Question Mostly-new build request to replace/upgrade i7-920 system

[FunDragon42]

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP - see "Why Are You Upgrading?" below

Budget Range: $500-$2000 (cheaper is better, I'm currently unemployed - but capability is important, I'll potentially use the system to start/run my own business)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: general web browsing, remote meetings (e.g. Zoom, Teams, WebEx), productivity apps (e.g. Excel, Visio, PowerPoint, Project, maybe some accounting and/or tax package in the near future), audio (audiobook-level) and video (YouTube-HD-level) recording, editing, and processing, (for audiobooks and online audio and video), video streaming (YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Prime), casual gaming (e.g. World of Warcraft, Portal/Portal 2, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor)

Are you buying a monitor: Probably not

Parts to Upgrade: Probably all except peripherals and maybe secondary storage - though I'd be interested in a modern recommendation for affordable, quiet, & reliable higher-capacity secondary storage.

Do you need to buy OS: Probably yes (OEM license)
Please note that if you're using an OEM license of Windows, you will need a new one when buying a new motherboard.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, amazon.com, anything U.S.-based with fast shipping and low prices (I do not have a Microcenter near me)

Location: Folsom, California, U.S.A.

Parts Preferences: Historical preference for Intel CPU and ASUS or Gigabyte motherboard, but those preferences are based on information that's >14 years old, so I'm open; had a bad experience with Cyrix CPUs in the very very distant past, bad luck with old and low-end AMD CPUs but presume the newer, higher-end are top notch. I tend to shy away from MSI motherboards, but don't know/remember why. I've had good luck with WD hard drives, but that was for quiet & reliability in the past.

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe - I like extra power in case I want to play higher-end games in the future, but TBH it's very unlikely to be required for my current (and probable near future) use cases

Your Monitor Resolution: currently two 1920x1080, I wouldn't mind the option to upgrade in the future if it doesn't substantially increase cost; it would be great (but not required) to add a 3rd monitor later

Additional Comments:

• I'm noise-sensitive, and strongly prefer quiet components. Quiet case fans, quiet secondary hard drives, etc.
• I'd like to maintain at least 6 USB ports, without an intermediary hub (a lot of USB peripherals want to be directly connected).
• I have & use 3.5mm jacks for speakers and some audio input, including recording voicemail from my wife's phone for archival when she wants to clear her voicemailbox.
• I'd like to comply with FAR 52.204-25 & DFARS 252.204-7018 for potential federal contract work on the same network, i.e. no "telecommunications equipment" (like network interface) built directly in China [or Russia] without substantial modification in a friendlier country (e.g. integration into a Korean logic circuit or motherboard would make it OK, I think, as long as it doesn't use the unmodified Chinese [or Russian] device driver).

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: My current 2010-built PC is crashing frequently, and I don't want to take time to diagnose and fix it right now, because I'm trying to study/cram for a professional certification by end of year; and honestly, for an i7-920, it's probably time and many (most?) of the components will probably need to be replaced anyway. I need a reliable PC quickly, and later I can take time to repair and pass my current existing system or components down to my wife…

Current system:
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-920 Processor (4 core, 8 thread) 8M Cache, 2.66 GHz, 4.80 GT/s Intel® QPI
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14, Premium CPU Cooler with Dual NF-P14 PWM and NF-P12 PWM Fans (Brown)
Motherboard: ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9Q-16GBXL
Video Card: PNY GeForce GT 710 2GB Single Fan (does not necessarily indicate preference - it was an emergency replacement for a dead XFX Radeon HD 5870 1GB DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity HD-587X-ZNFC)
Primary Storage: SAMSUNG 860 Pro Series 2.5" 2TB SATA III V-NAND 2-bit MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-76P2T0BW (because current motherboard can only handle a 2TB boot drive)
Secondary Storage: WD Green WD60EZRX 6TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Optical Storage: Sony Optiarc DVD/CD Rewritable Drive 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM
Case: Antec P183 Black Aluminum / Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Power Supply: Antec CP-850 850W Continuous Power CPX SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC "compatible with Core i7" Power Supply
Primary Monitor: HP 27VX 27inch IPS LED Backlit Monitor
Secondary Monitor: Acer H277H smidx 27.0" 1920 x 1080 60 Hz Monitor
Webcam: Logitech BRIO Ultra HD Pro Webcam
Microphone: Blue Microphones - Yeti 10th Anniversary Edition USB Multi-Pattern Electret Condenser Instrument and Vocal Microphone


