Keep G3258 system or upgrade? Limited budget

[ahwood23]

So I have an Intel G3258 with a Cooler Master Hyper T2 cooler in a MSI Z87M Gaming mobo, with G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600. Never overclocked. PowerColor AMD 7850HD with 2GB RAM. One OS SSD, 2 storage HDD. One DVD/RW

Actually had to RMA the mobo back in November, as the original board never posted or anything (I bought it like a year or 2 before finishing my build and installing everything). So everything worked great for the past 8 months, and then all of a sudden, when I go to turn on the computer, the lights flash and the fans spin for like half a second, and then nothing. No beep, no error LED on the mobo (which yes, the green power light on it working just fine). Thought my older PSU was to blame, so ordered a new EVGA 650 BQ, and installed it this weekend, and still same issues.

So my guess is mobo, and I have contacted MSI to RMA this board, but when I entered the SN, the website says it's invalid. I may have now exceeded my 3 years of warranty from my original purchase, so here's my real question:

I don't do major gaming or rendering or anything on my computer. I like to have a ton of Google Chrome pages open at the same time, but mostly surfing the web, checking emails, downloading videos (which I usually just transfer to my portable HD and watch on our TV), but I'd like it to play Fortnite and some other basic games, but I don't need cutting edge by any means.
My budget is miniscule (just had to replace a fence, ugh), so there's that too.

Do I try to find a LGA 1150 board and just keep the rest of my setup intact? Any particular board that you'd suggest?
Do I try to put together a budget system based around something like a G4400 or a Ryzen 3 to allow myself to possibly upgrade a bit more in the future?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Lutfij]

I think you're better off detailing your post as this thread. On a second note, you can look into a Ryzen 3 build however that might change once we know of your full intentions, your budget and what you currently have to work with.

List your specs like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:

 

[mgallo848]

I don't do major gaming or rendering or anything on my computer. I like to have a ton of Google Chrome pages open at the same time, but mostly surfing the web, checking emails, downloading videos (which I usually just transfer to my portable HD and watch on our TV), but I'd like it to play Fortnite and some other basic games, but I don't need cutting edge by any means.
My budget is miniscule (just had to replace a fence, ugh), so there's that too.

Building a new PC is always the "fun" way to go if you're a geek but in your case, based on what you use it for AND having a "minuscule budget" I don't see anything wrong with just replacing the motherboard for now.

You can always build a new one from the ground up when your financial situation changes but for now, you're system is still fast enough and would server you well for what you need.

 

[geofelt]

First of all can you try testing with the motherboard discrete graphics?
Possibly a bad graphics card is to blame.

Try testing with single sticks of ram in case some ram has gone bad.

You are likely correct in thinking the motherboard has failed.


Your G3258 is a very good processor and should be adequate for your purposes.

So far as I know, all lga1150 motherboards allowed G3258 overclocking.
That will improve your cpu capability by some 25%

I would try to buy a motherboard replacement. Perhaps $100 for a new one or less for used.
Regardless, the seller should be willing to take the board back if it does not work.

If you are looking to a modern ryzen or intel replacement, not only will you need a new motherboard but DDR4 ram also.

 

[ahwood23]

First of all can you try testing with the motherboard discrete graphics?
Possibly a bad graphics card is to blame.

Try testing with single sticks of ram in case some ram has gone bad.

You are likely correct in thinking the motherboard has failed.


Your G3258 is a very good processor and should be adequate for your purposes.

So far as I know, all lga1150 motherboards allowed G3258 overclocking.
That will improve your cpu capability by some 25%

I would try to buy a motherboard replacement. Perhaps $100 for a new one or less for used.
Regardless, the seller should be willing to take the board back if it does not work.

If you are looking to a modern ryzen or intel replacement, not only will you need a new motherboard but DDR4 ram also.

Sorry, I forgot to put in my original post that I did remove the GPU for testing purposes, as well as remove the RAM, and also try the RAM in different slots, and also re-seat the CPU - all with the same result of the power on and fan spin for less than a second, no other signs of life.

And yeah, that's the deal with upgrading, I would have to replace the RAM as well, and those prices are so high right now that makes it less attractive. But at least that way the money I'd be spending would be forward thinking, rather than propping up an older tech. Which is still what I'm leaning towards, but wanted others take on the issue as well.

 

[geofelt]

$200 or so buys you a quad core G5600, a lga1151 300 series motherboard and 8gb of ddr4 ram. 16gb would be $75 more.

 

[ALEX0264]

Have you tried clearing the CMOS?

 

[pensive69]

you should be able to get the new mb and run with the 8 month [ of actual use ?] old gear and peripherals.
see if the online outlets have any interesting deals ..call their support departments too.
most of the bigger firms have help on tap.

 

[gingerrankin]

If your budget is very limited and you dont oc you can buy a h81 mobo. Brand new. Avoid second hand mobo. Simply the cheapest that accept your components. Maybe a asus h81m-p plus. Its about 50 eur / dollars.
If you can (I recommend this option) use geofelt recomendation and sell used parts in second hand marquet. If choose g5400 instead g5600 is a little cheap.