Question Help me improve my old but gold setup ?

[shuvokingbd]

Hey TechGeeks! 👋

I’m not a hardware expert, but I’ve been using this old rig that still runs pretty well for everyday tasks and light gaming. Thought I’d ask the community for advice on how to upgrade it, especially since a friend suggested upgrading storage.Here’s a quick look at my current setup:

🖥️ Current PC Build :

• Motherboard: Gigabyte H310M S2P
• CPU: Intel Core i3-8100 (4C/4T, 3.6GHz)
• RAM: 8GB DDR4-2400 (Avexir)
• Storage: PNY CS900 120GB SATA SSD
• GPU: Nvidia GTX 950 Extreme Edition 2GB
• PSU: Antec VP500 (500W)

📈 What I Need Help With
Lately, I’ve noticed my system feels a bit tight on space and slightly sluggish when loading up apps or games. I’m not entirely sure where the best upgrade path is—could be storage, maybe something else? My motherboard supports M.2 SATA and PCIe Gen3 x2 NVMe SSDs (M-key, 2242/2260/2280), so I imagine there’s some room to work with there if needed.

💡 Looking For Advice On:

• What would be the most effective upgrade for better performance and smoother multitasking?
• If storage is the weak link here, what type and capacity would be ideal for modern use (Windows + apps + games)?
• Any budget-friendly suggestions that strike a good balance between price and performance?

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hey there,

If gaming isn't a priority, then I'd suggest an upgrade to 2 x 16gb DDR 2666mhz, and an upgrade for storage to an M2 SSD. The extra ram will give you much better multitasking speeds (like loads of chrome tabs open etc).

The M2 drive will be faster than the SATA drive and give a much snappier feel to how the OS runs. Things load up much more quickly.

Other than that, ideally a CPU and mobo upgrade to go with the faster/more ram would give a nice boost too. But, I'd be wary of putting too much cash into what is an ageing system. The upgrades will give you a bit more life, but not that much more.

For about 4-500$ you could get an AMD mini PC with a modern CPU and iGPU which would blow away your current system.

 

[Misgar]

The other thing I'd change is the i3-8100 CPU. A faster i7 with more cores (and more heat) would reap benefits in apps that need more than 4C/4T. I've upgraded several old LGA 1150 systems to better CPUs. This machine is running a i7-4770K at a modest 4.1GHz all-core overclock on a Gigabyte GA-Z97-D3H.

In your case perhaps an i7-8700K 3.7GHz, i7-9700K 3.6GHz would work. Your i3-8100 is already quite fast at 3.6GHz (turbo) and I wouldn't sacrifice too much speed for extra cores on a slow i7. I suspect your Gigabyte H310M S2P will not support overclocking K-series CPUs which is a shame.
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/H310M-S2P-rev-10-13/support#support-cpu

Buying second hand CPUs on eBay can be a lottery, but I've been lucky with most of my purchases. If a CPU is described as working but turns out to be DOA, you can get a refund from eBay. Don't buy a top-of-the-range obsolete CPU. They cost silly money and you'd be much better off with a modern mobo/CPU.

If you do fit a more power hungry CPU, you might need a bigger cooler. Check out Thermalright coolers on Amazon.

The M2 drive will be faster than the SATA drive and give a much snappier feel to how the OS runs. Things load up much more quickly.

Unfortunately the OP's Gigabyte mobo is like mine and the M.2 slot is limited to only two PCIe Gen.3 channels. Hence any 4-channel NVMe drive will run at half Gen.3 speed (see below).
https://download.gigabyte.com/FileL...e_1301.pdf?v=a3b3c5eadab739b654d09a79709f9050

Storage Interface Chipset:
- 1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 SATA and PCIe x2 SSD support)
- 4 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors

I've got a 1TB CT1000P3SSD8 NVMe drive in my GA-Z97-D3H and Crystal Disk Mark SEQ1M 8QT1 shows Read speed = 791MB/s and Write Speed = 511MB/s. This isn't much faster than old-fashioned 2.5" SATA SSDs which top out at 530 to 560MB/s. You won't see a huge improvement upgrading to M.2 on this mobo.

I've numerous old PCs booting from cheap 120GB SATA SSDs. Because they have fewer NAND "channels", 120GB SSDs run slower than 500GB and 1TB SSDs. 250GB SSD transfer rates are mid way between 120GB and 500GB.

Your best option would be a 1TB Gen.3 M.2 NVMe drive running in 2-channel mode, but I doubt you'd detect much difference with a 1TB 2.5" SSD, especially one with DRAM. 800MB/s 2-channel Gen.3 NVMe versus 560MB/s SATA is not a huge jump.