Wife's (underpowered) current system:
CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 435 - Athlon II X3 Rana Triple-Core 2.9 GHz Socket AM3 95W Processor - ADX435WFGIBOX
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Memory: 2 sets (8GB) of G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBNT
Video Card: N/A (built-in to motherboard)
Storage: Western Digital WD20EZRZ 2TB BLUE SATA 5400 RPM 64MB 6GB/S 3.5IN PC HARD DRIVE
(I have a WD Green 2TB Internal SSD Solid State Drive - SATA 6Gb/s 2.5 Inch - WDS200T2G0A but never got around to installing it)
Optical Storage: Sony Optiarc DVD/CD Rewritable Drive 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM
Case: Antec SX830 (I think?)
Power Supply: Antec Earthwatts Green 380 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Monitor: ASUS VE278Q 27 Inch Full HD 1920 x 1080 2ms DisplayPort HDMI DVI VGA Monitor - Black
Webcam: Logitech - 4K Pro 4096 x 2160 Webcam with Noise-Canceling Mic - Black
Logitech - C270 720 Webcam with Noise-Reducing Mics - Black
Microphone: Blue Microphones - Blue Yeti Professional Multi-Pattern USB Condenser Microphone

 

[beyondlogic]

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP - see "Why Are You Upgrading?" below

Budget Range: $500-$2000 (cheaper is better, I'm currently unemployed - but capability is important, I'll potentially use the system to start/run my own business)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: general web browsing, remote meetings (e.g. Zoom, Teams, WebEx), productivity apps (e.g. Excel, Visio, PowerPoint, Project, maybe some accounting and/or tax package in the near future), audio (audiobook-level) and video (YouTube-HD-level) recording, editing, and processing, (for audiobooks and online audio and video), video streaming (YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Prime), casual gaming (e.g. World of Warcraft, Portal/Portal 2, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor)

Are you buying a monitor: Probably not

Parts to Upgrade: Probably all except peripherals and maybe secondary storage - though I'd be interested in a modern recommendation for affordable, quiet, & reliable higher-capacity secondary storage.

Do you need to buy OS: Probably yes (OEM license)
Please note that if you're using an OEM license of Windows, you will need a new one when buying a new motherboard.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, amazon.com, anything U.S.-based with fast shipping and low prices (I do not have a Microcenter near me)

Location: Folsom, California, U.S.A.

Parts Preferences: Historical preference for Intel CPU and ASUS or Gigabyte motherboard, but those preferences are based on information that's >14 years old, so I'm open; had a bad experience with Cyrix CPUs in the very very distant past, bad luck with old and low-end AMD CPUs but presume the newer, higher-end are top notch. I tend to shy away from MSI motherboards, but don't know/remember why. I've had good luck with WD hard drives, but that was for quiet & reliability in the past.

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe - I like extra power in case I want to play higher-end games in the future, but TBH it's very unlikely to be required for my current (and probable near future) use cases

Your Monitor Resolution: currently two 1920x1080, I wouldn't mind the option to upgrade in the future if it doesn't substantially increase cost; it would be great (but not required) to add a 3rd monitor later

Additional Comments:

• I'm noise-sensitive, and strongly prefer quiet components. Quiet case fans, quiet secondary hard drives, etc.
• I'd like to maintain at least 6 USB ports, without an intermediary hub (a lot of USB peripherals want to be directly connected).
• I have & use 3.5mm jacks for speakers and some audio input, including recording voicemail from my wife's phone for archival when she wants to clear her voicemailbox.
• I'd like to comply with FAR 52.204-25 & DFARS 252.204-7018 for potential federal contract work on the same network, i.e. no "telecommunications equipment" (like network interface) built directly in China [or Russia] without substantial modification in a friendlier country (e.g. integration into a Korean logic circuit or motherboard would make it OK, I think, as long as it doesn't use the unmodified Chinese [or Russian] device driver).

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: My current 2010-built PC is crashing frequently, and I don't want to take time to diagnose and fix it right now, because I'm trying to study/cram for a professional certification by end of year; and honestly, for an i7-920, it's probably time and many (most?) of the components will probably need to be replaced anyway. I need a reliable PC quickly, and later I can take time to repair and pass my current existing system or components down to my wife…

Current system:
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-920 Processor (4 core, 8 thread) 8M Cache, 2.66 GHz, 4.80 GT/s Intel® QPI
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14, Premium CPU Cooler with Dual NF-P14 PWM and NF-P12 PWM Fans (Brown)
Motherboard: ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9Q-16GBXL
Video Card: PNY GeForce GT 710 2GB Single Fan (does not necessarily indicate preference - it was an emergency replacement for a dead XFX Radeon HD 5870 1GB DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity HD-587X-ZNFC)
Primary Storage: SAMSUNG 860 Pro Series 2.5" 2TB SATA III V-NAND 2-bit MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-76P2T0BW (because current motherboard can only handle a 2TB boot drive)
Secondary Storage: WD Green WD60EZRX 6TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Optical Storage: Sony Optiarc DVD/CD Rewritable Drive 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM
Case: Antec P183 Black Aluminum / Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Power Supply: Antec CP-850 850W Continuous Power CPX SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC "compatible with Core i7" Power Supply
Primary Monitor: HP 27VX 27inch IPS LED Backlit Monitor
Secondary Monitor: Acer H277H smidx 27.0" 1920 x 1080 60 Hz Monitor
Webcam: Logitech BRIO Ultra HD Pro Webcam
Microphone: Blue Microphones - Yeti 10th Anniversary Edition USB Multi-Pattern Electret Condenser Instrument and Vocal Microphone


