You're very welcome!
As to your follow-up questions:
bowtieman81 :
"1 – Is the Ryzen build you suggested above worth the extra cost over the basic Pentium G4560 setup?"
Capital/initial costs tend to favor the basic Pentium G4560 over any Ryzen builds. With a very affordable Pentium G4560, you'd only shell out ~$75 for the CPU, less than half the cost of the cheapest Ryzen CPU (i.e., the Ryzen 5 1400).
HOW A PENTIUM G4560 BUILD WOULD COST AND HOW WILL IT PERFORM:
A basic motherboard for such Pentium G4560 would have to be a B250-chipset motherboard (supports 7th-gen CPUs out-of-the-box, non-OC'able, and has ample connectivity/ports/PCIe lanes for a basic PC). Most B250 motherboards cost less than ~$100 (ranging from ~$65 to ~$80 for mATX and ranging from ~$80 to ~$100 for ATX), though, some selected "special" (i.e., feature-filled) B250 mobos are available up to ~$130 (within the same price range of the H270 mobos that packs more lanes, but, is also non-OC'able).
Given the above Pentium G4560 + B250 motherboard, the max. RAM speed those specific CPU+MB can support is DDR4-2400MHz (with the default speed being 2133MHz), unlike OC'able mobos which can support higher speed 2666MHz and up. Lower-speed RAM also translates to lower costs. As mentioned in my previous reply, it is highly recommended to get a pair of RAM sticks (instead of just a single stick) to take advantage of dual-channel speeds and better compatibility: 16GB (2 x 8GB) is recommended (but not required); 8GB (2 x 4GB) is the bare minimum (and
might be most applicable to your situation).
With the above G4560 CPU + B250 MB + 8GB RAM, you would be looking at these costs:
PCPartPicker part list /
Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel - Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($74.89 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME B250M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($67.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $205.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-29 09:50 EDT-0400
The total cost of these 3 core components is actually ~$4 less than the cost of a Ryzen 5 1600 (the CPU alone!). This is where the Pentium G4560 build shines: lower captial costs.
But commensurate to the lower costs is the lower performance.
Compared to the Ryzen 5 1600 CPU (at its stock speed), the Pentium G4560 would be around ~25% slower in effective speed: ~25% slower in gaming, ~15% slower in desktop use, and ~55% slower in workstation use (http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Pentium-G4560-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-1600/3892vs3919).
That's a huge performance gap between the two CPUs. But let's take a look at how the Pentium G4560 will perform on a modified Ryzen build.
AN ADJUSTMENT TO THE PREVIOUSLY-PROPOSED RYZEN BUILD:
Considering your basic gaming needs as you mentioned, a slightly better/fairer comparison for the Pentium G4560 would be Ryzen's most basic (cheapest available) CPU to date: the Ryzen 5 1400 (3.2GHz to 3.4GHz, 4-core/8-thread).
At the Ryzen 5 1400's stock speed, the Pentium G4560 would be around ~12% slower in effective speed: ~12% slower in gaming, ~3% slower in desktop use, and ~30% slower in workstation use (http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Pentium-G4560-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-1400/3892vs3922). This Ryzen 5 1400 costs ~$160 (or ~$40 less than the Ryzen 5 1600). Still a wide gap, esp. on non-gaming usage.
For the motherboard, Ryzen AM4-socket mobos are available in 3 different chipsets: A320, B350, and X370. Both B350 and X370 motherboards support overclocking, where the B350 is the more affordable chipset and the X370 is for high-end/extreme builds. The only salient difference is that: X370s can support SLI (2-way Nvidia GPUs) and has more SATA ports compared to the B350s. The A320, on the other hand, does not support overclocking at all and is a very basic chipset for Ryzen CPUs at an exclusive stock speed. Though you may consider getting the A320 (if you are not going to overclock at all), know that there are very few A320-chipset models to choose from and their price ranges from ~$55 to ~$70 (cost of which can already get you the most affordable of the B350-chipset models, like the one I suggested previously). Bulk of the B350-chipset models, though, range from ~$75 to ~$100, and, much like the Intel's B250-chipset motherboard mentioned above, the feature-filled B350 mobos are also available up to ~$130.
