Pls advise on computer system upgrade

[greenieadi]

I've been avoiding Intel since AMD had the K6-2 CPU. More of bang for the buck.

Yeah, any review sites will show Intel performing better in benchmarks than AMD-equivalent systems but when I view it between price-to-performance ratio, AMD is my choice.

Intel branding is very strong, somewhat in-grained, so naturally Branded Computers used Intel but some are now using AMD as consumers nowadays are more conscious on budget.

GPU - Graphics Processing Unit, the brains of the graphics card.

The integrated processors will be launched end 2010, maybe. No need to buy parts at IT shows, might be a tad cheaper but by not much. To me going to Sim Lim Square any day of the week is ok, price is reasonable as the competition is stiff between shops.

I have 3 desktops and 2 Laptops at home. My gaming rig uses water-cooling as I've overclock my CPU. Tried Windows 7 RC 32bit on my netbook, not bad, but reverse back to XP due to minor driver glitches.

About your PC, u can do this Start>Run, type CMD, type chkdsk c: /f /r , press enter, restart PC.
At boot your hardisk will be throughly check and repaired for cross-linked files and corrupted data. These problems usually slowdown a computer. Do note this process can take from 30mins to a few hours. Do bare with it.

Next delete IE temp internet files to free up hardrive space.
Next do a defrag, can download the freeware here.
You can also download trial Antivirus Software like NOD32 to check your PC.

Basically these steps I do routinely every few days to not more than a week. Also do backup your data...often. I wouldn't want to lose 5 terabytes of data.

 

[ninelives]

You go google type 'intel is fined billions for anti competitive practices' then you will know why everywhere is selling intel based comps.. Basically intel paid the retailers cold hard cash if they carry only intel products..

lol. intel hater..


i used both before, but i stick with Intel...
microsoft was sued for similar issue but people still stick with Microsoft.

 

[WuffRuff]

lol. intel hater..


i used both before, but i stick with Intel...
microsoft was sued for similar issue but people still stick with Microsoft.

That's because Leopard only works for Mac and Mac is more expensive!
Intel is more expensive than AMD so the same reason does not work here.
Since I'm on budget, I think I will go for AMD for more bang for buck.
Honest, if I can afford it, I will like to get a Mac and ditch Microsoft... gives me so much problems and the dumb slowing down of com and every week need to do maintenance to keep it running in top form... com is supposed to serve me, not the other way round leh! I want to use a com, not maintain the com... but no choice... haii...

 

[raptor1988]

you can actually install mac on a desktop. but i'll not go into details here.. i'm sure you know the rest..

 

[WuffRuff]

Wonder... do your computers slow down significantly when you do not shut it down for a several days?

 

[WuffRuff]

I have the same casing as you...

But AMD Phenom II 955, 4GB DDR3, 2x1TB Seagate in RAID, Ati 4890. All cost about 1300.

I think I will get AMD Phenom II 955 too... I saw a good deal for it from PC Themes... $309.
Now need to select the Motherboard and graphics card... which is the most headache.
Which motherboard are you using?
I would like to get Asus as I've heard many good reviews about its reliability... but I don't know which one to get. I'd like to get one that takes DDR3 and preferably also DDR2 as well.

 

[domdomino]

Wonder... do your computers slow down significantly when you do not shut it down for a several days?

i dont feel any slow down from my computer even if i never off for 7days. but make sure it doesnt overclock.

 

[skypacker]

I leave my system on for days at a time, and it never slows down. If there are no hardware problems, then it should be relatively easy to do some cleanup/scans to get it back up and running at a decent pace.

Full antivirus scan (scan all files on the HDDs) with some decent AV like Avira's Antivir. It's free edition is good enough.

Full anti-malware/spyware scans with Malwarebytes Antimalware and Super Antispyware. Both have free editions.

Disk cleanup using the Windows inbuilt utility. Obviously it's free.;p

If you've never done so, run a chkdsk/r on the drives just to be on the safe side.

