PC upgrading

[Timotheus 416]

Use this topic for stories, information, asking questions, raging or just for entertainment

 

 

To kick off I'll include my own experiences of the past few days.

To revive my old S775 pc (2,13GHz E6420 Core 2 Duo, budget Jetway motherboard, 2GB DDR2, ATI HD3850 256MB) I set out to do a cooling replacement and bring it back up to date. This meant an SSD, more RAM, new input material, a new monitor - I really wanted a big 4:3 screen, Windows 8, and Office 365.

Well my original shopping list resulted the following puchase:
-Arctic Cooling Accelero L2 Plus
-Arctic Cooling Alpine 11
-Antec New Solution VSK-4000E
-Razer Abyssus
-Razer Deathstalker Essential (the budget version)
-Windows 8 PRO update

And second hand I've bought (or ended up buying):
-Kingston SSDnow V200 128GB
-Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X4096-6400C5
-Samsung Syncmaster 214T 21" 4:3
-Asus P5N-e SLI

Countless faults and (botched) reinstalls later, I suspected my original motherboard was having issues with the extra RAM. I got it to start on 2GB RAM, exchanged it for the 4GB set, and it halted. It so severely seemed to fudge things up, the installation on the SSD got borked and I could not get my PC going again.
I memtest86+'ed the new dimms, no problems found.
I even tested the SSD with HDtune, no problems found.
So, probably issues with the mobo. I got a second hand part for next to nothing, and proceeded on trying to get a working system with that one. A few reinstalls later, I sadly had to come to the conclusion that the SSD, which I've had lying around for a while, probably has died due to consequences of the fire below our old appartment. I tried a liveCD of Ubuntu, to clean my disks, and the SSD immediately gave off warnings. I tried a new installation of Windows 8, three times, but it got stuck during the installation process.

Finally, in a last effort before loosing my sanity with a hammer, I disconnected the SSD and installed on my trusty HDD. Lo and behold, there was a working OS!

And then I wanted to update the bios... It took me 2 usb sticks and a dvd, 8 formats using diskpart and 2 bios resets, but I got it all the way up to the latest release. It almost drove me crazy in the end...

And 5 minutes later I'm running a 25% OC on my CPU without breaking a sweat.

 

 

There it is, the result after 2 weeks of on-and-off tinkering: a fully functional purring pc! Good times.

[Ryanrocker 200]

Congratulations! That feeling of successfully building back together my rig and getting it in functional order is a feeling I never forget Glad you're back in business Timo!

[Timotheus 416]

Now I only need to get my hands on an I/O shield and I'm done.

Well, maybe a nice more OC-ready cooler, if I can find one cheap. And maybe a new gfx card. Oh well time wil tell!

[Timotheus 416]

And what did time have to tell:

Well first of all the I/o shield arrived, but that was about 2 weeks ago. Just today I got around to installing it, alongside a 'new' Asus ENGTS250 1GB to replace the Sapphire HD3850 256MB. Guess the bug bit me again

[Timotheus 416]

Aaaaaand it's being a %$&@ again, cooling not working properly and all... I give up lol.

I've posted it up for sale, I'm getting a nice laptop this weekend instead.

[Dragon Brother 619]

Thats rough. Still, a new toy is a new toy and you can get some pretty decent laptops these days!!

[Timotheus 416]

Rough indeed, but oh well. The old girl served me for 5-6 years, from the base it grew from. Sometimes things just come to an end

I'm planning on getting a 17" FullHD with a 2.5GHz i5 and 750m. I could go for a i7 upgraded version for about ~120 euro extra, but compared to the graphics card I feel the i5 is more balanced.

It will fit my needs for now, since I don't have time to game that much at the moment.

[Schot 407]

Sounds like something I would do. Both the tinkering and the insanity parts, lol. Was a worthy effort Timo. My present system is about the same. 5-6 years old. The mobo, cpu and ram all date to 2008. I think that's long enough eh? When I bought my present system in 2008 I was very budget concious so I ended up building low-mid range base system that had a mid-high range vid card. This time around I'm choosing high range base components. Mobo, cpu and ram. I'm curious to see if this system will last 7 years...

 

I think the i5 is a great choice. You save about 100 bucks compared to i7 and the i5 really is a top notch choice for even serious gamers. The only reason I went with i7 is because it was marked down about 70 bucks on sale and that I intend to do some 3d rendering which an i7 will help nicely with.

 

As for your laptop choice. You might consider buying a small laptop. Your battery will last longer, it'll be lighter, easier to stuff into a carry bag and as an alternative, when at home you could plug a large monitor or tv into it when you want a large viewing screen. I do that with my 13" laptop when I wanna relax and watch some video on my 24" spare lcd.

 

Happy shopping!

[chattius 2,526]

I think you have way lower prices for electricity than germany. For a 2 year 10 hours a day use the i7 saves the extra costs compared to the i5 in saving energy=money. With a good energy saving motherboard it is even more.

