Upgrading my dad's old PC

[pedroribeiro13]

Hi guys! So, my dad has this eMachines EL1352 and finnaly he agrees that it's time for a upgrade. So, my dad doesn't game in the PC, so he won't need to buy a graphics card, but the PC has a AMD Athlon II 170u, that it's really bad. So, what should I upgrade to? He can't spend to much, as he only uses the PC to work, like using Office, chrome, PDF's and torrents. So, I though in buying a SSD and upgrading the CPU maybe? What cheap, yet good CPU should I get? Note: The motherboard supports AM3 socket. Thanks 😀

 

[Karsten75]

Look at buying your Dad an Intel NUC or similar small form factor. It will have much better performance than anything you can do to upgrade that old system.

This is one sample: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856102140

There are others with i3, i5, and even i7 processors. Gigabyte, Asus and a few others also make similar models.

 

[why_wolf]

2nd for an Intel NUC for its small size factor. However if saving money is a concern I recommend looking into one of these refurbished HP Elite 8100/8200. I buy them for work and they are great for regular everyday office usage, no games.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883283133&cm_re=hp_elite_8100-_-83-283-133-_-Product

But if you really want to keep what he has already then yes get an SSD, that will result in an instant speed increase for his usuage.

 

[pedroribeiro13]

Hi. Thanks to all of your fast answers, but he just won't buy a new PC, he's really stubborn 😛 I really need help in picking a cheap CPU that can demand what he needs

 

[Unolocogringo]

supported processors.


Support Socket AM3 – AMD Athlon II X4 Quad, Athlon II X3, Athlon II X2. (Max 95W)

* Phenom II X4 840 (3.2GHz)
* Athlon II X4 650, 645, 640, 635, 630, 620
* Phenom II 705e, 700e
* Athlon II x3 405e, 400e
* Athlon II x2 215, 240e, 235e, 255, 250, 245, 240, 260u, 250u, 160u, 150u

Other models MAY work but not guaranteed.

 

[Wisecracker]

Backup Dad's stuff and do a fresh Windows install on the SSD using the EMachines key.

Here is an AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor for $21 from Amazon.

RAMs ??
2x2GB DDR2 or DDR3 is likely less than $30