Description

Disclaimer: I do not recommend this for modern-day (the year 2020) use because there are way better options than this list!!!

This PC I had built from my school around 6 years ago (2014). Ever since then, I have been slowly adding parts until it became what it is now on the list. It is definitely not the best performer as it is being bottlenecked by the CPU. Also, the motherboard is definitely getting outdated. Any possible recommendations feel free to leave in the comments.

Current uses (most to least often): heavy web browsing(15+tabs open), word processing, light gaming, video editing.

I am planning on making another list called "Possible Dream System" which is the system that I want to upgrade to in the future when this system is no longer keeping up to my standards.

Also, yes I do generally clean it. Otherwise, it probably wouldn't have lasted for 6 years.

Original form (2014) - CPU, motherboard, 2 2gb RAM, 250 GB HDD, case, PSU, optical drive, AOC monitor.

Hopefully, this can be used to give inspiration to anyone looking to make a system. Also to show that even an old system can still be useable today. Any questions comments I hope to respond to as soon as I can. Hope the best for everyone.

Part Reviews

CPU

AMD A4-5300 3.4 GHz Dual-Core Processor

The APU was originally intended for the low-cost segment of the pc market when it was made. Overall, it has done all the work that I needed it to do for the 6 years that I've been using it. A great cheap APU. However, it is not great for 2020 for a dedicated CPU as there are better options.

Motherboard

MSI FM2-A55M-E33 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard

Works as intended and had decent support. However not recommended in 2020

Memory

Crucial CT25664BA160B 2 GB (1 x 2 GB) DDR3-1600 CL11 Memory

Not much to say other than it has lasted me for 6 years.

Memory

Patriot Signature 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR3-1600 CL11 Memory

Bought it this year to upgrade the system and I had no problems with it.

Storage

Kingston A400 120 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

Originally used in an old ThinkPad and I migrated it to my PC. Super fast and reliable drive. Bought one about 2 years ago and it's still running.

Storage

Western Digital Caviar Blue 250 GB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive

Back in the day was a blessing. Currently, it has become the drive to install my games. Not recommended to buy new in 2020.

Video Card

Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 570 4 GB Video Card

Bought it used (probably a mining card ngl) on amazon. It arrived in its box and was a little dirty. Luckily I was able to open it to clean it and replace the thermal paste. This is my first ever graphics card that I bought ever.

Case

Thermaltake V3 Black Edition ATX Mid Tower Case

It's basic, gets the job done, good airflow. Nothing much else to say.

Power Supply

Ultra LSP 550 W ATX Power Supply

Kinda sketchy but it has lasted me this long without any problems. However, I guarantee that I will soon need to replace it since it now 6 years old.

Optical Drive

Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer

For the very few times that I used it, it has worked well. However, the technology has become obsolete and I only keep it in the case to cover the hole that would be left by it.

Monitor

Dell P170S 17.0" 1280 x 1024 60 Hz Monitor

Hey, I get 4 more usb-a 2.0 ports on the monitor. I'll take it. I got it for free in a junk pile that they were going to through out.

Monitor

AOC I2280SWD 21.5" 1920 x 1080 60 Hz Monitor

Originally given to me as a gift immediately when I got my pc in its original state. It is now 6 years old and going strong.

Keyboard

Logitech K360 Wireless Slim Keyboard

This was given to me by my dad as a gift when my old keyboard started to wear down. I had been using it for about 2 years now and it's going strong.

Mouse

Logitech Wireless Mouse M525 Wireless Optical Mouse

This was given to me as a gift from a pastor from my church. Great for productivity because the middle button allows you to go back and forth on web tabs.

Custom

Benfei DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Dp Display Port to VGA Converter Male to Female Gold-Plated Cord for Lenovo, Dell, HP, ASUS

Basic and gets the job done. No CDs just plug and play.

Custom

HDMI to VGA, Benfei Gold-Plated HDMI to VGA Adapter (Male to Female) for Computer, Desktop, Laptop, PC, Monitor, Projector, HDTV, Chromebook, Raspberry Pi, Roku, Xbox and More - Black

Basic and gets the job done. No CDs just plug and play.

Custom

Scotch© Super 33+ Vinyl Electrical Tape black 19 mm x 20 m

Haha, kinda needed it for some......fan wire modifications.

Custom

JacobsParts 18" SATA Cable 6GB/s Straight to Right Angle for Hard Drive / Optical Drive

I couldn't find the specific cables that I used but I found these that might work for someone else. The reason being is that the motherboard doesn't provide enough clearance for the cables and GPU, so these were necessary to be able to connect my drives.

Custom

GODSHARK PCI-e PCI Express 36PIN 1X Extender Extension Cable with Gold-Plated Connector

Since the GPU ended up being a beast compared to the other parts I used this to be able to reach the PCI-e port on the motherboard and connect my wifi card. Extremely flexible and fit into the little room left between the port and the graphics card.

Custom

FebSmart Wireless N 2.4GHz 300Mbps PCIe Wireless Network Adapter for Windows 10 8.1 8 7 XP Server(32/64bit) and Linux PCs,PCIe WiFi Card,PCIe WiFi Adapter(FS-N300)

Basic cheap wifi card. Gets the job done and no CD required thanks to windows updates.

