Amateur in PC Master Race

LAMDneverdies on 17/06/2017 - 13:53
Last edited 21/06/2017 - 11:03

I just bought a PC from gumtree, and it's my first PC so I'm kinda new.

So, it has:
i5-2400
GTX 670 2GB
DDR3 RAM 8 GB
HDD 500GB.

I only use it for light gaming light CS:GO and Dota 2. I have several things that bother me.
1. Multitasking seems a little bit laggy while gaming (from game window to chrome tab)
2. The CPU runs to 90 Celcius whille gaming, and the idle is 40-45

Should I upgrade the CPU or buy a new CPU fan? or any better advice?

Sorry for bad english. :D

Thanks-o'-good people of OzBargain

UPDATE: I have the SSD installed now, and everything runs great now. And also the 212X CPU cooler is installed as well. The temperature now is around 30ish idle and 55Celcius under load. Multitasking is now smoother than ever and booting is a lot faster :D

Thanks everyone! I've learn a lot from you guys. Without your comments, I would never know about what to upgrade in the PC and what to do for handling the CPU temperature. I have never know about the apps that you guys mention, like speccy, SeaTools, etc.

Now the PC runs smooth, though not as smooth as butter, but it will do the job now. If I want to do upgrading, I will follow this page as a guideline :D Thank you Everyone

Computing

Comments

  • outlander on 17/06/2017 - 14:55
    +6

    Noone else has answered so I guess I'll throw in some advice. When parts get too hot, they throttle back speed to prevent it from breaking. Cleaning off dirt and dust can improve cooling.

    Take off the heatsink, clean off the old stuff and reapply fresh thermal compound
    Watch this video for instructions

    Also if its really dusty probably good idea to give the heatsink a bit of a clean. Sometimes dust can choke up the fins

    • AMDneverdies on 17/06/2017 - 17:00

      The heatsink is pretty dusty though, that might be the problem, but I'll run a few test tonight. Thanks!! I've learned something new! :D

      • outlander on 17/06/2017 - 17:39

        No problem. One question, why didn't you get an AMD system? Seems strange to have a username like that and then pick up an Intel based machine

        • AMDneverdies on 18/06/2017 - 08:51
          +3

          I'm a simple traitor :)))))

          Nah mate, I wish one day when I'm expert in this kind of things, I'll get an AMD system for hardcore gaming :D (RX 480 and ryzen)

  • chinanumberone on 17/06/2017 - 14:59

    Your CPU is fine I reckon, upgrade ur GPU and you'll see a 500% increase. Maybe get an RX 480 or 470 if you can find one or a gtx 1050 or gtx 1050ti or if you're fancy go for the 1060 and those will do ur games just fine. A 1060and or 480 will be butter smooth

    • AMDneverdies on 17/06/2017 - 17:02

      I do have a plan on upgrading the GPU in the near future. Actually waiting for 1050 Ti deal on Ozbargain. Thank you!

      • chinanumberone on 17/06/2017 - 21:32
        +2

        Definitely consider 1060 since the 1050ti's performance will be outdated soon. The 1060 will give you solid 1080p medium settings for the next 5 years and high for now

    • sykeau on 19/06/2017 - 08:47

      500% increase? What are you talking about. Besides the GTX1050/1060 will give like 10% increase over the GTX670 just have a lower TDP so you will save some watts.
      Also he never said the gaming performance was bad, just multi-tasking which is a job of the CPU/RAM. So as the CPU is hitting 90 degrees and likely throttling as outlander mentions there is really no point touching the graphics card. It's the most expensive to upgrade…

      • chinanumberone on 19/06/2017 - 18:25

        The gtx 670 is an ancient card man the 1060 will definitely destroy it. 10% is a bit of an understatement

  • IceCreamBandit on 17/06/2017 - 15:07
    +1

    Should I upgrade the CPU or buy a new CPU fan? or any better advice?

    Near impossible to upgrade the CPU, as the socket (LGA1155 in this case) was replaced ages ago, it is a 6 year old CPU after all. If you do buy a new CPU you'll have to buy another motherboard and possibly new RAM, which means you'll have essentially wasted the money buying this build off gumtree.

    To fix your temperatures for free, do as outlander suggests and clean the fan and heatsink/fan of all the dust that would have accumulated over time.

