Upgrading main components of old PC to a budget gaming build

[Nvidiaguy07]

I keep my OLD computer around to play around on with different linux distros, and just to have as an extra PC if someone needs to use one. Some parts are ancient, and I would like to update the main components to something a little more updated.

Use - secondary PC to run linux and do some very light gaming on (indie games, dota, other games at med-low res.

Budget - probably around 200 bucks, but im looking to spend as little as possible.

Country - USA

Brand preference - I guess just nvidia since AMD sucks on linux

Current parts - Here is what the PC is in its current state:

CPU: Athlon x2 4200+
CPUFAN: Zalman CNPS 9700 NT
Mobo: Asus M2n-SLI deluxe
Memory: 2 GB corsair XMS
GPU: 8800GT
Hard Drive: 250GB WD (SATA)
DVD Drive: basic DVD burner
Power Supply: Pretty sure I have a 430W corsair that I picked up a few years back in there.
Case: Antec 900
OS: Lubuntu

So I bolded the parts I need to buy, and everything else I will be keeping.

Overclocking - Yes I would like to if the cost is not much more.

Resolution - 1920x1080

When - asap

Software - None needed

So pretty much I need a CPU, motherboard, memory, and a gpu, and maybe cpu cooler (probably since ive seen decent ones for $15).

I kind of have a rough idea of what I want, but thought Id post here to see what you guys think. I am waiting for a deal on an intel g3258 and motherboard, and maybe a cheap nvidia gpu. Not sure what brand of memory I should get. Any other builds I am open to. I would not be against an AMD build either, but would probably need nvidia for graphics.

 

[frozentundra123456]

That is a really tight budget. Do you live near a micro center? If so they usually have a deal on FX 6300 for less than a hundred dollars with a free motherboard after the combo rebate. I think you can get a cpu, motherboard, and ram for 200 or less, but i think you will have to either keep the 9800 GT or up the budget by 50.00 or so to get a decent gpu

Basically you are looking at around 100.00 for cpu/motherboard. Options would be a G3258 combo or Athlon x4/FX6300 with a cheap motherboard. Ram will be around 60.00 for 8gb. A decent gpu will cost about 70.00, which will put you about 30.00 over budget. The minimun gpu i would look for would be a GT740 Ddr5. A better choice would be a GTX 750, but that will bring the cost to around 250.00.

Edit: I am not that knowledgable about hard drives, but I am not sure one as old as the one you have will be compatible with a current motherboard. I any case, it might be wise to replace that as well, since I think it could fail at any time.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

That is a really tight budget. Do you live near a micro center? If so they usually have a deal on FX 6300 for less than a hundred dollars with a free motherboard after the combo rebate. I think you can get a cpu, motherboard, and ram for 200 or less, but i think you will have to either keep the 9800 GT or up the budget by 50.00 or so to get a decent gpu

Basically you are looking at around 100.00 for cpu/motherboard. Options would be a G3258 combo or Athlon x4/FX6300 with a cheap motherboard. Ram will be around 60.00 for 8gb. A decent gpu will cost about 70.00, which will put you about 30.00 over budget. The minimun gpu i would look for would be a GT740 Ddr5. A better choice would be a GTX 750, but that will bring the cost to around 250.00.

Edit: I am not that knowledgable about hard drives, but I am not sure one as old as the one you have will be compatible with a current motherboard. I any case, it might be wise to replace that as well, since I think it could fail at any time.

edited op to show that old HD is SATA - so its fine. Doesn't matter if it fails - nothing important will be on it, and I dont mind re-installing OS.

I was thinking these parts, that should keep me under budget:

CPU: Intel G3258 $70

MOBO: whatever $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Memory: 4GB for now - should be fine $30 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

GPU: GT730 or something like it. $70 bucks. Like I said VERY light gaming.