Full disk defrag including defrag of all the metadata and page file (if fragmented) using Diskeeper 2009 Professional; use automatic mode for the normal defrag, so set-and-forget. This one is not free, but it's a darn good defragger, and you can get free trial versions from their website for your use.

All the above should take some time..maybe a few hours depending on the size of the HDD, but it may help.

Worst case, reinstall XP.:embrass:

As for hardware upgrade/rebuild, you don't need to do everything at once. Start off with what you can afford and build up slowly as budget permits. But never compromise on the quality of the PSU and the motherboard since these two can take the rest of the components down with them if they crap out.

My current system serves all my needs just fine, including gaming, but the CPU+Mobo is 2 years old...I don't really want to go through the whole reinstall XP thing at this time, so just going to remove the E6550 and drop in a E8500 or something keeping the rest of the components intact.

E6550, Gigabyte P35-DS3R, 2 GB RAM, a few drives totalling 4 TB, XFX GTX260(16) Black Edition, Silverstone 750W PSU, Gigabyte 3dMars Aluminum full tower, LG DVDRW, a few case fans, Razer DeathAdder, Saitek Eclipse kbd, and a Dell 2407WFP-HC LCD. The original system was quite different but I've been upgrading the components as and when necessary..only the Mobo and CPU are from 2007 when I first put it together:sweat:

 

[WuffRuff]

i dont feel any slow down from my computer even if i never off for 7days. but make sure it doesnt overclock.

So if overclock will slow down?
Maybe mine is overclocking... cos my system is very old and slow...

 

[Rashkae]

I think I will get AMD Phenom II 955 too... I saw a good deal for it from PC Themes... $309.
Now need to select the Motherboard and graphics card... which is the most headache.
Which motherboard are you using?
I would like to get Asus as I've heard many good reviews about its reliability... but I don't know which one to get. I'd like to get one that takes DDR3 and preferably also DDR2 as well.

DDR2 and DDR3 are quite different, and as such I don't think there are any motherboards that accept both. It's one or the other, so best to make a commitment.

For motherboard, I'm very happy with the MSI 790FX-GD70

 

[godzilla60]

you can actually install mac on a desktop. but i'll not go into details here.. i'm sure you know the rest..

i know the illegal hacking way...but anyway i can buy the mac software and install legally on my PC?

 

[Rashkae]

i know the illegal hacking way...but anyway i can buy the mac software and install legally on my PC?

Nope. Apple wants you to buy their hardware.

 

[2evans]

i know the illegal hacking way...but anyway i can buy the mac software and install legally on my PC?

Apple sells hardware first so OSX helps keep things closed.

 

[godzilla60]

Apple sells hardware first so OSX helps keep things closed.

that's the problem. i like the stability of their OS but not the specifications of the hardware at that price...

 

[shaoken]

I wonder if it is worthwhile to upgrade my PC desktop?
My com is on pentium 4 and although I have upgraded it to 2 Gb RAM some time ago (max RAM the MB uses), it is still very slow and laggy.
Someone told me it is not worthwhile to upgrade my desktop as the new technology requires me to buy almost all the parts (except less HDD and CD-ROM). Is it so?
I am on a budget so Apple is out of range for now, and my com is really too slow for me to do what I want to do without much frustration and waste of waiting time. Sighhh...

Can someone recommend a system upgrade (what kind of specific parts) that would enable me to do my tasks without lag. I need a system that can be efficiently used to edit photos in PS (including RAW), open multiple internet browser windows/tabs, open MS word, edit videos, possibly play TV via TV tuner or videos.... all at the same time. Good if you can give me an estimate cost too.

By the way, I would like a system that can be used for the next 5 years (long term)... something that will not become obsolete so soon. Do I need to get a high end one?

Can you also recommend what graphics card I need? I don't do any gaming so I wouldn't need those super power and fast ones. But I will need it for video and photoshop editing, and watching videos and TV. So I need something in the middle ground and I'm not sure which is the most optimised for my uses.

The thing I am trying to find here is the best parts for my needs - not overkill, but yet is a stellar performer for my needs.