 

[shuvokingbd]

Thanks a lot for the helpful replies so far! 😊 I'm learning a bunch here. I’m working with a tight budget (around $50), so I want to make the best upgrade possible for now.

Just a few questions I’m still unsure about:

1. I currently have 1 stick of 8GB 2400MHz RAM. If I add another 8GB stick at different bus like 2666mhz, will they work okay together? Will it still run in dual channel, or cause any issues?
2. Is upgrading to 16GB (2x8GB) worth it for smoother multitasking (like web browsing, Office apps, and some light gaming)?
3. My motherboard manual says the M.2 slot supports “NVMe PCIe Gen2 x2 2280.” Is there actually much real-world difference between that and a regular 2.5” SATA SSD for things like booting Windows or loading apps? If not, I might just get a larger SATA SSD since it’s cheaper and easier to find.
4. Are Gen3 NVMe SSDs backward compatible with Gen2 slots? It’s tough to find Gen2 NVMe drives these days, so I’m wondering if a Gen3 drive would still work without problems.

And one last thing: If you were in my place with this setup and $50, what would you upgrade first — RAM or storage?

 

[Misgar]

If I add another 8GB stick at different bus like 2666mhz, will they work okay together? Will it still run in dual channel, or cause any issues?

Using two completely different sticks of RAM is not recommended, due to potential instability. It's much better to install a kit of two identical DIMMs (known as a matched pair). In practice, you may get away with unmatched DDR3 RAM.

To get Dual Channel, you need to fit the DIMMs in the correct sockets, usually A2, B2 on a 4-slot board. Check your mobo manual for recommended RAM slots. If you fit 2 DIMMs in A1, A2 or B1, B2 you'll get Single Channel. In practice, Dual Channel is roughly 10% faster.

Is upgrading to 16GB (2x8GB) worth it for smoother multitasking (like web browsing, Office apps, and some light gaming)?

Are you running out of RAM at this point in time? Open Task Manager and select the 'Performance' tab. Select 'Memory' on the left hand side.

Check the figures under In use (Compressed). On my i7-4770K with 16GB RAM it shows 3.9GB 'In use' and 11.2GB 'Available', which means I've got plenty of free RAM for other programs. Your 'Available' RAM will be much smaller, e.g. 3.2GB, because you've only got one 8GB DIMM, not 4 x 4GB like me.

Check the figures next to 'Committed'. My i7-4770K PC shows 5.0/18.0GB Committed and 4.5GB cached which is fine. Committed is a combination of RAM + pagefile.sys. I'd expect your Committed to be roughly 10GB, +/- 2GB, because you've only got one 8GB DIMM.

I had a windfall of eighty 4GB DDR3 DIMMs from a friend, so I upgraded any machines that didn't already have 16GB.

You'll benefit from 16GB RAM if you keep several large programs open. The alternative is to close programs you don't really need.

I used to buy second hand RAM on eBay. Cheaper than new. If you do the same, it's important to test the RAM with MemTest86. Even one error and the RAM is suspect. RMA if you have any doubts. Faulty memory corrupts files.
https://www.memtest86.com/

Is there actually much real-world difference between that and a regular 2.5” SATA SSD for things like booting Windows or loading apps? If not, I might just get a larger SATA SSD since it’s cheaper and easier to find.

As I explained earlier, you won't gain much from fitting an NVMe drive. My 1TB NVMe has a Read speed of 791MB/s. A good 2.5" SATA should yield around 540MB/s. 791 divided by 540 = 1.46, i.e. my NVMe drive is 46% "faster" than my SATA SSDs. It's a bit faster running Windows, but not a huge leap.

You can get a cheap-and-cheerful 960GB Patriot SATA SSD for $48 if you live in the USA. This drive does not have a DRAM cache, so it won't be as fast as a drive with DRAM if you install Windows on the new drive.
https://www.amazon.com/Patriot-Burst-Elite-960GB-Solid/dp/B08LKNLF7K

This 2.5" Samsung SSD with DRAM cache would make Windows run faster, but a twice the price.
https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Inch-Internal-MZ-77E1T0B-AM/dp/B08QBJ2YMG/ref=sr_1_1

I've used 120GB Patriot drives as Windows 10 boot drives on multiple machines over the years. They're OK for general use, especially if you're on a tight budget. They will wear out faster than DRAM versions.

This Patriot 1TB Gen.3 M.2 NVMe SSD is only $54.
https://www.amazon.com/Patriot-P320-1TB-Internal-SSD/dp/B0DBX6BKJP

This Patriot 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD is $53. Spot the difference ($1).
https://www.amazon.com/Patriot-P210-SATA-1TB-Inch/dp/B087KBL5KS/ref=sr_1_3

I can't vouch for the Patriot M.2 drive's speed or quality, but it does show M.2 NVMe and 2.5" SATA prices are almost the same.

