Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@allquixotic

allquixotic/upgrade.md Secret

Created November 2, 2016 01:19
Show Gist options
  • Save allquixotic/3a55e96fc207dbdb7a4cb35f45937a68 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save allquixotic/3a55e96fc207dbdb7a4cb35f45937a68 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Download ZIP
friend PC upgrade
Raw
upgrade.md

Trying to put together an extremely budget-conscious PC upgrade for a friend...

  • Lives in USA and wants to order from USA reputable vendors. New, not used hardware.
  • Current rig:
    • AMD Phenom II X4 B93
    • 4GB DDR3
    • MSI 880G-E45 motherboard
    • 1 GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti
    • SAMSUNG HD321KJ 300 GB HDD (system drive)
    • 1 TB Seagate USB 3.0 HDD
    • 400 W PSU
    • Standard ATX mid-tower with decent air cooling
    • Windows 7 64-bit
    • Dell 1680x1050 monitor (Single Link DVI-D)

Looking at the following as a potential upgrade: PCPartPicker List

Or here's a transcription of the PCPartPicker list:

  • AMD Athlon X4 880K (2014, FM2+) - $83.99 at SuperBiiz
  • ASRock FM2A88M PRO3+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard - $38.98 at Newegg with a $15 mail-in rebate
  • Mushkin Blackline 4 x 4 GB DDR3-2400 - $79.98 at OutletPC
  • Gigabyte Radeon RX 460 4GB WINDFORCE OC - $124.99 at Newegg with a $30 mail-in rebate
  • TOTAL: $302.93 (with $7.98 shipping)

Will use stock CPU cooler. No OC.

Use Cases

Gaming.

  • Skyrim: Special Edition
  • Fallout 4
  • Star Wars: The Old Republic
  • Payday 2
  • ARK: Survival Evolved

Here's how I'd want to improve what I have:

  • Get more performance (CPU single-thread or GPU) for the same price
  • Save some money while getting the same, or very near the same performance

Willing to consider switching from AMD to Intel/Nvidia if either of these objectives can be considered.

Increase in price is not acceptable. This is already the top end of the price point.

Don't need:

  • Monitor
  • Software / operating system
  • Case / chassis
  • PSU
  • Peripherals
  • HDD or SSD (would be nice, but no budget)
  • Optical drive
  • USB 3.1 / Thunderbolt / USB-C connectors
  • No need for WiFi card as he has a USB 802.11ac stick that works well.

Constraints:

  • The new motherboard should have a standard gigabit NIC, on-board sound, and at least a few USB 3.0 ports.
  • The architecture of the GPU should be of the latest generation from Nvidia/AMD (Pascal / Polaris) because this improves future proofing.
  • The motherboard should be at least from the USB 3.0 era, no very old motherboards.
  • No used or refurbished hardware.
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment