CPU upgrade or buy a new one - DPChallenge Forums

Tamron 16-300mm Di II VC PZD MACRO w/Canon Nikon mount

03/11/2022 09:37:19 AM · #1

My CPU has been amazing. But it is now 12 years old. It could do with more RAM, memory, graphics card upgrades (pretty much everything).

Or

Would it be cheaper to just buy a new computer

((((Also, as I am a stingy person, can they take my PS off my old one and install it back on (so I don't lose all my stuff) Adding computer stuff so you can all laugh about my puny cpu lolol

Device name juliet-PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80GHz 2.80 GHz
Installed RAM 8.00 GB
Device ID 34BA0FFA-1793-4649-A763-F9ED383E8631
Product ID 00326-10000-00000-AA490
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Pen and touch No pen or touch input is available for this display

Thanks

Message edited by author 2022-03-11 14:50:44.

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

03/11/2022 10:35:45 PM · #2

This is a question for Spiff!

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

03/12/2022 12:02:42 AM · #3

Thanks for the plug, Wendy!

Juliet,
If by CPU, you mean the chip itself (which IS the CPU), it's not worth upgrading only the chip at this point. Minor improvements to be had, but at that age, you might have trouble finding compatible items for your older motherboard. You would have to upgrade everything else to see significant gains. Not worth going that route IMO

A relatively cheap upgrade that would probably show some improvement might be to take the memory from 8 to 16 or 32 Gigabytes. Limited memory can be the biggest slowdown for many computers.

But I suspect you probably are referring to the tower, which contains the CPU (AKA core I7 processor), motherboard, memory, disk drives, etc.

I would suggest replacing the tower after 8 years if you can afford that upgrade. Make sure to get something that boots off a solid state drive. That will remove the bottleneck of hard drive access speed. You WILL see that difference. Also get at least 16 Gig of ram. Maybe even 32.

My previous system lasted me 9 years until I felt a need to upgrade. I built my current system about 3 years ago. I have an AMD Ryzen 5-3600 6 core processor with 16 Gb of memory, booting from a solid state drive, with another SSD for fast access to current photography projects. A 4Terabyte hard disk for longer term storage. I tend to stay a little behind the technology power curve and go for bang for the buck instead of the top end.

Tamron 16-300mm Di II VC PZD MACRO w/Canon Nikon mount

03/12/2022 11:26:03 AM · #4

Thank you Steve.

I do not want to particularly buy a new one, but even I am seeing that I probably would need or should fork out for a new computer. You gave me a lot of help when I purchased this tower I have now. And my super savvy knowledge of buying a computer is the same now as it was back then (zilch) lol

I am going to go and have a look at some Dell's as that is what I have now, unless you have better recommendations?

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

03/12/2022 02:44:45 PM · #5

Originally posted by JulietNN:

I am going to go and have a look at some Dell's as that is what I have now, unless you have better recommendations?

I build my own Dell is a perfectly good brand to buy.Its more a matter af specs.

- fast cpu Intel core i7 or AMD Ryzen 5 or 7
-16 or 32 Gb ram
-solid state drive for bootup. If its your only drive, go for a Terabyte at least. If data is going to be on another drive, 250-500 Gig is good.
-video outputs should be HDMI and/or Display port. Probably want to be able to drive at least 2 screens. Check to see what your existing monitor uses. At 8 years old it could use DVI, which is older but still supported.

I'll post other important specs as I think of them

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

03/12/2022 02:44:45 PM · #6

Duplicate deleted

Message edited by author 2022-03-12 14:45:29.

PenelopeK

Sony Alpha a7 II

03/12/2022 03:59:23 PM · #7

Every six months Dell seems to announce sales with quite deeply discounted prices. You may have to wait a month or so for delivery but it you can wait it's worth it for 50% off

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

03/14/2022 02:59:16 PM · #8

Originally posted by PenelopeK:

Every six months Dell seems to announce sales with quite deeply discounted prices. You may have to wait a month or so for delivery but it you can wait it's worth it for 50% off

Echo that... and you can save significant bucks by buying just after the introduction of a new generation of processors, as the "old" generation will be discounted more heavily. I would certainly recommend buying one generation back, but not more.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

03/14/2022 05:22:52 PM · #9

Originally posted by PenelopeK:

Every six months Dell seems to announce sales with quite deeply discounted prices. You may have to wait a month or so for delivery but it you can wait it's worth it for 50% off

I think I just heard a radio ad for a sale in Dell's business division -- might be worth checking out ...

ETA: I was going to "fix" the thread title but I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be "buy" or "burn" ... ;-)

Message edited by author 2022-03-14 17:52:56.

Tamron 16-300mm Di II VC PZD MACRO w/Canon Nikon mount

03/14/2022 08:49:07 PM · #10

Lol I think both apply

Tamron 16-300mm Di II VC PZD MACRO w/Canon Nikon mount

03/21/2022 04:21:54 PM · #11

I have been looking. I am not a savvy tech person.

This one comes with a monitor

or

No monitor

These two are on the 'sale'

Do you think I am heading in the right direction and should stop and just get one of these two, or am I wait some more?

And, I just want to thank you all for replying, I am totally terrible at tech stuff, I don't know why I find it so hard to grasp really.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

03/21/2022 04:28:23 PM · #12

Originally posted by JulietNN:

... I am totally terrible at tech stuff, I don't know why I find it so hard to grasp really.

03/21/2022 05:44:14 PM · #13

Originally posted by JulietNN:

The one with monitor looks pretty good. The other one has less RAM. 16GB of RAM is about your least amount for satisfactory Photoshop/LR performance. I don't care for the monitor though. I use an Ultra High Def monitor, 3840x2160 pixels, on my 15" laptop. That's a whole lot more screen real estate. The monitor they have coupled with that one is a 1920x1080, standard hi def, and you won't be able to view a 1200-pixel-high DPC portrate entry on it all at once, just to name one issue. You can upgrade it in the specs to a nice UHD 4K monitor for another 400 bux, but....

03/21/2022 06:16:44 PM · #14

As Robert stated, 16GB RAM minimum. More is better. Additional thoughts on the no-monitor choice:
- The processor is 10th gen (8 cores, 16 threads), which is two generations from current... but read on, 'cause that might be the better choice here
- You would need to add another hard drive for your data. The 512GB SSD is fine for boot and applications... it's what my corporate laptop has, and I guarantee I have way more applications loaded than you will ;-)
- You should look for a monitor with at least 1440p resolution (2560x1440) but better 4k (3840x2160). It should have an IPS panel. There are reasonably priced options, but really, don't scrimp on a monitor, it's your main point of interaction with the machine, and critical to displayed image quality.

On the all-in-one:
- No discrete GPU (and I will bet no upgrade path)
- While the processor is 11th gen (one gen back) it is a low-power model (4 CPU Cores, 8 Threads), so half the cores of the option above. Also not upgradeable (soldered in)
- Monitor is only full HD as Robert pointed out
- Other hardware upgrades will be limited due to form factor (likely no option to add a rotating data drive)

To summarize, the no-monitor box (with upgraded amount of RAM) will run circles around the all-in-one for graphics work. I wouldn't be afraid to base a machine on that, if I could upgrade the RAM and add a data drive.

03/22/2022 10:49:22 AM · #15

Here is an interesting thought on a monitor. The 31.5" size is a good place to be for 4k resolution, gives about 140 dpi which is quite a bit higher than a 24" monitor at full HD resolution, but not so high that you have to be right on top of it to make use of it. I'm actually looking at this monitor for work.

Tamron 16-300mm Di II VC PZD MACRO w/Canon Nikon mount

03/22/2022 11:39:38 AM · #16

Okay, then I think this one is more along the lines of what you are saying. This one

31 inch monitor, that is massive, the size of my TV, my monitor is 21x 12! lol I shall have to look more closely at that

03/22/2022 12:03:39 PM · #17

Originally posted by JulietNN:

That looks pretty good to me, Juliet. And Kirbic's monitor suggestion is AWESOME. I'd seriously consider it if I were you. I can't belive that thing is less than 500 bucks...

03/22/2022 12:30:21 PM · #18

Yoop, that one will have the muscle for graphics work! Consider going to the 2TB option on the rotating hard drive, at +$30 it is a good investment. 1TB fills up awful fast with images given today's file sizes.
I think you've nailed the selections otherwise. One thing to note, if you ever do want to upgrade the amount of RAM, you should be able to, but you *might* have to replace rather than augment, unless the motherboard has four memory slots. I can't see whether it does or not.

Tamron 16-300mm Di II VC PZD MACRO w/Canon Nikon mount

03/22/2022 01:36:57 PM · #19

SOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I bought it and

kirbic monitor. Should be all here by April 8th.

Thank you so so very much for helping me out. I will post pictures with it's security guard when it comes! ;)

03/22/2022 02:54:13 PM · #20

Yee Haw!!!!

03/23/2022 01:26:10 PM · #21

Now the interminable wait for the delivery driver, LOL!
You should have some good fun with that. You will be amazed at just how nice image editing is on a big 4k screen :-)

Tamron 16-300mm Di II VC PZD MACRO w/Canon Nikon mount

03/24/2022 01:28:29 PM · #22

I am inpatient already, still a little weirded out about the size of the screen and it being HD, as I can not even watch movies in HD (I am still SD) as it just looks so fake and plastic to my eyeballs . But had a slight thought, should I have bought the cables that go with all this lot? lol

03/24/2022 05:57:41 PM · #23

Probably :-) You will certainly want an HDMI cable to hook the computer to the monitor, though I expect the monitor may come with some cables...

03/24/2022 06:06:52 PM · #24

Monitor should come with cables... it will almost definitely come with "DisplayPort" cable, and your video card should support that. Use that if you can.