Question Motherboard + CPU + Ram for $200

[veeljko23]

I want to change current i7 870. Basically all i need is gaming performance and stability of components. Is there anything that you can actually get for this money?
I live in serbia so its probbably even more expenisve over here.
Current pc:
i7 870 on stock due to bad cooler
p7h55 m pro
4x2gb ddr3 1333mhz
tuf gtx 1650 super
lc power 6650 v2.2 i bought it used.
This current pc is making my freeze and than restart or it just shows a blue screen after gaming for a while on high performance in power plan. On balanced it also happens but very rarely.

Games i play are CSGO, Valorant, PUBG. I would also consider used components

 

[A_Goat]

I want to change current i7 870. Basically all i need is gaming performance and stability of components. Is there anything that you can actually get for this money?
I live in serbia so its probbably even more expenisve over here.
Current pc:
i7 870 on stock due to bad cooler
p7h55 m pro
4x2gb ddr3 1333mhz
tuf gtx 1650 super
lc power 6650 v2.2 i bought it used.
This current pc is making my freeze and than restart or it just shows a blue screen after gaming for a while on high performance in power plan. On balanced it also happens but very rarely.

Games i play are CSGO, Valorant, PUBG. I would also consider used components

Have you tried monitoring temperatures while in-game? High temperatures could be causing some headache, they don't normally cause freezes or BSOD but it's worth checking if you haven't. The i7-870 should be fine performance wise paired with that GPU, but the motherboard is old enough where it might have just degraded too much.
I can't help with Serbia specific pricing or even availability unfortunately, but there are many options for you that would outperform your current CPU.
Here in the USA, you could get a pretty decent upgrade of RAM, CPU and Motherboard for <$200 on the used market but again I've no idea the parts situation in Serbia.

If you only want new hardware, I doubt you'd be able to get anything of an upgrade with that budget. If you want new hardware, you'd probably only be able to replace parts for your current system. A replacement motherboard, and have enough leftover for new RAM as well.

 

[veeljko23]

Have you tried monitoring temperatures while in-game? High temperatures could be causing some headache, they don't normally cause freezes or BSOD but it's worth checking if you haven't. The i7-870 should be fine performance wise paired with that GPU, but the motherboard is old enough where it might have just degraded too much.
I can't help with Serbia specific pricing or even availability unfortunately, but there are many options for you that would outperform your current CPU.
Here in the USA, you could get a pretty decent upgrade of RAM, CPU and Motherboard for <$200 on the used market but again I've no idea the parts situation in Serbia.

If you only want new hardware, I doubt you'd be able to get anything of an upgrade with that budget. If you want new hardware, you'd probably only be able to replace parts for your current system. A replacement motherboard, and have enough leftover for new RAM as well.

Um the i7 870 is not fine at all performance wise, it cannot even run Valorant at 100fps stably

 

[punkncat]

IDK the market there either. If you were in the states (for instance) I would suggest sites like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, LetGo and such. I would imagine that even if prices are higher with the release of W11 everything 7th gen and back have lost a lot of value/price because they are not officially supported.

IMO, would look for something like a 4th gen i7 4790K on a decent Z chipset motherboard. Should probably consider trying to find a 2x8 kit of DDR3, but what you have now would get you up and running. If you aren't already, also consider an SSD for OS drive as that makes a lot of difference for the desktop experience, even if not so much for gaming.

New, you might consider checking your local retailers and see what something like a 10/11th gen i3, mobo, and some DDR4 cost.

 

[veeljko23]

IDK the market there either. If you were in the states (for instance) I would suggest sites like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, LetGo and such. I would imagine that even if prices are higher with the release of W11 everything 7th gen and back have lost a lot of value/price because they are not officially supported.

IMO, would look for something like a 4th gen i7 4790K on a decent Z chipset motherboard. Should probably consider trying to find a 2x8 kit of DDR3, but what you have now would get you up and running. If you aren't already, also consider an SSD for OS drive as that makes a lot of difference for the desktop experience, even if not so much for gaming.

New, you might consider checking your local retailers and see what something like a 10/11th gen i3, mobo, and some DDR4 cost.

i already have an ssd 120gb patriot burst elite. And i did consider i3 12100f b660 and 16gb of ddr4 but it ended up too expensive around $300

 

[punkncat]

10th and 11th gen i3 are going to be pretty decent performers for the price, and you should be able to find them at discounted pricing with the launch of 12th and 13th imminent.

