# Upgrading the pc in budget



## Gdn8Melbourne (Oct 28, 2011)

5 years ago, when I had no basic knowledge of computer hardwares, I was fooled by the dishonest shopkeeper who sold me all backdated parts in high price and built a crap computer which failed several times till this date. Even the case is like 10 years old.


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Intel Core2Duo E7500
Intel motherboard
2x2Gb DDR2 RAM (local company)
Local PSU 450W
Harddisk dead.
Onboard ethernet controller dead.
Lan card newly installed.
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That's all. The computer is very silent. That's the only good thing.

Until now, I had no fund to improve it. But now I feel this is the time. So I planned two budget upgrades on this computer. The first upgrade will be very small. Install a new harddisk and another one or two components.

The second upgrade will be total change. New processor+new motherboard+new ram+superior PSU+liquid cooler+a modular cabinet+Graphics card (optional).

So I need your advices and suggestions. And please check compatibility. 

*First Upgrade:* $60-$75
A 500Gb Harddisk WD blue (because I have none now) + either a good heatsink or a harddisk cooler or a sound card or something. I have no idea. You suggest.

*Second Upgrade:* Approximately $450-$500 In few months

Intel Core i3-4150 (LGA 1150) @3.50 GHz 3MB cache
msi B85M-G43 or B85M-E45 or B85M-ECO or Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H
Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3-1600
Corsair RM550W or Corsair RM450W80+ Gold fully modular PSU
Corsair H80i or H55 (CW-9060010-WW) cpu cooler
A modular case from Corsair or Cooler master in 70$ or less.
Asus GTX750Ti 2GB (optional)

Intel Core i3-4150, Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti, Corsair SPEC-02 - System Build - PCPartPicker

What I do is use a lot of graphics design softwares. I hardly play any games, but that also because I don't have the specs now in my pc, but wouldn't be bad to play sometimes. Still no constant gaming. And my primary OS is Ubuntu. I plan to add a secondary harddisk for Windows.

Please put suggestions on the first (what should I buy along with a harddisk?) and second upgrades and tell me about the compatibility or if I should add anything better or remove and advices. 
Thank you.


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

the first thing you must consider when it comes to price is if you replace the motherboard and if you are running oem, you will have to purchase a new os or os key for windows.


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## Gdn8Melbourne (Oct 28, 2011)

sobeit said:


> the first thing you must consider when it comes to price is if you replace the motherboard and if you are running oem, you will have to purchase a new os or os key for windows.


Oh no. The motherboard is too old. Windows didn't start locking the bios then. It's Intel DG41RQ. Antique thing. And I don't have windows now. So I have to buy a new one anyways after doing the second upgrade.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Since you're having trouble now on the current PC with it crashing, I recommend you look towards build number 2, but add a few changes.

The i3 CPU should be fine for Ubuntu work, but not much more than that.

The Gigabyte and Asus boards are good. Look at their features and pick the one you like.

Change the PSU to an XFX or Seasonic branded unit rated at 550W.

You do NOT need a liquid cooler, there is no point whatsoever. Use the stock cooler that will come with the CPU.


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## Gdn8Melbourne (Oct 28, 2011)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> Since you're having trouble now on the current PC with it crashing, I recommend you look towards build number 2, but add a few changes.
> 
> The i3 CPU should be fine for Ubuntu work, but not much more than that.
> 
> ...


Okay, what i3 is recommended for? And if I do heavy editing like tiff and raw photoeditors and install a second harddisk with Windows to play casual games, what processor I will need?

And when liquid cooler is needed? I was thinking to keep the cpu cool enough, so that I don't have to think about it of being hot. (Everyone says liquid cooler, but where the liquid goes?)


Update: I just watched videos of itx motherboards and compact cases. What those are recommended for?


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

> Okay, what i3 is recommended for? And if I do heavy editing like tiff and raw photoeditors and install a second harddisk with Windows to play casual games, what processor I will need?


If you're going to be gaming an i5 will be a better option. The i3 is for web browsing and MS Office.



> And when liquid cooler is needed? I was thinking to keep the cpu cool enough, so that I don't have to think about it of being hot. (Everyone says liquid cooler, but where the liquid goes?)


It's never needed. Air cooling does the same job as water cooling. The stock Intel cooler is good enough for your usage.




> Update: I just watched videos of itx motherboards and compact cases. What those are recommended for?


Smaller cases and motherboards allow you to put them in smaller places.


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## Gdn8Melbourne (Oct 28, 2011)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> If you're going to be gaming an i5 will be a better option. The i3 is for web browsing and MS Office.
> 
> It's never needed. Air cooling does the same job as water cooling. The stock Intel cooler is good enough for your usage.
> 
> Smaller cases and motherboards allow you to put them in smaller places.


Hmm okay. Btw, in previous years, I was suggested here to upgrade to corsair psu, so I chose this... Now I'm confused. Corsair isn't up to the mark anymore ?

And does i5's turbo boost has any advantage over i3's hyperthreading ?


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## bassfisher6522 (Jul 22, 2012)

Have a look through this thread.....it should give you some good pointers and starting point for either your Intel or AMD build.

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f255/tsf-hardware-teams-recommended-builds-2015-a-668661.html


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## Confounded Also (Aug 19, 2015)

Why not just buy a new PC?

Prices are often under $500 (US) now, sometimes much less with sales and rebates. I've seen decent units under $200

Another option is Off-Lease units which are business models that companies have traded in. They are reset to factory specs and often work better that consumer models.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Gdn8Melbourne said:


> Hmm okay. Btw, in previous years, I was suggested here to upgrade to corsair psu, so I chose this... Now I'm confused. Corsair isn't up to the mark anymore ?
> 
> And does i5's turbo boost has any advantage over i3's hyperthreading ?


Corsair used to use a good PSU manufacturer, but they have switched to a lower quality manufacturer over the years.

You'll get a quad-core CPU that will handle games and video editing well.



Confounded Also said:


> Why not just buy a new PC?
> 
> Prices are often under $500 (US) now, sometimes much less with sales and rebates. I've seen decent units under $200
> 
> Another option is Off-Lease units which are business models that companies have traded in. They are reset to factory specs and often work better that consumer models.


Premade PCs often come with low quality parts and you can build a MUCH better PC for lessor costs.


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## Gdn8Melbourne (Oct 28, 2011)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> Corsair used to use a good PSU manufacturer, but they have switched to a lower quality manufacturer over the years.
> 
> You'll get a quad-core CPU that will handle games and video editing well.


Okay, I chose an i5. But confused between two models. One is i5-4440 (LGA1150) 4th generation @3+ GHz. And another one is i5-6400 (LGA 1151) 6th generation @2.7GHz.

What will be the difference?


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

The sixth generation is the latest processor and will be more expensive. It would also require a motherboard change.

Stick with the i5-4440.


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## Gdn8Melbourne (Oct 28, 2011)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> The sixth generation is the latest processor and will be more expensive. It would also require a motherboard change.
> 
> Stick with the i5-4440.


Yes I checked the LGA1151 motherboards are twice costly. But will it be more efficient by means of work load or capacity and durability ?


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

No. There is no reason for you to upgrade to them yet.


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## Gdn8Melbourne (Oct 28, 2011)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> No. There is no reason for you to upgrade to them yet.


Alright. That will save pretty much money.

Btw, I'm confused about the wide range of motherboards. Some are called H81, Z97, B85... Almost all brands follow this trend of modelnaming their motherboards. Do they mean anything ?

And anything else I should notice other than noticing the socket? I rather have at least two extra pcie slots. But I'm noticing the new ones are small pcie.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Yes, those are the chipset with the Z being the best. B for business and H for standard usage.

Motherboards will have typically two PCIex16 slots and a few PCI and PCI Express slots.


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## Gdn8Melbourne (Oct 28, 2011)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> Yes, those are the chipset with the Z being the best. B for business and H for standard usage.
> 
> Motherboards will have typically two PCIex16 slots and a few PCI and PCI Express slots.


Ah okay. I chose a B85. Hopefully I can start working on the upgrade in few months. Is B series better than H ?


Oh and look what they did to my old processor! That much thermal paste  recently my pc was freezing in even Linux live mode! I thought to put a better air cooler. I need to clean it before that. Is that possible?

