time for a new PC

i have an HP mid tower now, i guess i could just upgrade with a new mobo and processer/ram and get an ssd. i have hdd, external hdds, card slots, and optical drives...

mike_311 wrote in post #17920453
i have an HP mid tower now, i guess i could just upgrade with a new mobo and processer/ram and get an ssd. i have hdd, external hdds, card slots, and optical drives...

Yeah, I mean a Motherboard/CPU/RAM is essentially a new computer. I'm not sure if the posts in you current HP case will line up with a standard ATX motherboard. Sometimes HP/Dell/etc will use proprietary board sizes. So then you're looking at a new case, might as well upgrade the power supply while you're at it. Like you say, an SSD is just a logical upgrade.

With all that said you can certainly keep any peripherals that you currently have provided that they will work with your new board (only question might be the optical drive, is it SATA?)...

Also, you're looking at probably having to buy Windows. You might be able to take your license from your current computer if you purchased it "retail." If your current version of Windows came installed by HP then you may not be able to bring it over with you. However, I've had mixed results with that, sometimes you can, sometimes you can't.

jnecr wrote in post #17920475
Yeah, I mean a Motherboard/CPU/RAM is essentially a new computer. I'm not sure if the posts in you current HP case will line up with a standard ATX motherboard. Sometimes HP/Dell/etc will use proprietary board sizes. So then you're looking at a new case, might as well upgrade the power supply while you're at it. Like you say, an SSD is just a logical upgrade.

Yup, that was what I was going to say. Lot of OEM computers usually don't have typical mobo fit, at least way back when I had one.

new case and power supply only $40. i have a copy of windows 7 that i purchased a few years back that i can upgrade to 10. drives are all SATA

at this point do im trying to select a processor. is here a big difference between the i5 and i7 processors?

mike_311 wrote in post #17920622
at this point do im trying to select a processor. is here a big difference between the i5 and i7 processors?

Check out tomshardware.com and anandtech.com for benchmarking tests. Depends on what model and make. Within the same year, the i7's are faster, but the quad core i5's can be good bang-for-buck too if you can live without L3 cache and over-clocking or something along those lines.

thats what i'm thinking because i have no need to eek out every single processing cycle. i really need a machine that performs solidly and will last a few years, not a speed demon.

You might wanna read some of the articles at:

https://www.pugetsyste​ms.com/all_articles.ph​p

and specifically ones like:

https://www.pugetsyste​ms.com …lti-Core-Performance-649/

thanks.

so i speced out a macine that i want and while looking for a new monitor i cam across a similar pre built machne for less.

i spec'd out

i5 4th gen 3.2ghz - quad core
16gb ddr3 ram
240gb ssd sata3

prebuilt is an asus
i5 6th gen 2.7 ghz (3.3 turbo) quad core
8gb ddr4 ram
1tb spinning drive.

the prebuilt had a card reader and optical drives and costs about $100 less. i can add extra ram and an 240 ssd and get to about the same price. the processor is newer but a slower speed but the ram is faster.

is the trade off in processer speed worth it with for a new processor, faster ram and extra hh, plus not having to build it?

according to benchmarks the new processor out performs the old. thanks for the help everyone.

mike_311 wrote in post #17921983
according to benchmarks the new processor out performs the old. thanks for the help everyone.

Yup, floating point decimal is more important than clock speed when comparing processors from different makes and generations.

now i need a new monitor. :\

mike_311 wrote in post #17922044
now i need a new monitor. :\

Money buys happiness here: https://www.amazon.com …r_other_awd_uri​2wb1WJNWBX

mike_311 wrote in post #17922044
now i need a new monitor. :\

I've been partial to this guy:
http://www.newegg.com …aspx?Item=N82E1​6824014383

im leaning toward this one for my budget.

http://www.amazon.com …SNU&coliid=I2M3​WAZSJ6UA36

there is also this one, but the bit depth is only 6bit for an IPS.

http://www.amazon.com …liid=I2Y2WG4LTA​YAV9&psc=1