    If you don't want to deal with the dust, just replace the heatsink entirely and get something that fits your budget. Either of these solutions will need some tech know-how, but YouTube and Google will have plenty of useful guides for you.

    • AMDneverdies on 17/06/2017 - 17:05

      Is my decision on this PC a waste? I spend like $500 for the PC.

      But thanks for the advice!

      • outlander on 17/06/2017 - 17:38
        +3

        No, if it's your first PC and you're wanting to play around with hardware as a hobby, then it's a great choice!

        As for upgrades there's a few ways you could go
        -Upgrade the CPU to an i5 3570 ($120) or an i7 3770 (~$200 used)
        -Replace the hard drive with an SSD ($100 new) <—-Best value upgrade you could make
        -Reinstall windows for a 'fresh' experience

        As well as that, I would run tests on the parts to see that it's not malfunctioning. Memtest will test the ram, that's the main one I know about, but you can find programs to stress test your CPU and graphics card as well

        Another common cause can be an underpowered power supply. Check the model and make sure it can supply the 30A from the 12V rail needed to run everything.

        • AMDneverdies on 17/06/2017 - 17:49

          The windows is reinstalled but it's not activated probably gonna buy an OEM key.
          And the PSU is 750 W, so the PC wont be underpowered :D

          I will run a few test tonight then! Thanks!

        • outlander on 17/06/2017 - 18:53

          @AMDneverdies:

          Interesting. Whats the brand?

        • AMDneverdies on 17/06/2017 - 19:06

          Unfortunately I can't spot the brand as it's already screwed tightly to the case.
          The seller mentioned it's a Cooler Master. I believe it comes together with the case.

          I spot that there's a sticker of 750W and 80 plus on the side of the PSU.

        • outlander on 17/06/2017 - 19:27

          @AMDneverdies:

          CoolerMaster is reputable. Seems like you have a pretty decent PC so I wouldn't worry about parts just yet

      • chinanumberone on 17/06/2017 - 19:27

        I think you paid a bit much for your PC. I paid 400 for i5 4670k with 16gb of ram and custom gaming fans etc. At least you are in the master race :) I mean if you had the budget there was a sale on ebay recently with gtx 1070 and i7 7700k for 1k but I reckon the 500 dollars is definitely worth it as it will last a long time

      • ATangk on 18/06/2017 - 23:59

        $500… seems like the seller got off a reaaaaaally good deal.

        • AMDneverdies on 19/06/2017 - 12:53

          did I…..spend too much on this one?

          But, yeah, it's my first time of having a PC! and it feels good :D

        • ATangk on 19/06/2017 - 13:36

          @AMDneverdies: let's just say it's next to impossible to sell a machine like that for $500.
          P2P should be much cheaper than stores.

        • AMDneverdies on 19/06/2017 - 14:11

          @ATangk: I made a bad deal then :(

          Lesson learned. Thanks man!

    • FiveDarrah on 25/06/2017 - 04:34

      Near impossible to upgrade the CPU, as the socket (LGA1155 in this case) was replaced ages ago, it is a 6 year old CPU after all.

      Very easy buying second hand. There are a TON of people selling 1155 CPUs. Plenty of people upgrading etc.

  • scrimshaw on 17/06/2017 - 15:47
    +2

    You can buy a new heatsink. It can save you the trouble of having to buy new thermal compound and cleaning off the old stuff.
    A basic heatsink is something like $25 dollars from a computer store..
    You could spend more on the heatsink if you want to, but for non-overclockers, spending like $60+ on a heatsink does not usually give you much improvements (diminishing returns).

    I also recommend buying a can of compressed air, Kmart sells them for like $5 dollars apiece.
    http://www.kmart.com.au/product/aerosol-air-duster/711897

    Use the compressed air for lighter dusting jobs and use a medium sized paintbrush or even a toothbrush to get into those nooks and crannies of the heatsink.

    Another thing you want to check apart from those:

    1. Thermals of the entire system. You can run a program called Speccy which tells you how hot your PC is, from motherboard, GPU and CPU and even the hard drive. If your GPU is running hot, it needs a clean too.

    2. SeaTools can do hard drive integrity checks. If it reports something wrong, you shouldn't the drive for much longer. Best to replace it. Try searching on eBay for a sizable ssd and use coupon code to get a bargain.