And if needed the i7 has the better number crunching power. Which is not only interesting for me as a math, but also for photo and video calculations.

 

For laptops it is for me:

either small to have it with me everytime, then preferred with a touch screen (typing numbers a lot)

or

BIG to really replace a desktop, then a full keyboard with fullsize numberpad

 

Last ones were all of the tiny size.

 

The midsized ones have no really use for me. I think they are mainly for students who have limited room in a lecture hall at university but need a close to normal keyboard for typing speed.

[gogoblender 3,070]

I think it's interesting what Chattius says about the cost of utilities being thrown into this equation for computer happiness.

We live here in Quebec, and I believe we have the absolute lowest electricity costs in the world

I know that energy costs in Europe can be quite high, I like seeing this extra detail that I know I overlook here being discussed

it's a reality pending on where a consumer is in the world

course that low hydro bill probably the only thing we have that's competitively priced

 

gogo

[chattius 2,526]

Yes the energy costs make buying a new computer more attractive if not buying at the upper limits. There is always the argument that a new CPU saves more energy at the same cpu numbercrunching power than the one it replaces.

Say there are 4 speeds for a new generation CPU, often the 3rd fastest is the one which I buy. The fastest needs lots of cooling (wasted energy) and is not this much faster than the ones a step or two steps slower. The one I bought for my oldest the money saved by buying not the fastest was used for a SSD. So the system with the third fastest is faster (in office and graphic work) than the system with the fastest but normal harddisc. It eats only halve the electric power.

Add that faster computer replace rates allow higher prices in selling the old one.

[Timotheus 416]

Sounds like something I would do. Both the tinkering and the insanity parts, lol. Was a worthy effort Timo. My present system is about the same. 5-6 years old. The mobo, cpu and ram all date to 2008. I think that's long enough eh? When I bought my present system in 2008 I was very budget concious so I ended up building low-mid range base system that had a mid-high range vid card. This time around I'm choosing high range base components. Mobo, cpu and ram. I'm curious to see if this system will last 7 years...

 

I think the i5 is a great choice. You save about 100 bucks compared to i7 and the i5 really is a top notch choice for even serious gamers. The only reason I went with i7 is because it was marked down about 70 bucks on sale and that I intend to do some 3d rendering which an i7 will help nicely with.

 

As for your laptop choice. You might consider buying a small laptop. Your battery will last longer, it'll be lighter, easier to stuff into a carry bag and as an alternative, when at home you could plug a large monitor or tv into it when you want a large viewing screen. I do that with my 13" laptop when I wanna relax and watch some video on my 24" spare lcd.

 

Happy shopping!

 

I am fully with chattius on this, as in this case I need it to function as a desktop replacement. Hence my choice of screen real estate.

Also, I've been looking for that specific layout on the numpad just for that reason alone. Furthermore, that also implies that the battery time is not that important to me.

But, was this not the case, those would be fair points and would be thoughts I would share, actually

 

I think you have way lower prices for electricity than germany. For a 2 year 10 hours a day use the i7 saves the extra costs compared to the i5 in saving energy=money. With a good energy saving motherboard it is even more.

And if needed the i7 has the better number crunching power. Which is not only interesting for me as a math, but also for photo and video calculations.

 

For laptops it is for me:

either small to have it with me everytime, then preferred with a touch screen (typing numbers a lot)

or

BIG to really replace a desktop, then a full keyboard with fullsize numberpad

 

Last ones were all of the tiny size.

 

The midsized ones have no really use for me. I think they are mainly for students who have limited room in a lecture hall at university but need a close to normal keyboard for typing speed.

If I would use my laptop that long, I would not be sleeping much lol

My estimate is that I would be using the laptop maybe one hour a day. That would make it a loooong time to break even, cost-wise.

 

But isn't the i7 a much more power hungry processor than a mere i5? They were both introduced last year, not much difference there, but according to passmark, the i7 has about a 50-70% lead in power. And those extra cores will draw more power.

 

But whatever this discussion will lead to, whichever laptop I would choose, I would still be saving energy compared to using a desktop pc and monitor.

[chattius 2,526]

Depends, the t series has lower thermal design power.

 

http://cpuboss.com/cpu/Intel-Core-i7-4765T

 

The side lists the energy costs. And 10 hours for a computer used at a home office and for private use is not too unrealistic. Often the computer runs at night: simulations for work, or our second daughter does animated raytracer videos for her artclass. And remember germany energy costs at country side are way higher than you are used too in USA or canada.

 

 

The i7 has SMT, the i5 not. Depending on what you do the i7 can do somethings as fast as an i5 with faster clock. But since the clock speed of the i7 is lower for the same task it consumes less energy.

[Timotheus 416]

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-4702MQ-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4200M

 

These are the cpu's in question. They are pretty comparable spec wise, aside from the obvious performance difference.

