Older aspire x3470 upgrades possible?

Deffie
Deffie Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
in Aspire and Veriton Desktops
Hello!

I recently fell without a computer and a Friends mother was so kind tot give me her old , not so fast working Acer aspire X x3470 (a compact Tower pc).

It is a not so loved desktop in think as there is not terrible much info about it on thé forum.

I would want to upgrade this pc a bit (low Cost)
To make it run Windows (or even dual boot a Linux distro) quiet easy and be abble to play thé occasional grand strategy game on steam.

I did purchase already thé Samsung Evo 870 SSD 500gb and Will buy 2 extra 4gb ram dimm modules (not yet Shure of exact speed)

I have opende up thé pc and there is not much space . Only one 3.5 HDD 1tb, a DVD reader
And a smalle graphics card. 

Specs : AMD A6 (F1 A75 BUILD) 3620 QUAD CORE 2.1GHZ
AMD Radeon HD 8470 2Gb (low profile 35w)
4 slots with 2x 4gb DDR3 dimm .,.... (Max 16gb)

I am quiet a beginner in building and cleaning up computers. And first pc with AMD.
what woud be possible as upgrade for thé A6 chip and Radeon graphics card? woud thé same A8 and 10 work on this motherboard? Of even neWer ones?
What kind of stronger graphicscard 2GB wouLd work in this smalle slot ( as this one has no extra cooling or power. PCI 2.1 x16)

MANY THANKS FOR YOUR MUCH APPRICIATED ADVICE.

of more info of foto's needed please say so.

Thanks
           




«13

Answers

  • ttttt
    ttttt Member Posts: 1,947 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    @Deffie

    I believe you have already started doing the right things, that is, getting the SATA SSD. That is the best value upgrade for an old PC. Your PC has FM1 socket, whatever CPU you want to upgrade would have been still belonging to that era, that also means not much improvements. 
    As for memory, I would suggest you open up Task Manager and  check the memory tab and monitor the memory usage closely, see if your PC is approaching the RAM limit. If not, there is no urgent need to increase the RAM. If you still want to do it, it is DDR3 1333MHz.

    As I checked on your PC, I stumbled on something that may be helpful to you. Check this link:
    https://www.manualslib.com/manual/232906/Acer-Aspire-X3470.html?page=34#manual

    If I were you, I will not put too much upgrades on this old PC. It is already a longevity PC, just do not know how much longer you still can keep it. Having too many upgrades will bring the cost close to or even higher than a new entry level PC now. For example, I saw an Acer TC-391 with 10th gen Intel CPU and M.2 NVme SSD for around USD $420 last week. A very good deal! Your current PC is just fell many classes behind it as far as performance's concern.

    Once again, the SATA3 SSD is the best value and performance upgrade that I strongly recommend you to do. Be sure to migrate the Windows to the SATA3 SSD and make that the new boot drive. At least do this upgrade first and see if you are satisfied with the new performance before doing the other not so effective upgrades. Even if your current PC will fail, you still can apply it to the future PC, whereas the upgraded CPU , RAM sticks, and probably graphics card cannot be used for the new PC. 
  • Deffie
    Deffie Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    Hello tttt,

    Thanks for your helpfull reply.
    I feared thé pc wouLd indeed not be really worthwhile anymore.

    I Will give it a try as you suggest with thé SSD.
    Maybe it Can only use for internet or smaller tasks or a Linux distro.

    I did find thé slightly faster CPU A8 3820 chip for 27€ , but this wouLd still not be worthwhile Then?

    Many thanks for your given advice again
  • ttttt
    ttttt Member Posts: 1,947 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    @Deffie

    You probably are not living in the U.S. I saw that from B&H Photo for ~USD $420. However, if you can find Acer in where you live and have the model number, the price difference should not be big.

    Depending on what you want to do with the current PC, say, if you just do internet surfing, E-mails, pay bills... etc. , upgrading with the SATA3 SSD will still do it. We are talking about increasing the Sequential read speed of ~550 MB/s vs. 105 MB/s, a big difference here.
    Just don't think about serious video editing and heavy gaming and you probably will find it barely acceptable.
  • Deffie
    Deffie Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    Ok , thank you.

    Ik checked prices here in Belgium. The tc 391is here for 580+ €
    I wouLd use it for Time being untill saving up again for a good laptop. For basic things. Thé gaming is not a nécessity.

    I Will put in thé New SSD and give it a try.

    Thanks for thé advice!!

    Best regards
  • ttttt
    ttttt Member Posts: 1,947 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    @Deffie

    My mistake, that is an AMD CPU. But the performance is comparable with 10th gen Intel CPU though.

    For your reference:
    https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1638836-REG/acer_dt_bgaaa_001_tc_391_ur11_r3_4300g.html

    Keep us posted after the SSD upgrade.
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer
    Make sure you get DDR3 1333 memory and not DDR3L. The chipset is designed for the 1.5V memory and not for the lower voltage used in the DDR3L. Also, the system came originally with Windows 7, so don't expect anything like 10th gen performance. It should run Windows 10 (64bit) OK and the SSD will be a huge improvement over a HDD.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Deffie
    Deffie Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    Many thanks for all your advices!

    I will post progression s and results here. I Will start upgrading After thé comming week.

    Best regards
  • Deffie
    Deffie Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    Hello again ,

    I wanted to ask something.
    I haven't installed Windows on the SSD yet( the former owner is still a couple days on a trip and  I forgot to ask the password when I got the pc)

    I did check the other components , for possible upgrades if I like the pc.
    Now The RAM modules inside are 2x4gb of HDDR3-1600 256MX8 (ELPIDA)
    Are these still 1333speed?  Or should I better look for similar ram modules for compatability, there are some on eBay and they are cheaper then the ddr3 1333.