    • kywst on 17/06/2017 - 17:11

      wtf is speccy? HWMonitor like a normal penguin?

      • scrimshaw on 17/06/2017 - 17:13

        I prefer HWmonitor but 3/5 times it crashes my system when it starts collecting data.

        • kywst on 17/06/2017 - 17:14

          report like a good penguin :)

    • AMDneverdies on 17/06/2017 - 17:12

      Probably I will buy the Hyper Evo 212 Heatsink like what wingwang mentioned. It's $55 but it could drop 20 degree celcius, so not a bad choice right?

      And I used Open Hardware Monitor to check the temperature, but I'll try those programs that you mentioned.

      Thanks!

      • [Deactivated] on 17/06/2017 - 17:15

        my cpu temps didnt drop 20 degrees… they dropped to 20 degrees

        I was using a stock cooler with pretty much the same cpu. had same issues eventually, re-applying thermal paste might help you a bit, I plopped this cooler on (Read the reviews) and it sits at a comfy 20 degrees pretty much all year around… sometimes goes to 35 degrees when its under load

        im using a 6870 gpu.

      • scrimshaw on 17/06/2017 - 17:15

        You can buy whatever heatsink you like, Heatsinks are universal and can be carried across builds. Could be overkill now but later down the road you might want to OC a bit.

        I still have a Hyper TX3 ($33) from like… dunno, 6 years ago? Still usable.

        Though you should think about saving some money for an SSD, a very crucial part if you want increased responsiveness.

        • AMDneverdies on 17/06/2017 - 17:34

          I was thinking about buying Kingston 120GB SSD for like $75 from MSY for Windows booting, and the games will be downloaded in the 500GB HDD.

          Is it a good idea?

        • scrimshaw on 17/06/2017 - 17:36
          +2

          @AMDneverdies:

          240GB is the sweet spot when you consider the amount you pay per gigabyte of storage.

          128GB is fine. Make sure you don't end up buying the older Kingston V300, this is a lousy SSD with terrible speeds.

        • outlander on 17/06/2017 - 19:35

          @AMDneverdies:

          I'm with Scrimshaw on this one, 240gb is best value at the moment. You can pick up a sandisk here for $120. After ebay coupon, just $100 and includes post
          or pay an extra $5 and get a case included

          edit: if your in melbourne I'll give you $10 for that case :)

        • AMDneverdies on 17/06/2017 - 21:57

          @outlander: I'll buy one now! :D Thanks! Unfortunately I'm not in Melbourne :(

        • gimli on 18/06/2017 - 22:58

          @AMDneverdies:
          SSD is a very good idea!

  • [Deactivated] on 17/06/2017 - 15:54

    I have an i5-2320, your cpu is fine don't bother buying a new one.

    you just need to buy a Hyper Evo 212, clean the thermal paste off your current cpu and screw the Evo in place… will drop your temps to 20-30 degrees celcius

    https://www.mwave.com.au/product/cooler-master-hyper-212x-cp…

    55 bucks could prob look elsewhere that will solve all your problems

    • airal3rt on 17/06/2017 - 16:26
      +1

      Hyper Evo 212 is massive overkill for a locked processor, they don't run hot at all once you've properly reapplied thermal paste.

      Hyper Evo 212 is for unlocked processors like i5-2500k where you're overclocking them and increasing the voltage, that's when they generate enough heat to warrant a $55 aftermarket cooler.

    • AMDneverdies on 17/06/2017 - 17:32

      I found a cheaper price at Kogan for $58.21 shipped. Should I get it from Kogan? As I don't have a car and Mwave is too far for me. (Mwave would cost like $60 shipped)

      • misu p on 19/06/2017 - 08:42

        No, do not get that, as other pointed out you cannot even overcloak your CPU, just clean the one you have and put the 50+ AUD towards a new GPU. Or get a SDD, it will make a world of difference.

  • Diji1 on 17/06/2017 - 18:13
    +2

    The laggy multitasking is likely due to hard disk being accessed for caching (swap and browser).

    Solution: get SSD, install Windows and programs you want to load fast such as games on it.

    • AMDneverdies on 17/06/2017 - 19:07
      +1

      Thanks mate! I do have a plan of getting a SSD in the near future. Still looking for a deal of a good and cheap SSD.

