Upgrade my existing computer or buy a new one?

[Nathan Explosion]

Alright guys, I have this computer right now.

HP Pavilion a1730n (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/ho/WF06b/12132708-12133156-12133158-12133158-12133158-12932758-78159005.html?dnr=1)

The thing is 6 years old, and still working quite nicely. The only problems I've had are a fan that went out, I replaced the audio card and I replaced the motherboard. The motherboard was the most expensive fix at $50. I think I spent about $70 for everything. Other than that, it works pretty nicely. It's running Windows 7 64 bit right now as well.

Having said that, I want to do some photo editing, nothing extensive though. But I do want to upgrade my computer. The problem is, I have a lot of questions about buying components. Mainly the RAM. I know it's DDR2 SDRAM. What I want to know is that can I buy DDR2 DIMM instead (probably not). And if I can't, would it be easy to find fast memory of at least 4 GB?

Also, I want to upgrade the video card. Nothing fancy, but about 1 gb of memory if possible, although my search as found only 512 mb in a PCI (not express card).

So what I want to know, is would it be difficult to find the components to needed to upgrade my computer to be comparable to today's hardware, or would I be better off just purchasing a new computer (really a new tower or laptop)?

[lefty]

Yes

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Alright guys, I have this computer right now.

HP (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/ho/WF06b/12132708-12133156-12133158-12133158-12133158-12932758-78159005.html?dnr=1)
Yes

[Nathan Explosion]

I'm sure you all have a distaste for HP, but considering that I've seen quite a few of my friends computers crap out on them in less time, I'm quite happy that I've gotten 6 years of good to very good performance out of it. In fact, I stream videos on it regularly with little problems.

Having said that, it would be nice to have a better graphics card and more RAM. Now, I'm not looking to spend tons of money on a new computer, and since this one works fairly well, it's hard to justify buying a new one. What I'm trying to figure out is if it will be too much hassle to upgrade.

Also, building is out of the question because I'm not doing it.

[DJR210]

Might as well build a new one..If you're not gonna go all out on the GPU, you could build a nice AMD rig for like 600.00

That processor will more than likely bottleneck the GPU you upgrade to.

Also, if you wan't assistance w/ building a PC, go to a better board for feedback..the following board is full of assholes, but people there genuinely like to help people building a new PC:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/916373-pc

[Nathan Explosion]

I get these type of emails from Tiger Direct.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/email/wem3619.asp?cm_re=Homepage-_-Spot%2001a-_-CatId_campaign_wem3619

Since I know very little about building myself, are any of these things worth while, or at least a good starting point?

[DJR210]

I get these type of emails from Tiger Direct.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/email/wem3619.asp?cm_re=Homepage-_-Spot%2001a-_-CatId_campaign_wem3619

Since I know very little about building myself, are any of these things worth while, or at least a good starting point?

The link you posted no longer exists..

I can help you with a next-gen build that will last you for a long time, w/ whatever budget..let me know, I'll send you some builds via PCPARTPICKER links

[Nathan Explosion]

http:// http://m.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7828404&CatId=332

It was this.

[ElNono]

The *BEST* upgrade you can make right now is an SSD (and possibly RAM)

If your motherboard does SATA2 or SATA3, the speed difference should be absolutely noticeable. I've brought new life to many systems with just that upgrade. It's a bit pricey, but IMO, I wouldn't go back to an HD-only setup again.

[Wild Cobra]

Well, at six years old, my choice would be a new system. But then, how much can you spend is also a factor.

[DJR210]

The *BEST* upgrade you can make right now is an SSD (and possibly RAM)

If your motherboard does SATA2 or SATA3, the speed difference should be absolutely noticeable. I've brought new life to many systems with just that upgrade. It's a bit pricey, but IMO, I wouldn't go back to an HD-only setup again.

SSD is gonna make the OS and a few choice apps run faster, not gonna help regarding video editing, etc, which is what the OP referenced..

[ElNono]

SSD is gonna make the OS and a few choice apps run faster, not gonna help regarding video editing, etc, which is what the OP referenced..

???

OP only mentions some mild photo editing.

If you think SSDs only make 'a few choice apps run faster', you probably shouldn't be recommending people anything, tbh

[DJR210]

???

OP only mentions some mild photo editing.

If you think SSDs only make 'a few choice apps run faster', you probably shouldn't be recommending people anything, tbh


You usually have pretty good takes on the sports boards, but you have been absolute fail on the tech forum. The choice apps I'm referring to are the ones you choose to install on it.

[DarrinS]

You usually have pretty good takes on the sports boards, but you have been absolute fail on the tech forum. The choice apps I'm referring to are the ones you choose to install on it.

I thought his recommendation was spot-on.

[The Reckoning]

6 years???

:lmao

[DJR210]

I thought his recommendation was spot-on.

So recommending a faster storage drive is a suitable recommendation for someone with a 6 year old PC who is also looking to upgrade to a better GPU?

[DarrinS]

So recommending a faster storage drive is a suitable recommendation for someone with a 6 year old PC who is also looking to upgrade to a better GPU?



Having said that, I want to do some photo editing, nothing extensive though


You could always recommend some expensive GPU that is not needed.

[ElNono]

You usually have pretty good takes on the sports boards, but you have been absolute fail on the tech forum. The choice apps I'm referring to are the ones you choose to install on it.

So in other words, every app he chooses to install will run faster... smh

For a 6 year old system I would normally recommend upgrading, but:

- OP seems genuinely happy with the rig

- OP doesn't seem to need any special hardware (ie: for gaming)

- OP seems to be fairly conscious about bang for the buck

Few things will give you a very noticeable speed boost outside of an SSD. It's pricey, but IMO, has the best bang for the buck. I would only not recommend upgrading if OP has SATA1.

I'm sorry I'm full of fail in the tech forum. I'll pass the feedback along to our Microsoft and Apple tech leads.

[DarrinS]

I have a Dell Dimension 3100 that I bought in 2004 (yes, 9 years old) and I'm still using it -- in fact, I'm writing this post from it. If you tune Windows 7 for performance and keep your system free of bloated software, it still performs basic tasks reasonably. I definitely wouldn't use it for any gaming or intensive graphics tasks.

I bought a 1 terrabyte USB drive to store tons of photos, videos, songs, etc. I use this PC to serve up home movies, etc. to my XBMC box. It's also useful for web browsing and flash games for the kids. What can I say? I hate to throw things away that are still useful.

I haven't yet tried to upgrade it with a faster drive, memory, or a graphics card. I think once you start adding up the costs of various upgrades (the SSD is pretty expensive), the brand new system might give you more bang for your dollar. If you keep in mind that PC's were WAAY more expensive back in the day (I paid over $1500 for a 286, circa 1990 :wow), it will give you peace of mind spending under $800 for a really decent system.

[Cane]

You are better off buying a new computer. A SSD hard drive is a good upgrade as well but looking at the TigerDirect PC's the OP linked, SSD's will cost almost as much as 1/3 of an entirely new system. Although I'm not sure what hard drive prices are like after the floods last year, but I bet they're still not very good.

And if you can I would wait out on buying a new computer until the major holiday sales and the like.

[leemajors]

$130 for a 128GB SSD is a pretty good price tbh

[Cry Havoc]

$130 for a 128GB SSD is a pretty good price tbh

I got mine for $75. Vertex4.

As for the OP, if you're video editing, I'm assuming you're going to need some GPU horsepower.

[leemajors]

I got mine for $75. Vertex4.

As for the OP, if you're video editing, I'm assuming you're going to need some GPU horsepower.

I got the Samsung 840, been super happy with it and it freed up 1TB for storage.

[Wild Cobra]

I have a Dell Dimension 3100 that I bought in 2004 (yes, 9 years old) and I'm still using it -- in fact, I'm writing this post from it. If you tune Windows 7 for performance and keep your system free of bloated software, it still performs basic tasks reasonably. I definitely wouldn't use it for any gaming or intensive graphics tasks.

I bought a 1 terrabyte USB drive to store tons of photos, videos, songs, etc. I use this PC to serve up home movies, etc. to my XBMC box. It's also useful for web browsing and flash games for the kids. What can I say? I hate to throw things away that are still useful.

I haven't yet tried to upgrade it with a faster drive, memory, or a graphics card. I think once you start adding up the costs of various upgrades (the SSD is pretty expensive), the brand new system might give you more bang for your dollar. If you keep in mind that PC's were WAAY more expensive back in the day (I paid over $1500 for a 286, circa 1990 :wow), it will give you peace of mind spending under $800 for a really decent system.

My Dell Dimension 3000 did everything I needed it to, until I put a new monitor on it. The Dell would stop at 1600 x 1200 (UXGA.) The new monitor would go 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA.) When I went to upgrade the graphics card, I would have also needed a power supply and I was limited because of slots. Just bought a new computer instead.