[SOLVED] Upgrading my son's PC

Jun 1, 2020
7
0
10
Hi there,

I would like to upgrade my son's pc to be better for gaming.

I don't want to spend a fortune but equally would like something that was gonna last a year or two.

Can anyone give me some advice?

Here is his current spec:

CPU
Intel Core i5 2400
Cores 4
Threads 4
Name Intel Core i5 2400
Code Name Sandy Bridge
Package Socket 1155 LGA
Technology 32nm
Specification Intel Core i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz
Family 6
Extended Family 6
Model A
Extended Model 2A
Stepping 7
Revision D2
Instructions MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, Intel 64, NX, VMX, AES, AVX
Virtualization Supported, Disabled
Hyperthreading Not supported
Bus Speed 99.8 MHz
Stock Core Speed 3100 MHz
Stock Bus Speed 100 MHz
Average Temperature 38 °C
Caches
L1 Data Cache Size 4 x 32 KBytes
L1 Instructions Cache Size 4 x 32 KBytes
L2 Unified Cache Size 4 x 256 KBytes
L3 Unified Cache Size 6144 KBytes
Cores
Core 0
Core Speed 1596.2 MHz
Multiplier x 16.0
Bus Speed 99.8 MHz
Temperature 37 °C
Threads APIC ID: 0
Core 1
Core Speed 1596.2 MHz
Multiplier x 16.0
Bus Speed 99.8 MHz
Temperature 39 °C
Threads APIC ID: 2
Core 2
Core Speed 1596.2 MHz
Multiplier x 16.0
Bus Speed 99.8 MHz
Temperature 38 °C
Threads APIC ID: 4
Core 3
Core Speed 1596.2 MHz
Multiplier x 16.0
Bus Speed 99.8 MHz
Temperature 37 °C
Threads APIC ID: 6
RAM
Memory slots
Total memory slots 4
Used memory slots 2
Free memory slots 2
Memory
Type DDR3
Size 8192 MBytes
Channels # Dual
DRAM Frequency 665.1 MHz
CAS# Latency (CL) 9 clocks
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD) 9 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 9 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 24 clocks
Command Rate (CR) 1T
Physical Memory
Memory Usage 52 %
Total Physical 7.96 GB
Available Physical 3.75 GB
Total Virtual 11 GB
Available Virtual 5.62 GB
SPD
Number Of SPD Modules 2
Slot #1
Type DDR3
Size 4096 MBytes
Manufacturer Hyundai Electronics
Max Bandwidth PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
Part Number HMT351U6EFR8C-PB
Serial Number 968727395
Week/year 49 / 12
Timing table
JEDEC #1
Frequency 457.1 MHz
CAS# Latency 6.0
RAS# To CAS# 6
RAS# Precharge 6
tRAS 16
tRC 22
Voltage 1.500 V
JEDEC #2
Frequency 533.3 MHz
CAS# Latency 7.0
RAS# To CAS# 7
RAS# Precharge 7
tRAS 19
tRC 26
Voltage 1.500 V
JEDEC #3
Frequency 609.5 MHz
CAS# Latency 8.0
RAS# To CAS# 8
RAS# Precharge 8
tRAS 22
tRC 30
Voltage 1.500 V
JEDEC #4
Frequency 685.7 MHz
CAS# Latency 9.0
RAS# To CAS# 9
RAS# Precharge 9
tRAS 24
tRC 33
Voltage 1.500 V
JEDEC #5
Frequency 761.9 MHz
CAS# Latency 10.0
RAS# To CAS# 10
RAS# Precharge 10
tRAS 27
tRC 37
Voltage 1.500 V
JEDEC #6
Frequency 800.0 MHz
CAS# Latency 11.0
RAS# To CAS# 11
RAS# Precharge 11
tRAS 28
tRC 39
Voltage 1.500 V
Slot #2
Type DDR3
Size 4096 MBytes
Manufacturer Hyundai Electronics
Max Bandwidth PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
Part Number HMT351U6EFR8C-PB
Serial Number 962435920
Week/year 49 / 12
Timing table
JEDEC #1
Frequency 457.1 MHz
CAS# Latency 6.0
RAS# To CAS# 6
RAS# Precharge 6
tRAS 16
tRC 22
Voltage 1.500 V
JEDEC #2
Frequency 533.3 MHz
CAS# Latency 7.0
RAS# To CAS# 7
RAS# Precharge 7
tRAS 19
tRC 26
Voltage 1.500 V
JEDEC #3
Frequency 609.5 MHz
CAS# Latency 8.0
RAS# To CAS# 8
RAS# Precharge 8
tRAS 22
tRC 30
Voltage 1.500 V
JEDEC #4
Frequency 685.7 MHz
CAS# Latency 9.0
RAS# To CAS# 9
RAS# Precharge 9
tRAS 24
tRC 33
Voltage 1.500 V
JEDEC #5
Frequency 761.9 MHz
CAS# Latency 10.0
RAS# To CAS# 10
RAS# Precharge 10
tRAS 27
tRC 37
Voltage 1.500 V
JEDEC #6
Frequency 800.0 MHz
CAS# Latency 11.0
RAS# To CAS# 11
RAS# Precharge 11
tRAS 28
tRC 39
Voltage 1.500 V
Motherboard
Manufacturer LENOVO
Chipset Vendor Intel
Chipset Model Sandy Bridge
Chipset Revision 09
Southbridge Vendor Intel
Southbridge Model Q67
Southbridge Revision B3
BIOS
Brand LENOVO
Version 9HKT47AUS
Date 10/01/2012
PCI Data
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x16
Slot Designation J6B2
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 0
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x1
Slot Designation J6B1
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 1
Slot PCI
Slot Type PCI
Slot Usage Available
Bus Width 32 bit
Slot Designation J6D1
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 2
