD if I don't change my MB.

@bssunil - Need a couple of inputs form you to close it.
SSD - Samsung 850 Evo for sure.
RAM - Finalized at KEngston 8GB, but should I put it in addition to my existing sticks, or in place of?
MB - I really like the GA-970A suggestion. It's got a lot of options, and USB 3.0 as well. The only disadvantage I can see is that it doesn't have display ports (HDMI, DVI or even VGA) - tha's a bit odd for a MB, isn't it? But I suppose it's not a problem since I have a good GFX card that has 2 HDMI and 2 DVI ports anyway. Only if it packs up would I be in a problem. Correct?


(Also, any clue what I could get for my old MB and RAM if I sell them second hand on TE etc.)
 
vebk said:
Thanks for your suggestions!! I think I have almost finalized it.
@cute.bandar - Agreed. The more I look at it, I feel I don't have such a bad system as I initially thought. But I do need USB 3.0 and my current MB only has 3Gb/s SATA not 6 Gb/s, so IIRC I would only get 50-60% benefit of the SSD if I don't change my MB.

@bssunil - Need a couple of inputs form you to close it.
SSD - Samsung 850 Evo for sure.
RAM - Finalized at KEngston 8GB, but should I put it in addition to my existing sticks, or in place of?
MB - I really like the GA-970A suggestion. It's got a lot of options, and USB 3.0 as well. The only disadvantage I can see is that it doesn't have display ports (HDMI, DVI or even VGA) - tha's a bit odd for a MB, isn't it? But I suppose it's not a problem since I have a good GFX card that has 2 HDMI and 2 DVI ports anyway. Only if it packs up would I be in a problem. Correct?


(Also, any clue what I could get for my old MB and RAM if I sell them second hand on TE etc.)
Click to expand...

RAM - not in addition to the existing but replace the existing RAM
MB - As you have a GPU you dont require a onboard DVI right.

As for the old MB and RAM you might get 4k to 5k.
 
But I do need USB 3.0 and my current MB only has 3Gb/s SATA not 6 Gb/s, so IIRC I would only get 50-60% benefit of the SSD if I don't change my MB.
Click to expand...

Sata 3Gb/s vs Sata 6GB/s : Sure if you are dealing with lots of read/writes and have a faster SSD that can actually utilize that SATA 3 bandwidth, then there will be a difference.
But for a regular office/home PC, with a regular SSD, the difference between SATA 2 and SATA 3 will be negligible and not noticeable at all! http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-upgrade-sata-3gbps,3469-15.html

USB 3: Just a FYI, these days some USB 2.0 pen drives have more than 20MB write speed. Of course write speed is not the only improvement in USB 3.0.
 
Question regarding usb3 - is there any way to get it via a pci-e card or something and is it absolutely necessary for the mobo to have usb3 support for this to work?
 
What both of you are saying are valid points. One of my options is to buy a SSD just to increase boot time & program load times, and get USB 3.0 via a pci-e card like this one or this one and finish it at that. (I am tempted to do this now even more after reading that article you posted, cute.bandaar). If I do that should I still upgrade the RAM?
 
is there any way to get it via a pci-e card
Click to expand...
Yup pci-e cards for usb 3 are there.. as vebk linked to

RAM Upgrade: 2GB sounds low for today's usage, I would suggest to go for at least 2GB , though I am not sure about this one..
 
Got the SSD for onlyssd.com (good experience - delivery within 24 hours - good price too: Rs. 4,799). This has made my computer a loooot faster for sure!! I have not tried heavy programs, but with word, excel etc. it's quite snappy!

Should I boost my RAM to get the full thing out of it? Should I get another 4GB (or 2GB x 2)? What would be a good price and good RAM to get?
 
I dunno about RAM. I am on 4GB myself and find it sufficient for now with a PHP IDE, couple of browsers and vagrant all running.
btw do put your OS on the SSD..if you haven't yet
 
The increase in ram will only yield results if you use programs that can use large amounts of ram (usually specialist video/image editing software) or if you have half a dozen programs running at any given moment. i doubt if you will be able to reap the benefits of more ram if it's just office use i.e. a browser, e-mail client, skype and some ms office programs.
If you do still want to bump it up anyway (no such thing as having too much ram :D) then i would suggest you to take a look at the kingston hyper-x and corsair veangeance lines as sometimes they can be only 150-250 rupees more than the value/base models. also corsair has a 10 year warranty on all ram.

Personal opinion here: you mentioned that your drives are full. if you have money to spare then instead of ram get more storage - i may be wrong here but i've noticed that performance on my system drops a bit if the primary drive has less than ~10gb of free space. i'm guessing it's to do with page file swapping.
 
Hmmm... well as far as the primary drive goes, it is indeed the SSD now (which has 87GB free out of 111GB) so no problems there. RAM - I have been seeing the Performance tab in the Task Manager, and it is mostly going on at a steady 2.7GB / 4GB (68%) with a few spikes here and there. So I think you guys are right that the RAM is unlikely to change anything dramatically. So I suppose I have reached the top of the economical upgrades? I suppose I would only see dramatic results now if I put an i7 in there, right!
 
Your ram usage seems very similar to mine (got 4gb too).
Yes, i don't think any more budget friendly performance gains can be had (unless you want to overclock stuff :D).

i find an i7 somewhat unnecessary. it's basically an i5 with hyper-threading i.e 8 threads.
and again, only pro level software would need that kind of number-crunching.
 
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