So at full price itll come out to 220 - but I see stuff on sale all the time, so hopefully I can get it for less. No unfortunately I dont live near a frys or microcenter, so online deals are all i got.

Gonna keep looking for deals on this combo unless I find something better/cheaper.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Not bad. The only real weakness of the pentium is in new, demanding highly threaded games, and you dont seem to want to play those on this system. Too bad, there used to be hundred dollar combo deals for the G3258 plus mobo, but they seem to have dried up.

 

[Ketchup]

What is that computer slow at? I don't think what you have would be that bad on a light distro and older games.

Your budget just makes me think that you might want to wait until you have a better amount available to spend on upgrading the most expensive parts of the machine.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

What is that computer slow at? I don't think what you have would be that bad on a light distro and older games.

Your budget just makes me think that you might want to wait until you have a better amount available to spend on upgrading the most expensive parts of the machine.

I just think its on its way out. I get a lot of errors and weird things happen on it. My first thought was a failing hard drive, but even when trying to use a live linux cd or usb it still does some weird stuff.

Its been overclocked most of its life, and ran hot a few times up until I re-applied thermal paste. Its so old I dont think its worth troubleshooting all that much. If I can replace cpu/mem/mobo/gpu for cheap enough then why not?

I guess one option I have is to buy myself a new gpu, and use my 560ti for this build, but I dont think a 430W psu is gonna cut it.

Im running lubuntu right now and its OK, but like I said errors and stuff is enough to get me to want to upgrade if I can.

 

[Ketchup]

Gotcha, I wonder if a CPU like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117447
with an inexpensive motherboard and RAM would work. You can try the integrated video (since it has the HD 4400) and save up for a better video card if you think one is needed down the road.

 

[VirtualLarry]

There is a G3258 combo right now with a Gigabyte B85 Gaming 3 mobo for $106.98 and a $10 MIR on top.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

There is a G3258 combo right now with a Gigabyte B85 Gaming 3 mobo for $106.98 and a $10 MIR on top.

where?

 

[VirtualLarry]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.2347330

 

[LTC8K6]

If you get the GT730, be sure it has the 64bit GDDR5 and 384 cores, as that is the fastest version.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

ok pulled the trigger on a g3258 on amazon for 65 bucks and a H81M-E34 motherboard.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HUFEUQ8/ref=crt_ewc_title_dp_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

spent a little more on 8GB
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006WAGGUK/ref=crt_ewc_title_dp_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

My only question is about my GPU. Pretty sure the PSU in the computer is 430W, but could also be 450w or 500w - cant remember. But either way - would that be enough for a 560ti? That way I can upgrade my other PC, and then move this one down there.

There isnt much thats gonna be plugged in to this. No PCI cards, no DVD drive hooked up, one hard drive (maybe adding an SSD in the future), but thats pretty much it. Can I get away with 430w? I did some bullshit power supply calculator online and it said I should have enough, but i think its bs. Nvidia lists 500W as a minimum for the 560ti.

EDIT: Also what are the power recs for a gtx 670? Might do the same but transfer that into this. Getting a little crazy now.

 

[freeskier93]

ok pulled the trigger on a g3258 on amazon for 65 bucks and a H81M-E34 motherboard.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HUFEUQ8/ref=crt_ewc_title_dp_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

spent a little more on 8GB
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006WAGGUK/ref=crt_ewc_title_dp_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

My only question is about my GPU. Pretty sure the PSU in the computer is 430W, but could also be 450w or 500w - cant remember. But either way - would that be enough for a 560ti? That way I can upgrade my other PC, and then move this one down there.

There isnt much thats gonna be plugged in to this. No PCI cards, no DVD drive hooked up, one hard drive (maybe adding an SSD in the future), but thats pretty much it. Can I get away with 430w? I did some bullshit power supply calculator online and it said I should have enough, but i think its bs. Nvidia lists 500W as a minimum for the 560ti.