    Many thanks again
    Best regards




  • ttttt
    ttttt Member Posts: 1,947 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    @Deffie

    The picture shows the RAM stick is one with 1600 MHz speed, higher than the 1333MH. However, there are limits that will restrict the speed the PC can utilize, because of either the motherboard limit or the CPU limit, whichever is slowest.

    One thing to verify is after logging-in, go to Task Manager and check the Performance tab, and look at the Memory section. You can see how fast the memory is running at. I bet it will be 1333MHz. From there, you can also tell how much RAM is being used. If the reserve is still a comfortable margin, you do not have need for another RAM stick yet, unless you want to enable dual channel performance for little faster performance.

    Anyhow, it is a good idea to buy the RAM stick that matches the same spec of original RAM stick unless the new one will be significantly more expensive. So, it is up to you. Both the 1600 and 1333 sticks will work, but I believe will be running at 1333 MHz.
  • ttttt
    ttttt Member Posts: 1,947 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    @Deffie

    I missed something. You mentioned there are 2 x 4 GB modules. Normally 8 GB should be adequate for non-gaming and serious video editing tasks.
  • Deffie
    Deffie Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    ok thank you.
    Maybe I can ask this too, the motherboard has 4 slots 2green and 2 black , I read you should install new ram according to the procedure for the MB to not have blue screen of death.
    I looked at the manual for this pc , and the combinations for rammodules is strange:
    Do I need different sizes? Also there is a max of 8 Gb ram instead of 16gb mentioned in other posts on the forum. Bit confusing.
  • Deffie
    Deffie Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    I should not need to but extra ram then :)
    16gb will not increase performance of the OS?
  • Deffie
    Deffie Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    I think it already runs in dual channel, as the 2 x4gb are in same colour slot.

    Thanks for your advice again , when I can loggin with a pasword I will check everything as you suggested.
  • ttttt
    ttttt Member Posts: 1,947 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    @Deffie

    Normally, fill up the two slots of the same color first. If additional RAM needed ( I believe for your case, you don't need that), get two more sticks for the still open two slots to make all slots occupied.

    16GB will not increase performance, unless your usage hit the 8 GB existing limit. Many people like to add RAM to the limit of the PC. I just use RAM capacities to the point that I predict that may probably be used. Actual usage probably may not reach half of that.

    Again, upgrade the SATA3 SSD first before you determine further upgrades needed.
  • Deffie
    Deffie Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    Hello again,

    Before I can actually start installing windows .
    I just realized fitting a 2.5 SSD is not so easy in this Acer aspire x3470 .
    The original 3.5 HDD is bolted in the bracket itself and these are the only 4 screwholes there. which won't fit the SSD.
    I searched for pc brackets but these are for building in large tower pc's. With side screws . 
    Is  there some kind of 3.5 tray where a SSD would fit in so I can put it in the 3.5 hdd's place ? With the same holes as a 3.5 HDD.

    would Acer at some point have provided such parts for sale? 
    Is there a name for the bracket that's currently in this Acer aspire x3470?

    Many thanks already , i will search further on the net , haven't found it yet 😳


    Ps: The big box under de HDD is the dvd player




  • Larryodie
    Larryodie Member Posts: 1,658 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    Why not leave it hanging as nothing is mechanical ? Just assure that it has air flow. 
  • ttttt
    ttttt Member Posts: 1,947 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    @Deffie

    I would partially agree with @Larryodie that don't bother with getting a custom adapter from Acer or whatever manufacturer, and save time.

    If I were you, I'll just use a couple of masking tapes or Gorilla Tapes to fix the SSD to the interior bottom of the PC, your PC is old anyway, try minimize the amount of money to be spent on it if possible. In one of my desktop PC, I just use Gorilla Tape to fix the SSD and the connection is surprisingly strong, having the fact that I occasionally remove the data wire and connect it to another HDD. SSDs consumes less power than old HDD and run cooler. There is another advantage for mounting the SSD flat at the interior bottom of the chassis, as the bottom can act as a heat sink ( anyway, heating is not a problem for SATA3 SSDs in general).

     For your case, you just do it once and probably will not open the PC again for a while. Save up the money for a future PC instead.
  • ttttt
    ttttt Member Posts: 1,947 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    @Deffie

    Oh, I have forgotten to mention. Unless you want to do a brand new clean install , otherwise you have no need to install Windows again with the new 2.5" SATA3 SSD. You can use cloning software or restore an image previously created from Windows to make the new SSD you boot drive.
  • Deffie
    Deffie Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    Thanks for the tip.
    It rises maybe another question
    I noticed there is a third spare (sata??)connector on the motherboard just like the ones the HDD cable an the dvd cable are connected to , could I use this maybe to connect a second hd For storage? Or connect the SSD via this cable?
    I am not Shure if there is a spare connector for the other cable that goes on to the HDD now , as there are always 2 cables needed.

    Gorilla tape is that like those common strong  tapes (black or grey colour)?

    Thanks again for the advice!
  • Deffie
    Deffie Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    I probably try aclean install, as the lady told she might suspect there is some malware on the windows, it behaved strange.  She asked if I could wipe the disk .
    I thought I might bring over the windows key to my Microsoft account and use it to activate the fresh install on the SSD . Should I expect trouble if trying to install via USB install media at boot on the new SSD?I know how to change to boot from the usb.
    I had also the idea of upgrading the bios to the newest version via USB too , before installing . Maybe even removingand replacing the CMOS battery first . To really start clean.

    Would that be wise ?

    Best regards

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