Looking to Upgrade my PC

wickedstangs

Well-known member
This is what I have now..

Windows Version Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Processor
Model Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6300 @ 1.86GHz
Hard Drive
Drive Size Free Space Utilized
C: 222.79 Gb
25.64 Gb
D: 465.76 Gb 242.56 Gb

E: 10 Gb 5.99 Gb

Video Adapters
Model Memory
NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT 1024 Mb

Memory
Total 4096 Mb
Available
Slot Size Speed Type
Slot 1 1024 Mb 667 Mhz DDR
Slot 2 1024 Mb 667 Mhz DDR
Slot 3 1024 Mb 667 Mhz DDR
Slot 4 1024 Mb 667 Mhz DDR

Looking to go with this.. Any thoughts?

PROCESSORS Intel® Core™i7-930 processor(8MB L2 Cache, 2.80GHz)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English
MEMORY 6GB Tri Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz- 3 DIMMs
VIDEO CARD NVIDIA GeForce G310 512MB DDR3
HARD DRIVE 1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
SOUND CARD THX® TruStudio PC™
 
You asked for thoughts, hence, here is my half penny. If Windows is not a necessity or preference then, Linux can serve the purpose and save you some $$$ (without compromising with security, stability and choices). When it comes to hardware, Sky is not the limit. :-)
 
Don't buy a prebuilt computer - the one in the OP is poor in a number of regions, and you can save a considerable amount of money (easily 20%) plus get better quality parts by building it yourself. It takes a couple of hours and is as easy as lego.

What is your budget, and do you require a Windows license and any peripherals?
 
Your proposed system is fairly similar to the one I built a few years ago.

I don't imagine you'll have any issues with it, depending on what you use it for.
 
Don't buy a prebuilt computer - the one in the OP is poor in a number of regions, and you can save a considerable amount of money (easily 20%) plus get better quality parts by building it yourself. It takes a couple of hours and is as easy as lego.

What is your budget, and do you require a Windows license and any peripherals?

Only have OS windows 7 for 32 bit and looks like alot are going to 64bit. Buddy says the same thing he says wait for the new AMD bulldozer...
 
PROCESSORS Intel® Core™i7-930 processor(8MB L2 Cache, 2.80GHz)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English
MEMORY 6GB Tri Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz- 3 DIMMs
VIDEO CARD NVIDIA GeForce G310 512MB DDR3
HARD DRIVE 1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
SOUND CARD THX® TruStudio PC™

To be more specific on the flaws:

- CPU is an outdated architecture and Sandy Bridge CPUs will easily beat it for a similar price, plus you won't be buying into a dead socket and will have upgradability
- GPU is absolutely awful
- Hard disk could be anything
- No details on motherboard or power supply, likely the bare minimum in both cases
 
Only have OS windows 7 for 32 bit and looks like alot are going to 64bit. Buddy says the same thing he says wait for the new AMD bulldozer...

Both editions are part of the same license with Windows 7. Do you have a retail edition or just oem?

Waiting for Bulldozer is not worth it in my opinion - if it beats Sandy Bridge (and I'm hoping it will as my current AM3 board supports it) it will only be by a small margin.
 
Both editions are part of the same license with Windows 7. Do you have a retail edition or just oem?

Waiting for Bulldozer is not worth it in my opinion - if it beats Sandy Bridge (and I'm hoping it will as my current AM3 board supports it) it will only be by a small margin.

I have the retail version.. I have not heard of Sandy Bridge.. From what I have heard the Bulldozer does run off an AM3 board..
 
I have not heard of Sandy Bridge.

It's the second generation of Intel 'Core' processors, recognisable by 4 numbers e.g. i5-2600 vs. i7-930. They also use a new socket 1155, which obsoletes the older 1156 and 1366 sockets.

Also again, what is your budget? :)
 
yep, skip the old 1156 and 1366 stuff. I picked up the 1155 i7-2600k chip for $250 and built my system around that. Proc, MB, ram and a new cpu cooler was all under $600 and I was able to use my old case/psu/graphics card.

Just make sure you get the latest and greatest that you can afford, because as soon as you get the parts in your hands, they are already outdated. There is no point in starting out way behind the curve.

Russ
 
It's the second generation of Intel 'Core' processors, recognisable by 4 numbers e.g. i5-2600 vs. i7-930. They also use a new socket 1155, which obsoletes the older 1156 and 1366 sockets.

