Upgrading a Lemon

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LORDPrometheus

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Oct 3, 2014
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So my little brother got a CyberpowerPC built system about three years ago and it is a total lemon. I have been inside that computer more times than I care to cout and replaced its graphics ram hard drive, front IO, disk drive, and reinstalled its OS twice. It fuctions but is woefully underpowered and due for an upgrade. I still couldent get the system stable with the os on the SSD without wiping the registry for some reason so he is stuck with it on his HDD.
Current:
Cpu: AMD 6300
GPU: EVGA 960 (upgraded from R240)
RAM: 8GB G.SKill Atlas
SSD: SanDisk Extreme II 240GB
HDD: some crappy samsung 1TB
Cooler: coolermaster 120mm AIO liquid cooler (missing backplate for intel boards)
PSU: 550W bronze (forgot brand)

It is a mini ATX build and the case wont fit bigger. I am looking for a very cheap decent upgrade that can save as much as possible.

Proposed:
CPU: I5 4690
Same gpu
Same ram
Same ssd but move OS to it
Same hdd (it works)
EVO 212 or some new 120mm AIO
Same PSU

Basically this is a board processor and cooler upgrade.
Let me know what you think

I want to keep it under 350
 
Solution
Barty1884


Ok, let's assume it's a better PSU than a CX550M and home it's an RM550 / RM550x and that it's ok.

Yes, the 4690K would perform better than either the i3-6100 or i5-6400.
You'll also struggle to get a 4690K + Z97 board + a decent cooler for $350 (although you could get by with the stock cooler initially and keep it under budget)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.95 @ B&H)...
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i was thinking about a GIGABYTE GA-B85M-DS3H-A. its not as nice as my own UD5H Z97 but i trust Gigabyte and it should work out fine
 
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I think you will find that the i3-6100 would be a very good gamer upgrade and somewhat cheaper.
Check out the benchmarks for the games he plays.
Any M-ATX lga1151 motherboard will work. The stock cooler works well.
It is unlikely that the same ram will work, but a 2 x 4gb DDR4 ram kit is cheap.

If you want to allow for a future "K" processor upgrade, pay a bit more for a Z170 based motherboard.
 
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He somehow plays rather demanding games like far cry on it. how he manages to play at 22FPS is beyond me however. he also likes a lot of physics heavy games like space engineers so the extra cores would be nice
 
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For a ~$350 investment, I'd suggest this:

Keep in mind, the "550W PSU" is likely not very good, so I'd just replace.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($32.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Extreme II 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3R 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Superclocked Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $342.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-28 10:35 EDT-0400

That gives the i5, DDR4, a new PSU, a new case - just use the stock cooler.

Alternatively....The i3 with it's substantially higher base clock is probably the better option.
Frees up some extra funds too.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($110.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($47.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($32.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Extreme II 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3R 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Superclocked Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $273.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-28 10:36 EDT-0400

As an FYI, you'll probably need a new OS too though - what came with the rig is likely an OEM copy & tied to the motherboard...
 
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Do a bit of testing.
You want to better understand if fast core speeds are more important than many cores.
Few games can make use of more than 2-3 threads, and most that are cpu limited will depend on the single thread performance of the master thread.
And.. if better graphics is more important than cpu.
Here is my stock approach to evaluating that:
------------------------------------------------------------
To help clarify your CPU/GPU options, run these two tests:

a) Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.

You should also experiment with removing one core. You can do this in the windows msconfig boot advanced options option. You will need to reboot for the change to take effect. Set the number of processors to less than you have.
This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many cores.

If your FPS drops significantly, it is an indicator that your cpu is the limiting factor, and a cpu upgrade is in order.

It is possible that both tests are positive, indicating that you have a well balanced system, and both cpu and gpu need to be upgraded to get better gaming FPS.
-------------------------------------------------------------

 
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While certainly not a bad solution part of the plan it so save as much hardware as possible. I checked the psu and its corsair so no need to replace that. also the case is fine. with that in mind using the I5 4690k would actually perform better
 
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fx 6300 to i3 is a downgrade imo. I just had this dilemma and if you arent going for an i5 or higher, you might as well save up and just overclock the 6300 for now.

My brother has an i3 4160, and although it is older than the 6100, it runs about the same as my 6300 @ 4.5.

My multitasking kills his computer though, so we made his dedicated to big picture mode in steam.
 
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overclocking this system causes the gremlins to wake up unfortunately. I think the processor itself is somewhat defective since it seizes on a 2% OC. and yes i know how to overclock correctly
 
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Ok, let's assume it's a better PSU than a CX550M and home it's an RM550 / RM550x and that it's ok.

Yes, the 4690K would perform better than either the i3-6100 or i5-6400.
You'll also struggle to get a 4690K + Z97 board + a decent cooler for $350 (although you could get by with the stock cooler initially and keep it under budget)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.95 @ B&H)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $338.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-28 11:11 EDT-0400

A Skylake 6600K is essentially the same price as a 4690K, but you'd need DDR4 and Skylake 'K' chips don't come with stock coolers....

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($238.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($43.53 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170M Pro4S Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($99.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Team Elite Plus 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($34.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $417.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-28 11:13 EDT-0400
 
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