Computers Updating my computer build - Page 2

**The Bad Guy** · 10-28-2016, 08:57 AM

6 years ago I had a tremendous amount of help in completing my first computer build. Computer has ran mostly great for 6 years, but I wanted to see if it was worth upgrading my processor, motherboard and graphics card.

Below is what I purchased. I do light gaming, a lot of videos/photos, personal computing and lots of word processing.

Since I'm not real knowledgeable about what is compatible with what, I wanted to solicit the gurus on here for advice.

Here is a screen shot of what I currently have in the computer. I'm not looking to spend a ton to upgrade, but I'm sure a lot has changed in 6 years that I'm not aware of.

Thanks in advance for any help.

**The Bad Guy** · 10-28-2016, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buck

That motherboard and that RAM are incompatible.

Unsure based on your wording, but if you're planning on buying those in tandem, do not.

That motherboard supports dual channel RAM and the RAM you have selected is Triple Channel

EDIT: Now I see that that's what you have now....well don't make that mistake again.

Yeah, I think that's what is inside. I don't remember changing that out in the last 6 years. Would that work if it wasn't compatible for that long?

**The Bad Guy** · 10-28-2016, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buck

What's your budget?

Probably around 300-400.

**Buck** · 10-28-2016, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Bad Guy

Yeah, I think that's what is inside. I don't remember changing that out in the last 6 years. Would that work if it wasn't compatible for that long?

Triple channel DDR3 is the same as Dual Channel DDR3.

Basically you had 3 sticks in there, but only two of them actually did anything. The other one was not doing anything.

**Buck** · 10-28-2016, 10:12 AM

Here's a link with a new MoBo, CPU, GPU, and RAM that would be a major upgrade to what you have (although, it's not the newest and best compared to whats out now). The price comes out to $367, but if you did some shopping around on these items, it could probably be lower.

This doesn't include an SSD like others have been talking about, and you'd need to make sure whatever you upgrade to will still fit within the restrictions of your power supply.

Don't just buy these based of what I think, let other people look at this too. I'm not a computer genius like hometeam, but I know a bit about building PCs.

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/2kVZ2R

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($94.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI 970 GAMING ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($84.78 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($40.56 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R7 370 2GB WINDFORCE 2X Video Card ($146.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $367.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-28 12:12 EDT-0400

**Buck** · 10-28-2016, 10:22 AM

Also...I agree. You absolutely 100% should buy an SSD to put your OS and other often used programs on.

Just don't buy a Samsung 850 EVO to do that with if you are using Windows 10. For some reason that drive and that OS are not compatible.

**DaneMcCloud** · 10-28-2016, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buck

Also...I agree. You absolutely 100% should buy an SSD to put your OS and other often used programs on.

Just don't buy a Samsung 850 EVO to do that with if you are using Windows 10. For some reason that drive and that OS are not compatible.

I have the EVO 840 as an OS drive running Windows 10, which works fine, but have no experience with the 850.

I put a Crucial BX100 in a Windows 10 box and it works fine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is the latest version:

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX300...dp_ob_title_ce

FWIW, I've also found Amazon to be extremely competitive with pricing and returns have been easy (I've received non-working motherboards and other items in the past and returns/replacements are a breeze, especially as a Prime member).

**Buck** · 10-28-2016, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I have the EVO 840 as an OS drive running Windows 10, which works fine, but have no experience with the 850.

I put a Crucial BX100 in a Windows 10 box and it works fine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Yep. It's the mystery of the century. Nobody knows why. Win 10 just doesn't work on 850 EVO...believe me...I have spent hours upon hours trying to get it to work. There's a bunch of pissed off people on the internet who agree with me.

My friend has an 840 EVO working too.

**DaneMcCloud** · 10-28-2016, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buck

Yep. It's the mystery of the century. Nobody knows why. Win 10 just doesn't work on 850 EVO...believe me...I have spent hours upon hours trying to get it to work. There's a bunch of pissed off people on the internet who agree with me.

That sucks. I'm at the point where if it doesn't immediately and automatically work without any tinkering, it's going back.

**Buck** · 10-28-2016, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

That sucks. I'm at the point where if it doesn't immediately and automatically work without any tinkering, it's going back.

My problem was that I had the 850 EVO for months if not a year before I decided to put my OS on it. I put Win 7 on it, and then about 4 months later decided to do free upgrade, and that's when I found out about the compatibility issue.

It's okay. I like Win 7 fine.

When I decide to do a full upgrade, I'll just use one of my other 5 SSDs in my PC to put the OS on lol.

**DaneMcCloud** · 10-28-2016, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buck

My problem was that I had the 850 EVO for months if not a year before I decided to put my OS on it. I put Win 7 on it, and then about 4 months later decided to do free upgrade, and that's when I found out about the compatibility issue.

It's okay. I like Win 7 fine.

When I decide to do a full upgrade, I'll just use one of my other 5 SSDs in my PC to put the OS on lol.

