system upgrade £250- 300 max

Mr Mag00 · 7 Mar 2014 at 17:29

Hi I have an old system creaking away.

its an HP xw4200 case, XP sp3, 2x sata 150gb hdd

tbh i'm quite happy with the case its sat under the desk where no one can see it, i guess depending what is suggested a new PSU would be recommneded? mostly it is used for office, surfing and general computing.

i'm looking for OS, mobo, memory, maybe a SSD for the os and use the existing Hdd as back up and storage for old files and if required a PSU and as quiet as possible.

cheers

Danny75 · 7 Mar 2014 at 17:40

Hi, which PSU do you have exactly? 400w?

Mr Mag00 · 7 Mar 2014 at 17:45

hi

i'm asssuming stock, which 360w and 400w at peak. according to the spec manual

Danny75 · 7 Mar 2014 at 17:47

Mr Mag00 said:
hi

i'm asssuming stock, which 360w and 400w at peak. according to the spec manual

Yep, that would be it if stock. Thanks. Sounds like you want to keep the processor? Had a look in the manual but can't see where it specifies the motherboard socket type.

Mr Mag00 · 7 Mar 2014 at 17:49

no new processor and mobo combo. its a socket socket 775.

Danny75 · 7 Mar 2014 at 17:55

Mr Mag00 said:
no new processor and mobo combo. its a socket socket 775.

Ah ok, CPU as well. Thank you for clarifying.

Mr Mag00 · 7 Mar 2014 at 18:05

yh sorry, only ever really bought as a combo, wasnt thinking

Danny75 · 7 Mar 2014 at 18:13

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-4130 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £83.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £59.99
1 x Asus H81M-PLUS Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £40.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34GM1600HC11DC01) £31.99
Total : £301.55 (includes shipping : £8.00).

If you want to keep using the present PSU. It will handle it if it's still in good nick. Although it would be a good thing to make sure C state is disabled in BIOS, and perhaps disable Sleep in Windows too. Mobo has VGA/DVI/HDMI ports.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Kingston 120GB SSDNow V300 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SV300S37A/120G) £59.99
1 x Intel Pentium G3420 3.20GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £49.99
1 x Asus H81M-PLUS Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £40.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 400W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £31.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED34GM1600HC11DC01) £31.99
Total : £299.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).

With PSU. CPU lowered to a Pentium.

I'd just keep going with the present PSU and squeeze as much life out of it as possible, before buying a new one. Unless you think the PSU is one of the things that's creaking.

thel33ter · 7 Mar 2014 at 18:16

What kinda budget do you have? Once you've gone through buying all of that a new pc will be very close to in budget.
What processor do you currently have? as the other problem may be finding compatible bits if its older. I'm pretty sure they came with a Pentium 4, which is very out of date..

Mr Mag00 · 7 Mar 2014 at 18:21

cheers i have no idea if psu is in good state, all i do know that it seems to power up and increase in fan speed more and more recently

Danny75 · 7 Mar 2014 at 18:23

Mr Mag00 said:
cheers i have no idea if psu is in good state, all i do know that it seems to power up and increase in fan speed more and more recently

Might just need a good dusting? Fan could be aging too though. But see if it needs a good clean first. Make sure power cord has been unplugged for a good 12 hours first.

thel33ter · 7 Mar 2014 at 18:23

Danni75's Pentium is exactly along the lines of what I'd suggest, although maybe look at 8GB of ram as its only about £20 more but adds far more future-proofing.

Mr Mag00 · 7 Mar 2014 at 18:25

yup, Danny75, i do clean the case but i guess should check that again

cheers @ thel33ter

Mr Mag00 · 9 Mar 2014 at 22:16

seem like a daft question will i need to buy thermal paste for this?

stulid · 9 Mar 2014 at 22:21

Retail CPU includes a stock cooler that will have paste already pre-applied underneath.

Mr Mag00 · 9 Mar 2014 at 22:22

cheers

Mr Mag00 · 9 Mar 2014 at 23:09

just checking i have an atx form case will this micro atx be correct?

stulid · 9 Mar 2014 at 23:21

http://www.formfactors.org/developer\specs\atx2_2.pdf

Take a look at page 10 of this.

Then compare it to this picture of the board - https://www.asus.com/media/global/products/OfnvRb5Njh2jDsyn/EhL0HByVdcfvVsiZ_480.jpg

Looks to me like you need mounting points in, F,J,C,H,B,R to me.

Mr Mag00 · 9 Mar 2014 at 23:26

cheers again

Danny75 · 10 Mar 2014 at 00:18

This is the HP XW4200:

And the new mobo:

You'll be able to mount with at least 5 screws, and all you need is 4. The bottom 2 aren't necessary as long as you don't apply too much force when plugging in USB or SATA. Just hold the bottom of the board steady when you plug them in.