Acer Aspire XC-605G-uw20 upgrade

[pocketshaver]

That is the system i have at this time. I would LIKE to hopefully keep the factory case as it works space wise.

FIrst issue is, factory specs say the case is 3.9" wide and is "small form factor". Various posts online say it is a full size ATX motherboard, but others make the claim its actually a "micro atx".

I would like to swap motherboard to one of the new AMD chipsets, and AMD processor however that is my first issue.

1. what will fit, what processor it will work with.

Alot of the easier to find motherboards on SOME vendor sights ONLY work with the 400$ and up processors. I was originally going to get one of the newer B450 boards with the ryzen 3 that was supposed to be released in may/june of this year that no one has. The slower version with integrated graphics may NOT be what i need long term.

My original concept would have been under 300 for processor and motherboard after tax and shipping. Now just looking at whats available, im looking at a typical 4-600 for those two components.

The only games i play are:

Solitaire
Chess Masters

Rise of Flight, current system running the game at 80%, my system cant run the game for more then 25-30 minutes.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

1. what will fit, what processor it will work with.

Alot of the easier to find motherboards on SOME vendor sights ONLY work with the 400$ and up processors. I was originally going to get one of the newer B450 boards with the ryzen 3 that was supposed to be released in may/june of this year that no one has. The slower version with integrated graphics may NOT be what i need long term.

My original concept would have been under 300 for processor and motherboard after tax and shipping. Now just looking at whats available, im looking at a typical 4-600 for those two components.

The only games i play are:

Solitaire
Chess Masters

Rise of Flight, current system running the game at 80%, my system cant run the game for more then 25-30 minutes.

Hi

I've tried some Googling and I can't find for sure what form factor your motherboard is either. Hopefully someone else might have an idea but otherwise I can't help much further with that sorry to say. I do have some other questions and thoughts that may give you something to think about.

To help clarify your position, as I am a bit unclear.

- The only games you play are Solitare, Chess Masters, and Rise of Flight?
- That being the case why wouldn't you think a Ryzen 3200G/3400G on a B450 board would be enough? Should it fit of course. You could also potentially use any other AMD socket AM4 board other then a B550 or A520 one.
Here's the compatibility list from AMD for reference.

I would think Rise of Flight would run on an AMD 3400G or even 3200G fairly well as its minimum recommended video cards are quite ancient according to Steam. The case you are dealing with is also so slim I am fairly sure a discrete video card would not fit in there anyway, and you'll also almost certainly find the power supply you are dealing with will not have enough power to handle one too.

Upgrading prebuilts can be quite a headache unfortunately.

 

[pocketshaver]

Rise of Flight works has the ability to work with VR headsets, the 3200G or 3400G may not have enough balls to work with even a low level head set.

Note: AMD B550 chipset is not compatible with AMD Ryzen™ 5 3400G & AMD Ryzen™ 3 3200G processors.

I also forgot to mention the need for a system that will be able to handle heavy duty usage with my digital camera. And possible some drafting software.

Its really really really ******* hard to figure out what works with what, when the most easy to find motherboards ONLY work with the most expensive AMD offerings that can actually be PURCHASED right now.

I came really close the other week to getting a HP system from walmart that had a ryzen processor in it. But i had no clue on the mother board.... Bargain basement video card is most likely going to be the oldest generation motherboard they can get.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Rise of Flight works has the ability to work with VR headsets, the 3200G or 3400G may not have enough balls to work with even a low level head set.

Note: AMD B550 chipset is not compatible with AMD Ryzen™ 5 3400G & AMD Ryzen™ 3 3200G processors.

I also forgot to mention the need for a system that will be able to handle heavy duty usage with my digital camera. And possible some drafting software.

Its really really really ******* hard to figure out what works with what, when the most easy to find motherboards ONLY work with the most expensive AMD offerings that can actually be PURCHASED right now.

I came really close the other week to getting a HP system from walmart that had a ryzen processor in it. But i had no clue on the mother board.... Bargain basement video card is most likely going to be the oldest generation motherboard they can get.

