New Hardware New desktop for x-mas

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So im gonna rebuild my moms desktop for x-mas (thats her wish). Her current system is an AMD dual core machine with 4gb memory. Im gonna stay with AMD since shes technically a clerical kind of woman (even tho shes retired). I am in need of the communities help when it comes to AMD. I dont know which socket I need to go after thats current for a reasonably priced quad core cpu (something around $75). Im not really so much worried bout the motherboard after that. I also just found a great deal on ddr3 memory, so we will be chill after that.

I do have 1 optional question: for a woman that just uses a desktop to browse the web and work on office documents, what do you guys think about getting her an ssd? Maybe say something like 60gb? Im bout to get a crap load of OT with my company, so not worried about spending a lil bit of $$ on her for her x-mas gift.

Like usual, all ideas/suggestions are welcome. Thank you in advance.
 
so just a cpu and motherboard? are u going to use the rest of the old hardware? or are u going to built her a completed new system.
 
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First question would be what AMD socket does she have already?
FM2
FM2+
AM3
AM3+

Guessing it is around that socket range unless it's something really old.

CPU wise this would be my choice.
AMD 860k

It's the same CPU used in all of AMD's APU's but without the GPU. Hands down best budget 4 core you can get for web browsing and clerical work. The stock cooler can be a bit crap side depending on the cases airflow (can run hot/loud) Easy and cheap to replace if needed.

The SSD upgrade is where she will really notice a change in her computer tho. Well worth the upgrade if you can fit it in your budget.
 
Hey guys, to answer your question alex, yes just mainly the cpu will be fine as the motherboard info wont be hard to look into. To chocolate, I will post the current socket tomorrow as itll be my Sunday. I definitely dont mind investing in an ssd, but wanna make sure i have enough space for Win 7 (thats the OS that shes using & I know were not gonna upgrade her anytime soon). Were both eligible for free upgrade to Win 10, but unless I see some really crazy awesome results, were gonna stick with 7 for now. I just wanna make sure that Win 7 will fit on a 60gb ssd w/o worrying bout space.
 
I apologize for the delay. Sometimes I procrastinate on things & this just happened to be one of em. Anyways, heres the cpu & motherboard info:

Cpu- Athlon II X2 240 AM3 socket
Motherboard- GA-MA785GM-US2H

If I can keep the motherboard, that would be great, but if I have to upgrade, then that will be understandable.
 
That CPU will not fit in that socket with the motherboard you have, you need to find a CPU with socket AM2+/AM3 compatible. AM3+ socket will not work.

Best four core you can pick up would be a AMD Phenom II x4 9xx series, which is going to be hard to find new. Best bet would be eBay.

AM2+/AM3 is a pretty old socket :P
 
Also, buying a SSD for a casual user is just a waste of money. Although, it is a personal opinion.

SSD users benefit from faster start up times, faster game loading, faster software installs, faster virtualizations, etc. The target audience for SSD would be gamers, IT gurus, web designers, etc.
 
Ric said:
Also, buying a SSD for a casual user is just a waste of money. Although, it is a personal opinion.

SSD users benefit from faster start up times, faster game loading, faster software installs, faster virtualizations, etc. The target audience for SSD would be gamers, IT gurus, web designers, etc.
Click to expand...

This is where I would disagree. The prices of SSD have been dropping ever year making the price per terabyte a mute point. Even now the price to performance has been on the SSD side for years. Hell even in a few years I can see the price difference in SSD vs HDD diminish to nothing, especily with Western Digital purchase of San Disk being the last major player without an SSD line.

Even for just a casual PC user, the benefit of an SSD over an HDD even just for the OS will vastly improve the users experience with the PC.
 
ChocolateVillain said:
Even for just a casual PC user, the benefit of an SSD over an HDD even just for the OS will vastly improve the users experience with the PC.
Click to expand...

That's exactly why im gonna put an ssd into my moms desktop. Besides I just found out that both Newegg & Amazon are getting competitive on the Samsung 850 EVO 250gb ssd. Personally I would recommend Amazon, mainly because of the fact that you can subscribe to Prime for a 30 day free trial (which I just recently did) & get 2-day shipping for free. The price difference ($2) shouldnt bug anyone.

So because of this, not only will I be personally upgrading, but my current ssd (last years Samsung 840 EVO) will be getting donated to my mom.
 
Ric is right. The only thing that she will notice is the boot up times. She wont experience any faster loading web pages or downloads by going with an SSD. The price to storage ratio is not worth it for a very casual user. Why spend $100 for 250GB SSD when you can spend $100 for 2TB HDD? It doesnt make much sense but its your money and your choice in the end.
 
Ok so screw the AMD Phenom II x4 since my current motherboard can only use ddr2 memory & I just recently received my order of 2x4gb ddr3 memory for her desktop. I need suggestions for AMD FX series cpu or something equivalent thats a reasonable price. Since Newegg has a rather lackluster selection of quad core AMD cpu's available, I need help choosing other AMD cpu's.
 
So after all considerations, I will be going after your recommendation Chocolate & getting the AMD 860k. It just happens to be the best deal that I can get (esp with my company disc with Amazon).

Now any recommendations for a suitable motherboard? I recently purchased a set of memory for it (I hope I posted that earlier), so now all I need is a suitable FM2+ motherboard that will fit it.

**EDIT** What do you guys think about this motherboard: I have an ASRock motherboard in my system as well & it works great. This one happens to fit my moms upcoming cpu as well: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O0PAALU?qid=1449884766&ref_=sr_1_11&refinements=p_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A2057457011%2Cp_n_feature_six_browse-bin%3A2057507011%2Cp_n_feature_seven_browse-bin%3A5657494011%2Cp_36%3A1253505011&s=pc&sr=1-11"]Amazon.com: ASRock N68-GS4 FX Socket AM3 Plus NVIDIA GeForce - MicroATX Motherboard: Computers & Accessories@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MJejUAytL.@@AMEPARAM@@51MJejUAytL[/ame]
 
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Ok so I accidently posted the wrong socket type in the last post. What do yall think about this motherboard: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PIGRGGC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER"]Amazon.com: ASRock Micro ATX DDR3 2400 FM2 Motherboard FM2A58M-VG3+ R2.0: Computers & Accessories@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51OftsyhjLL.@@AMEPARAM@@51OftsyhjLL[/ame]

It happens to be cheaper & I can use my company disc on it. Unfortunately the company doesnt sell many FM2 sockets.
 
Ok so I do want to give an update. Everything came in on the 22nd which im happy about. I did notice that the heatsink fan that came with the AMD cpu has thermal paste already embedded on it. Ive never dealt with this before. Is the pre-paste sufficient to keep the cpu cool?
 
You guys forgot a GPU. The 860K has no GPU, and it sounds like she was using the GPU on the old motherboard.
 
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