Help required on upgrading the missus' old gaming rig!

[Mr4q]

I've just recently bought a new pc and was thinking to upgrade the missus' pc as a bit of a Christmas present for her.

My issue is I'm not upto date with the new tech and also not sure what works/what's compatible/is it even worth upgrading what she has now.

Summary
Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core i5 2500 @ 3.30GHz 41 °C
Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology
RAM
6.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
Dell Inc. 0Y2MRG (CPU 1) 32 °C
Graphics
CVTE TV (1776x1000@59Hz)
1024MB ATI AMD Radeon HD 6670 (Dell) 42 °C
Storage
1397GB Seagate ST31500341AS ATA Device (SATA) 37 °C
Optical Drives
PLDS DVD+-RW DH-16ABS ATA Device
DTSOFT Virtual CdRom Device
Audio
AMD High Definition Audio Device

This is what she currently has, if I were to spend £200-£300 upgrading what should I go for?
Will I see benefit or is it just worth getting something new in the £500-£600 range again?


Any advice is greatly appreciated, as I'm not sure where to start with this one without making wild guesses.

Thanks!
Jake

 

[Aeacus]

In my opinion, there's not much point to sink extra £200-£300 into the old prebuilt system that is very low-end to begin with.
I'd go for a new and up to the date build.

For a new build, how about this.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor (£107.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI H110M PRO-VD PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£46.63 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£51.44 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: SK hynix SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.47 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.98 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 2GB Mini Video Card (£106.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H23 ATX Mid Tower Case (£26.48 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£65.41 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£17.94 @ YoYoTech)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full 32/64-bit (£83.54 @ More Computers)
Total: £623.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-10 02:44 GMT+0000

Went a little bit over the budget.

According to the today's standards, this build is considered as an entry-level/ low-end gaming PC but solid medium-end office PC.

Few words.

For CPU, put in the Intel's latest Skylake family CPU. i3-6100 is the baby of Skylake family. Great for desktop/ office use.
MoBo also has latest Intel's H110 chipset that supports all LGA1151 socket CPUs from Intel (current Skylake and future Kaby Lake family).
Put in 2x 4GB DDR4 RAM that runs at 2133 Mhz.
For an OS drive, went with a 2.5" SSD that is much faster then the current HDD she uses.
And for data storage, put in a common WD Caviar Blue 1TB HDD.
Even though for office work and light gaming, the dedicated GPU is not needed. Still, put it in just in case she likes to play more demanding games.
Picked a standard ATX case for the build that has a side window.
System's power plant comes directly from the best PSU OEM, Seasonic. 80+ Gold efficiency and semi-modular to ease it's installation.
Also put in a CD/DVD reader/writer.
And lastly, put in Win 10 Home as an OS.

The best part of this build is the upgradability it has. Without changing the MoBo and PSU, this build can be upgraded to the medium-end gaming/ workstation rig with i5-6500, GTX 1060 and 2x 8GB of DDR4 RAM.
If you'd switch out the PSU (Seasonic G-450) to more powerful one (e.g Seasonic G-650), then you can even upgrade this PC to a high-end gaming/ workstation rig with i7-6700, GTX 1080 and 2x 16GB of DDR4 RAM. So, you're well set for the future.

 

[Mr4q]

In my opinion, there's not much point to sink extra £200-£300 into the old prebuilt system that is very low-end to begin with.
I'd go for a new and up to the date build.

For a new build, how about this.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor (£107.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI H110M PRO-VD PLUS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£46.63 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£51.44 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: SK hynix SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£74.47 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£42.98 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 2GB Mini Video Card (£106.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H23 ATX Mid Tower Case (£26.48 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£65.41 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£17.94 @ YoYoTech)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full 32/64-bit (£83.54 @ More Computers)
Total: £623.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-10 02:44 GMT+0000

Went a little bit over the budget.

According to the today's standards, this build is considered as an entry-level/ low-end gaming PC but solid medium-end office PC.

Few words.

For CPU, put in the Intel's latest Skylake family CPU. i3-6100 is the baby of Skylake family. Great for desktop/ office use.
MoBo also has latest Intel's H110 chipset that supports all LGA1151 socket CPUs from Intel (current Skylake and future Kaby Lake family).
Put in 2x 4GB DDR4 RAM that runs at 2133 Mhz.
For an OS drive, went with a 2.5" SSD that is much faster then the current HDD she uses.
And for data storage, put in a common WD Caviar Blue 1TB HDD.
Even though for office work and light gaming, the dedicated GPU is not needed. Still, put it in just in case she likes to play more demanding games.
Picked a standard ATX case for the build that has a side window.
System's power plant comes directly from the best PSU OEM, Seasonic. 80+ Gold efficiency and semi-modular to ease it's installation.
Also put in a CD/DVD reader/writer.
And lastly, put in Win 10 Home as an OS.

The best part of this build is the upgradability it has. Without changing the MoBo and PSU, this build can be upgraded to the medium-end gaming/ workstation rig with i5-6500, GTX 1060 and 2x 8GB of DDR4 RAM.
If you'd switch out the PSU (Seasonic G-450) to more powerful one (e.g Seasonic G-650), then you can even upgrade this PC to a high-end gaming/ workstation rig with i7-6700, GTX 1080 and 2x 16GB of DDR4 RAM. So, you're well set for the future.

So you think there wouldn't be much improvement in the current system by upgrading RAM and GPU then?

The new system idea would have to wait you see, upgrading is something I could get done before Christmas.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[tsnor]

I strongly differ.

Compare your current Intel Core i5 2500 @ 3.30GHz to the suggest i3-6100. The SAME performance except where your current CPU is FASTER. http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-2500K-vs-Intel-Core-i3-6100/619vs3511

If you want to improve game performance update the video card. Then throw in a nice mouse.

This is your only weak spot. ATI AMD Radeon HD 6670.

I could not tell your DELL power supply spec from the cut/paste. See if you can find it online, else open the case and see whats on the sticker. Bonus points if you can tell from the sticker how many AMPS of 12V. 12V is about the only power used on a modern PC CPU and Video.

I suspect the same GTX 1050 spec'ed in the £623.87 build above, plugged into your current PC, would give the same gaming results on your old build as the new buid spec'd above.. I suspect but cannot confirm that the current PSU is strong enough, worse case you would also have to update the power supply. The PSU spec'ed above is a very good one.

Here is the video card compare. http://hwbench.com/vgas/geforce-gtx-1050-ti-vs-radeon-hd-6670 Unless your wife is hard core gaming or your have a higher monitor resolution than 1080P you should be all set.

---

re: the DISK DRIVE. Adding an SSD would give your wife's system better feel. If you go with an SSD, get one 240GB or larger. Performance suffers below 240GB. Also you need to read review on the failure rate of the SSD you have chosen. Some fail. I am pretty much locked on SAMSUNG EVO drives right now for price, performance and reliability. I used to get intel which were slower, more expensive and Very reliable. The 500GB EVO I bought a few weeks ago was $130 US, price swings wildly on SSDs, use a price history tool and wait for price to come down.

 

[Mr4q]

That's really good to hear. Would it be worth updating the RAM as well? (Back 10 years ago this was always a solution to better performance - much change?)
We're set on good peripherals already.

Would there be any compatibility issues upgrading the graphics card/Ram?

The PSU can easily be swapped out if needed, I'll look into that when I can.

I've just Installed the Samsung evo into my new PC so might look into the same, depending on how much I spend on the graphics card.

 

[tsnor]

The ram you have is good DDR3 memory. Gaming typically needs 4 GB. You have 6 GB. I would not touch it. Your MB will not give you access to XMP profiles, so faster memory is not faster in your MB.

If you were to upgrade RAM you would hit a small risk of incompatible dimms on the same channel. Very low risk.

Zero risk on a video card upgrade. Everyone does it, no reported compatibility problems. Only risk is a getting a defective card which is pretty low risk, and fixed with an RMA. Since you have an AMD (old ATI) video card make sure you uninstall AMD software before installing an NVIDIA card, other than that the install is painless. The only trick is remembering to release the catch on the MB at the far end of the PCIe slot before pulling straight up on the card.

