Upgrading after 10+ years. What's changed?

[lm137]

Hi,

The last PC I built is now about 11 years old, still running the good ol' Windows XP and quite frankly out-performing many newer computers (esp. those with the burden of Windows Vista). Nevertheless, it's time for an upgrade, not least because Windows XP is unsupported.

I have been out of the game for a long time, so I don't really have a clue as to what is going on. I know AGPs have been replaced by something called PCI express or other 😉, and SSD SATA hard drives have superseded regular PATA hard-disks that spin a magnetic disk, but not much apart from that (oh and that BIOS has being replaced by an acronym I can't remember).

Is there anything in particular I have to look out for?

Here is my summary:

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP

Budget Range: I had about 500GBP / $780USD in mind, but whatever it takes.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Using text-based applications (programming), emailing, surfing the web

Are you buying a monitor: No: I would like to keep my old Samsung 15" which has the blue analogue connector (d-connector?)


Parts to Upgrade: CPU, motherboard, hard drive (SSD), graphics card. I recently bought a new PSU because the old one started making a funny sound, so hopefully it will be ok...

Corsair Builder Series CX 430 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supply Unit
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009RMP14M?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I would very much like to keep the existing midi tower ATX case. I presume the form factor has remained the same, I will be able to screw in a new motherboard? :-/ The smallest slots it has are 3.5". If the HDD is smaller, can I buy some kind of adapter?

Do you need to buy OS: Yes, I will be buying Windows 8.1 Pro (and I suppose upgrading to Windows 10). I would switch to Linux, but I need Windows for one important application (IDE), and well, I suppose I am too used to it (MS has won 🙁 ).

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: amazon.co.uk, ebuyer.com, dabs.com, (anywhere I don't mind)

Location: London, United Kingdom

Parts Preferences: I am partial to AMD. The existing AMD Athlon XP+, MTI motherboard machine has been running constantly for almost the whole 11 years with no problems that I can remember (other than being shut down by power grid cuts). However, if anyone can make a strong argument as to why Intel e.g. is more reliable than my mind is open. Reliability is a top priority. I would like it to have server-like reliability

Overclocking: Not necessary

SLI or Crossfire: I have no idea what this means

Your Monitor Resolution: 1024x768 is the highest supported resolution I believe. This is fine for my purposes. I hope a new graphic card can support such a low resolution!

Additional Comments:

It needs to be as fast as possible loading applications and have lots of memory to juggle multiple applications (I notice that Firefox and Thunderbird can easily consume over 1GB a piece).

SSD with 256GB should be sufficient. I am partial to Samsung unless you will tell me their SSDs are unreliable or not good for some reason.

Graphics/games performance is not important - entry level card is fine.

I would like it to stand the test of time like its predecessor

I think that is it. Thank you for any suggestions!

 

[Reyaz123]

You'll be surprised how many people still use floppy drives with windows xp lol

 

[lm137]

Thank you mcnumpty23. You have made up my mind, I will go with Intel this time.

Yes, the PSU surprised me too. It's not even a full tower, just a midi. Unless I have been really stupid and e.g. there are extensions provided in the box!

You'll be surprised how many people still use floppy drives with windows xp lol

I haven't used the floppy drive in about 7 years. I was just pointing out the difficulty with the PSU cable lengths.

 

[mcnumpty23]

normally the only psu extensions supplied would be the 4/8 pin in case you have a large case

as the 4/8 cpu connector tends to be up in the top left corner of the board

but sata extensions etc are cheap enough any way think i paid £10 for 4 as i have a huge case and 8 hard drives in all sorts of places the extensions made the wiring easier and tidier

 

[lm137]

That is why! I am using the old style 4 pin power driver connectors and those are limited probably because they are mostly obsolete.

Perhaps a trivial question... which is better...

Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/corsair-memory-cmy16gx3m2a1866c9r%2Ccorsair-memory-cmy16gx3m2a2400c11r/

The price is the same. The second is faster, however the first has a CAS of only 9 vs 11. So what is more important, CAS or speed?

 

[lm137]

2.5" to 3.5" adapter doesn't seem like a problem... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Akasa-AK-HDA-03-2-5-3-5-inch-Adapter/dp/B005ZWGFAC/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1434200540&sr=1-1&keywords=3.5+to+2.5+adapter

 

[mcnumpty23]

That is why! I am using the old style 4 pin power driver connectors and those are limited probably because they are mostly obsolete.

Perhaps a trivial question... which is better...

Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/corsair-memory-cmy16gx3m2a1866c9r%2Ccorsair-memory-cmy16gx3m2a2400c11r/

The price is the same. The second is faster, however the first has a CAS of only 9 vs 11. So what is more important, CAS or speed?

not sure you even need over 1600mhz ram to be quite honest--i am still on 4 year old 1600mhz and see no reason to change it to faster--more expensive stuff

 

[mcnumpty23]

2.5" to 3.5" adapter doesn't seem like a problem... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Akasa-AK-HDA-03-2-5-3-5-inch-Adapter/dp/B005ZWGFAC/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1434200540&sr=1-1&keywords=3.5+to+2.5+adapter

wont be any problem finding adapters because of the rise of ssd users in desktop pcs

 

[sora]

Here's a pretty good build that leaves you plenty of money to get a real monitor. Of everything you could possibly upgrade a new monitor might just be the best upgrade you could make, especially productivity wise.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($123.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88X-D3H ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($62.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.98 @ B&H)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro OEM (64-bit) ($131.65 @ OutletPC)
Total: $465.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-12 17:41 EDT-0400

+1; This is a decent $500 build!

 

[lm137]

Just wanted to say a Big Thank You to everyone for their help .

I have decided to base the build on freeskier93's i5 build, upgrading the cpu to the Intel Core i5-4690K and RAM to 16GB to help future-proof the machine. (Firefox on my i7 laptop frequently manages to consume 10% CPU with 15 or so tabs open! It's probably down to the awful Flash player.) Also, I think I will be silly and go for the Samsung SSD Pro series rather than the EVO series, for extra peace-of-mind.

I'm still around the £500 mark (somewhat over with Win 8.1 Pro) because I won't be getting a monitor.

 

[mcnumpty23]

you are welcome

and yes flash player sucks lately cpu usage and memory usage wise

roll on everyone using html5 and the death of flash player

 

[lm137]

Sorry for yet another post. Just wondering about the m/b.

Here is a comparison of four boards including the H97-PLUS suggested by freeskier93. They are all around the same price (it's amazing how many boards there are evenly distributed across the price spectrum - you could probably find a board for any given price, £82, £83, £84 and so on!).

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/asus-motherboard-h97plus%2Casus-motherboard-z97kcsm%2Cgigabyte-motherboard-gaz97d3h%2Cgigabyte-motherboard-gaz97hd3/

The other boards use the Z97 chipset, which seems better(?) and would be useful if in a few years I feel inclined to overclock (I understand also the i5-4690K is unlocked). I know I said no overclocking, but at the same price why not have the option?

Also any comments about ASUS vs Gigabyte?

 

[freeskier93]

Sorry about being late here, but if you get the unlocked "k" processor and want to play around with overclocking you need to get a Z97 board. I would also recommend Asus, I have a Gigabyte board in my AMD A8-5600k media server, and it's a great board, but I like the BIOS/tools of my Asus board much more.