Thanks for any input.

I think wait till iCore7 hits the market well 1st then you upgrade your com to that system.
Mostly laptops/desktops, in the market now, are powered by Vista.

I won't recommend vista as the OS itself is very power consuming.
2GB ram is still a little slow, 3GB is just nice for normal usage.
Due to the 3-D look graphics, it uses a lot of battery power.

For iCore7, I heard from a programmer that iCore7 is using Windows XP system but have a Vista look.
So it will be better than Vista in terms of performace, look wise, about the same.

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

I think wait till iCore7 hits the market well 1st then you upgrade your com to that system.
Mostly laptops/desktops, in the market now, are powered by Vista.

I won't recommend vista as the OS itself is very power consuming.
2GB ram is still a little slow, 3GB is just nice for normal usage.
Due to the 3-D look graphics, it uses a lot of battery power.

For iCore7, I heard from a programmer that iCore7 is using Windows XP system but have a Vista look.
So it will be better than Vista in terms of performace, look wise, about the same.

What u smoke this morning? Seems like a nice puff...

I dunno what makes u mistake Microsoft Windows 7 with Intel Core I7... but its definitely a good puff.

And u are totally wrong...

Windows 7 is a Vista Upgrade. nuff said... go read up about it.

Its just that Windows 7 come with a Windows XP virtualization.

 

[hazmee]

What u smoke this morning? Seems like a nice puff...

I dunno what makes u mistake Microsoft Windows 7 with Intel Core I7... but its definitely a good puff.

And u are totally wrong...

Windows 7 is a Vista Upgrade. nuff said... go read up about it.

Its just that Windows 7 come with a Windows XP virtualization.

I need to smoke some of his stuff... too much work to do... LOL!!

 

[hongsien]

I have a specific photographer usage question on a certain PC setup I am thinking of building (BASICALLY LOOKING AT FAST RENDERING SPEED FOR LARGE PHOTO FILES, no video):

Intel iCore7-920 2.66GHz
8 GB DDR3 1333 RAM
NVIDIA Geforce GT 250 w/1 GB RAM videocard
WD 1T HDD
LG DVD writer 22x
Powerlogic 650W


Question 1: Will this setup be faster to render a photoshop image of 180MB in RGB/16bits mode with Lightroom 2 or Photoshop CS4 than on the current iMac 24" 3.06GHZ (with Aperture 2)?

Question 2: better to invest in an even higher-end videocard ? Such as:

1. ATI Radeon HD 4850 or 4890 (512MB) or 5860 (1GB) replacing the GT 250?
2. Quadro FX1700 (512MB) in combo with above set (replacing the GT 250)????

Is there really alot of difference in rendering speed between these 3 video cards (GT-250 vs Radeon HD 4850/5860 vs Quadro FX1700)?

Pricewise for lower end videocard combo is ~SGD 1815 or ~SGD 2460 with Quadro FX177 card.......


Alternative setup to above is iMac 24" 3.06GHZ:
Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB DDR3 RAM
Nvidia GeForce GT 130 512MB DDR3 RAM
etc
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am now using an old iMac G5 and its just too slow for Aperture 2, looking at the iMac intel top model which has a lower end videocard than above PC, I was wondering if it does make a difference in speed? I am not asking which PC or Mac is easier to use, etc, as I am comfortable with both systems........

I need to use Aperture 2 (or Lightroom 2) as I am using the Nik combo efe software (combo NikEfe I bought doesn't work with Photoshop)

---------------------------

PS: I like to hear from people who have or are using a similar setup as described...........


Thanks!
HS

 

[Rashkae]

The i& will be MUCH faster, and you won't get a boost from a faster video card. I'd suggest more RAM, and windows 7 64-bit.

 

[hongsien]

The i& will be MUCH faster, and you won't get a boost from a faster video card. I'd suggest more RAM, and windows 7 64-bit.

Yes, I do plan to use Windows 7.........

thanks! I first thought you mentioned iMac but it should read i7 :bsmilie::bsmilie: