want upgrade motherboard and processor from 200 to 400 $

[jadjad6198]

I have a 650w PSU and a brand new MSI radeon R9 270X 2G GPU and DDR2 SDRAM:8GB on a ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus motherboard. with a quad core processor intel core 2 quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHZ CPU and 2 hard drives @ 1TB per. I want to upgrade to upgrade the motherboard and processor and maybe later ram. i play dirt3 and secondlife and mindcraft and maybe other games in future. can afford 200 to 400 dollars . whats my best bang for my bucks. thanks a bunch.

 

[urbancamper]

Upgrading the ram goes alone with upgrading the motherboard and cpu. That is unless you intend to stay with the same outdated standard that you now use.

 

[raisonjohn]

I have a 650w PSU and a brand new MSI radeon R9 270X 2G GPU and DDR2 SDRAM:8GB on a ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus motherboard. with a quad core processor intel core 2 quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHZ CPU and 2 hard drives @ 1TB per. I want to upgrade to upgrade the motherboard and processor and maybe later ram. i play dirt3 and secondlife and mindcraft and maybe other games in future. can afford 200 to 400 dollars . whats my best bang for my bucks. thanks a bunch.

Best bang for your buck is upgrading to a different platform:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($77.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $387.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-07 15:59 EDT-0400

 

[jadjad6198]

oops i failed to mention i have a dvd/cd burner drive also and i do not see a connection for this on this particular MB. i can spend a bit more if need be. thanks again.

 

[raisonjohn]

oops i failed to mention i have a dvd/cd burner drive also and i do not see a connection for this on this particular MB. i can spend a bit more if need be. thanks again.

The MB uses SATA ports for the DVD/CD drives. If your DVD/CD burner has a SATA port, then, you can connect that to one of the four SATA ports in this MB. If not, it might be ideal to get a new DVD/CD burner drive with SATA connection (or better yet, just use an external USB-connected DVD/CD drive, esp. if you don't use it too often).

 

[jadjad6198]

also when measuring for a case fan do i take measurements between the bolt holes which mine is 3"x 3"? i have one now but have a space for an other. also can you give me couple choices on the MB.and maybe ram or processor. I can go an extra $100. so total $500 for all. unless you beleave this MB and ram is best choice for me.. thanks again for your help raisonjohn.

 

[raisonjohn]

also when measuring for a case fan do i take measurements between the bolt holes which mine is 3"x 3"? i have one now but have a space for an other. also can you give me couple choices on the MB.and maybe ram or processor. I can go an extra $100. so total $500 for all. unless you beleave this MB and ram is best choice for me.. thanks again for your help raisonjohn.

Well, nowadays, the cases specifically mentions what the size of the case fan it supports (usually, 120mm or 140mm). With your case having bolt holes measuriing 3" x 3" (~75mm x ~75mm), I'm guessing it is an older case that supports smaller fan sizes. My estimate (not definite) is it will probably support ~80mm *or* ~92mm fans (again, this is not definite).

If your case does support only such smaller fan sizes, you may want to consider upgrading the case as well for better airflow. As said, nowadays, cases would have at the very minimum, 120mm fan sizes (which has screw spacing of roughly ~4.15" x ~4.15").

The parts I suggested previously (Ryzen 5 1600 CPU + Asrock AB350M Pro4 MB + 16GB DDR4-3000MHz RAM) would have the best price/performance already. Note that all AMD Ryzen CPUs are overclockable when paired with a B350-chipset motherboard. The specific Ryzen 5 1600 comes with a decent CPU Cooler already. If you want alternatives, here are some other choices you can consider:

ALTERNATIVE 1
Same CPU + Asrock AB350M, which is overclockable but has 2x RAM slots only compared to the AB350M Pro4 version, for a lower price + 16GB DDR4-3000MHz, different model

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($126.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $392.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-08 22:54 EDT-0400

The above alternative basically just replaces the previous motherboard suggested.

ALTERNATIVE 2
Intel i7-7700, non-OCable CPU + MSI B250M Pro-VDH, which has 4x RAM slots, non-OCable + 16GB DDR4-2400MHz, slower non-OCable speed

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($289.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI - B250M PRO-VDH Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($74.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($107.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $472.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-08 23:02 EDT-0400

The above alternative replaces the entire platform from the AMD Ryzen to an Intel build. This will definitely cost more, but, you get a CPU that has higher clock speeds (though, not OC'able and has lesser cores/threads).

ALTERNATIVE 3
Pentium G4560, non-OCable CPU + MSI B250M Pro-VDH, which has 4x RAM slots, non-OCable + 16GB DDR4-2400MHz, slower non-OCable speed

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($74.89 @ B&H)
Motherboard: MSI - B250M PRO-VDH Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($74.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($107.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $257.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-08 23:05 EDT-0400

The above alternative is a common upgrade path towards Alternative #2. You get a very affordabl 2-core/4-thread CPU (Pentium G4560) to minimize initial costs, then, get an i7-7700 CPU later on when you have funds.

 

[jadjad6198]

K sounds like your first pick is the best. which do you suggest is the best for gaming, especially secondlife.also i best take the extra $100. and buy a cool case. i like blue lighting. can i get a case like this for $100. ? . thanks again

 

[raisonjohn]

I haven't played second life, but from what I have read, it's poorly-optimized/coded and very CPU-intensive (not sure if that stands today). If it does, getting the 6-core/12-thread Ryzen CPU with 16GB RAM would definitely be beneficial.

 

[raisonjohn]

For the case, yeah, $100 is more than enough. I'd recommend the Thermaltake Core V21 (http://www.thermaltake.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00002559)

So, your shopping list will now be something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($77.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($126.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI - Radeon R9 270X 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: Thermaltake - Core V21 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $439.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-08 23:44 EDT-0400

 

[jadjad6198]

let the games begin. thanks a bunch for all your efforts. one more question. does the fans come with this case ?

 

[raisonjohn]

The Thermaltake Core V21 only includes a 200mm fan pre-installed at the front intake (forgot to mention that it is non-LED). So, if you want to replace that fan you'll have this much fan mounting locations available to fill up:

Front: Up to 2x 120mm *or* Up to 2x 140mm *or* 1x 200mm
Top: Up to 4x 120mm *or* Up to 2x 140mm
Rear: 1x 120mm *or* 1x 140mm
Bottom: Up to 2x 120mm
Left / Right Side: Up to 2x 120mm *or* Up to 2x 140mm

Blue lighting can be achieved by using Blue-LED fans *or* Blue LED strips *or* a combination of both. So, with the Thermaltake Core V21, you may have to spend additional costs for the fans/lighting you want to put in.

Alternatively, a similar-layout case with included Blue Lighting is the DIYPC Cuboid-B:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case: DIYPC - Cuboid-B MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($49.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $49.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-09 11:19 EDT-0400

The DIYPC Cuboid-B (http://www.mydiypcusa.com/products/cuboid-b.html) has 1x 200mm Blue-LED fan (pre-installed at Front Intake), 1x 120mm Blue-LED fan (pre-installed at Rear Exhaust) and available fan slots to fill up at the top (for 2x 120mm or 2x 140mm fans of your choice).