      • chinanumberone on 17/06/2017 - 20:26

        Get one now. So many ebay deals there's no reason to miss out. Find one with a base price of 160 for 500gb and 20 dollar off code and wallah 140, thats what I did at least SSDs are a major lifesaver

        • donnot on 17/06/2017 - 22:42

          $160 for a 500GB SSD before discount, where is this magical pricing?!

        • chinanumberone on 17/06/2017 - 22:52

          I was lucky to find the crucial MX300 for 160 from this new zealand company, sold out in 4 hours

  • donnot on 17/06/2017 - 22:23
    +1

    As others have said, stick with the current cooler- clean the thermal paste off, buy a tube of this (just use the tube), re-apply, and place the heatsink back in place.

    You can't overclock a 2400 and the only tangible benefit you'll get from the 212 is a reduction in noise under load. Temperatures will obviously be lowered, but the Stock cooler should be more than enough to keep it within a safe temperature range.

    • AMDneverdies on 18/06/2017 - 08:52

      Alright then, gonna try reapplying thermal paste and cleaning off the heatsink,

      But if it's still the same, then probably gonna buy the 212x :D

      Thanks!

      • donnot on 18/06/2017 - 12:31

        The Hyper TX3 Evo would be plenty and is almost 1/2 the price of the 212X: here.

        • AMDneverdies on 18/06/2017 - 17:23

          I end up buying a 212X instead of TX3. Tough decision

          The thermal paste and cleaning doesn't seem to improve much, probably cause I did it wrong

          My opinion is that a $20 more could bring the CPU down to 20C idle and probably less than 60C when under load… so yeah…. stupid me..

          Who knows I might upgrade the CPU to the one that can overclock :D

        • donnot on 18/06/2017 - 17:29

          @AMDneverdies:

          Need to make sure that the motherboard supports overclocking first (P67/Z68/Z77 chipset) if you do decide to upgrade the CPU. Without that, you can do base-clock overclocking but I'd advise highly against that since it also increases the clocks of various other components on the motherboard and can cause damage.

        • AMDneverdies on 18/06/2017 - 18:14

          @donnot: Alright! Thanks for teaching me! :D

  • iforgotmysocks on 18/06/2017 - 08:31

    Welcome comrade.

    SSD and a GTX 1060. The standard intel fan should be fine if it's seated properly.

    • AMDneverdies on 18/06/2017 - 08:54

      SSD : tick,
      GTX 1060: no money atm :(

      But the 670 runs pretty good already, gonna see the changes when the SSD comes.

  • Tech and cars on 18/06/2017 - 23:01

    SSD - would be the first step. See how you go with using the computer with just that.

    Also are you running at 1920 x 1080? What resolution are you playing games at? If 4k then you need a more powerful card. Otherwise, you should be okay for a while with what you have :) good luck!

    • AMDneverdies on 19/06/2017 - 12:23

      I played only at 1080p. So far I only played CS GO and Dota 2,and they can run up to 120 fps on highest setting.
      SSD is still on its way :D

  • Kiato on 19/06/2017 - 01:33
    +1

    Just a FYI I know a lot of people are suggesting getting a 1060 / 480/470. Defiantly hold off on that for now. With this mining craze going on the prices of cards are going way up ( I think off the top of my head at work it's about 30% increase due to people literally buying pallets loads of 580's ) so hold off on the card for now who knows you maybe able to pick on up on gumtree in a few months when the bubble burst.

    The 212 is a good cooler and will last a long time so don't fret to much on that decision you can use it on your next build, they are fairly solid coolers. Watch some videos online YouTube has a multitude of videos on how to speed up you computer for cheap ( jayz2cents, linustechtips, gaming nexus etc) most will have a couple vids about general maintenance and how to care for the system.

    The canned air works well for cleaning just becareful of condensation. but try a little elbow grease with a toothbrush first then blow it out to finish up. The thing will run good again.

    Also you may want to consider upgrading your ram to 16 gig in the not to distant future.

  • Ravensbane on 19/06/2017 - 07:23

    Recently upgraded my 5yr old system that is rather close to yours. Was a i5 2500 and a 680. I generally had to run everything medium on my 2560x1440 monitor to get decent frames. Whacked in a 1080 and now run everything maxed at the same resolution with no dramas at all. Well worth the upgrade but even a 1070 would have seen massive gains. Only thing now that I want to do, and you should as well, is another 8gb of ram.

    tldr; put in a GTX 1070 and another 8gb of ram and you will be set!
    And a heat sink/better cooling would be worthwhile. If you are hitting 90oC in winter then would hate to see the temps in summer..

