Internet, I'm upgrading a computer...

[MythicMatt]

[Probably in the wrong place, move it where it belongs if it is.]

So, I have a clear idea of what I want to gut out of my computer, and what will be replacing those parts.

But, like all good plans, I made a huge oversight. I have no idea what to do beyond that.

So, what I'll need is some guides [preferably written, for ease of reference during the process] on building a computer. Yep, it's an extensive overhaul, considering I'm reluctant to do a complete scratch-build.

I'm starting with:
- Dell 0478VN Motherboard
- an Intel Pentium G630 2-core running at 2.70Ghz
- 1 4GB DDR3 RAM chip
- 500GB internal HDD

And my intended upgrades:
- MSI 970 Gaming ATX Motherboard
- an AMD FX6300 6-core running at 3.50Ghz
- 2 4GB DDR3 RAM chips
- almost certainly some sort of SSHD, hopefully 1TB

From what little I got from google, I'll be needing to grab some BIOS files and drivers from AMD.

Short version: Written guides please?

 

[TotalerKrieger]

Some things to consider first:

-You may encounter issues when trying to fit a new motherboard into your existing case. Are you upgrading a pre-built PC? If so, what's the make and model? Pre-build OEM cases often do not allow for major overhauls that involve a new mobo.

-You also need to consider whether your current power supply will be able to handle more powerful components. If your PSU is not up to par, your newly upgraded PC may not boot up or may have major instability issues which could cause permanent damage.

-If your operating system is from an OEM (Dell, Acer, etc) changing the motherboard will invalidate the license and you will lose full functionality. You will need to buy a standalone copy of a Windows OS on a disk or USB drive, or install an open-source OS like Ubuntu.

-Your PC should recognize any new parts and install the necessary drivers automatically. A new mobo is pre-loaded with all the required BIOS software.

-A SSHD is a perfectly valid choice, but you might consider pairing your current 500 GB HDD with a 500 GB SSD to get 1TB of storage space. SSHD's are certainly faster than HDDs, but using a SSD as your boot drive will be a much more noticeable upgrade.

 

[MythicMatt]

- Yeah, I'm starting with a Dell Inspiron 660S.
- Power supply, hadn't really considered that. Things get more complicated as I learn more.
- Well, there goes the concept of bringing down expenses. Unless the Windows 10 upgrade changed anything.
- Good to know about the auto-installation of drivers and things!
- I chose SSHD specifically due to knowing that any SSD would make a significant impact in my savings. Trying to keep things under 300GBP, while getting the best for my money. Gotta leave some to achieve the distant future upgrades, y'know.

Edit: If I do have to gut the PSU as well, is there a recommended wattage for the configuration I hope to achieve?
Edit II: Amount of parts increases, due the realization the new CPU doesn't have internal graphics. A pretty cheap XFX AMD HD 5450 added to the list of immediate parts. The year looks a bit longer, since everything's just in "what-ifs".

 

[TotalerKrieger]

-Unfortunately, you probably won't be able to do the upgrades you want to do. The Dell Inspiron 660S has a propriety PSU that cannot be upgraded (it's much slimmer than regular PSUs). It is also a 220W model, which will not be enough to power a system with a FX6300 CPU.

http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/586/bench/Power.png

-As I suspected, the inside of the case looks pretty difficult to work with. Speaking from past experience with a Dell case, it will be a nightmarish task if those drive bays are not detachable. The 660S case also uses a Micro-ATX motherboard, so it will not fit a MSI 970 ATX.

http://www.vatgia.com/pictures_product/wpm1326706166.jpg

-A SSHD seems to be a good choice, particularly as they are not really any more expensive than a regular HDD. You could add your old 500 GB HDD to a new system as backup storage too.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. You will very likely have to build a new PC entirely or buy another pre-built that has the parts you want. In addition to the parts you selected, you will need a case large enough to fit an ATX motherboard, a 400 to 600W power supply (the exact wattage will largely depend on whether you want to add a graphics card at some point) and a retail copy of a Windows OS. You could use the optical drives from your Dell machine.

Edit: Yea, didn't consider that the FX6300 doesn't have onboard graphics. A system that has a FX 6300 and a HD 5450 will probably need a good quality 500W PSU.

 

[MythicMatt]

Well, can't get anywhere without trying. Even before adding windows, I'm over-budget, though, that could just be only looking at one site so far. I'll see how things go, and what I can get together to reuse.

Edit: So, after a little hunting around for the parts I want/need and windows installation CDs, I'm still over-budget. And to think I thought 200GBP would be enough when I started.

