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Build Advice Upgrade for AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Computer

jhaveri

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Aug 1, 2010
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I built this system in 2010 based on recommendations from this forum. 10 years later, it is still doing OK with Windows 10 Professional. However, recently I tried to do some Android Development, and it was really slow. I could not use Android Emulation and had to physically connect an Android phone to test the apps. So I think it is time to build a new system. I am hoping to use the same case, just change the motherboard and CPU or any other components that you think are worth changing. I am hoping to transfer my windows 10 license to this new system, so I do not need to reinstall all programs.

Here is my current system. AMD cpu with Themaltake SpinQ cooler on Gigabyte motherboard with 8 gb RAM, Radeon HD 5550 video card in ATX case with 650 W power supply. See the list of components below.

I think I should go to Intel CPU since Android Simulation will be much easier with Intel than AMD as I understand from Android Development forums. I will also do some video editing, but no games. I would like to use the same case and power supply if possible. I do not mind buying a SSD and transferring the image of Win10 to the SSD.

I appreciate your recommendations. I don't even mind buying a new case if they are much easier to handle than 10 year old Antec case. Maybe power supply is also too old. A question I have is, is it better to build a new system , or just buy a new pc, and transfer my Windows 10 to new PC. Since I use computer for at least a decade before upgrading, I am not concerned about the budget.

Thank you in advance for your advice.

-jhaveri

MY current system:

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 6-Core 2.8 GHz Socket AM3 125W HDT55TFBGRBOX Desktop Processor
Thermaltake SpinQ VT CPU Cooler - Xoxide.com
GIGABYTE GA-870A-UD3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Kingston ValueRAM 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3K2/4GR
Kingston ValueRAM 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3K2/4GR

Antec Nine Hundred + EA650 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 650W Power Supply
PowerColor Radeon HD 5550 DirectX 11 AX5550 512MK3-H 512MB 128-Bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
LG Black 10X Blu-ray Burner - Bulk SATA WH10LS30 LightScribe Support - OEM
WD Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive
 
I will certainly get a new power supply. But not sure about fresh install. See for example this link:

https://www.ubackup.com/universal-r...nd-cpu-without-reinstalling-windows-4348.html
Well maybe that software will work I don't know. Here is a suggestion for an Intel development system to last a long time:
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i9-10900K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor ($529.99 @ Best Buy)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($175.88 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z490 AORUS ELITE AC ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($229.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($249.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL II-X ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $1580.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-07-24 06:12 EDT-0400
 
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Well maybe that software will work I don't know. Here is a suggestion for an Intel development system to last a long time:
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i9-10900K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor ($529.99 @ Best Buy)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($175.88 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z490 AORUS ELITE AC ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($229.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($249.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL II-X ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $1580.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-07-24 06:12 EDT-0400
Thank you Flayed for the recommendation. How about a video card? Since I am building a completely new system, I will leave old video card and Blue Ray drive in the old system and use it for booting linux only. I will hopefully transfer Win10 to the new system, but will have to buy a video card and Blue Ray drive.

Unfortunately, all Best Buy parts are sold out. I will check other places like Newegg.

Is this at home built system much better than already built system like Dell XPS New Desktop?
 
Last edited:
Thank you Flayed for the recommendation. How about a video card? Since I am building a completely new system, I will leave old video card and Blue Ray drive in the old system and use it for booting linux only. I will hopefully transfer Win10 to the new system, but will have to buy a video card and Blue Ray drive.

Unfortunately, all Best Buy parts are sold out. I will check other places like Newegg.

Is this at home built system much better than already built system like Dell XPS New Desktop?
I figured you didn't need a video card if you won't be gaming as the CPU has an integrated display adaptor you can use. You could get one though if you want I would suggest a GTX 1650 or 1650 Super or if you want something with more horsepower a GTX 2060.

Home built is much better than buying a Dell and it is easier than ever to put together.
 
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I figured you didn't need a video card if you won't be gaming as the CPU has an integrated display adaptor you can use. You could get one though if you want I would suggest a GTX 1650 or 1650 Super or if you want something with more horsepower a GTX 2060.

Home built is much better than buying a Dell and it is easier than ever to put together.
Thanks Flayed. I am going to build this one. At first without a video card to see if I do need one.

On the partpicker link, I got these 4 compatibility notes identified: Should I be concerned with any of them? Is 4 pin ATX connector on motherboard necessary. If so, may be I should get another power supply. Also do you know what the motherboard M2 slot is for? It warns that if I use that, it will disable the SATA port. And finally, should I check for clearance per last note.

Thank you once again for your kind recommendations. I have not done any building for last 10 years, so just a little nervous.

Regards,
-jhaveri


Compatibility Notes

  • Note:The Gigabyte Z490 AORUS ELITE AC ATX LGA1200 Motherboard has an additional 4-pin ATX power connector but the SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply does not. This connector is used to supply additional 12V current to the motherboard. While the system will likely still run without it, higher current demands such as extreme overclocking or large video card current draws may require it.
  • Note:The motherboard M.2 slot #1 is listed as reserved for future use and is non-functional.
  • Note:The motherboard M.2 slot #2 shares bandwidth with a SATA 6.0 Gb/s port. When the M.2 slot is populated, one SATA 6.0 Gb/s port is disabled.
  • Note:Some physical dimension restrictions cannot (yet) be automatically checked, such as cpu cooler / RAM clearance with modules using tall heat spreaders.
 
I can not find intel i9-10900K anywhere, sold out or back ordered. However, I can get i7-10700k 8 core, 3.8 ghz processor.

Is i9 a big upgrade from i7? I am not a gamer, need to build this pc for android development and video editing. How much am I giving up if I replace i9-10900k with i7-10700k?
 