    • AMDneverdies on 19/06/2017 - 12:32

      I only play light games, but probably wanna try to play some hardcore gaming.
      But I don't know what to play. Mind if you share some titles? :D

      I will work to cover my expenses, then if I have some money left, I will read this page again for upgrading guidance :D

      I've bought the 212X but haven't install it as I have exams going….

      • Ravensbane on 19/06/2017 - 17:09

        Depends what you are into. Personally have become a fan of survival games. So both Ark Survival Evolved and Conan Exiles are great fun and both look great maxed out. Also some good mmos out there like Black Desert and really enjoying Final Fantasy XIV atm. Grand theft Auto 5 is always great fun. As is Ghost Recon Wildlands and Battlefield 1.

        Without knowing game types you are into its hard to really recommend much :)

  • DiscoJango on 19/06/2017 - 08:49

    SSDeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

  • misu p on 19/06/2017 - 08:51

    Why do you even bother asking people if you do not take their advice?

    1 person said buy a Hyper Evo 212 everybody else said it is a waste and you go ahead and buy one anyway.

    From your initial post you sound like a guy that wants to save money, you pay 500 AUD for the PC and then go and buy a 60 AUD cooler for a non K processor? stop waiting people's time.

    • AMDneverdies on 19/06/2017 - 12:45

      Sorry man, but I am really new in this kind of field.

      I've tried reapplying the thermal paste and clean the heatsink, but the result was not much different (decreases by 2-5 Celcius), probably because I'm doing it wrong.

      The reason I bought the 212X is that it will cool the CPU significantly as the last time I played CSGO, the CPU runs till 96 C and it really concerns me a lot. I'm a little paranoiac.
      Ever since from the 96 C, I've stopped playing games for a while and keep reading this page, then I decided to buy it, luckily I got it for $50 from MSY

      And 212X might make this PC runs longer than it should. But I don't know, my decision could be wrong in buying the 212X, maybe buying the PC itself is wrong as well.

      But at least I learn a lot of things from the people that replied to my post.

      Thanks.

  • Abaddon on 19/06/2017 - 09:03

    Lots of good advice. I think the Hyper 212 is a great idea personally. I bought one for my i5 750 and ran it at 4Ghz for about 3 years. I also kept it for my Ryzen build (just needed to spend another $10 for a new bracket).

    In the meantime have you tried using a browser in game (either Steam Overlay, or Origin in-game, etc)? Not as nice a browsing experience, but it should keep you from a massive task switch.

    • AMDneverdies on 19/06/2017 - 12:47

      Like running Chrome and CS GO at the same time? I've tried that one, and it's laggy…

      Probably when the SSD comes, the lag will be gone :D`

      • scrimshaw on 19/06/2017 - 13:21

        You might want to run Geekbench.
        http://geekbench.com/

        Install the program, then turn off any apps and close all windows, including closing off any background apps such as Steam, Onedrive, Dropbox, Antivirus and messenger applications.
        Run the benchmark and don't touch the PC.

        Then go to this Result and compare the scores.

        If your scores are less, or different (more than 15% percent less) then I think your computer might still have a problem. Could be throttling issue.

        • AMDneverdies on 19/06/2017 - 14:12

          Thanks!

          Here's the result. http://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/3164059

          It runs pretty much the same, so that means the PC is okay, right?

        • scrimshaw on 19/06/2017 - 14:17

          @AMDneverdies:

          looks fine.

          The lag may be storage based — so upgrading your hdd to ssd should fix most of your problems with hangs and delays.

          gaming performance is GPU based, so look at running MSI afterburner and pay attention to how hot your GPU runs when a game is running.

        • AMDneverdies on 19/06/2017 - 14:33

          @scrimshaw: Alright! thanks!

          So far, the GPU runs below 40Celcius when gaming. I used speccy, like you mentioned days ago.

      • Abaddon on 19/06/2017 - 15:27

        Not running Chrome outside of the game. But entering Steam overlay (unless you have disabled it), the default key command to open it being Shift+F1 and using the browser in there.

  • belongsinforums on 24/06/2017 - 06:43

    turn on PM in ozbargain m8

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