If you can afford it, don't get an F skew. The iGPU is quite valuable in a troubleshooting situation.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Not knowing prices there you may also consider checking prices on amd ryzen combos. Something zen 2 or above should be a nice update and you may find they are reasonable since zen 3 is on the way out. This is US pricing, but for example on eBay here, a ryzen 2600x is on offer for 75 dollars and 5 bucks in shipping. So it may be worth looking to see what is available there.

 

[duzytv]

In any country $200 may be not enough for a set of CPU+MB+RAM even a few generations behind. Therefore I fully support the idea of spending it on a second-hand CPU+MB that would support your current 4x2GB RAM.
Haswell seem fine alternative and I am sure it is available in Serbia. I check the German Ebay and you can find there Z87 board for €150 and 4590 cpu fo €50. I suppose prices are on similiar level at your place.

 

[geofelt]

Yes, you can.

The i7-870 has 8 threads and a passmark rating of 3097/1394.
1394 is the single thread performance which games need most.

A $75 I3-10100F has 8 threads and a rating of 8830/2637
https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i3-10100f-core-i3-10th-gen/p/N82E16819118223?quicklink=true
A lga1200 motherboard may be $57:
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813145333R?quicklink=true
2 x 8gb for $42:
https://www.newegg.com/crucial-16gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820156265
Total $174.

 

[A_Goat]

Um the i7 870 is not fine at all performance wise, it cannot even run Valorant at 100fps stably

Well, 60+fps is fine for most. My point was that if you could diagnose the BSOD/Freezing issue, you could at least continue using it while you searched for a good deal on hardware.
Do you have a link to a website you plan to use for parts we could sift through?

Yes, you can.

The i7-870 has 8 threads and a passmark rating of 3097/1394.
1394 is the single thread performance which games need most.

A $75 I3-10100F has 8 threads and a rating of 8830/2637
https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i3-10100f-core-i3-10th-gen/p/N82E16819118223?quicklink=true
A lga1200 motherboard may be $57:
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813145333R?quicklink=true
2 x 8gb for $42:
https://www.newegg.com/crucial-16gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820156265
Total $174.

As far as I'm aware newegg doesn't ship to Serbia, he'd have to use some third party shipping method that would increase the price

 

[veeljko23]

Well, 60+fps is fine for most. My point was that if you could diagnose the BSOD/Freezing issue, you could at least continue using it while you searched for a good deal on hardware.
Do you have a link to a website you plan to use for parts we could sift through?




As far as I'm aware newegg doesn't ship to Serbia, he'd have to use some third party shipping method that would increase the price

Im just looking for components, this is a bit more expensive here but not a lot, except the r which is like $70

 

[veeljko23]

Well, 60+fps is fine for most. My point was that if you could diagnose the BSOD/Freezing issue, you could at least continue using it while you searched for a good deal on hardware.
Do you have a link to a website you plan to use for parts we could sift through?




As far as I'm aware newegg doesn't ship to Serbia, he'd have to use some third party shipping method that would increase the price

https://atom.rs/

 

[A_Goat]

https://atom.rs/

The cheapest available for a i3-10100F config on that website is a tiny bit over your budget, but it includes dual channel 16GB of memory.

If you wanted to settle for single channel, you could stay under budget.


10100F CPU: https://atom.rs/?sid=27300
2x8 Memory: https://atom.rs/?sid=19974
ASUS Prime 410 Motherboard: https://atom.rs/?sid=26819

Total before S/H: 24.850 din

 

[veeljko23]

The cheapest available for a i3-10100F config on that website is a tiny bit over your budget, but it includes dual channel 16GB of memory.

If you wanted to settle for single channel, you could stay under budget.


10100F CPU: https://atom.rs/?sid=27300
2x8 Memory: https://atom.rs/?sid=19974
ASUS Prime 410 Motherboard: https://atom.rs/?sid=26819

Total before S/H: 24.850 din

Thank you very much, im most likely going to get this combo

 

[veeljko23]

The cheapest available for a i3-10100F config on that website is a tiny bit over your budget, but it includes dual channel 16GB of memory.

If you wanted to settle for single channel, you could stay under budget.


