Current PC worth upgrading, or just buy all new parts?

[mchas11]

I have built a few PCs for myself over the years but every time I do, I have to re-learn everything since technology changes so quickly. I currently have a PC I built about 5-7 years ago and am looking to upgrade it and am wondering if I should try keeping some of the components, or just start from scratch.

Here is what I currently have:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800 2.51 GHz Dual-Core, Socket AM2 (940)
MB: ECS GeForce6100SM-M (V1.0/1.0A)
OS: Windows XP (don't laugh, I love XP)
RAM: 4 GB (2 x 2048 DDR2-SDRAM) - only able to use 3.0 GB in Windows XP
HD : WD Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0 Gb/s
Video: NVIDIA GeForce GT 430 1GB DDR3
PSU: Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus - 500W Power Supply
Monitor: Dell U2711 27" 2560x1440 and a second Dell 20" that I use when I need more screen real estate (I upgraded the original video card a few years ago to the GT430 to support dual monitors)
... in a standard tower case with a few quiet fans

The machine runs ok but the 500GB hard drive is a bit limiting these days. I started looking into getting an SSD (like the Samsung 840 EVO 1TB) but then I thought if I am going to spend ~500 on that, it might make sense to build a new machine that will last me another 5+ years.

I primarily use my computer for general work stuff (internet, docs, scanning/printing, etc), photo editing (Photoshop, Lightroom, etc) and that's about it. No gaming.

My primary goals are:
- really fast so I don't waste time
- really quiet because I leave it on 24/7 in my room (I spent a lot of time finding the quietest HDD and fans when I built this one, which is a reason I liked the SSD idea)
- plenty of storage space

So my question is - should I just buy an SSD and transfer my current HDD to it and hope I can get another year or two out of this one, or should I buy all new components? If so, what should I get? Budget isn't a huge concern but shouldn't be too expensive given that I don't need any kind of crazy setup (except I know the SSD alone is $500). Oh and I already have a purchased copy of Windows 7 so if I did upgrade I would install that and start fresh.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance. (by the way I was a member here a LONG time ago, 15+ years ago but I couldn't remember my login info)

 

[nwo]

You would have to replace everything except the monitors, HD, and possibly the PSU.

Everything else is ancient and not worth upgrading. You would also have to upgrade to a 64 bit OS since 3GB of RAM simply doesn't cut it anymore.

 

[mchas11]

If I were to just buy the Samsung 840 EVO SSD and clone my existing drive, would there actually be a problem getting it to work? I agree that if I am going to upgrade anything else I might as well go all out but I was wondering if the SSD upgrade would be feasible. I agree that 3GB of RAM is not so great but it's usually enough for what I do.

 

[mchas]

Nice - just found my old account.

 

[circusslaughter]

You can check out pcpartpicker to put a build together but this http://www.logicalincrements.com/ will tell you what you can do for $500.

Should help you decide if you want to upgrade or buy the SSD.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Do you need a windows license? If so you might be better off with a prebuilt, especially since you dont plan to do any gaming. You could watch Dell and Lenovo outlets. I think you should be able to get an i5 model for around 500 dollars (or even less). The only thing I am not sure about is if you can run 1440p on the igp, but I believe you can. I am suggesting a prebuilt because you dont really need a powerful graphics card, and if you need windows, that is brings you down to 400.00 for parts, which is a difficult price point.

I agree though, your current system is not worth upgrading.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Try the SSD first. The general work that you are describing does not necessarily require a complete rebuild at this time. The SSD will significantly enhance your experience and, in the event you do decide to upgrade, is transferrable to the next build.

Put the OS and programs on a 250gb or greater SSD and use the 500gb for less speed sensitive items like photos, music, videos, etc.

 

[Charlie98]

Couple of things...

Do you really need a 1TB SSD? I like Monkey's idea (because it mirrors my own...) about a nominal sized 250GB SSD and use the HDD for file storage. He is also correct in that if the SSD doesn't work out, you can take it with you to the next build. You have SATA connectors on your current board, it should work fine.

Support for XP is fixing to be cut off in April, I wouldn't really recommend continuing with XP. If you upgraded to W7 or W8, that would further prolong your system and allow you to use that 4GB of RAM. If you bought the full license and you wind up building new, you would have a license you could transfer to the new machine as well.

