Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question

Help upgrading a budget desktop PC! (G-3220 or i3-4130?)

Tags:
  • Power Supplies
  • Desktops
  • Hard Drives
  • CPUs
  • Fan
  • Systems
  • Motherboards
  • SSD
  • Cases
Last response: in Systems
Share
December 12, 2013 3:06:20 PM

I need to upgrade my current family PC, from an old Penium 4 to a current Haswell-based desktop.

If possible, I would like to retain some of the components that I already have, which are:

- HDD: Maxtor DiamondMax 22 STM3500320AS (Sata-300), 500GB;
- Case: Asus TA-881 (this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ta881-Silver-Black-Power-Suppl...);
- DVD reader/writer;
- PS/2 keyboard and mouse.

Upgrades:

CASE:
- I want to upgrade the 2 vents of this case, which are very noisy! Any model, brand to suggest?
- I have an Allied Premier DR-8400BTW 400W power supply. I'm not sure if it's time to change it or if I can still keep it and look for something better.
- Or should I change the case alltogether?

CPU:
- I was thinking about an Intel Pentium G-3220, since the most intensive task will be to play some flash video from YouTube in HD. Or should I go for a much more expensive (110€ vs 60€) i3-4130?

Motherboard:
- Could you recommend me any good model to go with the above CPUs?

HDD:
- Can I still use my current HDD as the primary one or it's just good for file storage, backup, etc? Do I have to look for a specific motherboard to be able to still use it?
- What about buying a mSATA Plextor M5M (60-64GB) as the primary drive, where I'll install the OS (Linux Mint or Windows 8.1) and the programms?

RAM:
- I was thinking about 4GB, but I'm still undecided about which model/brand.
For the G-3220 can I use also DDR3-1600 or just DDR3-1333?

In the end I'd like to stay under the €250 budget, buying a new CPU, a new motherboard and RAM and, if needed, a SSD/mSATA drive.

Thanks in advance for you help!

More about : upgrading budget desktop 3220 4130

a b à CPUs
a b V Motherboard
December 12, 2013 3:15:27 PM

Not worth the upgrade for $250 buying all those parts. Should wait out and save up some more.
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a c 208 à CPUs
a c 492 V Motherboard
December 12, 2013 3:16:45 PM

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2jmpA
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2jmpA/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2jmpA/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Pentium G2020 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor (£40.01 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4-M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£59.46 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£63.36 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£37.10 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £199.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-12 23:16 GMT+0000)
m
0
l
Related resources
a b ) Power supply
a c 208 à CPUs
a c 492 V Motherboard
December 12, 2013 3:20:25 PM

a ssd drive with windows 8 wil only give your pc a slightly faster boot time. run hdtune and vendor test tools on your old hard drive if it health is good reuse it with your sata drive. I used the older ib to save some cash it only slightly slower then haswell cpu and will last you for years. i tossed in a newer power supply,with higher end parts you want to use a name brand power supply. the newer mb and cpu today need clean power to run right. if a power supply has to much ripple or does not reg clean power to the mb it can lock up or reboot.
m
0
l
December 12, 2013 3:27:19 PM

smorizio said:
PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2jmpA
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2jmpA/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2jmpA/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Pentium G2020 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor (£40.01 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4-M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£59.46 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£63.36 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£37.10 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £199.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-12 23:16 GMT+0000)


smorizio said:
a ssd drive with windows 8 wil only give your pc a slightly faster boot time. run hdtune and vendor test tools on your old hard drive if it health is good reuse it with your sata drive. I used the older ib to save some cash it only slightly slower then haswell cpu and will last you for years. i tossed in a newer power supply,with higher end parts you want to use a name brand power supply. the newer mb and cpu today need clean power to run right. if a power supply has to much ripple or does not reg clean power to the mb it can lock up or reboot.


I see your point for an Ivy-Bridge CPU, but can I use a Micro ATX with my current case?

I've made the test on my HDD: it has an overall good health, but it has 6 damaged sectors.<

I'm definitely looking for a new power supply, thanks for the info!

Any help about the fans? The ones that are mounted in my case are incredibly noisy!
m
0
l
December 12, 2013 3:28:36 PM

HeyyScott said:
Not worth the upgrade for $250 buying all those parts. Should wait out and save up some more.


