Looking for advice on changing my CPU and Motherboard

kunnome

Honorable
Nov 23, 2016
21
1
10,515
Hello!
I am currently looking to upgrade my CPU and Motherboard.
My current CPU and Motherboard are:

Motherboard : Gigabyte Technology GA-870A-USB3
(https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128485)

Processor : AMD Phenom(tm) X4 955 Processor, 3.2Ghz, Quad Core
(https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674)


My initial thought was my get a new CPU to run the recent games more smoothly (I recently upgraded my GPU as well back in November.)
However, seeing how old my motherboard is, a new CPU would not be compatible with my motherboard, therefore requiring me to get a new motherboard.


I was really just shooting in the dark for a new, affordable CPU and Motherboard combo. I'm definitely not looking for top of the line products.
As for price range, I was thinking $200 - $300 for both CPU and Motherboard combined.

Upon looking for some myself, I ran into this:
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/72wqqs/amd-ryzen-5-1400-32ghz-quad-core-processor-yd1400bbaebox

I heard that Ryzen series is new but from my limited knowledge, the 3.2Ghz and Quad Core seem really similar to my current CPU.


Any advice or even suggestions on products would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much!
 
Solution


PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jwZHjc
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jwZHjc/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1400 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($164.88 @ OutletPC)...
for comparison between your current cpu and the r5 1400

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-Ryzen-5-1400-vs-AMD-Phenom-II-X4-955/3922vs2935

is you budget an absolute $300 limit and no higher possible ?

edit: you will require DDR4 ram with a new ryzen build and it performs better with the faster clocked memory speeds. you could get a cheaper motherboard but they only have 2 ram slots, so not very good for future upgrades . also what is your current power supply unit, make and model?

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/GzvNjc
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/GzvNjc/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1400 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($164.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($84.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($71.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $321.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-08 01:10 EDT-0400
 
$300 is kind of what i'm hoping for. I may be able to go slightly higher. Was there a specific combo of products you were thinking of suggesting? By the way, thank you for the speedy response!
 


i was thinking that you may be better to go with the 6 core ryzen (r5 1600) because the 6 cores and 12 threads will be good for at least another 5 years imo. but then the price starts to creep up by around an extra $60. it all depends upon what you use your pc for , if it is light gaming and web browsing etc . then the r5 1400 will be perfect but if you like to live stream gaming sessions video encode etc then the 6 cores 12 threads will come in very handy!
 


this build incorporates the r5 1600 and a new power supply unit . it's over budget but it's worth it as the new power supply is of far higher quality than your current model.

which ever route you go down i highly recommend a new psu .

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Mx4GM8
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Mx4GM8/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($218.55 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($84.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($71.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $415.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-08 02:08 EDT-0400

edit: i have had some kind of meltdown! i have no idea why i think you need a new psu. reading too many threads today ha! apologies.
 
adiec, thank you for the continued help and interest! :)

Here is my current setup (excluding the mobo and the cpu):

Memory : SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 (X2) = SO i have 8G of ram right now
(https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231275)

Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Mini Video Card

Storage1 : Seagate Barracuda ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s

Storage2: SK hynix SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

Case : Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

Power Supply : Corsair TX650 650W
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020



I also have a few questions about your build suggestion.
1) will the micro ATX motherboard be fine to work with? Because I believe its smaller than the current mobo i have right now, and i have a mid-atx case?
2) my current PSU is 650W and the one you recommended is 550W. Is there more to a PSU than the wattage?
3) If I get the DDR4 rams you suggested, is it okay for me to mix them with my current ones to reach higher RAM? or should I only use the DDR4 ones?


Again, thanks so much!
 


1) http://www.antec.com/global/product.php/?id=NzA0MjI2 the case is compatible with all the standard motherboard sizes. mATX ATX and Mini ITX. so yeah it will be okay :)

2) yes there is far more to a psu than wattage . it is about the actual quality of the components used to make the power supply and how efficient it is . some people see a 750W psu that is 80+ rated and think oh great that will do.. then post here with "i bought this 750w psu for $20 made by shoddy psu limited and it died and now none of my components work, what can i do?" and you try to explain that the wattage is not the be all and end all.. and that going for a cheaply made psu to save money has just cost them $1000.

i am going to research your current psu though before consigning it to the scrap heap as it;s a corsair branded model and it may still be decent.

3) it's not possible to mix ddr3 and ddr4 ram they are completely different in size and architecture . ddr4 is much faster by the way! new motherboards and new cpus only support ddr4.
 