 

[Doppel]

I recently bought parts following the general consensus: get an SSD big enough for your OS and installed programs, but use a mechanical drive for pictures/video. SSD is still too expensive to use for data storage. A 1TB hd can be bought for $50.

 

[mchas]

Try the SSD first. The general work that you are describing does not necessarily require a complete rebuild at this time. The SSD will significantly enhance your experience and, in the event you do decide to upgrade, is transferrable to the next build.

Put the OS and programs on a 250gb or greater SSD and use the 500gb for less speed sensitive items like photos, music, videos, etc.

Thanks for all of the replies guys.

This is sort of along the lines of what I was thinking of doing, as long as it was technically possible with my current set up (sounds like it should be?)

To answer some of the other questions - I already have a Win 7 disc and license ready to go. If I was going to just upgrade my HD I was thinking of just cloning my existing drive so I wouldn't have to go through the trouble of reinstalling everything. But it would be nice to be able to use the full 4GB of RAM - good point. It might be worth the fresh Win 7 install just for that.

I guess the main reason I was thinking of going with the 1TB SSD is because I really like the silent aspect, and I figured it was easier to have everything on one drive instead of always having to choose where to save files. I could alternatively buy a smaller SSD (250GB) and keep my existing 500GB drive to store files on, but wouldn't it be just as loud as it is now? Or does the HDD only make noise if I access the files on it (photos, videos, etc)? If that is the case that wouldn't be too bad.

 

[Charlie98]

I guess the main reason I was thinking of going with the 1TB SSD is because I really like the silent aspect, and I figured it was easier to have everything on one drive instead of always having to choose where to save files. I could alternatively buy a smaller SSD (250GB) and keep my existing 500GB drive to store files on, but wouldn't it be just as loud as it is now? Or does the HDD only make noise if I access the files on it (photos, videos, etc)? If that is the case that wouldn't be too bad.

How about this... and I agree with you on having everything on one drive. I struggled with a 64GB SSD in my original desktop build until I finally went to a 256GB drive and put everything on it. Much better.

If you go big with the SSD, take the old HDD and put it in an external enclosure... use it as a backup drive. You do NOT want to rely on any drive as your only source of data.... I can tell you from personal experience.

I would also fresh-install W7, you are probably going to have different drivers in some cases and, in the long term, it will pay dividends... even if it is a pain.

 

[mchas]

I could use my current 500GB drive as an external backup drive - yes good idea. As for only relying on one drive, I use CrashPlan so if all works as advertised, I have a backup of everything there at least.

And if I upgrade from XP to Win 7, I would absolutely do a fresh install.

It sounds like my options are the following:

1) Buy 1TB SSD, clone current HD and hope for nice speedup, and reduced noise by getting rid of current HDD. Could use old HDD as external file storage for seldom-accessed files.

2) Buy 1TB SSD, install fresh Win 7 64bit and all of my programs (assuming I can find everything). Pros: I get to access all 4GB of RAM, and a newer OS. Cons: a lot of time reinstalling, risk some things not working (like old scanner, etc).

3) Buy ~250GB SSD, install Win7 and programs, and keep existing 500GB drive as secondary internal drive for files. Pros: cheaper. Cons: I wouldn't have a single silent drive, and I would have to always worry about which drive to save things on.

4) Buy all new stuff. Pros: much faster, will last me another 5+ years. Cons: $$$, and time.

Also - what do you guys think about getting a Blu Ray burner and archival quality discs to back up important files (mainly 10+ years of photos and transferred family movies). Seems like hard drives are not the best place to store those kinds of things.

Thanks again.

 

[Matt1970]

I think the SSD and fresh Windows 7 install will breath new life into that machine and give you access to all 4GB of memory. I am not sure if your board can handle it but the 6000+ processor would help a little.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

A 1TB SSD would be sweet but dang is it expensive. If you can afford it then yay.

My setup is usually very quiet using an SSD and HD combo. The HD is usually parked. Either way you win.

 

[escrow4]

A 1TB SSD would be sweet but dang is it expensive. If you can afford it then yay.

My setup is usually very quiet using an SSD and HD combo. The HD is usually parked. Either way you win.

Indeed. I bought 2 1TB EVO's:

http://postimg.org/image/990o7cg0j/

Liquid system.