EDIT: Also what are the power recs for a gtx 670? Might do the same but transfer that into this. Getting a little crazy now.

Where are you even finding a 560ti, and at what price? Since your limited on power you should look at newer cards. GTX 750 is $89 after MIR on Amazon and is well below your power requirements.

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-...ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1433141341&sr=1-2

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Where are you even finding a 560ti, and at what price? Since your limited on power you should look at newer cards. GTX 750 is $89 after MIR on Amazon and is well below your power requirements.

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-...ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1433141341&sr=1-2

I have other PC's, so I would be upgrading the GPU on one of those, and then moving that old GPU to this build.

Commited to building something decent now, I have been using my 2nd oldest PC as my work machine (Q6600 and 560ti) and my home computer is (3570k and gtx670), so now im thinking just to make this thing pretty decent and use it as my secondary PC. So upgrade my main PC from a 670 to a 970 and then move the 670 in this new build. I see the power reqs are 500W for a 670, so ill check the psu tomorrow when I get a chance, but im thinking I might have to upgrade that PSU.

Yea Im gonna end up paying more, but ive been debating upgrading my own GPU everytime I see a 300 dollar deal on a 970 with games included - so Id rather use my old parts to upgrade if I can.

Heres my PC's with proposed upgrades:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nJCI11kCkeOBWgKOQVWbM3IhAmqjU5ZA3uj7OFtmafM/edit?usp=sharing

EDIT: Also debating whether or not just to get a new case, the fans in the 900 probably are in need of replacement, and I would like a smaller case since Im getting a smaller motherboard. What kind of cases will a micro atx motherboard fit in? Is that the same as m-atx? Mini-itx is too small right? What about a media center case?

I like these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139033

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133260

 

[sm625]

Why not just upgrade the CPU to a Phenom II X4 945 (a $30-40 upgrade), and put the rest into GPU?

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Why not just upgrade the CPU to a Phenom II X4 945 (a $30-40 upgrade), and put the rest into GPU?

different socket. The 4200+ is pretty damn old.

Just checked and PSU in this PC is 520w, so Im actually just looking into a cheap micro atx case for this.

So the final build is gonna be:

CPU: G3258 from Amazon $65
mobo: MSI H81M-E34 $55
mem: Crucial Ballistix 8GB $55
fan: probably H212+ EVO $30
GPU: gtx 670 from other PC $0
PSU: Corsair 520w $0
SSD: Samsung 850 120GB $68
HDD: 640GB from old PC $0
DVD: burner $20
CASE: Rosewill MATX Mini $42

Just debating which case and cpu cooler to go with.

 

[sm625]

It is on your motherboards CPU support list. Check it out.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Why not just upgrade the CPU to a Phenom II X4 945 (a $30-40 upgrade), and put the rest into GPU?

+1 Thinking the same thing. Will probably get a few more years out of it with a decent 4 core phenom. Don't go overboard on the GPU a used 7950 would do the trick for cheap. 2 more GB or ram would make for a decent system.

Need to save up to around the $500.- level to really get a entry level gaming rig new build.

 

[Ketchup]

This is one good think about AMD. Sockets last forever.

 

[Charlie98]

My only question is about my GPU. Pretty sure the PSU in the computer is 430W, but could also be 450w or 500w - cant remember. But either way - would that be enough for a 560ti? That way I can upgrade my other PC, and then move this one down there.

There isnt much thats gonna be plugged in to this. No PCI cards, no DVD drive hooked up, one hard drive (maybe adding an SSD in the future), but thats pretty much it. Can I get away with 430w? I did some bullshit power supply calculator online and it said I should have enough, but i think its bs. Nvidia lists 500W as a minimum for the 560ti.

EDIT: Also what are the power recs for a gtx 670? Might do the same but transfer that into this. Getting a little crazy now.