The Ryzen CPUs tend to perform to its max. potential when using higher speed RAMs, where 3200MHz is considered the "sweet-spot". However, getting a lower speed RAM would not be the end of the world for a Ryzen system, especially when budgetary constraints and specific PC usage are factored in. Getting a 2666MHz RAM speed (or even a 2400MHz) to lower the costs would not have a very noticeable effect in performance in basic games on basic graphics. In fact, savings gained on skimping a faster-speed RAM can be best put to much better use on spending for a better GPU - which is more noticeable in gaming.
So, considering a re-adjusted Ryzen build due to your needs to fairly compare with the above Pentium build, a Ryzen 5 1400 CPU + B350 MB + 8GB RAM would now look like this:
PCPartPicker part list /
Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1400 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($62.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $288.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-29 10:34 EDT-0400
The difference in cost of the 3 core components of the above re-adjusted Ryzen build compared to the suggested Pentium G4560 build is only ~$83.
So, whether you choose to get the Ryzen 5 1400 *or* the Ryzen 5 1600 + *B350* mobo + *2 x 4GB* of *2400MHz* RAM speeds, the
difference of ~$83 (if you choose the 1400) up to a
difference of ~$125 (if you choose the 1600) would
definitely be worth it. As I have mentioned in my previous reply, it is the upgradability factor (future costs) plus immediate performance gains that favors the
Ryzen build over the more affordable Pentium G4560 build.
bowtieman81 :
"2 – Assuming yes to the above, is there any reason to favor a mATX mobo over a standard ATX?"
There are several justifications on favoring the mATX over the ATX.
The most obvious reason is price. Most micro-ATX mobos cost less than their ATX counterparts (though you can see some selected ATX mobos drop down in price to the level of some mATX's). Both mobos would still have the basic ports to run a PC, with the ATX mobo just having "more" (sometimes, but, not always). So, if you are not going to use those additional connections on a larger mobo, there is no reason to get (or pay) for those features, otherwise available in the smaller mobo for lesser costs.
Among all major B350-chipset Ryzen motherboards (by ASRock, Asus, Gigabyte, and Msi) that are
ATX in size:
- all models have exactly 4x DIMM slots (for the RAM sticks)
- most models have at least 2x PCIe x16 slots, with a few models having 3x (for the GPU/s and expansion card/s)
- most models have at least 2x PCIe x1 slots, with a few models having 3x or 4x (for expansion card/s)
- about half of the number of models have 4x SATA ports, with the other half have 6x SATA ports
- all models have at least 1x M.2 socket, with a couple of models having 2x
- most models use Realtek LAN controllers, with a couple of models using better Intel I211AT LAN controller
- most use Realtek ALC892 audio codec, with a few using a lower ALC887 and a few using a higher ALC1220
- most have up to 6x audio jacks (Line Out, Side, Rear, Center, Line In, Mic), with a few having 3x (Line Out, In, Mic)
- most have 8x total USB ports at rear panel, with some having only 6x in total
- about half of the models have 2x USB3.0 and 2x USB2.0 internal headers, others only have 1x USB3.0 and 2x USB2.0
- most have 6x total fan headers, some have 4x to 5x, and a selected model having only 3x
Among all major B350-chipset Ryzen motherboards (by ASRock, Asus, Gigabyte, and Msi) that are
micro-ATX in size:
- about half of the number of models have 4x DIMM slots, with the others having only 2x DIMM slots
- most models have only 1x PCIe x16 slot, with only several models having 2x
- most models have at least 2x PCIe x1 slots, with a few models having only 1x
- most models have 4x SATA ports, with a few models having 6x SATA ports
- almost all models have at least 1x M.2 socket, with a selected model having 2x and a selected model having none
- all models use Realtek LAN controllers
- almost all models use Realtek ALC887 audio codec, with a few using version ALC892
- almost all models have 3x audio jacks, with a couple of models having 5x
- almost half of the number of models have 8x total USB ports at rear panel, the rest having 6x or 7x in total
- almost all models have 1x USB3.0 and 2x USB2.0 internal headers, while the rest have 2x USB3.0 and 2x USB2.0
- most models have 3x total fan headers, several models have 2x, and a selected few having 4x
So, with the above comparison of ATX and mATX B350-chipset mobos, the most obvious discrepancy between the two are the number of PCIe x16 slots (and multi-GPU support), the number of audio jacks and audio codec used, and the number of fan headers. Other ports/connectivity are a give-or-take between the ATX and mATX depending on which specific model of the motherboard you will be getting.