I can not find intel i9-10900K anywhere, sold out or back ordered. However, I can get i7-10700k 8 core, 3.8 ghz processor.

Is i9 a big upgrade from i7? I am not a gamer, need to build this pc for android development and video editing. How much am I giving up if I replace i9-10900k with i7-10700k?
The i7 is also a good choice. The difference between the two is 2 cores, the i9 has 10 and the i7 has 8.
 
I decided to wait for i9 10900k. Ordered it today. It is back ordered but ETA is Aug 19. So meanwhile I am finalizing other parts.

Flayed: I do have one question regarding the case. I see that Lian Li LANCOOL II-X ATX Mid Tower Case is quite heavy at 28 lbs. I saw this, https://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Desi...mid+tower&qid=1597295965&s=electronics&sr=1-3 which is 14 lbs. Do you have any recommendation for the Fractal Design case, for use with 360 mm AIO cooler and https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod..._geforce_rtx_2060_super.html/specs?ap=y&smp=y video card?

My concern is whether they will fit in the compact mid tower case.

Thanks.
 
I decided to wait for i9 10900k. Ordered it today. It is back ordered but ETA is Aug 19. So meanwhile I am finalizing other parts.

Flayed: I do have one question regarding the case. I see that Lian Li LANCOOL II-X ATX Mid Tower Case is quite heavy at 28 lbs. I saw this, https://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Desi...mid+tower&qid=1597295965&s=electronics&sr=1-3 which is 14 lbs. Do you have any recommendation for the Fractal Design case, for use with 360 mm AIO cooler and https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod..._geforce_rtx_2060_super.html/specs?ap=y&smp=y video card?

My concern is whether they will fit in the compact mid tower case.

Thanks.
It says on this webpage it is compatible:

Although I'm not sure that means every radiator out there is in terms of space. I bet it is compatible with Fractal Design's 360mm Rad though maybe you should get that.
 
Thank you Flayed. I will check out the Fractal Design Radiator, and look for appropriate PSU and check compability in partpicker.

Really excited about building this. It has been 10 years since my last one, so a little nervous. Thank you for all your advice.
 
Thank you Flayed. I will check out the Fractal Design Radiator, and look for appropriate PSU and check compability in partpicker.

Really excited about building this. It has been 10 years since my last one, so a little nervous. Thank you for all your advice.
Oh, and one last question. Meshify comes with 2 case fans, but have room for at least 4 more 120mm fans. Do you think I should buy a few more case fans? Thanks.
 
Have the 360mm Rad as front intake and the two fans that come with the case to rear and top rear exhaust
Hi Flayed:

Since i9-10900k is delayed for another month, I am now going with AMD Ryzen 9 3900xt cpu. Turns out that the new Android Studio does allow hardware acceleration for Ryzen on Windows plantform.

I spent a lot of time researching and came up with this build system. I will really appreciate your thoughts, blessings, or recommendations for changes. I went with NZXT case since it looks easier to work with compared to Meshify C. I also thought 280 mm AIO cooler will work on AMD since I don't plant to overclock or play any games, just development work. My build is saved on partpicker, see link.

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/jhaveri/saved/#view=C9shkL




 
Hi Flayed:

Since i9-10900k is delayed for another month, I am now going with AMD Ryzen 9 3900xt cpu. Turns out that the new Android Studio does allow hardware acceleration for Ryzen on Windows plantform.

I spent a lot of time researching and came up with this build system. I will really appreciate your thoughts, blessings, or recommendations for changes. I went with NZXT case since it looks easier to work with compared to Meshify C. I also thought 280 mm AIO cooler will work on AMD since I don't plant to overclock or play any games, just development work. My build is saved on partpicker, see link.

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/jhaveri/saved/#view=C9shkL




It looks like a nice build. You may be able to make some savings on components like the motherboard and graphics card and bump up the CPU to the 16 core model if you wish.
 
Flayed, I was about to order my parts for AMD build when I got alert that i9-10900k was in stock at BHP Photo Video. I ordered it and it arrived earlier this week. So I ordered rest of the system components based on your recommendations.

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/jhaveri/saved/#view=MYJnt6

I am starting my build tomorrow. I do have one question about NZXT kraken x73 in meshify c. Should I put the fans facing the chasis and then the radiator like https://pcpartpicker.com/b/vFw6Mp
or other way around,
i.e. mount fans at the back of radiator and slide the radiator in chasis as done by https://pcpartpicker.com/b/Bfykcf .

I am little nervous, since I have not built pc for last 10 years.

Thank you for any suggestion.
-jhaveri
 
Flayed, I was about to order my parts for AMD build when I got alert that i9-10900k was in stock at BHP Photo Video. I ordered it and it arrived earlier this week. So I ordered rest of the system components based on your recommendations.

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/jhaveri/saved/#view=MYJnt6

I am starting my build tomorrow. I do have one question about NZXT kraken x73 in meshify c. Should I put the fans facing the chasis and then the radiator like https://pcpartpicker.com/b/vFw6Mp
or other way around,
i.e. mount fans at the back of radiator and slide the radiator in chasis as done by https://pcpartpicker.com/b/Bfykcf .

I am little nervous, since I have not built pc for last 10 years.

Thank you for any suggestion.
-jhaveri
Place the fans facing the case and radiator, push configuration.
 
Place the fans facing the case and radiator, push configuration.
Thanks Flayed. I was able to install it in push configuration today.

I have got into a problem. I don't know how, but after installing evga rtx 2070 supter xc card in pci x16 slot, I accidently broke off the plastic latch at the end of the slot in this gigabyte z490 aorus elite ac motherboard. The card seems to be secured in the slot. Do you think this latch is removable, and should I try to remove the video card and try to push it back in? I am a little nervous doing it, if the latch is not removable. Have you heard anything like this before? Thanks.
 

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