Computer Question

[Trobby]

A bit of a computer question here, but mostly a problem of "what should I do in this situation" moment.

My computer is starting to suck outrageously, and I need to either upgrade several parts of it, or get a brand new one.

Now, Christmas is coming up, and since I recently graduated from college, my parents have agreed that it would be alright to combine college and Christmas and get me a brand new computer, at the cost of considerably reducing my other Christmas presents.

So now, should I get this (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Desktop+with+AMD+Athlon&%23153%3B+II+X4+Quad-Core+Processor/9549401.p?id=1218122580360&skuId=9549401)? Or should I take a more present-filled Christmas and try to upgrade the old beast?

Keep in mind, I would need to get at LEAST a new processor, more ram, and extra memory to keep my current system.

[evnafets]

There is no one answer to a question like this. It depends a lot on the factors involved.

How old is the old box you have? Basic specs?
Do you use it a lot?
How unsuitable is it for the current use? Or is it just mild pain?
How technical are you with upgrading things?

Personally I would go with buying a new, clean system.
The old one can then be passed down intact and relatively working to someone else. You don't need a whole lot of power to handle email and basic web browsing. Or wipe it and re-install it as a linux box...

[tyckspoon]

Basic algorithm I use: Can you still put a modern processor in the motherboard? If yes, it's worth at least doing the pricing for individual upgrade parts. If no, buy new; you're going to be effectively building from scratch for any decent upgrade anyway.

[Zeb The Troll]

Basic algorithm I use: Can you still put a modern processor in the motherboard? If yes, it's worth at least doing the pricing for individual upgrade parts. If no, buy new; you're going to be effectively building from scratch for any decent upgrade anyway.Yeah, what he said. Unfortunately, the processor manufacturers make sure that every 3 years or so, upgrading an old box to even last year's technology is a no-go.

[scsimodem]

May I direct you to this thread? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135059)

Anyway, there's really no right answer. I can just tell you what I'd do. I'd find mobo specs on all potential computers, find one with a good processor, lots of RAM, plenty of HDD space, and a PCI-e slot, then buy a high end video card, high end sound card, and a power supply beefy enough to run them. Maybe get a second HDD and RAID the things (after making restore discs).

That's what I'd do. I don't know what you should do.

[Trobby]

Okay, I guess I can give a few specs on my PC in case anyone else wants to weigh in here.

It's about 4 1/2 years old, a Dell Dimension DIM4700, Pentium 4 with 2.80 GHz and 504 MB of RAM.

Some issues are more minor, like the fact that everything loads pretty slowly, and that my virus software seems to find a new bug on it roughly once a month, but the huge clincher is that my Adobe software doesn't work very well on it right now. Photoshop works fine, but Flash seems to crash after about half an hour of use, and I fear that Illustrator might do the same, which is why I'm hesitant to load it onto the computer.

I think I have at least one port extra for more RAM, not sure if my processor can be updated, I have an external hard drive that I haven't installed yet, and for basic word processing it works fine, if a little slow. Same with internet surfing.

So...should I go for a new computer, or update this one with more RAM and a new Processor?

[Zeb The Troll]

New. Categorically and without reservation, go new. Especially since you can upgrade that relic to a decent quad core without dropping that much cash on it. I got my new one from Best Buy (AMD Phenom II x4, 8GB of DDR3, and a decent but not great ATI HD video card) for less than $1000. That one that you linked in the first post is head and shoulders above what you've got there, and you can't make what you've got into that one for the same price.

[Don Julio Anejo]

You can get a Radeon HD 4890 for less than $200 right now. Heck, I had the possibility to do so for less than $200 (Canadian!) three months ago, when it wasn't Christmas and the only reason I didn't is because it would have overtaxed my already old power supply (went with a 4870). And IMO it beats all the 5xxx cards up to 5850. However if you can increase your budget, 5850 is that much better.

PS: if your budget is around $1000, I would go for Intel i5 ($200) + motherboard for it ($150) + 700W or higher power supply ($100) + Radeon HD 4890 ($200) + 6GB DDR3 ram ($150). Grand total = a bit less than $700, with the rest to spend on getting a case, DVD burner, hard drives, etc.

If you're using your old case and hard drive, just the components listed above should be enough. If not, cases and hard drives are typically from 50 on the low end to 100 on the high end and DVD burners are 30 bucks unless you want Blu-Ray.

[Hardcore]

640 Gig is not very big HDD nowadays. I bought a never used 1TB this spring for 130$ (IIRC) from a private seller that had no use for it and sold it on to me.