Custom

BENFEI 2-Pack 6-Pin PCIe to 8-Pin PCIe Adapter Power Cable - 10cm

I did not realize that my PSU did not have an 8 pin, so I bought an adapter to convert a 6 pin instead. So far nothing has happened and I hope nothing happens.

Custom

Lenovo Flex 5 14" 2-in-1 Laptop, 14.0" FHD (1920 x 1080) Touch Display, AMD Ryzen 5 4500U Processor, 16GB DDR4 OnBoard RAM, 256GB SSD, AMD Radeon Graphics, Windows 10, 81X20005US, Graphite Gr

Got the laptop when it was on sale. Originally, I had bought it because I was starting college and needed to be able to move around from home and campus. However, it became a necessity during the 2020 pandemic. If you can get it for a good price, it is a beast compared to what most of the other competition sells.

Custom

USB C Hub, VicTsing 8-in-1 Type C Hub with Gigabit Ethernet, 4K HDMI, 3 USB 3.0 Ports, SD/TF Card Reader, USB C Charging for MacBook Pro, Chromebook, Dell XPS, ASUS, Lenovo

I had bought this for the laptop (before the pandemic happened). So far everything about it works.

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Comments

Skyemaster
  • 4 years 6 months ago

I respect this, it is the spirit of pc gaming, it doesn't matter what GPU you have or how much rgb you own its all about the feeling, the purpose, and this pc is just fantastic.

ict5300
  • 4 years 6 months ago

Thank you so much!

joeybyrd
  • 4 years 6 months ago

Go for a basic b450 and a 3100 and you should try and go for 16 gigs for 3200 speed ram

ict5300
  • 4 years 6 months ago

I shall note this down. Thank you!

aron304
  • 4 years 6 months ago

i like it. if you wanted to salvage the build a bit longer the a8-5500 is 15 bucks and would get you a quad core. its a temporary stop gap but thats only if you need the extra 2 cores and depends on how soon you are going to go to a ryzen setup

ict5300
  • 4 years 6 months ago

Hello! Thank you for your advice. I would like to go to ryzen for my next build but I don't think that will happen for a while (probably till I finish college ngl lol). I will consider your advice if I do need to upgrade it. Thank you once again!

aron304
  • 4 years 6 months ago

yea no problem they are on ebay for that price

one_phn
  • 4 years 6 months ago

as much as I resent the cpu and gpu combo, I feel like this pc has a story of its own, and doesn't conform to the standards that the more rgb you have, the better your pc is. this is the area of pcmr I enjoy most, the unique pcs that makes so little sense you just have to stop and see.

ict5300
  • 4 years 6 months ago

Oh yeah! Ngl I was also laughing at myself when I added the gpu to the system. I was like "ooohhhhh so this is how power feels like", but then I saw my cpu and that fantasy went down the drain. However, I have only been playing on integrated graphics for a long time, so seeing my games jump from low with everything off to medium with some graphics details turned on was like "I have no words". The first game I opened to see the difference was Warframe and I spent the first few minutes just takin in the details of the orbiter. So now I see both sides of the argument.

ApocPony
  • 4 years 6 months ago

I think the build is spot on, just wanted to ask how you paired 2gb with 8gb in duel channel? sorry been a while. +1 awesome build

ict5300
  • 4 years 6 months ago

Uhhhhhhh, this is gonna sound dumb but it kinda just worked. Originally I had 2 2 gb sticks of ram running in dual channel for a total of 4 gb. However I got the 8 gb and replaced one of the previous sticks of memory. I then went to the bios and reset the settings to default and edited the settings I had previously and made sure that 10 gb were recognized. My guess is that the motherboard does the deciding of whether they are dual channel or not. I double checked on cpu-z and it says that my memory is running in 'dual'. So yeah.......maybe this helps?

edit: I had read in forums that there can be problems if there are 2 sticks of ram with different ram speeds. So knowing that even if I selected a higher ram speed stick, it would be slowed down to the speed of the 2 gb stick. So I instead looked for one with the same frequency and to be sure the same cas latency.

King_Okuyasu_Crimson
  • 4 years 6 months ago

Hey man! Ah I love looking at builds like these. It's reality, not blingy rgb nonsense 😂. Ok so I would recommend that you do this (it's cheap and pretty good)

  • Look on eBay and purchase a dell optiplex for $100-$150 (look for one with a i7 3770) oh mercari has some good Dell Optiplexs too. MAKE SURE THAT ITS A MT (THE FULL TOWER VERSION FOR DELL)

-buy a gtx 1650 for $150 or a gtx 750ti for $70 and you are off to the races!!!!

Things that you can do after this:

  • pop in a 250-500gb ssd -switch cases (might be to difficult so maybe not) -add some fans -RGB? 😂

Conclusion: So yes, I know this ain't the greatest, most flashy pc out there BUT. It is very well worth the money! You can game on it and run "heavy browsing" on it too!!!

Hope this helps! Shoots!!

PS: yes I love ryzen!! I use the ryzen 5 3600 and I definitely recommend it! I would spend extra on a cpu cooler so keep that in mind. Too bad though, the 3600 is so highly priced now. After the virus I'm sure prices will drop! If ya want, I created a ryzen 5 3400g build list for $360!

ict5300
  • 4 years 6 months ago

Nice! Thank you so much for the information. I will keep it in mind for when this one's life comes to an end.

kairusds
  • 4 years 6 months ago

try waiting for the new ryzen CPUs to arrive and see what you can get for cheap