Assistance with selective components for a home PC

[karthik316_1999]

Hi.. I’m trying to make use of few components from my very old pc to build a basic general usage desktop..

Existing components

CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE
MOBO - Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 ATX
GPU - MSI Cyclone R6850 1GB
RAM - 8 GB
Existing Keyboard & Mouse

Can i get economical but decent quality suggestions for the following components please

• 1TB SATA SSD
• PSU (not sure of the wattage needed)
• ATX Cabinet (one with atleast 2 x front USB 3.0 ports & headphone jack in the front).. don’t need any fancy RGB lighting within..

Thanks!

 

[bssunilreddy]

Hi.. I’m trying to make use of few components from my very old pc to build a basic general usage desktop..

Existing components

CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE
MOBO - Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 ATX
GPU - MSI Cyclone R6850 1GB
RAM - 8 GB
Existing Keyboard & Mouse

Can i get economical but decent quality suggestions for the following components please

• 1TB SATA SSD
• PSU (not sure of the wattage needed)
• ATX Cabinet (one with atleast 2 x front USB 3.0 ports & headphone jack in the front).. don’t need any fancy RGB lighting within..

Thanks!

*computechstore.in/product/biwin-m100-1tb-sata-ssd/

*computechstore.in/product/cooler-master-mwe-450-v2-smps/

*computechstore.in/product/antec-vsk4000b-u3-cabinet-black/

 

[karthik316_1999]

Thanks for the PSU and cabby recommendation !

Looking at the price of the SSD, guess i will have to make use of my old 500 GB 2.5 inch sata laptop HDD which is currently in an enclosure being used as an external storage.. I also have a 250 GB 3.5 inch sata desktop HDD..

Though i prefer the 2.5 inch one due to more storage space, could you confirm if it’s possible to mount it inside a cabinet and if there is a better pick amongst the two in terms of performance?

Also, i aim to add bluetooth (for being able to pair wireless earphones to join teams/Gchat calls) and wifi connectivity to the desktop.. Can you please recommend a device for the same..? Strong and stable connectivity along with non interference (there will be other wireless & bluetooth devices around) is the primary need.. Im not sure if i need to go for external dongles (which might need 2 separate devices) or an internally mountable device combining both the functionalities..?

Thanks again for your time..

 

[patkim]

Though i prefer the 2.5 inch one due to more storage space, could you confirm if it’s possible to mount it inside a cabinet and if there is a better pick amongst the two in terms of performance?

I have not checked the components...this is a general suggestion.

HDD performance (assuming all are SATA III) is somewhat based on Disk RPM (5400, 7200 RPM etc) & Cache size. Higher the better. I always prefer 2.5” as they run cooler but are generally 5400 RPM

If the cabinet does not have horizontal 2.5” Bay then you can use a 2.5” to 3.5” mounting adapter to mount it safely in 3.5” bay. Avoid mounting spinning HDD (2.5”) vertically! For example..

*www.amazon.in/RuhZa-Mounting-Bracket-Converts-Notebook/dp/B0BB9Z293Z

If I correctly understand your mobo is quite old and chances are that it won’t have front USB 3.0 connector on it. If so you might possibly as well need a USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 pinout adapter to use the front USB 3.0 ports. They will downgrade to USB 2.0 though.
For example..

*www.amazon.in/ikis-Header-Female-Motherboard-Adapter/dp/B0BTX4NK12

 

[karthik316_1999]

HDD performance (assuming all are SATA III) is somewhat based on Disk RPM (5400, 7200 RPM etc) & Cache size. Higher the better. I always prefer 2.5” as they run cooler but are generally 5400 RPM

If the cabinet does not have horizontal 2.5” Bay then you can use a 2.5” to 3.5” mounting adapter to mount it safely in 3.5” bay. Avoid mounting spinning HDD (2.5”) vertically!

Sure.. I will take a look at the RPM & cache size of both the HDD's and take a call..

If I correctly understand your mobo is quite old and chances are that it won’t have front USB 3.0 connector on it. If so you might possibly as well need a USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 pinout adapter to use the front USB 3.0 ports. They will downgrade to USB 2.0 though.

You were correct.. My mobo does not have a front USB 3.0 connector on it.. Thank you for pointing that out! I'm definitely going to need that adapter..

With regards to the Wifi & Bluetooth connectivity, I just came across these 2 devices..

An external dongle @ Rs.1400/-

**www.tp-link.com/in/home-networking/adapter/archer-tx10ub-nano/
**www.amazon.in/TP-Link-Archer-TX10UB-Nano-Directional/dp/B0DQXSRGQ4/

An internal PCIe card @ Rs.3400/-

**www.tp-link.com/in/home-networking/pci-adapter/archer-tx50e/
**www.amazon.in/TP-Link-Archer-TX50E-Bluetooth-Ultra-Low/dp/B087ML9XMX/

Looking at the price difference, I believe the internal card looks more robust in terms of performance..

The 'PCIe 2.0 x16_1 slot (blue, at x 16 link)' on the mobo is going to hold this sort of bulky GPU..

**in.msi.com/Graphics-Card/R6850_Cyclone_1GD5_Power_EditionOC/Gallery

Before ordering the PCIe card, wanted to know if I can possibly fit both these cards on the mobo without any space issues?
I'm afraid that the 'PCIe 2.0 x16_1' & 'PCIe 2.0 x1' slots are very close to each other.. Here is a close-up of the slots for your reference..

If you can goto Page 37 on the below manual please..

