Thinking about this system - thoughts?

[wings7999]

I'm starting to consider a new desktop for the first time in a few years. Here's what I have now and what I'm considering - is it worth an upgrade?

I'd like something a little faster, a little more future proof. The system I'm looking at has a newer processor that benchmarks about 18% higher (cpubenchmarks.com) a much better GPU, double the RAM (and faster RAM) and an SSD.

And I don't know what's going on with my current mechanical hard drive. It's starting to make these annoying noises more often, so I don't know if it's starting to go or not. It used to be pretty quiet. Any ideas?

You can hear the noise here: https://vocaroo.com/i/s0aBAdQnIQaX

You might need to turn up your speakers a bit.

What I have now:

Dell Inspiron 3847
i7 4790
8 GB DDR3 1600 MHZ
1 TB 7200 RPM HD
Intel 4600 HD graphics
300W PSU
WAVE MAXX Audio 4

What I'm considering:

Dell XPS 8930 ($899)
i5 8400 (an i7 8700 would cost $150 more)
16GB, 2666MHz, DDR4
256GB PCIe x4 SSD + 1TB 7200RPM HD
AMD Radeon RX 560 with 2GB GDDR5
460W PSU
WAVE MAXX Audio Pro
Killer e2400 networking

 

[whm1974]

Just double your ram to 16GB, add an SSD, and get a decent video card. Hell you don't need NVMe PCIe x4 either, SATA SSD is all you need. However the 300w PSU in current system does limit you on which GPU you can use.

 

[wings7999]

I think the 3847 is pretty limited as far as what I can do/put in it. Not to mention the PSU limitation you mentioned.

 

[whm1974]

I think the 3847 is pretty limited as far as what I can do/put in it. Not to mention the PSU limitation you mentioned.

You should at least be able to double the memory and add an SSD to it. The Nvida 1030 GPU will work as well given it's only 30 watts, and will still improve your graphics performance by a huge margin.

 

[DownTheSky]

I would your current system on the CPU side is fine. Upgrade with a 120-240 GB SSD and a Nvidia GTX 1050. If you want a better graphic card you'll have to upgrade the PSU too.

 

[whm1974]

Once GPU price settle down, have you considered building your next computer?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Building it yourself is really easy if you get a modern tower case (mini-ITX is cramped so it's a little harder). All you need is a phillips screwdriver and a couple of hours of time. We can help you pick good parts.

 

[whm1974]

Building it yourself is really easy if you get a modern tower case (mini-ITX is cramped so it's a little harder). All you need is a phillips screwdriver and a couple of hours of time. We can help you pick good parts.

I do have to admit however that the vast majority of us here on this forum are heavily biased towards building your own rigs instead of buying pre-builts.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I do have to admit however that the vast majority of us here on this forum are heavily biased towards building your own rigs instead of buying pre-builts.

Sure, but it makes a lot more sense for a gaming PC than for a work PC so you get a case that you like, a good PSU, a motherboard with the features you want, the right sizes and mix of SSDs and (if on a budget) spinny drives. Buying a prebuilt and then trying to upgrade it can be a pain and can mean paying for parts you don't want or paying ridiculous charges to move from x to y on their list.

For work PCs I'd often recommend either Acer (consumer) or Dell Small Business based on using both,

 

[lakedude]

Nothing wrong with buying a prebuilt. Some people lack the skill, time or motivation to build a system from scratch. Additionally a prebuilt can be cheaper. A prebuilt also has a single point of contact if you need help or warranty service. A couple of my most reliable systems were Dells.

Dell is now only charging $400 for a GTX 1080 upgrade on this XPS model.

The system I'd like is only $1550 including:

8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-8700 6-Core
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
16GB, 2666MHz, DDR4
256GB PCIe x4 SSD + 1TB 7200RPM and most importantly the
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1080 with 8GB GDDR5X

Maybe I should start a new thread but I think $1550 is a reasonable price. With the going rate for the GTX 1080 I challenge anyone to do much better.

Also a person's time is worth something. Putting together a system can take a while, especially loading software from scratch. I suppose this is offset somewhat by the time it takes to remove bloatware...

Now what the others are saying has truth. You may have trouble upgrading if you buy a prebuilt. Dell was famous for this in the past, using special non-standard parts so you had to go back to Dell for upgrades. Also you might need to go to Dell for a BIOS upgrade if you want to change your CPU and Dell may or may not have one available.

I've been down this road with mixed results. Some Dells have been a nightmare to upgrade. With others I just got a new power supply, added my own video card and that was that.

 

[whm1974]

Now what the other are saying has truth. You may have trouble upgrading if you buy a prebuilt. Dell was famous for this in the past, using special non-standard parts so you had to go back to Dell for upgrade. Also you might need to go to Dell for a BIOS upgrade if you want to change your CPU and Dell may or may not have one available.

I've been down this road with mixed results. Some Dell have been a nightmare to upgrade. With others I just got a new power supply, added my own video card and that was that.

To fair Dell was far from the only OEM to use non-standard part or low wattage PSUs. And of course OEMs also have to cut corners to meet price points as well.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The 2 Dell Vostro small business towers I've used at work were well-built and reliable, and had a decent PSU since I got them with a discrete graphics card instead of integrated. I've heard that the consumer models are less well built but I have no personal experience.

Certainly if you get one with a 1080 pre-installed it's going to have a PSU that's good enough for it, and with a 8700 you won't need extra power for overclocking. That Dell should be fine for upgrading to a newer xx80 GPU down the road, and the CPU should be fast enough for any GPU for the next 5 years.

 

[richaron]

A noisy HDD isn't really a reason for updgrading the whole system if you don't need to for other reasons as well... Of course if you want then whatevs. But 18% better performance mentioned in the OP is a pretty crappy upgrade.

Edit: Looks like the case takes standard ATX PSUs (check yourself, don't believe me). In which case I'd just get a new SSD, and consider adding a GPU and PSU if prices are sane. All of which you can use in your next box.

 

[lakedude]

Wings, your old system is pretty decent and I agree that 18% isn't enough to be worth it. Maybe it would be better to buy an SSD, video card and if needed a new power supply for your old system. The SSD alone would be an amazing upgrade.

 

[richaron]

I've been down this road with mixed results. Some Dell have been a nightmare to upgrade. With others I just got a new power supply, added my own video card and that was that.

I suspect OP can do that now.. Am I wrong? (I didn't look too hard)

 

[lakedude]

To fair Dell was far from the only OEM to use non-standard part or low wattage PSUs. And of course OEMs also have to cut corners to meet price points as well.

True.

I mention Dell because the OP has a Dell and is thinking about Dell for his new system. Also I have some experience (none recent) with Dell and upgrading Dell computers.

My white Core2Duo system was a great deal and super reliable. Added a power supply and video card and it was good to go for years. I think the CPU eventually got upgraded as well.

I had a similar black Dell that was not reliable or easily up-gradable. The motherboard was built in a mirror image to the standard layout. It would take a single slot GPU but a double slot would not fit without extensive modification. That system was worthless.

I had a blue Dell from 2000 that lasted forever and was 100% reliable. People's phones are more powerful than that computer so that system was retired, but it was retired in perfect working order.

I worked with Dells that had pins changed on the power supply connection so they could not easily be upgraded.

My Dell laptop has been reliable.

I'd say of my own systems Dell was great 75% of the time.

My mother's Dell has been mostly reliable. The PS did eventually give out. Her's was configured normally so it was easy to just buy a power supply and put it in.

I wouldn't spend extra money to get a Dell but I would buy another one if they were cheaper.