 

[TotalerKrieger]

Yea, I don't think 300 GBP will get you the entire build. If you were to reuse your current 500 GB HDD instead of going for a new SSHD, you will still need about 318 GBP. I'm not so sure if SSHDs are good value after looking at the prices more closely. A decent 1TB SSHD costs 57 GBP. For 55 GBP, you could get a 240 GB SSD and use your HDD for extra storage:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/sandisk-internal-hard-drive-sdssda240gg25
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-internal-hard-drive-ct240bx200ssd1

Build costs without storage drive included:

PCPartPicker part list [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/pFxFJx] / Price breakdown by merchant [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/pFxFJx/by_merchant/]

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd6300wmhkbox] (?79.75 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI 970A-G43 ATX AM3+ Motherboard [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-970ag43] (?53.63 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cml8gx3m2a1600c9] (?30.99 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 5450 1GB Video Card [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-hd545xzch2] (?22.99 @ Novatech)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H21 ATX Mid Tower Case [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/thermaltake-case-ca1b200m1nn00] (?26.34 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-100w10430kr] (?32.99 @ Novatech)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-kw900139] (?71.81 @ More Computers)
Total: ?318.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-06 04:56 BST+0100

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

You can forgo the graphics card and go with an AMD A-series APU with a built in GPU (not as good as a standalone card obviously). You can still play a decent amount of games with it. I have no clue if you are trying to put together a gaming PC or not though. Plus, you can then always later get that graphics card. A 65-watt A-series APU should even be able to run on that power supply. That could definitely be a short-term solution and then later get a new case, PSU, and video card.

 

[MythicMatt]

Yeah, I'm hoping to get parts together to rebuild an existing computer into a gaming one.
The reason I added a graphics card is because there was no A-series for AM3/AM3+ sockets for cheap. The build looks like a long-term plan anyway, since I'm hoping to do more upgrades in the future.

 

[TotalerKrieger]

Here's a A10 APU based build that might work for 305 GBP. With these parts, you could try to use your Dell case and PSU, which would bring the costs down to 258 GBP. Partpicker says the build will have 149W TDP, so you won't be able to add a graphics card if you use the Dell PSU (but you could upgrade the case and PSU later on). The A10 7860K trades blows with the FX 6300 in various performance tests, so they are not that far apart in terms of performance. I think the A10 will be slightly (less than 10%) slower than the FX in real world tasks.

PCPartPicker part list [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/LcZRNG] / Price breakdown by merchant [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/LcZRNG/by_merchant/]

CPU: AMD A10-7860k 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-ad786kybjcsbx] (?88.98 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: MSI A68HM-P33 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-a68hmp33] (?32.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-kvr16n11s8k28] (?26.91 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 500GB 2.5" 5400RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/toshiba-internal-hard-drive-mq01abf050h] (?37.72 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Zalman ZM-T4 MicroATX Mini Tower Case [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/zalman-case-zmt4] (?13.98 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-100w10430kr] (?32.99 @ Novatech)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) [http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-kw900139] (?71.81 @ More Computers)
Total: ?305.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-07 18:21 BST+0100

 

[MythicMatt]

Thanks for seeing how low you can bring the price, but it's hard to let go of a few of the more expensive parts. Having everything right now isn't what I planned for anyway. My first step in building computers [after negotiating to be absolutely certain it's money well spent] was planned to happen anywhere between late October [this year] and early January [2017].

 

[Marik2]

Here is a site that I found that helps with building a PC

http://www.logicalincrements.com/

 

[MythicMatt]

Looks like a good resource to have on hand, thanks.

 

[BeerTent]

I came here to offer the same Advice, but it seems that Higgs got everything here covered. Listen to him. Looks like the man knows hardware better than me.

Though, seeing Krieg with a gas-mask always gives me the damn willies... WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT MAN'S EYES?!

 

[Twinrehz]

When looking at PSU, don't just look at wattage, it's also necessary to see what the 12V rail amperage is, which is the rail that supplies power to your graphics card. There's no universal number, you'll have to check the specifications on the graphics card. (For example, my GTX 770, a fairly power-hungry card, requires 42 amps on the 12V rail, if I recall correctly). As far as wattage goes, the general rule of thumb has been 850W is enough for most setups; HOWEVER the new Nvidia cards consume very little power compared to their predecessors; Radeon cards are a bit more power-hungry.

Note that most PSUs come with a rating system that ranges from white to platinum, with white being lowest, and platinum being highest. It rates the efficiency of the PSU, higher rating means higher efficiency (the PSU is more likely to actually be able to deliver and support the specified watt consumption printed on the box). It isn't VERY important, but PSUs with higher ratings are usually equipped with higher quality components, making it more reliable over time. It's not a quality guide, though.

Aside from CPU and graphics card(s), there aren't any other things that are likely to consume power, so unless you have peripherals that you know use a lot of power, you can assume that the overall power-draw from hard drives, fans etc. to be below 50W.