Well I can raise the bar up to €300.
Still too low?
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a c 208 à CPUs
a c 492 V Motherboard
December 12, 2013 3:32:40 PM

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2jmWy
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2jmWy/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2jmWy/benchmarks/

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.97 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Zalman ZM-T1 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£29.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £69.56
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-12 23:32 GMT+0000)
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a c 208 à CPUs
a c 492 V Motherboard
December 12, 2013 3:34:37 PM

the older drive may be fine after a format. with a new mb and chipset your going to have to format it and reinstall windows.
myself I would spend the extra money to pick up a new case/cd rom drive and hard drive and build a new pc and leave the old one as it is and have two pc. the old one could still be used for web and word.
m
0
l
December 13, 2013 12:49:28 AM

smorizio said:
the older drive may be fine after a format. with a new mb and chipset your going to have to format it and reinstall windows.
myself I would spend the extra money to pick up a new case/cd rom drive and hard drive and build a new pc and leave the old one as it is and have two pc. the old one could still be used for web and word.


The thing is that my family needs just one PC for web and little else, so I'm looking at having just one PC upgrading what I've, trying to save some bucks on the HDD, case, DVD drive and keyboard/mouse.

m
0
l
December 13, 2013 7:03:16 AM

Does anyone have some other ideas for my upgrade?
Again, I would like to stay under €250 (buying from Italy) and be able to retain as many components as possible:
the HDD, the DVD drive and the case mentioned in the 1st post.
I'm looking forward buying a new PSU, so I'm just wondering if it makes sense (money wise) to keep the old case and buy new fans and a new PSU or just get a new case with a good PSU.

Again, the most intensive task of this build would be to play some HD streaming videos from YouTube.
m
0
l
December 15, 2013 4:51:42 AM

I am thinking about this upgrade (all prices from amazon.it, I'm sorry but I can't use it.partpicker.com since there isn't the CPU I want to use)

CPU: Pentium G3220 (€58.54)
Motherboard: Asrock H87M PRO4 (€79.14)
RAM: Corsair CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9 Vengeance, 1x4 GB, 1600 MHz (€39.95) - Anything better?
*PSU: Antec VP300PC (€36.83) or Corsair CX450M (€48.91)
Case: ?

So I will keep my Maxtor DiamondMax 22 (500gb), but I'm still undecided about keeping my old case (Asus TA-881) which has 2 extremely noise fans that have to be replaced, or to look for a new one.
What sould I do about it?


*What is the diffence between a Corsair CX450M and a CX450 (€42)? Will they both fit in a mATX case?
And the Antec VP300PC would be it ok both for my current Mid tower ATX or in a new mATX case?

What about cheaper PSUs like Itek ENERGY PIV 500W CE ATX (€12!)?

This is as close as I could get to it using the previous-gen Intel chip and a very expensive PSU:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G2130 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor (€63.34 @ Amazon Italia)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4-M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (€74.76 @ Amazon Italia)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (€32.57 @ Amazon Italia)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (€61.00 @ Amazon Italia)
Total: €231.67
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-15 14:00 CET+0100)
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a b à CPUs
a b V Motherboard
December 15, 2013 5:29:01 AM

Well.. if you are into gaming, then this rig is a very good option for the budget :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A8-5600K 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor (£69.07 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-DS2 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard (£35.99 @ Aria PC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£64.86 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£32.00 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£26.98 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£34.14 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £263.04
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-15 13:18 GMT+0000)


But if you are not into gaming, then this build should be better for the budget :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor (£83.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£34.98 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£56.49 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£32.00 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£26.98 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£34.14 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £268.58
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-15 13:28 GMT+0000)


Yes, for putting decent parts, I had to go a bit above the budget.
m
0
l
December 15, 2013 5:40:51 AM

Sangeet Khatri said:
Well.. if you are into gaming, then this rig is a very good option for the budget :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD A8-5600K 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor (£69.07 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-DS2 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard (£35.99 @ Aria PC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (£64.86 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£32.00 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£26.98 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£34.14 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £263.04
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-15 13:18 GMT+0000)


But if you are not into gaming, then this build should be better for the budget :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor (£83.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£34.98 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£56.49 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£32.00 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£26.98 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£34.14 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £268.58
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-15 13:28 GMT+0000)


Yes, for putting decent parts, I had to go a bit above the budget.


Thank you Sangeet for your nice options. I'm definitely looking into option B since my family won't be gaming at all ;) 

I just have to find similar prices in Euros and see what I can come up with.

So you're suggesting about getting rit of both my old case and my HDD, which I'd love to keep if possible, aren't you?
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a b à CPUs
a b V Motherboard
December 15, 2013 7:25:56 AM

Okay, use your old HDD, but replace your case. Since I am not sure if that old case has standoffs for the Micro ATX size Motherboard.