Well. It kinda depends on the age of that psu. Corsair is one of those companies that has limited imagination yet a desire to sell based on brand recognition. The Corsair TX series itself is quite old, there were a couple of revisions but generally the TX were middling decent psus, quite superior to the CX label line. As decent as they were, however, they were pretty much discontinued for a few years and have just recently been revived. So. What you have is a quite good quality psu. Now age comes into it. Psus degrade over time, the constant use of the capacitors is much akin to a fluorescent light bulb, the cathode gets pitted and carbonated and looses some ability to glow. Eventually fails. This (in a quality cap) takes years to happen, so a decent psu will last @5 years with good use, sometimes more if it's not unduly stressed. So. If that TX is 5ish or more years old, it's getting close to retirement. If it's of the new revision, recently released, keep it for sure, it's a good psu.
MATX works just fine in ATX cases, many actually prefer the smaller, cheaper board simply because they have no need of sli/crossfire and its easier to use and navigate, it's wasted real estate. MATX and ATX are intrinsically the same board, just missing the bottom 3", so if you don't need the extra slots and really don't have use for all the extra gimmicks, it's not going to hurt the build in the slightest and can probably be easier to work with.
Early pc's used SD ram (single data rate), then new came around and you got boards with DDR ram (dual data rate), then DDR2 (revision 2) then for the last 10 or more years it's been DDR3 (revision 3) and current new boards require DDR4 (revision 4). Each new revision has a different physical pin count, DDR3 is 240 pin (the little gold teeth on the comb) and DDR4 is 288 pin. Apart from the directional slots being different, they are slightly different sizes so will in no way physically interchange in the slots. You have a last generation board, that means DDR3, so newer DDR4 will absolutely not work. Which is OK because DDR3 is at rock bottom prices as ppl are trying to get rid of older stock.
 


i go back further than sd ram! the good old days when ram capacity was still measured in megabytes ! my first pc had a cyrix x86 133mhz cpu which i overclocked just by moving a jumper and it ran at a speedy 150mhz! 8mb of ram and i think something like 100mb hdd.. was a pre built by hi-grade cost something like £1500 !
 


haha i was talking in terms of the pc 😛 i did own a vic 20 an atari 2600 and a binatone ?? i think they were called . the spectrum and amstrad cpc 464 gave me hours of fun and nightmares.. waiting 2 hours for a game to load only for it to "read error B" on me ! or even worse get to the end of the cassette and not complete the loading phase! but that is why we enjoyed games so much .. because we waited so long.. we were damn well going to enjoy it!
 
Haha, adiec and Karadjgne, thank you for the continued responses!
To be honest, the last 3-4 posts made by you guys went WAY over my head hahahaha.

But from what Karadjgne said, it seems I should replace my PSU as well since it has been a good 6 years since I bought this model.

So in order to get a new CPU, i should be getting...

1)a new cpu
2)a new motherboard
3)a new set of RAM
4)a new psu

haha man this escalated quickly! But I do understand now why it's recommended to do so.
But man! the $$$$$!!! :) :)
 


PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jwZHjc
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jwZHjc/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1400 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($164.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($84.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $344.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-08 13:13 EDT-0400

not as nice to have as the 6 core 12 thread r5 1600 but closer to your budget .

edit: i would opt for the 550w version of the same psu for the extra $10
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139147&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker,%20LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
 
Solution


Thank you! I think I will go for those parts you listed, along with the 550w model.

Although, if I do decide to wait a bit more to gather some more money to spend on this, would I be able to switch the cpu you listed with the 1500 or even the 6 core 1600? Would all 3 cpus work fine with the rest of the parts you listed?

I apologize for asking questions after questions!
 


yeah they will work all the way up to and including the ryzen r7 cpus .. bear in mind that the X versions i believe don't include a cpu heatsink and fan .
 
Don't apologize for asking questions, that's no trouble at all for a multitude of reasons. The only time I personally get irritated is when ppl don't ask, go ahead and just do things, then come back later wondering why their expensive FX9590 cpu is overheating on the $18 cpu cooler they installed and was there a better one that cost less than $25. Better he had asked multiple questions, would have been told to get an FX8350 cheaper and a $60 cooler that woulda left him happily gaming.
 
Why didnt any suggest a ryzen 3 1200?
Isnt this 4 core technology gonna way outperform that old cpu and motherboard?
Im asking cuz im currently running almost same setup Ga 990xa-ud3 with phenom 2 955 be