Do verify that you have a strong enough PSU for the new video card. As you can see from the compare link a GTX 1050 uses 100W vs 66 for the 6670. That's pretty close. Also, your 6670 does not need an PCI power connector, your new video card will. Make sure you have an available 6 pin PCI connector or buy a MOLEX to 6 pin adapter like this one: StarTech.com 6-Inch LP4 to 6 Pin PCI Express Video Card Power Cable Adapter $4 https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-6-Inch-Express-Adapter-LP4PCIEXADAP/dp/B0007RXDDM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1481406510&sr=8-6&keywords=molex+to+6+pin+pci-e Using adapters is not evil, it's exactly like the extra connection needed in a modular power supply. Just get an adapter with two 4-pin molex to one 6 pin PCI so you don't exceed the current spec for the pins. Likely if you PSU doesn't have a PCIe 6 pin then it's older and has a lot of free molex (4pin).

Other video cards worth considering with the GTX 1050 = GTX 1060, GTX 1070, RX460, RX470, RX480. These are all new, fast and low power.

update: forgot the GPU hierarchy link: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

update 2: Forgot to mention LOW PROFILE video cards. Make sure you have a full height slot, not a low profile slot. Unless you have a small form factor PC you have a full height slot, and also have room for the typical dual slot needed by the video card. From your other posts you can swap in a new PSU, so likely you do not need this info, it's mostly for other people reading this thread.

 

[Aeacus]

Compare your current Intel Core i5 2500 @ 3.30GHz to the suggest i3-6100. The SAME performance except where your current CPU is FASTER. http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-2500K-vs-Intel-Core-i3-6100/619vs3511

You do realize that in your comparison, you're comparing i5-2500K with i3-6100 while the OP has non-K i5-2500?

Here is the true comparison between i5-2500 and i3-6100,
link: http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-2500-vs-Intel-Core-i3-6100/m517vs3511

Both CPUs perform about the same.

That's really good to hear. Would it be worth updating the RAM as well? (Back 10 years ago this was always a solution to better performance - much change?)
We're set on good peripherals already.

Would there be any compatibility issues upgrading the graphics card/Ram?

The PSU can easily be swapped out if needed, I'll look into that when I can.

I've just Installed the Samsung evo into my new PC so might look into the same, depending on how much I spend on the graphics card.

As far as RAM goes, you can't upgrade it from DDR3 to DDR4 (need a newer MoBo for that) but you can add more RAM.
Current MoBo supports up to 16GB of 240-pin DDR3 RAM at speeds of 1066 Mhz or 1333 Mhz. MoBo also has 4 RAM slots. Here you can either go with 4x 4GB or 2x 8GB set if you want to max out the RAM amount on MoBo.
Cheapest RAM i could find is the Kingston RAM as a 2x 8GB set,
pcpp: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/hNtCmG/kingston-memory-kvr13n9k216

Without the memory compatibility list, i can't tell if the MoBo supports the new RAM or not. Usually MoBos support all kinds of RAMs in 2 out of 4 slots. For populating all 4 slots, compatibility list is much more needed.

As tsnor already stated, you have to check out the PSU wattage that PC has before you upgrade the GPU. If you can tell us the PSU make and model, then we can search it's specs from the internet.

Samsung 850 EVO is overpriced compared to the SK Hynix SL308 i put in the i3-6100 build.
Here's a reason why i put in SK Hynix SL308 (£74.47) and not Samsung 850 EVO (£86.99, pcpp link),
link: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-ssds,3891-2.html

 

[tsnor]

Compare your current Intel Core i5 2500 @ 3.30GHz to the suggest i3-6100. The SAME performance except where your current CPU is FASTER. http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-2500K-vs-Intel-Core-i3-6100/619vs3511

You do realize that in your comparison, you're comparing i5-2500K with i3-6100 while the OP has non-K i5-2500?

Here is the true comparison between i5-2500 and i3-6100,
link: http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-2500-vs-Intel-Core-i3-6100/m517vs3511

Both CPUs perform about the same.