At the time of Pentium 4 CPU's Micro ATX was not that common at that time, hence I suggested a new case. As for the HDD, sorry. I did not noticed that you already had one. Yeah, definitely use your older HDD. That would be just fine.
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a b à CPUs
a b V Motherboard
December 15, 2013 7:32:13 AM

Which country do you live in? Italy? France?

From Europe, only these two countries have PcPartPicker list generator. If you are from any other country, then I am sorry, I won't be able to help you much, since I am on a very slow 2G internet.
m
0
l
December 15, 2013 7:47:07 AM

I'm from Italy, but as you can see on the Italian version of PcPartPicker there are no low end (Pentiums or i3s) Haswell CPUs available.

Searching for the specs of my Asus TA-881 case, I found out that it supports ATX and mATX motherboards:
http://www.monclick.it/schede/asus/TA-881/ta-881.htm
But I still have to buy a new 80mm fan.
m
0
l
a b ) Power supply
a b à CPUs
a c 78 V Motherboard
December 15, 2013 8:01:56 AM

Hmm, if your not gaming, why not just buy a pre-built system??? You simply can't build a "basic web surfing" system for less than a pre-built.

Here's a peek at Dell:
http://www.dell.com/us/p/desktops?~ck=mn#!everyday-desktops

How old is that current system? (I'm guessing 4--5 years if it's a Pentium 4?)

- New Operating system alone is $100, Windows 7 (unless you have a full retail version of your OS, you can't "re-use" the old copy...)

- I would not re-use an old Hard Disk, at that age, its just about ready-to-fail. If its that old, it's likely NOT SATA, and would Not be usable in a new system

- You can Only re-use the DVD/CD ROM drive if it is SATA, if not you can't.. (yes there are some motherboard still out there that support Parallel interface drives but they are become very rare...)

- You can Only re-use that powersupply if it is ATX compliant, you'll need a 4 or 8 pin ATX CPU power cable for any new motherboard, can't re-use the powersupply if these are missing (& likely are missing...)

- Your keyboard and mouse, are they USB? (not likely) So, they won't be usable unless your new motherboard supports the old legacy mouse & keyboard ports (these are become more & more rare...)

Sorry, I'd retire that old system completely, or, keep it around just for basic web browsing....
m
0
l
December 15, 2013 8:20:28 AM

jb6684 said:
Hmm, if your not gaming, why not just buy a pre-built system??? You simply can't build a "basic web surfing" system for less than a pre-built.

Here's a peek at Dell:
http://www.dell.com/us/p/desktops?~ck=mn#!everyday-desktops

How old is that current system? (I'm guessing 4--5 years if it's a Pentium 4?)

- New Operating system alone is $100, Windows 7 (unless you have a full retail version of your OS, you can't "re-use" the old copy...)

- I would not re-use an old Hard Disk, at that age, its just about ready-to-fail. If its that old, it's likely NOT SATA, and would Not be usable in a new system

- You can Only re-use the DVD/CD ROM drive if it is SATA, if not you can't.. (yes there are some motherboard still out there that support Parallel interface drives but they are become very rare...)

- You can Only re-use that powersupply if it is ATX compliant, you'll need a 4 or 8 pin ATX CPU power cable for any new motherboard, can't re-use the powersupply if these are missing (& likely are missing...)

- Your keyboard and mouse, are they USB? (not likely) So, they won't be usable unless your new motherboard supports the old legacy mouse & keyboard ports (these are become more & more rare...)

Sorry, I'd retire that old system completely, or, keep it around just for basic web browsing....


I have not considered a pre-built system since the cheapest Dell desktop that I can find on the Italian Dell website is an Optiplex 3020 that comes with a Pentium G3220 at €369.

I have bought this Pentium 4 PC from a friend of mine in 2007, but I bought a new HDD in 2009.
This HDD is a Maxtor DiamondMax 22, which is a SATA 3Gb/s one.
A few days ago I ran a test using the Linux Mint disk utility that reported 6 damaged sectors but an overall good health status of the HDD.

So, after checking Dell, Lenovo, HP and others pre-built systems prices available here in Italy (none below the €350 mark with a 4th-gen Haswell CPU) I was thinking about upgrading just the CPU, motherboard, RAM, PSU and case's fans, saving around €100 from a pre-built one.

I won't need a Windows license since I'll be running Linux on it.
m
0
l
!