Wife's (underpowered) current system:
CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 435 - Athlon II X3 Rana Triple-Core 2.9 GHz Socket AM3 95W Processor - ADX435WFGIBOX
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Memory: 2 sets (8GB) of G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBNT
Video Card: N/A (built-in to motherboard)
Storage: Western Digital WD20EZRZ 2TB BLUE SATA 5400 RPM 64MB 6GB/S 3.5IN PC HARD DRIVE
(I have a WD Green 2TB Internal SSD Solid State Drive - SATA 6Gb/s 2.5 Inch - WDS200T2G0A but never got around to installing it)
Optical Storage: Sony Optiarc DVD/CD Rewritable Drive 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM
Case: Antec SX830 (I think?)
Power Supply: Antec Earthwatts Green 380 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Monitor: ASUS VE278Q 27 Inch Full HD 1920 x 1080 2ms DisplayPort HDMI DVI VGA Monitor - Black
Webcam: Logitech - 4K Pro 4096 x 2160 Webcam with Noise-Canceling Mic - Black
Logitech - C270 720 Webcam with Noise-Reducing Mics - Black
Microphone: Blue Microphones - Blue Yeti Professional Multi-Pattern USB Condenser Microphone

this is keeping budget low. you could also go with the newer intel b580 by intel instead of this card its cheaper though its newer then both a770 and the amd varient 7600. i would recomend it over the a770 because its faster.

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-com...iew-the-new-usd249-gpu-champion-has-arrived/5

pcs below will blow old pcs out the water

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/6qKj2x


https://pcpartpicker.com/list/dnQkXR

 

[punkncat]

^ Nice build list, and would be completely doable around that same price point on Intel. Their sub 65W stuff doesn't have the burn out issue.

 

[FunDragon42]

i would recomend it over the a770 because its faster.

Would you also recommend the B580 over the RX 7600 XT? I see that the RX 7600 XT is slower in artificial benchmarks, but I'm more interested in real-world performance and driver stability. My (distant) past experience with Intel GPUs tended to indicate that their drivers were... suboptimal.

On a related note, just opening the case to inventory components gave me a what I think might be a pretty good indication why my current system keeps rebooting (sometimes with a blue screen, with a kernel dump pointing to the display driver, and sometimes just silently and suddenly shutting off and rebooting). Is it bad if your GPU fan is frozen in place and no longer turns?

 

[beyondlogic]

Would you also recommend the B580 over the RX 7600 XT? I see that the RX 7600 XT is slower in artificial benchmarks, but I'm more interested in real-world performance and driver stability. My (distant) past experience with Intel GPUs tended to indicate that their drivers were... suboptimal.

On a related note, just opening the case to inventory components gave me a what I think might be a pretty good indication why my current system keeps rebooting (sometimes with a blue screen, with a kernel dump pointing to the display driver, and sometimes just silently and suddenly shutting off and rebooting). Is it bad if your GPU fan is frozen in place and no longer turns?

in terms of driver stability i cant comment havent owned one as of yet

first gen a770 took a few drivers to iron out but keep this in mind intel hasnt made a proper gpu in years.
then decides to get into market and catches up quite quickly.

you could call b580 a more refined version of all the lessons they learned with a770. you always have to turn s.a.m on in the bios or smart access memory for it to work fully.

amd drivers i have always found can be flaky there ok but they take forever and a day to come out with newer drivers to fix problems they create.

nvidia drivers are usually the best which personally its a toss up between 4060 on a budget or the 3060 12gb

overall i would cause unlike the rx 7600xt the b580 is new and will constantly get driver updates to improve which could be more performance on the table.

7600xt is already tapped out pretty much cause its been out a while.
so is the 4060 and 3060.

where the b580 shines over amd is retracing and overall better graphic quality.

i will be blunt i will be picking up a b580 for 2 new projects cause im confident it can only improve.



and ive never owned a intel lga 1366 but its quite long in the tooth,

i will say i did own am3 been a good 10-15 years and ryzen is a massive gain over am3. and lga 1366.

the nvme drive will also boot your system in like seconds lol.

 

[FunDragon42]

Thanks, @beyondlogic , very helpful!

 

[Why_Me]

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-com...eview-the-new-usd249-gpu-champion-has-arrived

https://www.newegg.com/asrock-challenger-a580-cl-8go-intel-arc-a580-8gb-gddr6/p/N82E16814930131
ASRock Challenger Arc B580 12GB Video Card $259.99 ETA: 1/3/2025

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor ($111.34 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: *Thermalright Burst Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($20.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: *ASRock B760 Pro RS/D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: *Silicon Power XPOWER Turbine 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($43.97 @ Amazon)
Storage: *Silicon Power UD90 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($94.97 @ Amazon)
Case: *Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: *Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 (2024) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Operating System: *Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $661.13
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-12-14 05:19 EST-0500