Upgrade Help - Need CPU, Motherboard, and RAM

[Wildlight]

Hello everyone,

My computer is on the fritz, and freezing up every so often. I am needing to replace the CPU, Motherboard, and RAM. Currently have all other parts that are in good working condition - case, 700W PSU, R7 370 GPU, and plenty of case fans. Currently using AMD CPU and Motherboard, but looking to switch over to Intel.

Looking to spend the least amount possible to get these 3 things upgraded. Mostly play wow (raiding, M+, pvp, etc), overwatch, and Heroes of the Storm. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If possible $300 or less would be ideal.

Thanks

[chazus]

Are you willing to attempt to fix the issue at hand?

[Wildlight]

Are you willing to attempt to fix the issue at hand?

I have already tried a multitude of troubleshooting steps to try to solve the freezing. Originally believed to be caused by overheating of the CPU, so I cleaned all parts and reapplied a new layer of thermal paste. Updated all drivers. Etc.

Freezing has persisted and is becoming more frequent.

[chazus]

Have you tried reinstalling the OS to rule out software issues? I understand your frustration if you have, but I want to get a full grasp of the situation.

[Wildlight]

Have you tried reinstalling the OS to rule out software issues? I understand your frustration if you have, but I want to get a full grasp of the situation.

I have not because nothing seems to point to that. Typically when it freezes it just stops and emits a strange buzzing from the speakers. As of yesterday it now just freezes and no strange sound. I did a clean install of Windows less than 12 months ago.

[chazus]

I'd honestly try that first before going out for new hardware.

[durenas]

Are you overclocked at all?

[Wildlight]

I'd honestly try that first before going out for new hardware.

Reinstalling Windows as we speak.

Also Durenas to answer your question - I am not overclocked.

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On the offhand that the reinstall does nothing, can you help me with picking out some intel parts within my budget? I'd just like to review them and price them out so I have a full picture of what I'm looking at.

[durenas]

If you're looking to price out parts, pcpartpicker.com is a great tool. I cannot in all honesty recommend Intel for a budget build since the new Ryzen 2200G and 2400G have such good video capabilities.

[Wildlight]

If you're looking to price out parts, pcpartpicker.com is a great tool. I cannot in all honesty recommend Intel for a budget build since the new Ryzen 2200G and 2400G have such good video capabilities.

I am not opposed to Ryzen, especially if they are budget friendly. I have had pretty good luck with AMD, save for this time around. I'm also not very good at the technical aspect, so I'm not sure how to make sure I get a good compatible motherboard (i dont want to have to flash BIOS and any other stuff, I need plug and play ready).

[durenas]

Yeah, I hear you. I'm getting a Ryzen(amazon, so it's being shipped) and I'm gonna have to get an upgrade kit from AMD to flash the bios. It's a whole extra process I'd rather not have to do, but the price is right.

[Wildlight]

Yeah, I hear you. I'm getting a Ryzen(amazon, so it's being shipped) and I'm gonna have to get an upgrade kit from AMD to flash the bios. It's a whole extra process I'd rather not have to do, but the price is right.

Yeah. I really like the $99 price point for the Ryzen 2200 as well. What motherboard did you choose?

[durenas]

These are the parts I'm getting. I was going to get an MSI, but I've been hearing bad things about MSI boards recently. https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/GzdypG

(prices in Canadian dollars, adds about 30%)

[Wildlight]

These are the parts I'm getting. I was going to get an MSI, but I've been hearing bad things about MSI boards recently. https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/GzdypG

(prices in Canadian dollars, adds about 30%)

Not sure my GPU will fit in a Mini-ATX cause I have a long-board card. I was actually looking at the same MoBoard but in ATX form factor.

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@chazus - Reinstalling Windows did nothing. It already has frozen up on me twice. I am at a complete loss.

[Ragedaug]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/6Lg3LD

CPU: Intel - Core i3-8100 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor $109.99
Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z370 HD3 (rev. 1.0) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard $114.99
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory $85.99

This is what I'd get as the best value for the buck (then I noticed it's pretty close to MMOc's BotM, so it can't be all bad)

[durenas]

Not sure my GPU will fit in a Mini-ATX cause I have a long-board card. I was actually looking at the same MoBoard but in ATX form factor.

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@chazus - Reinstalling Windows did nothing. It already has frozen up on me twice. I am at a complete loss.