 

[mfenn]

And if I upgrade from XP to Win 7, I would absolutely do a fresh install.

I don't think there is an "if" here. You absolutely should upgrade from Windows XP. Sitting on an OS with 32-bit memory limitations mean that you're going to be running out of memory if you use any vaguely recent version of Photoshop and Lightroom, or have multiple instances of them open at once.

Also - what do you guys think about getting a Blu Ray burner and archival quality discs to back up important files (mainly 10+ years of photos and transferred family movies). Seems like hard drives are not the best place to store those kinds of things.

Optical media is a really terrible way to do backups and archives. The ink fades and/or rots over time (even "archival" discs), the read/write speed is slow, handling media is a pain, and the discs are expensive.

Backup copies on HDDs (potentially stored offsite) is that way to go IMHO.

 

[Doppel]

Optical media is a really terrible way to do backups and archives. The ink fades and/or rots over time (even "archival" discs), the read/write speed is slow, handling media is a pain, and the discs are expensive.

Backup copies on HDDs (potentially stored offsite) is that way to go IMHO.

More than this, their capacity just sucks. I did DVDs for a while, built up a huge set of inevitably soon outdated discs. I wanted blu-ray, but even that is too pricey and a hassle. I think every body should have offsite cloud backup, but additionally back up to external drives. There have to be a minimum of two backups. I am not sure I'd feel comfortable even revolving only external drives all kept in the same location.

 

[Ken g6]

Backup copies on HDDs (potentially stored offsite) is that way to go IMHO.

I heard HDDs can get stuck if they're not used for a long time. I don't know of a really good archival medium for digital data.

 

[mchas]

I don't think there is an "if" here. You absolutely should upgrade from Windows XP. Sitting on an OS with 32-bit memory limitations mean that you're going to be running out of memory if you use any vaguely recent version of Photoshop and Lightroom, or have multiple instances of them open at once.

Optical media is a really terrible way to do backups and archives. The ink fades and/or rots over time (even "archival" discs), the read/write speed is slow, handling media is a pain, and the discs are expensive.

Backup copies on HDDs (potentially stored offsite) is that way to go IMHO.

I think you're right about XP. I should probably take this opportunity to upgrade everything and not limit myself in another year or two.

If I were to upgrade everything, any suggestions? Again primary goals are really fast and really quiet.

For the blu ray thing, several articles I read claimed that the gold/silver archive-quality discs would last a really long time, which is what got me thinking about it. I do use a cloud backup service so I should be ok but I was considering storing important photos/videos on some kind of media and putting it in a safe and forgetting about it.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

If I were to upgrade everything, any suggestions? Again primary goals are really fast and really quiet.

For the blu ray thing, several articles I read claimed that the gold/silver archive-quality discs would last a really long time, which is what got me thinking about it. I do use a cloud backup service so I should be ok but I was considering storing important photos/videos on some kind of media and putting it in a safe and forgetting about it.

If you want to upgrade "everything", you have to give more info regarding budget. "Really fast" and "really quiet" can be "really expensive".

To emphasize quietness, try to minimize the number of fans, keep them large (120 mm or larger), and keep them low rpm if possible--up to say 1000 rpm. Above that, they become easily audible. Try to get a case with a minimum number of vents. Buy stuff that is low noise to begin with, rather than trying to make noisy stuff quieter. Don't be obsessed with driving temps down to 30 or 35 degrees. Locate the case as far away from your keyboard as possible.

Speed? Intel i7 or upper-end of Intel i5.

You've got more nerve than I do if you are willing to trust any backups to either discs or a cloud service. It's all a matter of how big a deal it would be if your originals and so-called backups fail for whatever reason. I use several methods for backup--internal HDD, separate HDD through a dock, USB stick, etc. DVDs would be my absolute last choice, other than floppies or nothing at all.

 

[mchas]

I don't necessarily have a budget, but I guess I would prefer to definitely stay below 2k, and ideally below 1k but probably not doable.

By "really fast", I just mean I don't want to wait for programs that I typically use. I don't play games so I don't need anything that crazy. And for "really quiet", my setup now is quiet enough for me, so I just need to find a similar CPU fan for whatever CPU I end up buying. I think I like the idea of an i7 so it will be plenty fast for a long time.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

The first item on your list should be an SSD drive for Windows. For most users, that has more of a day to day impact on the overall experience than spending another $100 on a faster CPU. You'll boot in under 30 seconds and open apps noticeably faster, even with an average speed CPU.