Another obvious reason for choosing the mATX is one already has an mATX case (or a desire to get an mATX case) due to the spatial clearances in one's desk space. The mATX cases are generally (not all) more compact and takes up lesser volume/footprint on your table (or floor), especially if one has very limited space. mATX mobos are more flexible as it can fit inside an mATX case AND/OR an ATX case (similar to your current setup); but an ATX mobo can only fit into an ATX case (not on a smaller mATX case).
bowtieman81 :
"3 – What is the expected longetvity of the listed mobo? My current one has gone over 6 years no problem, but I don’t know if that’s the norm or not."
Honestly, we can never tell how long a motherboard will last (in terms of durability). It will highly depend on the owner's specific usage, wear-and-tear, maintainance, environmental factors, OC'ing, BIOS tweaking, etc.
The listed motherboard for the Ryzen build mentioned above (i.e., the ASRock AB350M) has the most number of power phases on an mATX mobo (along with the ASRock AB350M Pro4 model) at 9x, compared to the rest of the competition having only 6x or 7x, so, in terms of voltage regulation, this motherboard has that covered. ASRock, as far as the new AM4 platform is concerned, also has timely updates on the BIOS for better compatibility/performance (the latest being version 2.50 this 6/13/2017).
Expected longevity, as far as the Intel-platform vs Ryzen-platform is concerned, the Ryzen would definitely stretch out further. It is a recently-released platform on a new AM4-socket and expect AMD to support such motherboard, with new compatible CPUs, as we head into the future. In contrast, the Intel LGA1151-socket (for 6th/7th gen CPUs) is already 2 years old. Intel tends to replace/upgrade chipsets/sockets (due to different CPU pinouts) at a much faster rate than AMD's. If we follow Intel's trend, they will probably have one more generation supporting the LGA1151-socket (i.e., the 8th-gen "Coffee Lake" consumer-level CPUs), but, would most likely require/release a new 300-series chipset motherboard for that purpose. We still don't know (as far as I know) if current 200-series (B250, H270, and Z270 chipset) motherboards will support 8th-gen with just a BIOS update or not.
bowtieman81 :
"4 – Is my current HDD nearing end-of-life? I was considering just replacing it all together because I was worried about failure."
I cannot tell for sure unless you run some HDD diagnostic program / health check (not my forte). But I will definitely recommend for you to always maintain a backup drive, especially if you are keeping very important data on an HDD. Nobody can predict when and how an HDD will fail - some might fail within a few months while some might fail after 10+ years. In my personal use, I always have a 1TB external hard drive to keep a backup of my most important documents/photos/files from the internal HDD I regularly use. This gives me peace of mind as any instance my internal HDD will fail or be corrupted, I can always retrieve those important files on the backup drive with no problems. More often than not, statistical data show that HDD drives have a higher failure rate within the first year or two of using it. The rate significantly decreases after that, but still, you'll never know.
bowtieman81 :
"5 – Is my Antec case still worth using for the phase 2 upgrades? I have no problems with the case other than I wish it had a front USB 3.0 port."
Since you don't have any problems with your current case, it's all good to be kept after the 2nd phase of upgrades. It's really a matter of preference whether you still like the case (aesthetically and noise/airflow performance) or not any more. Budget also plays into consideration as getting a much better and highly-recommended case often would cost you somewhere from ~$60 to ~$100 (but largely depend on which specific model you want).
If the USB3.0 port is really a necessity for you (and the only reason you want to change your Antec case), then consider getting a 5.25" USB3.0 front panel bay that you can install in one of your 2x available 5.25" drive bays (your case has 3x, but one is taken up by your current Asus DVD/CD drive). This USB3.0 front panel bay will only cost you ~$13 (such as this: https://www.amazon.com/Anker-2-Port-Front-Drives-Devices/dp/B00J4EZE4U) compared to spending more for a new case to have that feature. You can plug the USB3.0 cable of that front panel bay into the B350-chipset motherboard's USB3.0 (19-pin) internal header (your current Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2P-B3 motherboard doesn't have this header).
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