Giving a new life to my old system

[modbucket]

Hi everyone,

I just got my system back and I'm looking to give it a new life by getting a new CPU, Motherboard and RAM trio.

It's going to be for casual gaming and music production. I'm keeping some parts of the old setup since I'm on a budget. I'm looking for the best performance for the price and i'm keeping my old graphics card for now. I'll change it in a short while so feel free to suggest any card that would fit the build.

It's a 500$ upgrade, i'm trying to stay around that price.

Here's the new stuff I'm thinking of getting as of now:

CPU:

Intel Core i5-8400 Coffee Lake 6-Core 2.8 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo) LGA 1151 (300 Series) 65W BX80684I58400 Desktop Processor Intel UHD Graphics 630

https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117824&ignorebbr=1

Motherboard:

ASRock B360M Pro4 LGA 1151 (300 Series) Intel B360 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157820&ignorebbr=1

RAM:

G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2400 (PC4 19200) Intel X299 / Z270 / Z170 / X99 Platform Desktop Memory Model F4-2400C17D-8GVR

https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232609&ignorebbr=1

All of this has been chosen based on reviews since I haven't been following the market for a while now...

Firewire card (for my firewire Audio interface (firewire 400 or 800)

Rosewill RC-504 - PCIe FireWire 1394a Card - 2 + 1-Port (Two External + One Internal)

https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815166018&ignorebbr=1

Here's the old stuff that's staying:


Seagate BarraCuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395

Sapphire RADEON HD 7750
https://www.cnet.com/products/sapphire-radeon-hd-7750-graphics-card-radeon-hd-7750-1-gb-112020020g/specs/

Ultra X-Connect 500w ATX power supply
https://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Products-X-Connect-Power-Supply/dp/B0002O6KUS


Let me know what you think!

Any suggestion is appreciated

 

[g-unit1111]

Trash that Ultra PSU. You will definitely want to get a new PSU and something that's much stronger than that to power your new stuff. Ultras are some of the worst ever made, and they won't be able to power today's newer CPUs, motherboards, and GPUs. If you're spending $500 on new equipment, an extra $70 on a new and strong PSU like a Seasonic Focus would be a much wiser investment than reusing your old PSU.

 

[modbucket]

Thanks! You think the 550W would do the job?

 

[logainofhades]

Seasonic Evo 620w are decent PSU's for the money, and are reasonably priced. That will give some headroom for higher end graphics cards. Since CPU and board can handle it, I would go with faster 2666 ram, for less.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($237.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock - B360M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: Patriot - Viper Elite 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($112.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - EVO Edition 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $565.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-07 14:16 EDT-0400

 

[modbucket]

Thanks for the input!

 

[g-unit1111]

Thanks! You think the 550W would do the job?

Yes a solid 550W - 600W should do - Seasonic Focus, EVGA G2, and Corsair HXi are usually my go to PSUs.

 

[logainofhades]

Thanks! You think the 550W would do the job?

Yes a solid 550W - 600W should do - Seasonic Focus, EVGA G2, and Corsair HXi are usually my go to PSUs.

Yea those I often go to for those with larger budgets. The 620w Evo is like the base model I start with these days, for the more budget constrained.

 

[g-unit1111]

Yea those I often go to for those with larger budgets. The 620w Evo is like the base model I start with these days, for the more budget constrained.

I think the Focus is the newer variant of the S2 isn't it?

 

[punkncat]

Without knowing a single thing about your current build, I will point out a few things you may want to look into first.

First, I hope you just didn't list your SSD or M.2 Drive. Running off a HD is super slow and even really old systems will see a HUGE benefit from adding a good one.

Second, that video card is super weak. As above, if your current CPU is anything near current, doing an upgrade here will do wonders for you in various ways.

As to the power supply....I have never been a huge fan of the replace something that isn't broke mentality. If you have owned this, and it's working/providing the plugs you need, it's plenty powerful enough to use for your current system with a nice GPU upgrade, OR with that newer 8th gen.

As to your parts, I don't think there is anything wrong with going i5 for most any system. They are capable, have great single thread perf and enough cores to do well with most anything the average user throws at it. I have no idea if the music production programs require better SC or MC perf....in the case of the latter, it's worth a look at Ryzen in that dept to cost.

