I'm looking for advice to replace an aging win 10 Office PC for my parents

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Zef 15 Jul @ 4:04am

I'm looking for advice to replace an aging win 10 Office PC for my parents - EUR

So basically since win10 is running out and the current PC is a relic with a Pentium CPU (not the ones from the 90's, the newer pentiums from a couple of years ago) with 4GB RAM and a sata SSD) i was looking to do a whole upgrade except keep the parts like the PSU, case and if needed GPU. The current build also has and old GT610 GPU, which has WIN11 drivers so in case i need a discrete GPU i could repurpose this one aswell.

Current case: Fractal Design Core 1000
Current PSU: Some sharkoon 550W model

To replace: mobo, cpu, ram, nvme ssd
Optional: case fans

Budget: around 500-600 EUR

CPU preference: AMD
RAM preference: min 16GB, if possible 32GB
NVME SSD preference: 500GB, disk speed isn't that important for this PC, reliability of the brand is.
MOBO: Asrock, MSI, Gigabyte (everything except ASUS), mobo doesn't need WIFI, just the basics (enough USB, displayport/hdmi connection).

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

This is what i found so far, is this overkill or a good long term investment?

https://ibb.co/99nKRLG8

Last edited by Zef; 15 Jul @ 4:32am

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Showing 1-6 of 6 comments

emoticorpse 15 Jul @ 4:40am

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/PRWpkf

I guess consider that as a starting point. I'm guessing the prices from UK are appropriate. Probably want to double check since there are compatibility warnings. I'd personally weigh in the igpu heavily on the cpu they get and would under any circumstance try to squeeze in at least a 1 tb ssd, even if it's an office pc. With the budget, I would opt for 32 GB ram but I 16 GB should be good enough if it's a basic office pc.

Last edited by emoticorpse; 15 Jul @ 4:42am

_I_ 15 Jul @ 4:43am

if the current build has a newer pentium g it can be upgraded to an i3 maybe an i5 if the board is decent

what mobo and cpu does it have?

or to upgrade for <$300usd

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/TthQsp

3400g is slightly better than the i3 10105
both are quads with ht/smt

am4 boards are cheaper and support ddr4 for a low cost build with 32g of ram

Last edited by _I_; 15 Jul @ 4:47am

Zef 15 Jul @ 4:59am

Originally posted by _I_:
if the current build has a newer pentium g it can be upgraded to an i3 maybe an i5 if the board is decent

what mobo and cpu does it have?

or to upgrade for <$300usd

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/TthQsp

3400g is slightly better than the i3 10105
both are quads with ht/smt

am4 boards are cheaper and support ddr4 for a low cost build with 32g of ram

hmm not bad, i could go for a AMD Ryzen 5 3600 then that also comes with a boxed cooler, no need for third party cooler then.

it's an office pc anways so it might be overkill to go AM5.

Zef 15 Jul @ 5:11am

Originally posted by emoticorpse:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/PRWpkf

I guess consider that as a starting point. I'm guessing the prices from UK are appropriate. Probably want to double check since there are compatibility warnings. I'd personally weigh in the igpu heavily on the cpu they get and would under any circumstance try to squeeze in at least a 1 tb ssd, even if it's an office pc. With the budget, I would opt for 32 GB ram but I 16 GB should be good enough if it's a basic office pc.

Thanks for the suggestion, a cheaper AM5 APU with boxed cooler seems better then what i've found initially, the 7600X is more for gaming and other intensive tasks and would be complete overkill in hindsight.

Although they won't need 1TB local storage, i've repurposed my old NAS for them so almost all their data is accessible through a network share/drive mapped on their PC.

Thanks for the tips, now i need to decide whether to go with cheaper AM4 or entree level AM5.

Last edited by Zef; 15 Jul @ 5:12am

emoticorpse 15 Jul @ 5:22am

Originally posted by Zef:
Originally posted by emoticorpse:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/PRWpkf

I guess consider that as a starting point. I'm guessing the prices from UK are appropriate. Probably want to double check since there are compatibility warnings. I'd personally weigh in the igpu heavily on the cpu they get and would under any circumstance try to squeeze in at least a 1 tb ssd, even if it's an office pc. With the budget, I would opt for 32 GB ram but I 16 GB should be good enough if it's a basic office pc.

Thanks for the suggestion, a cheaper AM5 APU with boxed cooler seems better then what i've found initially, the 7600X is more for gaming and other intensive tasks and would be complete overkill in hindsight.

Although they won't need 1TB local storage, i've repurposed my old NAS for them so almost all their data is accessible through a network share/drive mapped on their PC.

Thanks for the tips, now i need to decide whether to go with cheaper AM4 or entree level AM5.

I hear you. I see three options. A real cheap option I thought of but didn't mention (guessing you'er not interested) which is just upgrade the ram (which is probably the main slowdown on that system with 4 gb) and the ssd being a real cheap option probably good enough for them. Then a middle option which is to spend a bit more and go am4 and bring them somewhat up to date (I don't like going from an outdated system to another outdated system and I kind of got the vibe it's age and/or driver support was a key factor here) or just invest now and go actually up to date with nicer specs knowing it should hold up for a long while.

Just what I'm seeing, but either option I would understand.

_I_ 15 Jul @ 5:35am

Originally posted by Zef:
Originally posted by _I_:
if the current build has a newer pentium g it can be upgraded to an i3 maybe an i5 if the board is decent

what mobo and cpu does it have?

or to upgrade for <$300usd

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/TthQsp

3400g is slightly better than the i3 10105
both are quads with ht/smt

am4 boards are cheaper and support ddr4 for a low cost build with 32g of ram

hmm not bad, i could go for a AMD Ryzen 5 3600 then that also comes with a boxed cooler, no need for third party cooler then.

it's an office pc anways so it might be overkill to go AM5.