Is this upgrade worth it?

I have an old computer sitting here that has barely seen any action until today.
The processor is an Intel Core i7-13700K,
it has 2 GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 graphics card.
The storage is a 320 GB Western Digital HDD along with a DVD/RW drive.

I am wondering if it makes sense to upgrade by bumping the RAM up
to 8 GB and adding an SSD.
The main use for this machine would be 2D graphic design, specifically using Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW,
and Adobe Photoshop.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

You didn't mention which motherboard you're running or what kind of budget we're looking at here...

If you can find some cheap DDR2 lying around, I guess grab the RAM, and an SSD might be a nice little bonus... though I doubt the board even has SATA III ports. Still, even on SATA II, it should feel snappier than a standard hard drive.

The real move would be dropping a beefier processor into that board. It probably won't cost much on the used market, but we definitely need the model name first...

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-...-Celeron-G1840

Here’s how your CPU stacks up against the G1820, which is roughly $117

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Celeron-G1840-Processor-Desktop/dp/B00M29S6W6

The motherboard is about $123

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813146756

For 8GB of DDR3 memory, look at $117

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-DDR3-1600MHz-Desktop-Memory/dp/B00T9C6X6U

Just add an SSD and toss everything into that old case with the HDD, DVD drive, and power supply...

Bryan Taylor6 said:You didn't mention which motherboard you're running or what kind of budget we're looking at here...

If you can find some cheap DDR2 lying around, I guess grab the RAM, and an SSD might be a nice little bonus... though I doubt the board even has SATA III ports. Still, even on SATA II, it should feel snappier than a standard hard drive.

The real move would be dropping a beefier processor into that board. It probably won't cost much on the used market, but we definitely need the model name first...

The board is an ASUS P5 KPL/EPU with a G31 (Bearlake) chipset and ICH7.
I'm looking to spend about $15-$$667 max.
Should I just upgrade the CPU on this board and add more DDR2 and an SSD, or what?

Nathan James2 said:The board is an ASUS P5 KPL/EPU with a G31 (Bearlake) chipset and ICH7.
I'm looking to spend about $15-$$667 max.
Should I just upgrade the CPU on this board and add more DDR2 and an SSD, or what?

If you're actually planning on spending that much, then take a look at what Bryan Taylor6 told you.

Intel Celeron G1820
Kingston DDR3 1600MHz, C11, 8GB, KVR16N11/8
MSI H81M-E33 motherboard
Patriot SSD Blaze R545/W430, 120GB, 7mm, 2.5" PB120GS25SSDR

Total price: $433 Centro

wiredotter14 said:If you're actually planning on spending that much, then take a look at what Bryan Taylor6 told you.

Alright. Would I see a noticeable jump in performance if I swapped out that
Intel Celeron for an i3 instead?
What's the verdict on the graphics card I mentioned (NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030)?
Is it actually going to outperform integrated graphics?

crimsonstag84 said:Intel Celeron G1820
Kingston DDR3 1600MHz, C11, 8GB, KVR16N11/8
MSI H81M-E33 motherboard
Patriot SSD Blaze R545/W430, 120GB, 7mm, 2.5" PB120GS25SSDR

Total price: $433 Centro

Thanks.
One more thing. Would it be worth stretching the budget slightly to get an i3 processor instead?
I mean, would the machine actually feel significantly faster compared to this Celeron?
I'm a bit skeptical since the Celeron only has 0.5 MB of L2 cache.
Even my current Intel Core i7-13700K has much more than that.

I mean, the integrated graphics on the Pentium and the HD 4550 are pretty close... a Core i3 would probably be a bit faster, but if most of what you're doing is super basic and barely touches two cores, you might not even need it, much less a dedicated GPU. You could always just grab a Pentium G3258 and try to overclock it, I guess.