Slot PCI
Slot Type PCI
Slot Usage Available
Bus Width 32 bit
Slot Designation J7B1
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 3
Graphics
Monitor
Name 22W_LCD_TV on NVIDIA GeForce GT 710
Current Resolution 1920x1080 pixels
Work Resolution 1920x1080 pixels
State Enabled, Primary
Monitor Width 1920
Monitor Height 1080
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 30 Hz
Device \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0
NVIDIA GeForce GT 710
Manufacturer NVIDIA
Model GeForce GT 710
Device ID 10DE-128B
Revision A2
Subvendor ASUStek Computer Inc (1043)
Current Performance Level Level 0
Current GPU Clock 135 MHz
Current Memory Clock 405 MHz
Current Shader Clock 405 MHz
Voltage 0.887 V
Technology 28 nm
Bus Interface PCI Express x8
Temperature 39 °C
Driver version 26.21.14.3200
BIOS Version 80.28.b8.00.05
Physical Memory 2047 MB
Virtual Memory 2048 MB
Count of performance levels : 1
Level 1 - "Perf Level 0"
Storage
Hard drives
TOSHIBA DT01ACA200
Manufacturer TOSHIBA
Heads 16
Cylinders 243,201
Tracks 62,016,255
Sectors 3,907,024,065
SATA type SATA-III 6.0Gb/s
Device type Fixed
ATA Standard ATA8-ACS
Serial Number Z7RD0BMAS
Firmware Version Number MX4OABB0
LBA Size 48-bit LBA
Power On Count 1334 times
Power On Time 179.1 days
Speed 7200 RPM
Features S.M.A.R.T., APM, NCQ
Max. Transfer Mode SATA III 6.0Gb/s
Used Transfer Mode SATA III 6.0Gb/s
Interface SATA
Capacity 1863 GB
Real size 2,000,398,934,016 bytes
RAID Type None
S.M.A.R.T
Status Good
Temperature 30 °C
Temperature Range OK (less than 50 °C)
S.M.A.R.T attributes
01
Attribute name Read Error Rate
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 16
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
02
Attribute name Throughput Performance
Real value 65
Current 141
Worst 141
Threshold 54
Raw Value 0000000041
Status Good
03
Attribute name Spin-Up Time
Real value 19005734 ms
Current 130
Worst 130
Threshold 24
Raw Value 0001220126
Status Good
04
Attribute name Start/Stop Count
Real value 1,363
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000553
Status Good
05
Attribute name Reallocated Sectors Count
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 5
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
07
Attribute name Seek Error Rate
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 67
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
08
Attribute name Seek Time Performance
Real value 33
Current 124
Worst 124
Threshold 20
Raw Value 0000000021
Status Good
09
Attribute name Power-On Hours (POH)
Real value 179d 2h
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 00000010CA
Status Good
0A
Attribute name Spin Retry Count
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 60
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
0C
Attribute name Device Power Cycle Count
Real value 1,334
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000536
Status Good
C0
Attribute name Power-off Retract Count
Real value 1,363
Current 99
Worst 99
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000553
Status Good
C1
Attribute name Load/Unload Cycle Count
Real value 1,363
Current 99
Worst 99
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000553
Status Good
C2
Attribute name Temperature
Real value 30 °C
Current 200
Worst 200
Threshold 0
Raw Value 00000C001E
Status Good
C4
Attribute name Reallocation Event Count
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
C5
Attribute name Current Pending Sector Count
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
C6
Attribute name Uncorrectable Sector Count
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
C7
Attribute name UltraDMA CRC Error Count
Real value 0
Current 200
Worst 200
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
Partition 0
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #0
File System NTFS
Volume Serial Number 1649010A
Size 498 MB
Used Space 437 MB (87%)
Free Space 61 MB (13%)
Partition 1
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #1
File System FAT32
Volume Serial Number CC4C2117
Size 95 MB
Used Space 26.2 MB (27%)
Free Space 68 MB (73%)
Partition 2
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #2
Disk Letter C:
File System NTFS
Volume Serial Number 864FB704
Size 1862 GB
Used Space 797 GB (42%)
Free Space 1064 GB (58%)
 
Solution
The R5 3600 games better, than a 2700x, and is roughly as good, with video editing, due to improved IPC.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£158.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI B450M MORTAR MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£95.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£64.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX6000 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£103.52 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 580 8 GB GTS XXX ED Video Card (£156.97 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Deepcool SMARTER MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£27.06 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair...
Jun 1, 2020
7
0
10
I live in Scotland, was hoping to spend under £500.

My son's hoping to be able to do some video editing too (recording games off Xbox, PC, he already has an elgato). Would be willing to spend a bit more if required.
 
Last edited:
For what he wants to do this is a general idea of what it would cost.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor (£199.40 @ Alza)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard (£114.95 @ AWD-IT)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£64.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial MX500 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£104.53 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 5500 XT 8 GB MECH OC Video Card (£196.49 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Fractal Design Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case (£46.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£101.23 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit
Total: £828.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-01 20:28 BST+0100
 
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Reactions: SandyDuk

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
The R5 3600 games better, than a 2700x, and is roughly as good, with video editing, due to improved IPC.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£158.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI B450M MORTAR MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£95.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£64.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX6000 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£103.52 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 580 8 GB GTS XXX ED Video Card (£156.97 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Deepcool SMARTER MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£27.06 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£69.98 @ Currys PC World Business)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit
Total: £677.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-01 20:48 BST+0100
 
  • Like
Reactions: SandyDuk
Solution

beers

Distinguished
BANNED
Oct 4, 2012
261
53
18,790
That 710 is slowing him down big time, what kind of games does he like to play?

Ideally a full platform upgrade would be the best benefit, but if you had to single out things on his current build that 710 is way slow comparatively to the rest of the system.
 
Jun 1, 2020
7
0
10
Thanks for the parts list.

The M2 SSD is gonna takes ages to be delivered, what do you think of this one?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-MX...d=1&keywords=500gb+ssd&qid=1591091748&sr=8-14

or this one perhaps: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Di...3040902&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_0&th=1


The R5 3600 games better, than a 2700x, and is roughly as good, with video editing, due to improved IPC.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£158.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI B450M MORTAR MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£95.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£64.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX6000 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£103.52 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 580 8 GB GTS XXX ED Video Card (£156.97 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Deepcool SMARTER MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£27.06 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£69.98 @ Currys PC World Business)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit
Total: £677.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-01 20:48 BST+0100
 
Last edited: