Desktop upgrade advise

marinefish71

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Hi all, I was wandering if anyone can reccomend a new motherboard and cpu combi on a budget.. obviously i want an upgrade from my current set up, Ive included my current set up below..

MB: Gigabyte GA78LMT-52P
CPU: AMD FX -4100 Quad core Processor
8GB DDR3
Corsair 650W PSU
I also have a Corsair water cooler.
Zotac 1050 Ti GPU
Windows 10

Any advice would be handy as I dont really know what the amd fx 4100 quad compares to with regard to Intel or Ryzen
As i said im on a budget so could do with some advice..
Cheers
Paul
 
What kind of budget are you looking at?

To upgrade to the current gen, you'd be looking at swapping out your motherboard, CPU and memory (as it's moved to DDR4 now), but could keep your GPU, PSU etc.

Moving to the likes of an AMD Ryzen, you'd see a 2-3x performance increase from your old FX CPU (depending on what exactly you are looking for). You could be looking at something like:

Motherboard: ASRock AMD B450M Pro4 Ryzen MicroATX Motherboard (nothing fancy, various options if you want to spend a bit more or have specific needs)

RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 16GB 3600 MHz DDR4 Dual Channel Memory Kit

CPU:
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X Gen3 4 Core AM4 CPU/Processor (currently considered pretty much the best value low-cost CPU around)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Gen3 6 Core AM4 CPU/Processor with Wraith Stealth Cooler (great price/performance ratio)

So for £280+ you can get a pretty reasonable performance upgrade, but it does really depend exactly what you use your PC for and want to focus on.
 
i think 250 was my upper limit but the above list looks ok, i could stretch.. will certainly upgrade the product if funds allow.. so i work at home occasionally but i also like to fly xplane too. weirdly my current set up will run xplane on pretty basic settings but would like something to better. i dont have alot of cash but 250 would do it..

One question, would i have to reload my windows 10 set up.. i was given this computer with windows on it so dont have a copy.. And would i have to reload all my software etc?

The motherboard bundle upgrade is more important but i would like to know about the windows 10 issue.
Great reply tickedon, appreciate your time..
 
Last edited:
Another quick question, would it be possible to JUST put a new Ryzen 3600x into the original motherboard? The original Gygabyte board?
 
I'd expect an FX-4100 to be about 2/3 the speed of an entry level model like a G4900 or 3000G. Maybe equally as fast in a few workloads that particularly favour it's design (which isn't gaming).

Another quick question, would it be possible to JUST put a new Ryzen 3600x into the original motherboard? The original Gygabyte board?

No. It wouldn't even physically fit.
 
i think 250 was my upper limit but the above list looks ok, i could stretch.. will certainly upgrade the product if funds allow.. so i work at home occasionally but i also like to fly xplane too. weirdly my current set up will run xplane on pretty basic settings but would like something to better. i dont have alot of cash but 250 would do it..

Scan and other retailers often have discounts ('deal of the day') and bundle deals, so you might be able to pickup a suitable motherboard + CPU with a few pounds off.

One question, would i have to reload my windows 10 set up.. i was given this computer with windows on it so dont have a copy.. And would i have to reload all my software etc?
With your Windows 10 at the moment, if you type in 'activation' in the search bar next to the start menu, and open the activation settings page, what does it say? Does it say anything like this with "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account"?

1591345653052.png

If you don't use a Microsoft account on your PC, it may be worth looking at. Otherwise, you can pick up a Windows 10 license for a few quid on eBay.

Windows 10 can be downloaded directly from Microsoft, you'll just need a USB memory drive to load it onto (note - it'll wipe everything else on the usb drive).

Changing the motherboard and CPU, I suspect your original Windows 10 installation wouldn't boot. If it did, you might be able to get the right drivers loaded, but I would suspect you would just have an ongoing list of random, small, annoying issues. I would factor in the need to reinstall Windows 10 and reinstall your software.
 
yeah my activation says activated with a digital license key.. thankyou for the info..
 
Ok guys so need your advice.. Ok so you have my current set up right at the top of this topic...
I have a little money come to me and would like to know what i could get for lets say 400 quid UK pounds to upgrade my set up.. I have the suggestions from Tickedon which are still of course in the running but perhaps with a little more money there might be more power available..
Just so you know this will be primarily for Xplane 11, with a little office based work..
I have looked into Tickedon's suggestions and im still keen to go for that bundle but just thought there may be a little for better stuff. Any ideas? Motherboard, CPU and RAM required..
 

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