You could also potentially use any other AMD socket AM4 board other then a B550 or A520 one.
Here's the compatibility list from AMD for reference. *Scroll down*

Sorry if that was confusing. The table slightly down in the above link is clear on what works with what. I appreciate that its harder to see when you arent used to seeing these numbers, pc parts are not numbered clearly for the uninitiated in general.

You also need to look into the power supply included in your case. Its very possible you cant replace it, and it wont be a very high wattage version. It would be helpful if you could look at it and see if its wattage is.

From eyeballing, it really looks like the motherboard is smaller then ATX. And there isnt much space in there at all. Link to refurbished version with pics on newegg below

Are you a human?

www.newegg.com

If somehow the power supply is not super low powered (very unlikely), you would need a very slim very low profile graphics card. This type of card does not have a lot of chops for VR either.

Here is a list of some for an example

The 7 best low-profile graphics cards

They're small, but mighty in terms of performance.

dotesports.com

Considering the dimensions of your case not many of those will fit, and the one that might is fine for some gaming but maybe not VR.

You will need to measure carefully inside the length and width to be sure. You probably also need one with a low profile bracket, thats the metal part of the card that has the video out ports in it that goes to the back of the case.

What I'm really saying is that this is not going to work very easily for you. This sort of SFF prebuilt is not meant for upgrading or for gaming. Just saying straight.

If you wanted to build a budget SFF PC from scratch, we could look at that if youre interested.

 

[pocketshaver]

the manufacturer spec says its 3.9 inches wide, so yeah somewhat small.

I have tried getting information from the people making the actual mother boards, processors, and video cards on size and power consumption. But have had no luck. AMD says "AMD only designs the base chipset and overall idea, each final product varies with the maker".

Individual makers only give me the "we cant help you with anything unless you give as an actual SERIAL NUMBER from the part you are asking information on".

I couldnt even get anyone to explain to me why some of the lower grade chipset motherboards are using higher speed RAM then some of the newer ones. Seriously, wouldnt have thought id see a B450 with DDR4 4600-5000 chips, but X570 with only 3800 clock speed.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Well the RAM question is an easy one to explain. The speed of the RAM depends on the RAM sticks themselves.

The various motherboards will support different speeds of RAM in a range, the higher end boards will generally have a higher upper range. say to DDR 4 5100. AMD actually only guarantees that RAM for their 5xxx series chips will work at DDR4 3200, everything above that is actually overclocking, via what are called XMP settings.

So if I have DDR4 3200 RAM it will run at that speed whatever AMD board I put it in, provided the board and processor support that speed.

There are a lot of caveats. But its basically that.

Motherboard sizes are fixed so that ATX boards are always the same size and basic layout, same with MATX and ITX. So that case manufacturers know how to build cases so all parts fit.

Thats why its difficult with your case, because we are not sure what form factor your motherboard is. This is because some manufacturers like Acer or Dell make proprietary form factor boards that are unique to their desktops. They really dont want you to be upgrading them, they'd rather you bought a new one.

After all this looking to my eye your motherboard doesnt look to be any of the standard form factors, I dont think its possible for you to upgrade this machine.

Are you a human?

www.newegg.com

(where I've been looking at your motherboard)

 

[pocketshaver]

only thing i ever got on my motherboard was once was a factory spec sheet somewhere that stated it was "ATX" but not what type..

Its how my day has been from the get go..

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

ATX is the type. But that definitely isnt an ATX board if its the one in the pic from Newegg in my last post.

 

[pocketshaver]

I see what they did,,,, its a standard atx board, but they put the plugs on the NARROW end.... everyone else is set up for the plugs on the wide end....

crap, id have to get a hack saw out, and turn the minimalist vent in the top of the cover into a spot to put the ports through....

I truly miss the simple days of computers. Dos Shell and windows 3.11 will never be replaced.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Its a lot of modding for sure. :/