Wow, that totally sucks but thanks for the info!

**The Bad Guy** · 10-28-2016, 01:54 PM

Thanks guys- huge help. I have 4 memory slots in my current setup. Does this dual channel mother board mean that they can only use 2 slots at a time?

Is there any other reasonable ssd drives out there?

**DaneMcCloud** · 10-28-2016, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Bad Guy

Thanks guys- huge help. I have 4 memory slots in my current setup. Does this dual channel mother board mean that they can only use 2 slots at a time?

Is there any other reasonable ssd drives out there?

If you have 4 slots, you can use 2 sticks (they're generally colored, so two black or two blue slots and you'll want to make sure they're in the right slots) or 4 sticks. Personally, I wouldn't go with less than 16 gigs of Ram but 8 gigs is way better than 4 gigs.

As for SSD drives, you won't likely get a better quality drive for a better price than the Crucial 250 gig I linked earlier. Be sure to get the adapter.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

**The Bad Guy** · 10-28-2016, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

If you have 4 slots, you can use 2 sticks (they're generally colored, so two black or two blue slots and you'll want to make sure they're in the right slots) or 4 sticks. Personally, I wouldn't go with less than 16 gigs of Ram but 8 gigs is way better than 4 gigs.

As for SSD drives, you won't likely get a better quality drive for a better price than the Crucial 250 gig I linked earlier. Be sure to get the adapter.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Problem is - if I'm going to clone the drive, I have way more than 250 gigs taken up on my HD right now.

I think I purchased additional RAM (can't access the computer right now to check) but I'm pretty sure I have 4 in there.

I'm going to take apart the computer this weekend to make sure.

Thanks again!

**Buck** · 10-28-2016, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Bad Guy

Thanks guys- huge help. I have 4 memory slots in my current setup. Does this dual channel mother board mean that they can only use 2 slots at a time?

Is there any other reasonable ssd drives out there?

You can use 1, 2, or 4.

3 won't work.

You need to make sure that each stick of RAM is the same.

On most motherboards, if you are using two, you would need to slot them in the 1st and 3rd or 2nd and 4th slots.

Your motherboard should come with instructions.

**The Bad Guy** · 10-28-2016, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buck

You can use 1, 2, or 4.

3 won't work.

You need to make sure that each stick of RAM is the same.

On most motherboards, if you are using two, you would need to slot them in the 1st and 3rd or 2nd and 4th slots.

Your motherboard should come with instructions.

Thanks man. Great info. Didn't know any of that.

10-28-2016, 08:57 AM
The Bad Guy Scott Pioli Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: The Copacobana Casino cash: $9273645	Updating my computer build 6 years ago I had a tremendous amount of help in completing my first computer build. Computer has ran mostly great for 6 years, but I wanted to see if it was worth upgrading my processor, motherboard and graphics card. Below is what I purchased. I do light gaming, a lot of videos/photos, personal computing and lots of word processing. Since I'm not real knowledgeable about what is compatible with what, I wanted to solicit the gurus on here for advice. Here is a screen shot of what I currently have in the computer. I'm not looking to spend a ton to upgrade, but I'm sure a lot has changed in 6 years that I'm not aware of. Thanks in advance for any help. Attached Thumbnails
Posts: 23,216

10-28-2016, 10:12 AM	#19
Buck Take a Chill Pill Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: South Carolina Casino cash: $5920295	Here's a link with a new MoBo, CPU, GPU, and RAM that would be a major upgrade to what you have (although, it's not the newest and best compared to whats out now). The price comes out to $367, but if you did some shopping around on these items, it could probably be lower. This doesn't include an SSD like others have been talking about, and you'd need to make sure whatever you upgrade to will still fit within the restrictions of your power supply. Don't just buy these based of what I think, let other people look at this too. I'm not a computer genius like hometeam, but I know a bit about building PCs. http://pcpartpicker.com/list/2kVZ2R PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($94.89 @ OutletPC) Motherboard: MSI 970 GAMING ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($84.78 @ OutletPC) Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($40.56 @ NCIX US) Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R7 370 2GB WINDFORCE 2X Video Card ($146.99 @ SuperBiiz) Total: $367.22 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-28 12:12 EDT-0400
Posts: 44,607

10-28-2016, 10:22 AM	#20
Buck Take a Chill Pill Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: South Carolina Casino cash: $5920295	Also...I agree. You absolutely 100% should buy an SSD to put your OS and other often used programs on. Just don't buy a Samsung 850 EVO to do that with if you are using Windows 10. For some reason that drive and that OS are not compatible.
Posts: 44,607

10-28-2016, 01:54 PM	#26
The Bad Guy Scott Pioli Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: The Copacobana Casino cash: $9273645	Thanks guys- huge help. I have 4 memory slots in my current setup. Does this dual channel mother board mean that they can only use 2 slots at a time? Is there any other reasonable ssd drives out there? __________________
Posts: 23,216