Other people will recommend mainstream Samsung drives at twice the price, but I'm keeping in mind your $50 budget.

Are Gen3 NVMe SSDs backward compatible with Gen2 slots? It’s tough to find Gen2 NVMe drives these days, so I’m wondering if a Gen3 drive would still work without problems.

You shouldn't have any trouble, but I can't guarantee that 100%. My Crucial CT1000P3SSD8 is a 1TB Gen.3x4 drive and works fine in the Gen.2x2 slot in my Gigabyte GA-Z97-D4H LGA 1150 mobo, which is almost the same layout as your board, but with a different CPU socket.

Conclusion

Fit a new SSD.

RAM can be upgraded later.

 

[thestryker]

Upgrading memory to dual channel will help with performance and is something you should definitely consider a priority.

As for SSD I think it'd be best to buy whatever the cheapest reliable drive is whether it's NVMe or SATA. Neither is going to have a significant performance difference in your system and the only reason to really emphasize NVMe would be if you're going to upgrade the entire system and want to carry the drive forward in the near future.

 

[geofelt]

Your $50 budget is very limiting.
It can buy you perhaps a new Samsung 870 EVO.
Don't buy a used ssd and don't buy junk brands.
A 120gb C drive can fill up easily and when it gets near 95% full it will slow down dramatically.

Because you are multitasking, you need to be able to hold most of what you do in ram. 8gb is limiting.
After working for a while, look at task manager resource monitor.
ON the memory tab, look at the hard faults per second. If it shows much more than zero, you are short of ram.
A hard fault stops your app dead until it can be resolved.
Is your 8gb of ram two sticks?
If not, I would take a chance and spend $10 on another similar ram stick to what you now have.
Intel is reasonably tolerant of mismatched ram.
CPU-Z spd tab will tell you what you now have.
If you have 2 4gb sticks, you will need to buy a 2 8gb ram kit.
DDR4 2666 speed is the best you can do. Perhaps $20.


Your i3-8100 has 4 processing threads.
Here is a list of the processors your motherboard can support:
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/H310M-S2P-20-rev-10/support#support-cpu
Something like a I5-8600K Might be $50 on ebay.
6 threads and a 20% faster processor.

 

[Misgar]

This article concludes that although dual channel RAM is generally faster than single channel, the improvement isn't huge. Of course some functions may benefit more than others.
https://beebom.com/single-channel-vs-dual-channel-memory/

"Theoretically, there should have been a 2x difference, while in reality, the Dual Channel seems to exhibit only a 16-17% advantage at best in overall usage."

Some people might not notice notice a 17% average speed increase after switching from single to dual channel.

If you have 2 4gb sticks, you will need to buy a 2 8gb ram kit.

The OP has already asked if it's worth upgrading from a single 8GB DIMM by sourcing a second 8GB DIMM, to which I replied it was not ideal, due to mismatched RAM, but it would probably work.

A 120gb C drive can fill up easily and when it gets near 95% full it will slow down dramatically.

The OP already has a 120GB SATA SSD and is considering a drive with more capacity. I avoid filling my SSDs past 80%, but that's my choice.

If you were in my place with this setup and $50, what would you upgrade first — RAM or storage?

I've already suggested a 1TB SSD for $50, but I suppose you could split your $50 budget between an 8GB stick of RAM and a smaller SSD (500GB?).

You won't be able to afford even a 250GB 870 EVO if these Amazon prices are typical. $60 for a 250GB EVO seems extortionate, but there's another 250GB EVO going for $87. Ridiculous. Tarrifs?
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-250GB-Internal-Solid-MZ-77E250/dp/B08T1TWQS9
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Factor-Intelligent-Magician-Software/dp/B08PC3PGZM

That's why I suggested a "lesser" brand of SSD with no DRAM cache. Not as fast, or reliable, or long lived as an EVO, but much cheaper and within your budget of $50.

I've got dozens of 120/240/480GB cheap SATA SSDs as Windows boot drives in old PCs (at a guess at least 30 drives). I use EVO drives in critical builds, but I'm not going to waste thousands of dollars on dozens of expensive SSDs in less important systems.

More RAM would be an advantage, but I suspect you're running out of space on your 120GB drive. If you can survive with 8GB RAM, blow your entire $50 budget on an SDD. You can add RAM later.

Remember to take backups of all important files. Never trust your precious memories to a single disk drive.