Old Noob looking for advice

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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
 
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Hiya mate. If a full platform upgrade is outta the question, an SSD definitely and maybe an Nvidia 1650 card or something like that. I'd have suggested an AMD 580 but unfortunately, I'd not trust that Aerocool PSU as the 580 likes a lot of power.

Maybe another 8GB of second hand memory for 30 or so quid.
 
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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?
 
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Hi Phil,

One thing about the PSU is if you buy a decent 650w Corsair (CX grey label and up) or Seasonic (Focus series and up) now, you'd probably be able to take it with you to your next build. That'd be your call. You'd most likely get away with the 1650 on your current one, but when you have a good power supply you're much happier hanging more expensive hardware off of it.

In your case, I'd probably clone the C drive to a 250 or 500 GB SSD and add another 1TB SSD for game storage. It's simple enough to do if you want to add one on top of the operating system SSD. Just fit it with the PC switched off, boot back up, initialise and format it in disk management and that's it.

I got an extra 8GB of memory off Ebay from a seller with lots of feedback that was at or very near 100%. I'm a bad lad so I'm mixing RAM, 2 lots of 1866Mhz and 2 x 2133Mhz modules, which also apparently required slightly different voltages to run. It's been in two years all running great all at the same voltage and at 2133Mhz frequency. Never had an issue, but that's not a given so you'd want it as identical as possible. I actually ran this RAM at 1866Mhz for the first few months and it was so stable I bumped the lot up to 2133. But buying second hand memory is a gamble anyway, hence only punting 30 quid on it.
 
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because as soon as I try to run anything that demands more than Microsoft Word, the fans go crazy

Sounds like you need a better heatsink.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £399.91 (includes shipping: £10.50)



Add in an extra 8 GB RAM as @heatonpkmassive suggests. Do check that that heatsink will actually fit.
 
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Sounds like you need a better heatsink.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £399.91 (includes shipping: £10.50)



Add in an extra 8 GB RAM as @heatonpkmassive suggests. Do check that that heatsink will actually fit.

+1

I forgot to address the loud fan issue. But @Quartz has given you a good solid option there, that 212 Evo will handle your chip with ease.

Edit: Providing it fits, as mentioned above you will need to check this.
 
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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.

Hi Phil, which flight sims in particular and which other games (name a couple)? Some of them are very CPU hungry and for those the 7850K won't cut the mustard. So best to check first.

The budget isn't all that far off from new CPU/mobo/16GB DDR4/new PSU/GPU. £450-ish will do it.

Example:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £200.48 (includes shipping: £10.50)

Elsewhere:

CPU: Ryzen 5 1600AF (12nm) Product Number: YD1600BBAFBOX - £89.90
PSU: Seasonic S12III 500W 80+Bronze 5 year warranty - £51
GPU: £110 for second-hand card such as RX 580 8GB

Total £450-ish

Alternatively you can forgo upgrading CPU/mobo/RAM/PSU but if you spend all your budget and find your CPU is holding performance back in a big way, then you'll have to spend quite a bit more on top of that. As FM2+ platform won't support meaningfully faster CPUs.
 
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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.
 
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DCS seems to still only use two threads right now (updates could change that as has happened for other flight sims) so that's good. You would still get more fps with a stronger CPU but at least you won't lack for threads in that sim.
 
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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
 
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@Phil M

Nothing wrong with asking here but you're probably better off starting a thread in the Storage forum. Take it you don't want to do a clean Windows install and re-install the programs?
 
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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
 
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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.
 
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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
 
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@Phil M

If you can afford a better motherboard than the ASRock B450M Pro4, the B450 Aorus isn't it. Grab a Mortar MAX instead.

The PSU is what it is... if you can't afford a better replacement just now then it'll have to do. You don't need massive amount of power for that setup but ideally in the future don't skimp on PSU either.

GPU should be fine for your needs. Much better than the integrated graphics you've been using.
 
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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
 
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The B450 Aorus M is not a good motherboard for a beefier CPU (8 core or higher). So it's worth spending a little more if thinking of CPU upgrades.
 
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