When I first built my GAME rig, it had a G3258 and a GTX560Ti 448, hooked to a CX430M. I ran it through all the benches I use (Linx, Valley, Mark 10 (or 11, I forget.) and it took it. I had my Kill-a-Watt hooked up for a bit and I think it was drawing about 360-380w at the wall.

If you are thinking of light gaming, I don't see a problem...

I have the 560 in my HTPC right now, with an i3, I can throw the meter on it if you are interested...

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

It is on your motherboards CPU support list. Check it out.

+1 Thinking the same thing. Will probably get a few more years out of it with a decent 4 core phenom. Don't go overboard on the GPU a used 7950 would do the trick for cheap. 2 more GB or ram would make for a decent system.

Need to save up to around the $500.- level to really get a entry level gaming rig new build.

Are you sure about that? Here is my old motherboard: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M2NSLI_Deluxe/ It is socket AM2, and can also use AM2+. Im pretty sure AM3 is not backwards compatible with AM2 or AM2+. It uses DDR2 memory - so wouldnt that be a problem as well?

I pretty much just ended up building a whole new PC, so I still have those parts left over - so I guess it would be possible to do this with the old parts if it is actually possible. The 7950 is out for me because it doesnt run well on linux. I ended up upgrading my main build to a 970, so I moved my 670 down to this build.

But then again - part of the reason why I upgraded was because I was getting weird errors - and I know its not the hard drive - so its gotta be either the CPU, memory, or motherboard crapping out (i think). Probably gonna give it away or sell it for cheap and someone else can mess with it.

When I first built my GAME rig, it had a G3258 and a GTX560Ti 448, hooked to a CX430M. I ran it through all the benches I use (Linx, Valley, Mark 10 (or 11, I forget.) and it took it. I had my Kill-a-Watt hooked up for a bit and I think it was drawing about 360-380w at the wall.

If you are thinking of light gaming, I don't see a problem...

I have the 560 in my HTPC right now, with an i3, I can throw the meter on it if you are interested...

Yea I kinda figured it would be ok - but ended up finding out that it was actually a 520 watt PSU, so Im safe either way.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

But then again - part of the reason why I upgraded was because I was getting weird errors - and I know its not the hard drive - so its gotta be either the CPU, memory, or motherboard crapping out (i think). Probably gonna give it away or sell it for cheap and someone else can mess with it.



Yea I kinda figured it would be ok - but ended up finding out that it was actually a 520 watt PSU, so Im safe either way.

G3258 based build is pretty solid then. For a purely budget bomber I would even recommend dropping the G3258 and just using a G3250 will save some money on CPU and mobo plus no need for additional cooling....... unless you plan on overclocking right out of the box.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

G3258 based build is pretty solid then. For a purely budget bomber I would even recommend dropping the G3258 and just using a G3250 will save some money on CPU and mobo plus no need for additional cooling....... unless you plan on overclocking right out of the box.

Well for what I paid for it, itll do for now, and I can always upgrade in the future if its not enough. I bought a decent cooler with it, so I should be able to get a decent OC right off the bat.

Probably gonna be slightly CPU bottlenecked with a gtx670, but with a decent OC it shouldnt be too bad.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Well for what I paid for it, itll do for now, and I can always upgrade in the future if its not enough. I bought a decent cooler with it, so I should be able to get a decent OC right off the bat.

Probably gonna be slightly CPU bottlenecked with a gtx670, but with a decent OC it shouldnt be too bad.

Not bad at all. OC'd 3258 is a pretty decent match for a gtx670. Decent combo for 1080p gaming.

 

[mfenn]

Are you sure about that? Here is my old motherboard: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M2NSLI_Deluxe/ It is socket AM2, and can also use AM2+. Im pretty sure AM3 is not backwards compatible with AM2 or AM2+. It uses DDR2 memory - so wouldnt that be a problem as well?

Phenom II's actually have both memory controllers onboard and so will work in AM2+ boards. Your board supports the Phenom II X4 945 with the 5001 BIOS.