Old Noob looking for advice

Phil M · 13 Apr 2020 at 19:56

Hi all.

It's been a few years since I tinkered with my PC (2016). In the meantime, as usual, tech has moved along to a point that I barely recognise.

My current system:
Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-HD3 Motherboard (Socket FM2+, A88X, DDR3, S-ATA 600, M-ATX, PCI Express 3.0, USB 3.0)
AMD A10 AD785KXBJABOX 7850K Black Edition with Radeon R7 Series New FM2+ Kaveri HSA CPU
Corsair CMY8GX3M2A1866C9 Vengeance Pro Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1866Mhz CL9 XMP Performance Desktop Memory Kit Black
23.6 Inch 1080p Monitor
1TB HDD
Aerocool Integrator 500W Power Supply

Generally I use my PC for work, but I am keen to get back into Flight Sims and other games. However, I seem to have a temperature/fans problem, because as soon as I try to run anything that demands more than Microsoft Word, the fans go crazy and often I will get an unrequested shutdown.

So I figure, while I am changing my fan setup, I might as well upgrade a few other things too.

SSD seems to be the way to go for storage - though I would like to keep the HDD for backup. I see a lot of posts saying upgrade the GPU before the CPU; but not sure what would fit on my motherboard anyway. The DDR3 RAM that I bought for GBP29 four years ago is now around GBP75 for the same brand. Is that progress?

Budget 300 to 400 quid. Would love to hear suggestions from the forum.

Thanks in advance, Phil

Phil M · 13 Apr 2020 at 20:23

Hi heatonpkmassive. I guess changing the PSU would not be too much of a hit. From what I read, the AMD A10 is not too bad given its age. I would love to go the Ryzen route, but that would require a new MB - not sure I have that much patience after 3 weeks of lockdown.

I see you have multiple SSDs in your setup. Is that a major headache to install, or fairly straight forward? (I like the idea of not storing everything on 1 drive).

Oh, and where is the best place to buy second hand RAM?

Phil M · 13 Apr 2020 at 21:56

The flight sim I like, but never really got into before the PC crashed, is DCS.

The fans are only loud because they are desperately trying to keep the system cool. I did install a heatsink onto the CPU a few years back. Can't remember the model but I think it was a Cooler Master and (from memory) it does resemble the 212. I'll have to pop the case and have a look to confirm. Could it be that the thermal paste is not doing its job?

I've just ordered another 8GB of DDR3 1866 from ebay.

If I then go for a new GPU first, I would still be able to fit that to a new MB if required.

I guess my biggest worry is compatibility.

Phil M · 21 Apr 2020 at 21:01

Hi All,

Quick follow up on my upgrade. Should possibly start a new thread for this really, please let me know. I've spent 2 solid days trying to install my first ever SSD - a Crucial MX500.

No problem installing the hardware into the PC, loads of Youtube videos to follow, but the Acronis software has got me wanting to all but give up. Installed the software no problem, but the ambiguous instructions, where you have to search the internet for answers as you go (exclude content with or without a tick), before finally starting the clone only to have it just sit there for hours on end doing nothing, with only a message that says... preparing, and estimating time to completion.

So I gave up after the third attempt and used Macrium Reflect 7, which managed to clone my HDD OS, or so I thought - trying to boot with this SSD just throws up the error "insert boot media." The bios sees the drive, which I set as the main boot option, but the PC refuses to boot from it.... and again, no help from Crucial's FAQ pages.

Can anyone help please?

Thanks in advance, Phil

Phil M · 21 Apr 2020 at 22:24

Hi Danny

Gluten for punishment that I am, I had one more go. There was a 100mb EFI partition that wasn't getting picked up by Macrium. Cloned that along with the C: drive and hey presto, it boots.

Thanks for the reply.
Phil

Phil M · 22 Apr 2020 at 10:17

Thanks Heaton. I've decided to take my upgrade slowly. I ordered another 8GB of DDR3 RAM (2 x 4GB) to find that I only had 2 slots on the motherboard. Thankfully the seller cancelled my sale just in time on eBay. So i've gone with the SSD first. Now I think if i'm going to spend so much on RAM, it might just as well be DDR4. So next on the list is an asrock-b450m-pro4-socket-am4-ddr4-matx-motherboard and 16GB DDR4 RAM. GPU and CPU to be decided, but no rush.

Phil M · 5 May 2020 at 11:23

Hi All.

Quick recap:

My current system:
Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-HD3 Motherboard (Socket FM2+, A88X, DDR3, S-ATA 600, M-ATX, PCI Express 3.0, USB 3.0)
AMD A10 AD785KXBJABOX 7850K Black Edition with Radeon R7 Series New FM2+ Kaveri HSA CPU
Corsair CMY8GX3M2A1866C9 Vengeance Pro Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1866Mhz CL9 XMP Performance Desktop Memory Kit Black
23.6 Inch 1080p Monitor
1TB HDD
Aerocool Integrator 500W Power Supply

I've added a 1TB Crucial SSD (which used up way too many heartbeats installing) and now it's on to the rest.

This is what I have in mind:
Aorus B450 AORUS M (Socket AM4/B450/DDR4/S-ATA 600/Micro ATX)
AMD RYZEN 5 1600 AF Socket AM4 (3.6Ghz+16MB)*YD1600BBAFBOX
Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 3200 MHz C16 XMP 2.0
MSI RADEON RX 570 ARMOR 8G OC Graphics Card '8GB GDDR5, 1268Hz, AMD Polaris 20 XL GPU, 3x DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI-D, Dual Fan Cooling System'

All of this pretty much maxes out my budget. My only concerns are possibly the GPU and whether the PSU is sufficient or not.

Thoughts anyone?

Thanks in advance, Phil

Phil M · 7 May 2020 at 11:48

Hi Danny

Thanks for your response. The B450 Aurus was GBP84 and appeared in several motherboard comparison videos that I saw. There are so many contradicting opinions on what to buy and what not to buy, sooner or later, you have to roll the dice and make a selection. The ASRock B450M Pro4 is currently GBP92 and the Mortar MAX is GBP99. Not huge amounts more, but figured I had to stop going up in price at some point. I chose the Ryzen 5 1600AF because it gets me well above what I have now, and like you say, plenty of room for upgrading in the future. Graphic card prices are mental. Some of them (most of them) cost more than my entire system when I bought it only a few years ago.

I find it funny that lots of the forums 'still' post comments like "don't get that, wait a month because the next big thing is coming." I remember very similar postings back in the mid-80's. I imagine some poor fella with a ZX80, still waiting to upgrade, waiting just one more month hehehe.

Thanks, Phil