Mid range System Upgrade with iGPU - Ryzen 2400G or Intel (???)

[mk76]

Hello,
First time poster on TH. Need advice to select components to upgrade old Intel E8400 / 4GB DDR2 .

The system will be used as general purpose home machine, primarily by kids (16 and 8 respectively) for their school / home needs. No need for discrete GPU as have a PS4.

The idea of upgrade is to have a faster system that would remain useful for few years. Usage

• 
  - School projects / apps like Python, Scratch, Logo,
  - Mild video editing in movie maker/filmora etc ( school projects)
  - PPts for projects
  - MS Office 2016/19
  - Photoshop
  - Games like - AoE2HD or similar
  - OS - Windows 10 x64

Next upgrade not expected at least until 4-5 years

Components that will remain

• 
  - Corsair K380 cabinet
  - HDD - 500GB + 2 x 1TB WD Green
  - KB/Mouse/Monitor
  - Corsair VS450 (?? needs upgrade ?)

Upgrade required for

• 
  - CPU / Mobo / RAM
  - Ram 8gb/16b as per budget
  - 250gb SSD for boot drive (can skip )
  - PSU ???

Budget - 500 USD for CPU + Mobo + Ram + SSD (can skip)

Appreciate any advice for the same,

 

[justin.m.beauvais]

Have a look at this collection of parts: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Zw9xV6

This would give you the Ryzen 5 2400G with 16GB of DDR4 at 3200MHz, a respectable motherboard that allows for some upgrading and overclocking if you choose to, and finally a 500 GB Crucial M.2 SSD so you don't have to eat up a drive bay. All for $453 and some change.

The good news is that your power supply will run this hardware easily and all your other hardware will be just fine as well.

 

[mk76]

Have a look at this collection of parts: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Zw9xV6

This would give you the Ryzen 5 2400G with 16GB of DDR4 at 3200MHz, a respectable motherboard that allows for some upgrading and overclocking if you choose to, and finally a 500 GB Crucial M.2 SSD so you don't have to eat up a drive bay. All for $453 and some change.

The good news is that your power supply will run this hardware easily and all your other hardware will be just fine as well.

Thanks
How's the mother board Asus Prime B450 - -a. It has 6 SATA ports . Will be using 4 for now.

Would you also suggest if AMD build is better than any Intel build for my needs?

 

[logainofhades]

I do not recommend getting a motherboard that doesn't have any heatsinks, on the VRM's. I included an aftermarket cooler, to help ensure you get the most performance from the CPU's XFR capability.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2400G 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($158.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool - GAMMAXX 400 74.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($23.79 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg Business)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $472.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-09-28 12:53 EDT-0400

An i5 8400 would be a faster solution, but a bit over budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.89 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool - GAMMAXX 400 74.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($23.79 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI - B360-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $513.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-09-28 12:57 EDT-0400

 

[justin.m.beauvais]

Have a look at this collection of parts: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Zw9xV6

This would give you the Ryzen 5 2400G with 16GB of DDR4 at 3200MHz, a respectable motherboard that allows for some upgrading and overclocking if you choose to, and finally a 500 GB Crucial M.2 SSD so you don't have to eat up a drive bay. All for $453 and some change.

The good news is that your power supply will run this hardware easily and all your other hardware will be just fine as well.

Thanks
How's the mother board Asus Prime B450 - -a. It has 6 SATA ports . Will be using 4 for now.

Would you also suggest if AMD build is better than any Intel build for my needs?

I would say that the AMD build is better for your use cases. However, that is only because you listed a game. The integrated Vega graphics are FAR superior to Intel's IGPU. As backwards as it sounds with Ryzen being amazing for productivity, I think that if you don't want to play games well and you want a productivity PC without a video card, you should go with the i5 8400. Don't get me wrong, I love the AMD chip and I think it would meed your needs with no issues, but the i5 is faster for the kinds of things you listed, aside from games.

Your other alternative would be something like this: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/C2V33b

This build would give you all the power you need with no real compromise between the 2400G and i5 8400. It does include a low end video card which is on par with the 2400G's graphics, and comes in $17 over your budget, but you'll get great productivity performance out of it and as a processor it will be relevant for longer than the 2400G will be. The downside of this build is that to fit the video card into budget you needed to drop the SSD to a 250GB.

If you needed to get closer to your budget you could drop the Ryzen 5 2600 to a 1600, lose a little performance, and only be 1 or 2 dollars over $500.

 

[mk76]

Many thanks @justin.m.beauvais and @logainofhades for your valuable suggestions. The differences between AMD and Intel build based on my current and future needs is clear to me now.


@logainofhades
- MSI is known to have a poor build quality and poor after sales support in India and is not recommended. Asus and Gigabyte are more reliable here
- I've noted your point about heat sink for VRMs
- The old build has a CM hyper TX3. Will see if that can be used. Else it will be included wraith cooler for now .. and will later upgrade as need arise.

I'll be going for Ryzen 2400G. Reason

1) .. this build is for a relative's kids .. who'll be the only ones to use it. Ryzen build seems sufficient for next 3 years at least or even more. Even then it can be easily upgraded to old 2600/2600x CPU with an additional GPU at low cost .. on the same mobo/ram. The APU looks strong enough to suffice the needs listed above.
2) There is another important dynamic that is acting as spoil sport... Local price in India. For eg .. I5-8400 is running around 275USD which is ridiculous.
3) Also I suppose the difference in CPU performance ( sans GPU ) can be somewhat overshadowed by adding a SSD and having 16GB ram

Hope my understanding mentioned is correct and they will definitely see a performance improvement from E8400/4GBDDR2/Win7x32.

 

[logainofhades]

They 2400g is still a great CPU, for what it is. Yea, with those costs, the i5 isn't worth it.

 

[mk76]

They 2400g is still a great CPU, for what it is. Yea, with those costs, the i5 isn't worth it.

I've come across posts regarding memory compatibility issues with Ryzen. Anything I need to take care of ?

Most likely I'll try to get a dual channel .. GSkill or Corsair ram. I'm confused what frequency - should I get a lower one (2400) or higher one (3200) for better compatibility ?

 

[logainofhades]

You want a higher one, for performance. Ryzen's design makes faster ram worth it. Also the IGP needs the faster ram, to get the most out of it. Gksill or corsair should be fine.

 

[mk76]

Ok. Thanks

 

[mk76]

The build is ready. There were few changes owing to parts availability and few going kaput in old rig. These pushed the budget.

Upgraded components ->

Ryzen 5 2400G
MSI Tomahawk B450 - For covered VRM, durability
Tridentz RGB 2x8G running at XMP1 2933 MHz - 1 year old used at price of regular 3200 Gskill
Cooler Master V650 - better safe than sorry
Samsung 860 500G - Had to add as old HDD went kaput
2xCM 120 Master RGB fans - Last min demand by the kids to have some lights


Rest of the components include 2x1TB HDD . 1x500G HDD , 2 120mm fans, CM Elite 430 Cabinet

- Didn't realize this is an ATX board. Is a tight fit in the cabinet along with 1 SSD and 3 HDD. Thank god no GPU.
- System is running blazing fast
- 6-10 sec POST to boot time

Damages - 750 USD

Many thanks for the inputs that helped me decide the components.

 

[justin.m.beauvais]

The build is ready. There were few changes owing to parts availability and few going kaput in old rig. These pushed the budget.

Upgraded components ->

Ryzen 5 2400G
MSI Tomahawk B450 - For covered VRM, durability
Tridentz RGB 2x8G running at XMP1 2933 MHz - 1 year old used at price of regular 3200 Gskill
Cooler Master V650 - better safe than sorry
Samsung 860 500G - Had to add as old HDD went kaput
2xCM 120 Master RGB fans - Last min demand by the kids to have some lights


Rest of the components include 2x1TB HDD . 1x500G HDD , 2 120mm fans, CM Elite 430 Cabinet

- Didn't realize this is an ATX board. Is a tight fit in the cabinet along with 1 SSD and 3 HDD. Thank god no GPU.
- System is running blazing fast
- 6-10 sec POST to boot time

Damages - 750 USD

Many thanks for the inputs that helped me decide the components.

I'm glad you are happy with the results. That is a fine system and one I wouldn't mind having myself. Best of luck to you in the future.