And, although 10 hours might not be unrealistic in some settings it is for me, because I do not work from home. I'm out at work 10hrs a day. So there is no way I could use the laptop that much, really.

[chattius 2,526]

Yes, really depends what you do with your computer. For me it is doing maths with programs often running a weekend or at night to get the solution. But I have to say that our second with her photo and video hobby uses as much computer power

Last she did 200+ photos at a marriage. Then the scripts used to sharpen, remove vignetting, ... were running at night.

 

So in the link you posted above about the i7 4702MQ vs the i5 4200M which use up the same electrical power. This is for normal use 1-2 hours a day.

 

Annual home energy cost 8.91 $/year vs 8.91 $/year

 

However higher electricity prices and more hours a day do a factor of 15-20 in my case. So we are speaking of 135$ a year. The following line would be the game changer for my personal needs:

 

Better performance per watt 26.69 pt/W vs 15.08 pt/W

 

More than 75% better performance per watt. If the i5 needs 7 hours the i7 only needs 4 hours for the same math, rendering or photo job. So it is a save of 135*2*4/7 $ in 2 years in my case.

[Dragon Brother 619]

Im planning on building a PC for my mum soon (as in purchasing over the next few days) and rather looking to building it. I've built a PC for my dad before so it isn't completely new to me, but will be a fun little time challenge. Currently planning on:

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220

Motherboard: Asrock H81M

Case: SOHO 6513D3 Micro ATX Mini Tower Case

PSU: Corsair VS 450W

RAM: 4GB G.Skill

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB

SSD: Samsung 840 Evo 120B

Optical Drive: LG 12x Bluray/DVD

Totalling AUD$570 or just under US$500.

 

From everything I've read these new pentiums are great for home/office use and any sort of home theatre requirements too so for the price (already have windows and a monitor) this seems to be one heck of an upgrade from her 1GB of ram, 2007 era AMD cpu current box. And I can only imagine how much the improved boot times with the SSD will make her happy Still, any thoughts anyone?

Plus I'm gonna hook it up to the tv in her room so she can watch movies on that and not her little crappy netbook!

[Ryanrocker 200]

Looks pretty solid to me DB, especially for home/theater use. SSD is definitely the way to go, faster boot times make everyone happy. Only comment I would have about the SSD is that if you are ONLY planning on using it for the boot times, you can very easily get away with a 32gb one as Windows is only around 25gb as of current I believe. Other than that, looks like a pretty nice setup

[Dragon Brother 619]

Cheers Ryan! Yeah, the larger SSD was to install her most commonly used programs and the like on and seeing as the total price as it stands is way under what she was willing to pay ($1000) I think it's a reasonable investment.

[Schot 407]

I hope your mom knows how lucky she is. Great value for money. Did you consider a mini-itx? The mini itx boards are pretty powerful these days.

[Dragon Brother 619]

Yeah, I had a look at mini-itx too, but in the end it seemed that prices started to go up as size decreases to that point, also her desk has a space for the box to go so the smaller size wasn't needed and she liked the look of the case we chose. And I was trying to maximise value for money as things are a ittle tight. Unfortunately the current computer...just isn't cutting it anymore, specs are 1GB ram, Athlon 64 X2 3800+, hp prebuilt from 2007 (it doesn't even come with USB 2 I think...!). I was momentarily interested by some of the Intel NUC barebone boxes, they come with a VESA mount and you can whack them on the back of the monitor! Small and powerful, perfect for a really light weight install. Would be cool to go with one of those, but it wasn't as cost effective.

[Timotheus 416]

Looks like a solid one DB! That SSD will make it feel lightning fast.

 

As for my own upgrade woes, they continue!

I bought the Aspire V3-772G-747A1275MA, as in:

 

- 17.3" FULL HD non glare 16:9

- Intel® Core™ i7-4702HQ processor (2.2GHz - 3.2GHz Turbo - 6MB L3 cache)

- 12GB DDR3 RAM

- NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX760M 2GB GDDR5

- 750GB HDD

 

I picked it up 2 days ago, after ordering in the webshop of a retail store around the corner. First inspection: screen is a bit flimsy, touchpad works a bit wonky. First boot: daaaamn dead pixel in middle of screen!

Thankfully we have a new (excellent) form of consumer right on distance selling, ie. buying online. You can return a product (or have to communicate about returning your product) within 7 working days, without any obligation to give a reason, and you have a right to a full refund. I've used this right today for the very first time, the store clerk who was assisting me was very friendly and I will recieve the money in my bank acount in the next few days.

And what did I do when I got home? I ordered a new adapter for my old laptop (1920x1080 15" screen, i7 Q740 1,73GHz, 6GB DDR3, GT425m) so it won't be as whiny anymore and I guess I will keep using that one for a while...

 

And in the mean time I try to unload my old pc parts