For $1000, you could do very well if all you need is motherboard, RAM, case, CPU, an SSD, another regular HD for data, and maybe a couple of quiet fans. All you'd need is a smallish SSD for Windows and apps, and just put all your data on the HD. If you want to spend a bit more, you could enlarge the SSD and possibly skip the HD, depending on how much data you have.

 

[mfenn]

I heard HDDs can get stuck if they're not used for a long time. I don't know of a really good archival medium for digital data.

The truth is that all backup/archival media sucks. Tape is probably the best, but the fixed costs are so high that it doesn't make sense for a consumer to do it. HDDs are inexpensive and have enough capacity that you can make multiple copies easily enough.

And it goes without saying that you should really be testing your backups/archives on a regular basis. Bit rot can impact any media type.

 

[Cerb]

I don't think there is an "if" here. You absolutely should upgrade from Windows XP. Sitting on an OS with 32-bit memory limitations mean that you're going to be running out of memory if you use any vaguely recent version of Photoshop and Lightroom, or have multiple instances of them open at once.

You don't even have to go into programs like that. While I had a similar system to the OP at work, though with 7 32-bit, it didn't take more than 15-20 browser tabs on script-heavy sites for FF to have to start doing large GC runs every couple minutes, plus there wasn't much room for caching, between that and background programs, leading to a general laggy feeling after it was running for an hour or two. Reloading it with 64-bit, without any hardware changes, made a world of difference, even though it only gave it about 400MB more usable RAM.

I don't necessarily have a budget, but I guess I would prefer to definitely stay below 2k, and ideally below 1k but probably not doable.

By "really fast", I just mean I don't want to wait for programs that I typically use. I don't play games so I don't need anything that crazy. And for "really quiet", my setup now is quiet enough for me, so I just need to find a similar CPU fan for whatever CPU I end up buying. I think I like the idea of an i7 so it will be plenty fast for a long time.

If you don't play games, and don't need ECC, under $1k shouldn't be a problem, generally, but a big SSD, and parts to keep everything quiet, will probably make it exceed $1k. Given the programs you use, a Xeon E3-1230V3 (about 6% slower than the i7-4771), and a GT 640 (available passively-cooled, and way faster than IGP) or GTX 650 (about the fastest that Adobe's CS can make use of), would probably be a good value.

IMO, given that noise is a factor, making a whole new PC, case and all, will be best, since 120mm and 140mm fans are standard now, and there are several not-too-expensive cases out there with sound deadening and absorbing features.

But, before going any farther, the ever-important question, when dealing with high-end CPUs, must be answered: do you live near a Microcenter?

 

[mchas]

Really appreciate all of the help!

I agree that the SSD should be a top priority. I am 99% sure I am going to go with the Samsung EVO 840 1TB for ~$535.

As for CPU, I don't mind spending a little extra now to get another few years use out of it (given that my past upgrade cycle is typically 5-7 years), but I think it will depend on what the quietest cooling options are. If I go with an i7 4770K, what are some good quiet CPU fans?

For the graphics card, is my current NVIDIA GeForce GT 430 1GB DDR3 good enough? I already have a quiet fan on it, and I don't seem to have any issues with it performance-wise. If I can keep using it, that would be one less thing I need to buy.

About Microcenter - yes, I live about 30-40 minutes away from one although I have never been there. Would it be worth the drive? Do they have good deals on anything other than CPUs?

To get a bit more specific on what my upgrade might look like, here is a first cut - feedback appreciated:

CPU: Intel i7 4770K? or is that overkill?
MB: Any suggestions? I like the idea of having plenty of USB 3.0 ports, SATA3 6.0, and maybe RAID in case I add it later. Is anything else important?
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit (already bought)
RAM: 8GB DDR3-1600 probably? Something like Corsair Vengeance?
HD : Samgung SSD 840 EVO 1TB
Video: NVIDIA GeForce GT 430 1GB DDR3 (will my old video card be good enough?)
PSU: Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus - 500W Power Supply (my current one)

And keep my case, monitors, keyboard, mouse.

Toughts? Thanks!