(Btw, is this paste dangerous to touch or smell?)


Update: forgot to upload the photos. See the next post.


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## Gdn8Melbourne (Oct 28, 2011)

The old processor


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Yes, you can clean and reapply your thermal paste.

It shouldn't matter if you go for a B or H chipset, but I'd rather see you go for the H chipset.

I wouldn't inhale the small, but it is safe to smell and touch.


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## Gdn8Melbourne (Oct 28, 2011)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> Yes, you can clean and reapply your thermal paste.
> 
> It shouldn't matter if you go for a B or H chipset, but I'd rather see you go for the H chipset.
> 
> I wouldn't inhale the small, but it is safe to smell and touch.


Okay. Thanks. How do I clean it BTW?

I also didn't smell willingly, I bent my head in to see the airflow direction of the case fan and the cpu was exposed as in the photo and I thought I smelled something sweet like ethylene. So I was worried if it was carcinogenic or bio-hazardous.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

You can just use a clean paper towel, but a better way would be to follow this and use 90%+ alcohol over the 70%:


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

I agree stay away from the Corsair Psus as they used to be Seasonic made and now mostly CWT which is poorer quality for the most part. I5 makes a lot more sense for gaming cpu and you will save money with the Gen 4 cpus which have almost the same "punch" as the Gen5 and 6. Again forget the liquid cooling for what you are doing and take a look at Cooler Master and Thermal Take cases as you can save a few $ there also on well made cases.


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## Gdn8Melbourne (Oct 28, 2011)

Yes, I already finalized a cooler master case. 

I also read a lot of articles about corsiar PSUs. They say corsair only uses seasonic in the cx and ax models. http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/psu_manufacturers
Cx are entry level and ax are super costly. I will get a seasonic S12.

Is there an easy guide about cables? I know near to nothing about which cable to put where.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Run the cables mainly through the back of the case. It's pretty simple as your objective is to hide them somewhere. :smile:


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## Gdn8Melbourne (Oct 28, 2011)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> Run the cables mainly through the back of the case. It's pretty simple as your objective is to hide them somewhere. :smile:


Well, see I will be building my pc for the first time. So I literally have no idea even about which wire goes to which pin or socket on the board. 3 pin, 2 pin, molex... Sounds all confusing. And my current old PC has a lot of wire bundled together to a white plug which I believe is molex. But I don't know the functions.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

You can use this to help you:

http://www.techsupportforum.com/for...ld-and-troubleshoot-your-computer-918754.html


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

Corsair Cx is builder series and have never been Seasonic made BTW. The AX series is mostly discontinued but there are 2 Seasonic models made in that.


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## Gdn8Melbourne (Oct 28, 2011)

Rich-M said:


> Corsair Cx is builder series and have never been Seasonic made BTW. The AX series is mostly discontinued but there are 2 Seasonic models made in that.


I don't know. I said as I read in that link. 
I will buy a seasonic one anyways.
Ax is discontinued? Sure ? I mean I have seen in a lot of pc building videos on YouTube that people used ax series.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

Yes the only AX models left in manufacture are 760 and 860 Seasonic made. The rest of the styles are discontinued.


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## Gdn8Melbourne (Oct 28, 2011)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> You can use this to help you:
> 
> http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f255/how-to-bench-test-build-and-troubleshoot-your-computer-918754.html
> 
> Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUzdNcZeM-s&index=34&list=LLvk58NgP7krkdmGPhJRT0IQ


The links seem helpful. Thank you.



Rich-M said:


> Yes the only AX models left in manufacture are 760 and 860 Seasonic made. The rest of the styles are discontinued.


I see.

Anyways, give me a final suggestion on the harddisk. I plan to buy a better harddisk while upgrading the pc. But currently, I need only one storage temporarily. I can either buy only a WD blue hdd or a 120gb corsair.

I don't store any media files other than photos. I work with high resolution photos. And sometimes play browser based games. What should I buy? A ssd or a hdd?


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

An SSD is nice, but since its only 120GB that will fill up fast. Go with the HDD for more storage.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

If all you save are photos, you will be fine with 120 Gb ssd drive. I ran one for years on my main pc until the prices came down and I ran 3 businesses on that pc.


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