Buddy of mine is looking to upgrade his PC and has asked me to get him a price.

I built his current one, which was roughly 17 years ago now, still running Windows 7.... yup defiantly time for a upgrade lol

His primary usage is email, facebook, youtube and general internet use, so nothing fancy. No gaming or anything like that, and wanting to stay under $1000

I put this list together over a year ago already when he had first talked about finally upgrading and sadly I have been out of the PC building loop for way too long and don't really have a good feel on what's still "relevant" anymore.

Current plan is..

MSI B550-A Pro MoBo, AMD Ryzen 5 5500 Processor, 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3600, MSI Gaming RTX 3050 Ventus GPU and 1TB Samsung 990 pro NVME SSD.

The GPU I know is overkill for his needs but at $176, it was the better of the available options. I am stuck on the motherboard and processor tho. At the time the B550 line was a good option for a general use, but I don't really know anymore if there are any "latest, greatest, newest" options that would be a better way to go to keep this build relevant for longer.

I'm currently sitting at $530 and could go a bit higher on price if needed.

Don't forget a new PSU

quote:

Originally posted by oldbill123:
Don't forget a new PSU

Yup. I know I replaced that... maybe two years ago, but can't remember what it was anymore. I'm sure it won't be usable with the new board tho.

How about something like this?

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/wJBwrM

Includes Windows 11, and a PSU for $600. Uses onboard graphics.

I'm guessing you're reusing the case?

quote:

Originally posted by Skull Leader:
How about something like this?

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/wJBwrM

Includes Windows 11, and a PSU for $600. Uses onboard graphics.

I'm guessing you're reusing the case?

Thanks, I will defiantly pass that on as a option. I've never done much with Intel stuff so never really thought to see what they had

The case is getting reused and he hasn't decided yet if he want's to go to Win 10 or 11. He has played with both and is kinda leaning to 10. I am kinda hoping the PSU will be reusable, but knowing how old the motherboard is, I doubt it will be.

End of support for Windows 10 is October 2025, so 11 looks like a better long term choice for security updates. That he's still running windows 7 is a testament to his perseverance - 7 was a real turd.

I'll second the intel recommendation just for the integrated graphics on the CPU. I've also built quite a few of the Intel (now Asus) NUC mini PC's. Add storage, memory, and an OS and you're done.

For my MIL, we got her off PC and into a new iPad air with a keyboard for her online needs. She wasn't confident in the PC complexity and we were nervous she would click herself into trouble. She spent the summer with us last year during the transition and it only took her a few days to settle in. Far fewer support calls now :-).