Also again, what is your budget? :)

Alright had time to catch up on the different chip-sets.. For my budget I want to say around a grand.

wouldn't an i5-2600 vs. i7-930 be better for gaming and the i7-930 be perfect for Adobe CS5 premier suite and lots of multitasking?
 
Alright had time to catch up on the different chip-sets.. For my budget I want to say around a grand.

wouldn't an i5-2600 vs. i7-930 be better for gaming and the i7-930 be perfect for Adobe CS5 premier suite and lots of multitasking?

i5-2500k is currently the best option for gaming
i7-2600k is currently the best option for tools which take advantage of hyperthreading etc. (CS5 would be one of those)

i7-930 is last gen tech

I'll put a build together for you shortly. Can you buy from newegg without incurring taxes etc.? (have heard some states do)

Do you have any interest in gaming, or just want an ordinary graphics card?
 
i5-2500k is currently the best option for gaming
i7-2600k is currently the best option for tools which take advantage of hyperthreading etc. (CS5 would be one of those)

i7-930 is last gen tech

I'll put a build together for you shortly. Can you buy from newegg without incurring taxes etc.? (have heard some states do)

Do you have any interest in gaming, or just want an ordinary graphics card?

I can buy from newegg... and depending were they are? should be no taxes if they are not in california:)

Not much of a gamer put do occasional play them.. BF2, World of Tanks
 
What is are your primary uses of your PC? That's most important. What you have isn't terrible (I'm still running a Q9550.) Speed gains will depend upon use and may be more dependent upon your video card. For example, video processing (such as transcoding) can be done off the video card (I won't get into debates about quality, etc.) and seeing your CS5 purchase makes me wonder where you're at.

I'm looking to upgrade but the cost/value ratio is what I'm analyzing right now and how much of a real world speed boost I'll see. For the most part, I'm seeing not a great deal overall except in a few areas. Plus there is the talk that the i7 is last of line (I didn't read too much about this) and, if it's not pressing, there is a whole new generation of Intel chips coming out. Regardless of speed, there is also the issue of components, e.g. my RAM is still DDR2 although my mobo has been the best ever for me, for its time (ABIT IP35 Pro.) I think stuff like USB3 is standard but I'm not sure - and you want to make sure you're getting that. Other notes:

* 512MB RAM on the video card is not a whole lot, especially if you're doing some graphics/video work. It should be fine for most purposes.
* I don't trust the 3GB drives just yet. Unless you have good reason, I'd split them up into 2, e.g. 1.5GB drives and you can also always use the other drive as a scratch drive for your photo work, as well as backup.
 
Case: COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Decent generic looking case, great cooling. You can pick just about any mid/full ATX case you like if this one isn't to your taste.

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Cheap, good brand, Z68 chipset to let you use Intel Smart Response on the SSD (speeds up everything without you having to specifically install stuff on it)

RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX8GX3M2A1333C9
No reason not to get 8GB these days with RAM prices the way they are.

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
Absolutely amazing CPU, built a dedi recently with one and it blows everything else out of the water; about 9x faster than your current

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070GPU: MSI N460GTX Hawk GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Last gen but still very respectable graphics card; again about 9x faster than what you have

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127518PSU: XFX Core Edition PRO450W (P1-450S-XXB9) 450W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified
Adequate PSU from a good OEM (Seasonic) - no need for the high wattages as you will likely not be considering SLIhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207012

Optical: LG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS70 OEM - OEM
Get a bluray drive or keep your existing if you want

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136238HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Best price/performance/reliability hard disk on the market

SSD: Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Without going Sandforce (just not stable yet imo), one of the fastest and most reliable SSDs you will find.
Optional extra really, but it will make a massive difference to overall responsiveness, and CS5 applications will start near instantly.

Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler
Optional, if you think you might want to overclock in the future (that's not to say you can't get a decent overclock on the stock Intel cooler)

Total should be just over $1000 - to bring it completely within budget might need to get a slightly worse graphics card and leave out the aftermarket cooler.
 
just today i slipped my hdd into a comp i found on the nature strip a few months ago. and it is indeed an upgrade.
pretty sad, yes?
 
Total should be just over $1000 - to bring it completely within budget might need to get a slightly worse graphics card and leave out the aftermarket cooler.
Can't argue with this system, looks superb for a home build. Certainly top of the line and has good value lasting in the future. My thoughts remain with regard to the hard disks. SSD is very good although still expensive. Be very careful about the size of your HD since Windows can eat up a huge chunk very quickly, including apps. 64GB may seem like a lot but space vanishes quickly.
 
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