 

[g-unit1111]

Without knowing a single thing about your current build, I will point out a few things you may want to look into first.

First, I hope you just didn't list your SSD or M.2 Drive. Running off a HD is super slow and even really old systems will see a HUGE benefit from adding a good one.

I agree that an SSD would definitely be a wise purchase, especially since you can get a 1TB Crucial drive for super cheap right now.

 

[modbucket]

Yeah... It would make sense to go with the SSD instead of the Power supply. It really would speed it up. Thanks!

 

[logainofhades]

Yeah... It would make sense to go with the SSD instead of the Power supply. It really would speed it up. Thanks!

That SSD isn't going to speed up much, when that junk PSU dies and takes the system with it. PSU quality is not something that you should compromise on. Not saying you have to go get a platinum seasonic or something similar, but a dumpster fire waiting to happen, Ultra, has no business being in any PC. I paid the price for a junk PSU once, and was fortunate that it wasn't on my main gaming rig. Had it been I would have been out a lot of money.

 

[modbucket]

Point taken, I'll start by replacing my PSU then, the worst part being that it would be the third rig to use it XD it's probably 10 years old lol. I knew I had to replace it, basically for the same reason you bringing up. It would be stupid to risk all the new components for an old crappy PSU.

Thanks again!

 

[modbucket]

I know having a better HD comes with faster file access and that's important for the music side (sample banks, sampled instruments, recording, etc) but as far as gaming is concerned, what impact does it have?

 

[Corwin65]

Regarding your Firewire Sound Card, are there Win 10 drivers for it?

 

[modbucket]

Yes there are, it's a Fireface 800. I'm still hesitating between Win 10 and 7. I know Windows 7 won't be updated when we reach 2020, but I'm not that convinced with Win 10 and compatibility issues.

Would having Win 7 64 on my updated rig limit the performance in any way?

 

[DSzymborski]

Just to answer an older question above, the Seasonic S12s/M12s below 750W are on SeaSonic's old GB Bronze platform. The other PSUs you'd see on that platform were the lower wattage Antec High Current Gamers and lower wattage XFX Core and TS series. The Focus series is based on a newer platform.

 

[Corwin65]

You need to run Win 10 with the new build.

There are work arounds but it's not worth the hassle in my opinion.

That is an old interface, going back to Windows 2000. I did see the Win 10 drivers though.

 

[modbucket]

Just to answer an older question above, the Seasonic S12s/M12s below 750W are on SeaSonic's old GB Bronze platform. The other PSUs you'd see on that platform were the lower wattage Antec High Current Gamers and lower wattage XFX Core and TS series. The Focus series is based on a much newer platform.

Thanks! If I go for the Focus series, should I go full modular or semi-modular?
Also, since I'm on a budget, could the 550W version suffice?

 

[DSzymborski]

Just to answer an older question above, the Seasonic S12s/M12s below 750W are on SeaSonic's old GB Bronze platform. The other PSUs you'd see on that platform were the lower wattage Antec High Current Gamers and lower wattage XFX Core and TS series. The Focus series is based on a much newer platform.

Thanks! If I go for the Focus series, should I go full modular or semi-modular?
Also, since I'm on a budget, could the 550W version suffice?

A 550W would be fine.

Semi vs. full modular is up to you. Semi has the benefit of full modular in that you only have to use the cables you need (semi-modular PSUs tend to only have attached the cables you're pretty much guaranteed to use). But full has the benefit of being a bit easier to route and being able to go full cable mod on all the cables.

 

[modbucket]

Just to answer an older question above, the Seasonic S12s/M12s below 750W are on SeaSonic's old GB Bronze platform. The other PSUs you'd see on that platform were the lower wattage Antec High Current Gamers and lower wattage XFX Core and TS series. The Focus series is based on a much newer platform.

Thanks! If I go for the Focus series, should I go full modular or semi-modular?
Also, since I'm on a budget, could the 550W version suffice?

A 550W would be fine.

Semi vs. full modular is up to you. Semi has the benefit of full modular in that you only have to use the cables you need (semi-modular PSUs tend to only have attached the cables you're pretty much guaranteed to use). But full has the benefit of being a bit easier to route and being able to go full cable mod on all the cables.

I'll probably go semi-modular then, not big on computer aesthetics as of now