That's really good to hear. Would it be worth updating the RAM as well? (Back 10 years ago this was always a solution to better performance - much change?)
We're set on good peripherals already.

Would there be any compatibility issues upgrading the graphics card/Ram?

The PSU can easily be swapped out if needed, I'll look into that when I can.

I've just Installed the Samsung evo into my new PC so might look into the same, depending on how much I spend on the graphics card.

As far as RAM goes, you can't upgrade it from DDR3 to DDR4 (need a newer MoBo for that) but you can add more RAM.
Current MoBo supports up to 16GB of 240-pin DDR3 RAM at speeds of 1066 Mhz or 1333 Mhz. MoBo also has 4 RAM slots. Here you can either go with 4x 4GB or 2x 8GB set if you want to max out the RAM amount on MoBo.
Cheapest RAM i could find is the Kingston RAM as a 2x 8GB set,
pcpp: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/hNtCmG/kingston-memory-kvr13n9k216

Without the memory compatibility list, i can't tell if the MoBo supports the new RAM or not. Usually MoBos support all kinds of RAMs in 2 out of 4 slots. For populating all 4 slots, compatibility list is much more needed.

As tsnor already stated, you have to check out the PSU wattage that PC has before you upgrade the GPU. If you can tell us the PSU make and model, then we can search it's specs from the internet.

Samsung 850 EVO is overpriced compared to the SK Hynix SL308 i put in the i3-6100 build.
Here's a reason why i put in SK Hynix SL308 (£74.47) and not Samsung 850 EVO (£86.99, pcpp link),
link: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-ssds,3891-2.html

I think we both agree staying with the current i5 based platform makes more sense than replacing with a newer i3-6100. As we both said "Both CPUs perform about the same." meaning the i5 is 5% faster but you can't see the difference.

I do not think spending £88.98 on 16GB of memory will measurably improve performance vs the 6GB in the PC now. Here is a reference: http://www.techspot.com/article/1043-8gb-vs-16gb-ram/page3.html It would not be a problem to go to larger memory. If OP was starting from scatch I'd say go 8GB or 16GB. But he has 6GB and that should be fine for the next few years, and any memory he buys now (DDR3) cannot be carried forward to his next build (DDR4).

I'm sure the Hynix is a good drive. This review echos your points: close enough performance and lower price: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sk-hynix-sl308-ssd-review,4583-3.html

This is why I'd choose the Samsung.

The hynix SSD uses 2D nand flash with very small lithography (16nm) and relies on really advanced error recovery (Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC)) to deal with losing a few electrons out of a cell that only holds a dozes on so and reports 8 different possible values (TLC).

The Samsung uses 3D stacking to relax the lithography to 40 nm (much larger) so that the number of electrons is much greater and leakage concerns and wear problems are easier to manage. The looser electron charge accuracy also means you can do writes a bit faster once both drive's simulated SLC is exhausted.

 

[Aeacus]

Staying with old build or going with new build depends completely on a person and their needs. Staying with the old build does cost less to upgrade than buying the new build. But going with new build lets to keep the old build as a backup just in case something happens with the new build.

In my case, i went with a new build. Had my old AMD and Haswell when i was deciding if to upgrade Haswell or go with Skylake. Rather than paying about 500 euros to upgrade my Haswell, i payed 1500 euros extra (total of more than 2000 euros) to get my Skylake. (All three PC specs in my signature.) Thinking to sink another 120 euros into my Skylake to get LED Mag-Lev bearing fans (currently, case has only stock fans).

About RAM, i was implying the possibility of upgrade.
More RAM helps only when PC is used mainly for gaming. Some of the newest AAA games use up to 8GB of RAM. Though, GPU should be GTX 1060 or better to play those games smoothly.
For office use and light gaming, the extra RAM doesn't make any difference.

If the OP would be after performance then Samsung seems like a good idea. He can go even for M.2 SSD by buying the PCI-E to M.2 adapter card (like this one). But as far as i understood, the idea is to keep the cost down and not to go with the top performance drive.
SK Hynix SL308 is mainly for mainstream users due to it's price while Samsung's performance SSDs are for enthusiasts due to the high price.