***theretroweb.com/motherboard/manual/e5888-m4a88td-v-evo-usb3-contents-v2-print-65e75e2647bdb117516276.pdf

 

[patkim]

The expansion slots are generally standard size and spacing as per the ATX specs.
The GPU extends to second slot on the component side not PCB backside.

So there should be no difficulty in installing that pcie card into the very first x1 slot.
Despite if there are issues or you feel things are too tight, x16 slot is always backward compatible with x1!
So you can safely install it into the next PCIe 2.0 x16_2 slot (gray, at x 4 link). Only 1 lane will be used and rest of the lanes will remain unused.

What OS you plan to use or can be installed on that old Mobo?
This wifi card has support for Win 10/11. It may or may not work reliably with older Windows and there’s no mention of Linux.

 

[karthik316_1999]

Do you mean i could install the GPU in the grey slot as an alternative.. Will that cause any slowness in the GPU or bottleneck its capacity? Sorry I’m not too techy to understand the ‘lanes’ concept..

And i plan to install Win 10 only..

 

[patkim]

I am referring to the WiFi PCIe (x1) card that you plan to buy. Not the GPU. GPU stays wherever it already is.
PCIe x1 can be installed in x16 slot. This x16 slot is fully backward compatible with x1.
Just that rest of the space and lanes go waste.
This is an alternative only if you find that WiFi card is too tight for the given space between x1 slot & current GPU.

 

[karthik316_1999]

Got it !
Just one more stumbling block before I assemble this PC..
Looks like there are no Win 10 drivers for my mobo on Asus website
Same way, there are no Win 8.1 drivers for the tp link Pcie card on their website

3.5k will be a costly mistake for me to realize that the card is not compatible with the PC after buying it..
Any alternate suggestions or workarounds?

 

[quicky008]

don't waste funds getting discrete wifi and BT cards for such an old build-get a usb based 2-in-1 adapter-i am using one for my old pc (Ant esports ae 600B) and i can use BT in tandem with wifi at the same time without any issues-also the drivers for it are included in the device itself,so no external drivers are needed.Also,its an economical choice as it costs just around Rs 600 (amazon).If it ever malfunctions (hopefully it wont anytime soon),you can just discard it and buy another one!


I am personally not in favour of installing any pci based cards for long term usage-in my older pcs i used to have pci based sound cards,usb extension cards etc and they didn't last very long and stopped working unpredictably.

 

[karthik316_1999]

There is a story behind me searching for a robust BT solution.. My 2 year old PC with inbuilt Wifi and BT on the mobo (MSI B550M Pro VDH WIFI) struggled sooo much with connecting to my earphones and maintaining a stable connection.. I literally had to suffer a lot from the connection being dropped suddenly and a crackling audio output etc.. even when i was sitting right next to the cabinet.. Spent a full day playing around with drivers, windows settings, windows services, BIOS updates and what not !

Can you guess what solved the problem just in a second? Connecting external antennas behind the motherboard.. I actually misplaced the ones that came with the mobo, so used the antennas from one of my old router.. and the issue was fixed instantly.. this solution / tip was not mentioned in any of the troubleshooting articles i read online except for a comment on a YouTube video that i noticed after having fixed the issue..

This just makes me think that a strong reception is very essential for a stable BT connection and hence the search for pcie cards with dual external antennas !

Let me know if my understanding is wrong and that external adapters are more or atleast as stable as the pcie ones with antennas..

 

[quicky008]

I have used various bt and wifi adapters till date from various brands(usb based), unless you use some generic chinese adapter you are unlikely to face any major issues. However my observation is based on my experience with my own setup where most peripherals are placed in close proximity of my pc-if you are planning to keep them far apart from each other, then you may consider using separate adapters with external antennas (available from tp link) for a more stable connection.

 

[karthik316_1999]

Thank you for the clarity.. Though my Bluetooth devices will be placed/used nearby the pc.. the wifi router is a bit away from the desk.. so i guess a pcie card with an antenna will be a better choice..

Will try to procure this one..

*www.tp-link.com/in/home-networking/pci-adapter/archer-tx50e/v3/

Edit : I’m hoping that the device mentioned as compatible with windows 10/11 works with my windows 8.1 with atleast some generic drivers..

Thank you once again to all the contributors !

 

[karthik316_1999]

Almost forgot another device that might be needled for this pc to run.. an UPS !

My primary desktop is already connected to an APC BX 1100C - IN 660W UPS..

Config as below :
Ryzen 5 5600
MSI B550M PRO VDH WIFI
ASUS RX6600 8GB
1 TB SSD + 500 GB HDD
Corsair GS 600 PSU
(Monitor not connected to the UPS)

Now, i just need to know if the above UPS will be able to handle both my primary PC as well as the secondary one that I’m building now..?

Secondary PC specs once again:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE
Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 ATX
MSI Cyclone R6850 1GB
250 GB HDD
Cooler master MWE 450w V2 PSU (to buy)
(The monitor on this PC will also NOT be connected to the UPS)

All that i expect from the UPS is about 5 minutes of runtime on both the PC’s with just enough time for me to shut them down.. Will it handle?

 

[quicky008]

yes if both of them are idling-but if one of them is running some CPU-gpu intensive application such as a game and it draws several hundred watts during this period then your ups may not be able to handle the combined load of both pcs and may trip/restart unexpectedly.

I remember reading somewhere that even though this model ie the BX 1100c is rated at 660 watts,it begins to falter when the total load reaches around 450-500 W-therefore it may not be able to cope with the total load of both pcs when both of them are running actively and drawing significant amounts of power.

dont use both of them at the same time to be on the safer side.