Old system upgrade question (SSD or new mobo+CPU)

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neigenoire

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Feb 1, 2013
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So my uncle asked me to upgrade his computer with very limited budget. He uses the PC mostly for browsing the web, playing music/videos, text editing. It's an old LGA775 system with an Intel Celeron E3400. I'm thinking an SSD would be the best option for him. BUT I've heard a few horror stories of how SSDs become slow/lose performance over time when the drive is not in AHCI mode. And the motherboard in question has SATA II with no AHCI option. From what I understand, this means no TRIM support.

Is it worth it to go for an SSD now or rather save up for a new mobo+cpu instead?

Considering the usage of the PC, I lean towards an SSD (have Crucial M500 in mind) but am hesitant due to the above concerns.
 
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You're right. An SSD would be a waste of time on this mobo. You also only have 2gb ram. And a bad quality power supply. With a really poor graphics card.

Spend money on stuff you can use down the track. The SSD is OK but won't help the PC much without AHCI. I'd leave it at the HDD and hang on to my 100 bucks.

To get an improvement, everything except the HDD needs replacing.

You might be able to get a much better CPU pretty cheap. See http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Celeron_Dual-Core/Intel-Celeron%20Dual-Core%20E3400%20AT80571RG0641ML%20%28BX80571E3400%20-%20BXC80571E3400%29.html
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neigenoire

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Feb 1, 2013
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I can't post all the detail at the moment, here's what I know:
MOBO: LGA775, SATA II
CPU: Intel Celeron E3400
GPU: GeForce GT 440
RAM: 2 GB of DDR3 ram
PSU: 400W Chieftec
HDD: 1TB 7200rpm Samsung

The budget is roughly 100 USD.
 
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i7Baby

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Jul 25, 2012
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You're right. An SSD would be a waste of time on this mobo. You also only have 2gb ram. And a bad quality power supply. With a really poor graphics card.

Spend money on stuff you can use down the track. The SSD is OK but won't help the PC much without AHCI. I'd leave it at the HDD and hang on to my 100 bucks.

To get an improvement, everything except the HDD needs replacing.

You might be able to get a much better CPU pretty cheap. See http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Celeron_Dual-Core/Intel-Celeron%20Dual-Core%20E3400%20AT80571RG0641ML%20%28BX80571E3400%20-%20BXC80571E3400%29.html
 
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pepijnownt

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Jul 29, 2014
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Don't get an SSD, like i7Baby said, you you will need to replace much things.
if I was you, I would save up some money. I know waiting is crap, but good specs are nice to have; if you now upgrade to a cheap cpu, you will not be able to play the newest games.
 
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neigenoire

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Feb 1, 2013
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The computer is not used for gaming, like I said in the original post, it's mostly used for surfing the web, playing videos, etc. This is why I considered an SSD as the best option.

What I want to know is if running an SDD in IDE mode will affect its performance long-term. The answer to that question will help me most to decide whether or not to get it.


And by the way that CPU isn't that bad really, it's rated slightly worse than AMD Athlon II 270 and I used to game on a system with a 270 and ran stuff like Skyrim on max settings.
 
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