My situation is a bit more dire. I'm using an Athlon XP 6100+, 2GB of DDR2-SDRAM 800Mhz, An AMD Radeon HD4850 512MB and an Asus M2N-MX SE motherboard. Yes, yes, I know, laugh at me. I'm absolutely miserable in WoW, can't raid at all anymore(used to raid lots on this machine, but with each expansion WoW gets harder to run). So this upgrade? I'm actually ditching the videocard since the onboard will run WoW better than the videocard.

Intel's CPU performance is definitely better, but for me, without a dedicated videocard, AMD just makes sense.

Freezing could be a lot of things, could be heat related(check the fans on your CPU/Videocard) but since it seems you have that covered, the next thing I would investigate is PSU failure. Depending on a lot of factors, like how old the PSU is, what the original rating for it was, how much you've burdened it since you got it, it could be losing efficiency and browning out. It's really tough to say without more info.

I would love to see some CPU-Z screenshots of the various tabs of your system to see what you've got, and your timings, like the memory tabs, the motherboard, CPU, also the PSU serial number would be helpful, and when you bought it.

[chazus]

Yeah. You can upgrade, but honestly you have decent hardware. It seems to make more sense (and cost) to fix it, than just build a new system.

Hell, bringing it to an actual shop tech and having them do a $50 diag to get it isolated would be cheaper/better... But.. eh. Thats me.

[Wildlight]

Yeah. You can upgrade, but honestly you have decent hardware. It seems to make more sense (and cost) to fix it, than just build a new system.

Hell, bringing it to an actual shop tech and having them do a $50 diag to get it isolated would be cheaper/better... But.. eh. Thats me.

Yeah. I think I'm going to do that, actually. Just gotta find a shop near me that's reputable and cost effective.

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My situation is a bit more dire. I'm using an Athlon XP 6100+, 2GB of DDR2-SDRAM 800Mhz, An AMD Radeon HD4850 512MB and an Asus M2N-MX SE motherboard. Yes, yes, I know, laugh at me. I'm absolutely miserable in WoW, can't raid at all anymore(used to raid lots on this machine, but with each expansion WoW gets harder to run). So this upgrade? I'm actually ditching the videocard since the onboard will run WoW better than the videocard.

Intel's CPU performance is definitely better, but for me, without a dedicated videocard, AMD just makes sense.

Freezing could be a lot of things, could be heat related(check the fans on your CPU/Videocard) but since it seems you have that covered, the next thing I would investigate is PSU failure. Depending on a lot of factors, like how old the PSU is, what the original rating for it was, how much you've burdened it since you got it, it could be losing efficiency and browning out. It's really tough to say without more info.

I would love to see some CPU-Z screenshots of the various tabs of your system to see what you've got, and your timings, like the memory tabs, the motherboard, CPU, also the PSU serial number would be helpful, and when you bought it.

I have a 600 or a 650W PSU. I'd have to double check. I'm still thinking it may be over heating. All fans seem to be working. Idle temp earlier was between 18-35 C but when I was playing Wow and Heroes was in the 50-70C range.

If it were my PSU how do I check That?

Edit: @chazus @durenas here are my specs:

CPU: FX6300 3.5 GHz Six-Core AM3+
Motherboard: 970 Gaming AM3+ ATX AMD Motherboard
Memory: 8 GB Kingston Hyperx Fury DDR3 1866
Video Card: Radeon R7 370 2 GB DDR5

[durenas]

What's the brand name on the Motherboard and Video Card? For example, is it MSI, Asus or Gigabyte, or something else?

edit: I don't want to guide you down the wrong route here - keep the possibilities open, but it could be you are right, the operating temperature of that CPU is 66.5 degrees C. Ordinarily, when a CPU hits its thermal limit, it throttles down(you'd see that as a sudden drop of framerates until it goes below the thermal limit, then it would return to normal, before throttling again).

What are you using for cooling the CPU?

[Wildlight]

What's the brand name on the Motherboard and Video Card? For example, is it MSI, Asus or Gigabyte, or something else?

edit: I don't want to guide you down the wrong route here - keep the possibilities open, but it could be you are right, the operating temperature of that CPU is 66.5 degrees C. Ordinarily, when a CPU hits its thermal limit, it throttles down(you'd see that as a sudden drop of framerates until it goes below the thermal limit, then it would return to normal, before throttling again).

What are you using for cooling the CPU?

Motherboard is MSI and GPU is Asus, I believe.

I am just using a basic CPU fan to cool the CPU. I tried to install a different one when I rebuilt a while back but couldn't figure it out and it wouldn't fit in my case.