10100F CPU: https://atom.rs/?sid=27300
2x8 Memory: https://atom.rs/?sid=19974
ASUS Prime 410 Motherboard: https://atom.rs/?sid=26819

Total before S/H: 24.850 din

Im about to order, but i found out on another site that there are "better" options for same money,
i found MSI H510M PRO-E and 8GB DDR4 3200MHz Geil GAP48GB3200C22SC, this is a copy paste but first ill get 8gb single stick and later on ill upgrade

Now instead of going for mbo u mentioned i wanna go for this one since it supports 3200mhz and has a m2 slot, and as for ram this one is 3200mhz but im wondering is it bad? since its literally $27

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Systems typically prefer dual channel. When you purchase a 2x8 kit, those sticks should be designed to work well together. You can get a single 8gb now, but there's not a guarantee that another one exactly like it will work well in dual channel mode. If you aren't going to upgrade past Intel's 10 series, you might better off to stick with the combo you originally were wanting imo.

 

[veeljko23]

Systems typically prefer dual channel. When you purchase a 2x8 kit, those sticks should be designed to work well together. You can get a single 8gb now, but there's not a guarantee that another one exactly like it will work well in dual channel mode. If you aren't going to upgrade past Intel's 10 series, you might better off to stick with the combo you originally were wanting imo.

Hm, had no idea about that, but why would they mostly sell them single channel than? Like those kits are essentialy 2 same sticks right? And im planning on buying 2 same sticks also but im just not gonna get the second one also now

Anyway here is another option https://www.monitor.rs/ram-memorija/16GB-DDR4-3200MHz-Team-TLZGD416G3200HC16, but im not sure if its good?

 

[Lafong]

Hm, had no idea about that, but why would they mostly sell them single channel than? Like those kits are essentialy 2 same sticks right? And im planning on buying 2 same sticks also but im just not gonna get the second one also now

Anyway here is another option https://www.monitor.rs/ram-memorija/16GB-DDR4-3200MHz-Team-TLZGD416G3200HC16, but im not sure if its good?

"Essentially"? Maybe, but that doesn't guarantee much, even if apparently identical down to the model number.

A second stick may "work", but not at optimal speed.

Suit yourself. You can take the risk of buying a second stick later......... or not.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Do what you like but I don't see that the 510 gives you much more options than the 410. In fact I think I like the look of the vrms a bit better. I know the 510 from what I can see is supposed to support intel 11th gen cpus, but honestly, if you've already got a 10th gen cpu, from what I've seen/heard, the 10th and 11th gen were pretty much the same performance wise. It's up to you, I think I'd consider the 410 and matched ram.

 

[veeljko23]

Do what you like but I don't see that the 510 gives you much more options than the 410. In fact I think I like the look of the vrms a bit better. I know the 510 from what I can see is supposed to support intel 11th gen cpus, but honestly, if you've already got a 10th gen cpu, from what I've seen/heard, the 10th and 11th gen were pretty much the same performance wise. It's up to you, I think I'd consider the 410 and matched ram.

it does, i get ability to upgrade to next gen which i doubt i would do and i get m2 slot for the same amount of money

 

[Lafong]

it does, i get ability to upgrade to next gen which i doubt i would do and i get m2 slot for the same amount of money

At your budget level, I don't think I would put much emphasis on m2 slots. Or NVMe drives. Standard SATA 2.5 inch drives are good performers and you'd likely not notice any improvement from anything else.

 

[A_Goat]

Im about to order, but i found out on another site that there are "better" options for same money,
i found MSI H510M PRO-E and 8GB DDR4 3200MHz Geil GAP48GB3200C22SC, this is a copy paste but first ill get 8gb single stick and later on ill upgrade

Now instead of going for mbo u mentioned i wanna go for this one since it supports 3200mhz and has a m2 slot, and as for ram this one is 3200mhz but im wondering is it bad? since its literally $27

Those links I gave you were the best performing parts for the least amount of money, at that specific time, only on that one website.
If you can find similar parts for less money elsewhere, get those.
But, I'd strongly suggest slightly sacrificing board features for dual channel memory at your price point. As already mentioned, for your budget, m.2 would be a waste.
Regular SSD's are perfectly adequate.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

it does, i get ability to upgrade to next gen which i doubt i would do and i get m2 slot for the same amount of money

So if you wouldn’t get the next gen cpu then maybe don’t use that as a reason.

As far as nvme vs sata ssd drives, yeah nvme drives are a nice to have. I have 3 ssd drives in my pc1 nvme 240gb boot drive, and 2 1tb sata ssd drives. About to install a 2tb sata as well. The sata drones are games/storage. But I’ve installed sata ssd drives for boot drives. They aren’t as fast as an nvme drive but for day to day use they are plenty fast. I’ve installed them into old systems from about 2014 with a bit of extra ram and the system feels almost new. If gaming performance is what you want get the matched ram kit.