Question Upgrade from i5 7400 to Ryzen 3 3200G worth it?

[sprtfan]

I have a i5 7400 that the kids use to play Minecraft, Roblex, ext... I'd like to be able to upgrade this to Windows 11 when it comes out and the ability to do that is still a little up in the air due to the age of the cpu. I was able to pick up a prebuilt HP on clearance at Walmart that has a Ryzen 3 3200G that will support Windows 11 for $200. The built in graphics on it appears to be a step up for the i5 7400 but wonder if I'd be better off spending the $200 on a video card and cross my fingers that I'll be able to upgrade to Windows 11 when the time comes. Graphic card prices are crazy now since the last time a built a system though and I could use the i5 system to upgrade my Plex server (not that I really need to but helps justify keeping the new system)

 

[VirtualLarry]

Hmm, how well / poorly do their games play on the current 3200G's igpu? Do they play at 720P or 1080P?

Given current GPU pricing, I would stick with the 3200G for now, for "kid's gaming", while keeping an eye out for one of those used RX 470 8GB cards showing up cheap on ebay from that Chinese mining farm.

 

[blckgrffn]

The more I read about it, the more it sounds like W11 might be installable on older hardware but you shouldn't count on it long term. There might be a feature release or something that prevents you from moving forward.

Are you thinking of returning the 3200G system? It sounds like it's running well?

Why do you need to add a $200 GPU when you could add a $100 GPU (thinking GTX 950 or similar) and have better 3D performance than the 3200?

 

[VirtualLarry]

I was able to pick up a prebuilt HP on clearance at Walmart that has a Ryzen 3 3200G that will support Windows 11 for $200.

BTW, do you have a link, or was this in-store?

 

[sprtfan]

The more I read about it, the more it sounds like W11 might be installable on older hardware but you shouldn't count on it long term. There might be a feature release or something that prevents you from moving forward.

Are you thinking of returning the 3200G system? It sounds like it's running well?

Why do you need to add a $200 GPU when you could add a $100 GPU (thinking GTX 950 or similar) and have better 3D performance than the 3200?

I was thinking of returning the 3200G system. I wouldn't need to add a $200 GPU to the i5 7400 but used that amount since that was the cost of getting the 3200G system that I can return. If the only goal was to boost the graphic performance I'd assume that I'd be better off putting the money into a video card but the potential problems upgrading to Win 11 was what made me thing about going this route. I could also wait and see and upgrade to a newer intel cpu if I have issues with Windows 11 but that would probably cost about the same as getting the entire 3200G system.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Robot or human?

I see $259 refurb shipped and sold by walmart.

 

[sprtfan]

Robot or human?

I see $259 refurb shipped and sold by walmart.

It is on clearance and would be in store only. Could be reginal also. Here is brickseek link if you want to check your local stores.
HP Desktop Tower R3 8GB/1TB Desktop Bundle – Walmart Inventory Checker – BrickSeek

 

[sprtfan]

Hmm, how well / poorly do their games play on the current 3200G's igpu? Do they play at 720P or 1080P?

Given current GPU pricing, I would stick with the 3200G for now, for "kid's gaming", while keeping an eye out for one of those used RX 470 8GB cards showing up cheap on ebay from that Chinese mining farm.

The loading times are noticeably longer than a system where I have a gtx 1160 but the game play seems to be fine once they get going. They do play the java version of Minecraft also and it gets bogged down a little depending on mods and what they are doing but not enough that they complain much.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Thanks to your brickseek link, I now own two of these bad boys.

Anyways, that's a decent price for an entire 3200G rig. I've got a couple of Gigabyte 256GB NVMe M.2 SSDs to toss in to each., and some 16GB kits of DDR4 RAM. (Did yours come with 2x4GB, or 1x8GB, btw?)

Should purr along nicely, with an NVMe SSD and 16GB of RAM. With just the HDD, it's a bit of a non-starter, but at least the stock RAM is 8GB of DDR4-2666, which is better than most entry-level PCs.

This PC was $429, and at one point, might have been $629. $199, that's a NICE price, thank you.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The loading times are noticeably longer than a system where I have a gtx 1160 but the game play seems to be fine once they get going. They do play the java version of Minecraft also and it gets bogged down a little depending on mods and what they are doing but not enough that they complain much.

Are you comparing an SSD system with a non-SSD system (the 3200G, as shipped from the factory)? That alone could account for "slow loading times" and "lagginess".

Try dropping in an NVMe, with a fresh copy of Windows. Windows 11 if you want to be edgy. (I'm planning on putting Windows 11 on mine.)

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Dual channel is a must for Ryzen APUs. And the Vega 8 destroys the 7400s HD graphics. You can use Ryzen Master to overclock both the CPU and Vega 8, which can improve game performance quite a bit. Even with the cooler HP uses.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Are you comparing an SSD system with a non-SSD system (the 3200G, as shipped from the factory)? That alone could account for "slow loading times" and "lagginess".

Try dropping in an NVMe, with a fresh copy of Windows. Windows 11 if you want to be edgy. (I'm planning on putting Windows 11 on mine.)

This.

Add a stick of ram, and even a cheapo SATA SSD and it will be a capable roblox and minecraft box.

EDIT: And move the i5 to Plex duty. Better than Vega 8 performance is not the only metric I would use. Because you are looking at cards that have any/all of the following issues - no longer having windows driver support, could be worn out and on their last legs, and the prices are still considerably more expensive than what they are worth. If the card dies in weeks or months, you are right back to hunting again.

And if you look at what a 3200g sells for alone; no way I would return that system. You effectively paid an extra $80 for case, psu, mobo, ram, hdd, and warranty = hot deal.

 

[VirtualLarry]

And if you look at what a 3200g sells for alone; no way I would return that system. You effectively paid an extra $80 for case, psu, mobo, ram, hdd, and warranty = hot deal.

This!

I've got one of mine with a 256GB NVMe and Win11 installed now, it's way better now.

 

[sprtfan]

Are you comparing an SSD system with a non-SSD system (the 3200G, as shipped from the factory)? That alone could account for "slow loading times" and "lagginess".

Try dropping in an NVMe, with a fresh copy of Windows. Windows 11 if you want to be edgy. (I'm planning on putting Windows 11 on mine.)

I basically have 2 identical i5 7400 systems with the exception of one having a gtx 1160 that I was using to compare load times. I have the 3200G system but haven't opened the box yet. Others have said that it came with 1 stick of 8GB ram I believe. Since I can use the i5 7400 to upgrade my plex system and the with the uncertain upgrade path to Windows 11 it seems like a no brainer to keep. Thanks, for the help.

 

[blckgrffn]

I basically have 2 identical i5 7400 systems with the exception of one having a gtx 1160 that I was using to compare load times. I have the 3200G system but haven't opened the box yet. Others have said that it came with 1 stick of 8GB ram I believe. Since I can use the i5 7400 to upgrade my plex system and the with the uncertain upgrade path to Windows 11 it seems like a no brainer to keep. Thanks, for the help.

I am being the detail police here. Do you have a GTX 1660? If so, that's a nice card that currently dwarfs the value of the system it is in

I'll echo the others - by a cheap ~500GB NVME drive and if you are feeling lazy you can just clone the hard drive to the nvme drive and it should be fine. It will make the system way snappier. Then add a 8GB stick of ram and just enjoy a nice modern system. Even with those upgrade investments its a great deal IMHO.

256GB nvme drives exist but I find the extra ~$20 for extra space and long term usefulness a better trade off. Performance is usually/can be notably better on 500+GB drives as well.

 

[sprtfan]

I am being the detail police here. Do you have a GTX 1660? If so, that's a nice card that currently dwarfs the value of the system it is in

I'll echo the others - by a cheap ~500GB NVME drive and if you are feeling lazy you can just clone the hard drive to the nvme drive and it should be fine. It will make the system way snappier. Then add a 8GB stick of ram and just enjoy a nice modern system. Even with those upgrade investments its a great deal IMHO.

256GB nvme drives exist but I find the extra ~$20 for extra space and long term usefulness a better trade off. Performance is usually/can be notably better on 500+GB drives as well.

Sorry, it is a GTX 1060 3Gb version. Several years old but looking like it still might be selling for almost as much as I paid when I got it. I'll be getting an NVME drive for it and will move my Plex server over to the i5 7400 system. Plex server is currently on a i5 2500k that is still going strong but I can't expect it to last forever.

 

[blckgrffn]

Sorry, it is a GTX 1060 3Gb version. Several years old but looking like it still might be selling for almost as much as I paid when I got it. I'll be getting an NVME drive for it and will move my Plex server over to the i5 7400 system. Plex server is currently on a i5 2500k that is still going strong but I can't expect it to last forever.

Right on. I have a couple 1060 3GBs kicking around here and they are still very good for gaming imo. Looking at GTX 1050tis that are slower AND $300 new is gross!

The 7400 should have a new enough QuickSync version that if you have Plex Premium I think it is actually supported to for HW accelerated transcoding I do believe.

 

[VirtualLarry]

comically bad youtube camera work...

Better yet, don't bother watching it, it doesn't show benchmark or anything useful.
(He does mention it was a $700 PC. So it must have had an original MSRP of $699.)

(It was the only youtube video that I could find that was specific to that model number. Guess that none of the big-name TechTubers want to unbox or benchmark an entry-level APU PC. Probably because at original retail, this PC didn't have much value for money. At $199, though, whoa. Toasty Bros did review / benchmark the HP Slim Celeron G5900 rigs, which I used as a base to upgrade a few rigs for F&F.)