mint rose
I’ve had this machine since I was a kid in 2012. It started as a basic office unit with an i3-2100 and no dedicated GPU. For years, I gamed on integrated graphics until 2018, when I finally added an AMD R7 240. I rocked that setup for a long time, but I’ve recently been struggling to play anything I like so I finally had to ugprade.
Also about the storage. It originally shipped with a 500 GB HDD. Around 2015/16, I added a generic Yunhaitian Y6-120G SSD (120 GB) to speed up the system, and in 2019, I replaced the aging 500 GB factory drive with a 1 TB WD Blue HDD for more storage.
I ran 4 stock GB of RAM till like 2021 when I added a 8GB stick and bumped it up to 12. Then recently added 3 matching sticks of 2GB each with that 8GB to get 14.
A few weeks ago, I finally retired the i3 and swapped in the legendary i7-2600K. It’s a night and day difference. Currently, the build is sitting at 14GB of mixed DDR3 RAM, which is a bit of a Frankenstein configuration, but it's stable. I've had to disable, "Package C State limit" and "Enhanced SpeedStep" in BIOS to stop my PC from freezing every 5 minutes after getting that new CPU. I assume this is due to the RAM configuration but any feedback is appreciated. As for the cooler I'm using a stock Intel cooler with a cooper pad I ran the PC whole night and temps stayed bellow 30c.
Everything else is the OEM stock of course the PSU, motherboard and any other unmentioned things. The DVD drive also no longer reads DVDs sadly only CDs.
I'm currently saving up my money to finish the transformation:
GPU: Swapping the old R7 240 for a GTX 1650 (the best no-pin power card for this PSU). Any other suggestions are welcome. RAM: Replacing the odd sticks with another 8GB HyperX module to match my existing one, giving me a clean 16GB in dual channel
Yes you can diss my cable management, I really don't know how to do it I tried but cables are too tight I also have no zip ties only rubber bands. Tips and tricks are welcome.