Building a new PC

[Ihavenojob]

Over the years I have built myself a few PCs, including the one I am on now. Windows 10 support is coming to an end, and my CPU (AMD Athlon II X4 630) is not supported. I only use it for browsing, so I don't need anything spectacular, and I'm wondering what would be a good budget bit of kit such as CPU, motherboard and possibly RAM, as I have DDR3 so not sure if it is compatible with new gear. I'm hoping I can just put it together, with my existing SSD hard drive and it will search for drivers, then I could go over to Windows 11. I did buy a new PC a couple of years ago, but it was awful, so I took it back and just treated this one to some more RAM and the new SSD. I will probably use my existing ATX case and would like a DVD rewriter (if they still exist) to rip all my CDs to my drive. My existing board has onboard graphics and sound, not fussed if new board has onboard or if I need to get graphics and sound cards. I would also like bluetooth on it, not fussed about WiFi. I used to frequent British Computer fairs and check out stuff at them, but they seem to have died a death around here. TIA.
Just thought, sitting here in this heat, what would be good for keeping it cool? Got case fan, and so far it has never overheated, but new CPU may run hotter.

 

[Scally-Ho]

Double up on the fans with auto progressive deployment as and when needed by the system.

 

[spile]

I used to build but now I spec my own components and get a local PC company to build it for me as the price is virtually the same. I can recommend the overclockers forum.

 

[Ihavenojob]

I used to build but now I spec my own components and get a local PC company to build it for me as the price is virtually the same. I can recommend the overclockers forum.

I could do that, but I am not sure of what components to get. As I said, I would like to keep my SSD as it has a lot of my music, pictures and documents on it.

 

[spile]

I could do that, but I am not sure of what components to get. As I said, I would like to keep my SSD as it has a lot of my music, pictures and documents on it.

The overclockers forum is the place to ask. Either put a draft build together and ask or give them a budget and ask their advice. An M.2 is faster and takes up less space. It doesn’t take long to transfer data across.

 

[CountryFan]

If you're happy with the existing PC what about changing the operating system? Maybe Linux or Chrome?

 

[JohnD]

You mention cooling.

As you enjoy tinkering you may have encountered undesirable amounts of dust and fluff inside the case.

As well as better fans, you can get replaceable dust filters. If you have a suction fan, put filters on the louvre or other ventilation gaps as well. The cost is trivial, you can buy filter material by the yard, but clip-on filter frames are very convenient as you can take them off and snap in a new one from your spares drawer without needing to get your tools out or order new bits.

Larger fans seem to run quieter. I prefer a "push" fan with a removable filter. Cases may include screw holes that fit various sizes.

 

[Ihavenojob]

If you're happy with the existing PC what about changing the operating system? Maybe Linux or Chrome?

It is fine, but must be at least 12 years old. I'm like your name with O/S, so reluctant to change

You mention cooling.

As you enjoy tinkering you may have encountered undesirable amounts of dust and fluff inside the case.

As well as better fans, you can get replaceable dust filters. If you have a suction fan, put filters on the louvre or other ventilation gaps as well. The cost is trivial, you can buy filter material by the yard, but clip-on filter frames are very convenient as you can take them off and snap in a new one from your spares drawer without needing to get your tools out or order new bits.

Larger fans seem to run quieter. I prefer a "push" fan with a removable filter. Cases may include screw holes that fit various sizes.

I had the side off before posting and gave it a good clear out. I did fit a fan a couple of years ago along with the extra RAM and SSD. No issue with overheating, I run a couple of programmes keeping an eye on temperature. Adding RAM and new SSD made the PC a lot faster, but I have 4 modules of 2gb each, which at the time was OK, but probably a bit under gunned for a new processor, 32gb is not that expensive, so a new processor and motherboard with 32gb and my existing SSD should hopefully give me a few more years. I've seen MB & CPU bundles for sale, so I may just go for one with components from makers I have used (gigabyte and ASROCK MB, AMD processors). My main concern is if it is all plug and play if I install it all with my existing SSD.

 

[JohnD]

I have used several bundles from

https://www.novatech.co.uk/motherboardbundles/intel/

Can be good value, especially if you have some components to hand. I used to keep a stock of hard drives for offsite backups, with slide-out caddies to swap them. Not so important now you can backup to the Web or USB storage. Though I still prepare for the risk of failure or calamity. With a tower case you have room for any extras you might want.

If you have to buy all-new components the saving may be marginal or even negative,

 

[Londoner2]

Over the years I have built myself a few PCs, including the one I am on now. Windows 10 support is coming to an end, and my CPU (AMD Athlon II X4 630) is not supported. I only use it for browsing, so I don't need anything spectacular, and I'm wondering what would be a good budget bit of kit such as CPU, motherboard and possibly RAM, as I have DDR3 so not sure if it is compatible with new gear. I'm hoping I can just put it together, with my existing SSD hard drive and it will search for drivers, then I could go over to Windows 11. I did buy a new PC a couple of years ago, but it was awful, so I took it back and just treated this one to some more RAM and the new SSD. I will probably use my existing ATX case and would like a DVD rewriter (if they still exist) to rip all my CDs to my drive. My existing board has onboard graphics and sound, not fussed if new board has onboard or if I need to get graphics and sound cards. I would also like bluetooth on it, not fussed about WiFi. I used to frequent British Computer fairs and check out stuff at them, but they seem to have died a death around here. TIA.
Just thought, sitting here in this heat, what would be good for keeping it cool? Got case fan, and so far it has never overheated, but new CPU may run hotter.

just keep it and download rufus, build a bootable usb with win 11 cheks removed and you can install win 11.

 

[Munroast]

Just built my win 11 machine a few weeks back

Liquid cooler is fantastic - machine is as good as silent
and solid state memory means start up is instant - unlike my last machine that could take 10 minutes

AMD Ryzen 5 8600G 4.3 GHz 6-Core Processor	£150.99​
ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III 240 56.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler	£84.99​
ASRock B850M-X WiFi Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard	£117.73​
be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	£89.99​
be quiet! Shadow Wings 2 38.5 CFM 120 mm Fan	£7.50​
be quiet! Shadow Wings 2 38.5 CFM 120 mm Fan	£7.50​
Kingston FURY Beast 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory	£79.99​
Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	£139.97​

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

build a bootable usb with win 11 cheks removed and you can install win 11.

How do you remove the checks?

 

[Fred Blogs]

How do you remove the checks?

It's all on youtube. Using Rufus to upgrade just the operating system as per a clean install but without the checks on unsupported hardware. Or with a bit of CMD jiggery pokery upgrade to win11 on unsupported hardware whilst keeping all your files, settings and apps. It's all on youtube.

 

[pcaouolte]

Just built my win 11 machine a few weeks back

Which case did you use?
Does it have a graphics card?

 

[Munroast]

Which case did you use?
Does it have a graphics card?

I believe the chip handles the graphics ?
I was given a frame, think it was a case with no sides or top, this is not important as pc is kept in a cupboard