New PC or upgrade from 2011?

[CMStorm]

Hi folks, s'been a while!

After over six years my PC is full of dust and the 1TB HD is nearly full. All still works just fine though. Thank you PCSpecialists!

Upgrade or new pc? :tank:

I would like more than 8gb of RAM for photography stacking and certainly alot more HD storage. But I would have no idea how to swap/add these without breaking everything.

Wondering what I could gain? How much faster is faster, by a percentage gain on 2011? No budget constraint as I write. Current(old) spec attached.

PS_I did upgrade the monitor one year ago to a DELL U2515H so I will probably leave that bit out of the calculation. Plug in to any new pc right?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi folks, s'been a while!

After over six years my PC is full of dust and the 1TB HD is nearly full. All still works just fine though. Thank you PCSpecialists!

Upgrade or new pc? :tank:

I would like more than 8gb of RAM for photography stacking and certainly alot more HD storage. But I would have no idea how to swap/add these without breaking everything.

Wondering what I could gain? How much faster is faster, by a percentage gain on 2011? No budget constraint as I write. Current(old) spec attached.

PS_I did upgrade the monitor one year ago to a DELL U2515H so I will probably leave that bit out of the calculation. Plug in to any new pc right?

You could happily add another 8gb of Ram yourself, it’s incredibly easy, just a case of slotting it into a spare dimm slot.

Upgraded GPU would be the paramount benefit of course, although I’d wait a little bit for the new Nvidia RTX 2000 series as they’re going to be a major leap in performance whilst saving money.

If you went top tier for those upgrades, would set you back roughly £850.

There is probably an argument for a new build given the age of the processor and RAM, oussebon is the one to advise on that, he’s really good at pulling out performance charts and benchmarks on the pros and cons.

 

[Oussebon]

What software do you use?

A newer platform (new CPU, RAM, and mobo) could give huge gains. But at the same time if you're still plodding along with a Sandy Bridge i5 and your uses are ultimately quite casual you may prefer to not spend the money.

A new/larger/ faster SSD would be useful.

Depending on what you do for your photo editing / software you use a new GPU might not do much. Any other uses? Gaming, video editing?

 

[ubuysa]

My view on this is that you have a 7-year old PC and, to say nothing of the major advances in hardware that have been made since then, it has to be approaching the age when things will start to fail. This is probably going to be sooner rather than later if it's been full of dust for a long time (dust prevents proper cooling) and even more so if the fan blades are full of dust too.

I don't think I'd spend the £850 that has been suggested on a 7-year old PC, for me that money would be better spent put towards a new PC.

 

[polycrac]

You're in quite a nice position - a working PC so no deadline to upgrade right now, new GPUs coming out in a week or so, now CPUs coming out in a month or so. Hang on and either get cutting edge tech that will last another seven years or get a mid range spec that benefits from price drops due to the new releases!

 

[CMStorm]

Thank you for your notes/ideas. I would be completely lost without this forum

So, a new high-spec PC is likely. Do I need to create a 'System Image' of my current pc for the transfer to a new one? Or would this fail - unrecognised at the destination? A bit like moving home and discovering at the last minute that your new cupboards and utilities are a completely different size and shape to the past seven years. You thought it fitted....

Drive assignments is what I am worried about in my ignorance (I seem to vaguely remember reading something in this forum about the possible benefit of having an SSD to run your system and another separate drive for your data. I dunno, <shrug> has technology moved from this?).

Everything I have is thrown onto one drive.

Plus, I am keen to keep editing stills with Adobe Bridge, Adobe Camera Raw, and Adobe Photoshop CS5. And not be forced into an expensive cloud subscription if it can be avoided.

Gaming I am not bothered about oussebon. Video editing might come later.

 

[Oussebon]

Or would this fail - unrecognised at the destination? A bit like moving home and discovering at the last minute that your new cupboards and utilities are a completely different size and shape to the past seven years. You thought it fitted....

If Windows did even manage to load, it would be full of critical problems as the chipset and other hardware will be totally different, meaning the drivers won't work. Don't attempt this.

You'll need to reinstall software manually onto the new PC, and copy files over e.g. by putting them onto an external hard drive and copying them off that.

An SSD + HDD is a popular combo these days, yes. The benefits of an SSD are pretty huge.

Plus, I am keen to keep editing stills with Adobe Bridge, Adobe Camera Raw, and Adobe Photoshop CS5. And not be forced into an expensive cloud subscription if it can be avoided.

Check to see if your chosen software is compatible with Windows 10. Including with google, not just the official specs pages. And make sure you have the licence keys to activate your installation of any software, where this is applicable.

What is your budget for the system?

 

[CMStorm]

I was assuming I would get a new operating system with a new pc and pay for a full installation at my home again. Worked twice before and I hate this task so much I would rather give it to a professional to make it all work before I try to put all my data back.

Hmmm, I could use my existing Windows 7 disc from the last purchase but I guess it would waste a day prompting the automatic updates back up to Windows 10 all over again.

I have found the serial number for Photoshop CS5 but strongly suspect that Adobe will somehow reject it upon reinstallation as old technology (perhaps I am resigned to accepting the annoying new subscription - aware that I cannot stay still forever).

Q. Curious if anyone uses Belarc Advisor or other software to ensure a complete license is captured for peace of mind? I have never used software like this and wonder if it is worth the effort.

Budget for new pc? Unlimited at this point. Although I might make reductions to pay for installation and failure insurance.

 

[ubuysa]

I was assuming I would get a new operating system with a new pc and pay for a full installation at my home again. Worked twice before and I hate this task so much I would rather give it to a professional to make it all work before I try to put all my data back.

Buy a Windows 10 license with the PC, then PCS will install Windows and all your drivers for you before they ship it.

Hmmm, I could use my existing Windows 7 disc from the last purchase but I guess it would waste a day prompting the automatic updates back up to Windows 10 all over again.

Bad idea. Getting Windows 7 installed on modern hardware can be awkward.

I have found the serial number for Photoshop CS5 but strongly suspect that Adobe will somehow reject it upon reinstallation as old technology (perhaps I am resigned to accepting the annoying new subscription - aware that I cannot stay still forever).

Your best bet is to check with Adobe on the status of that license key.

Q. Curious if anyone uses Belarc Advisor or other software to ensure a complete license is captured for peace of mind? I have never used software like this and wonder if it is worth the effort.

I dislike these kinds of products because I'm always wary of where the updates are coming from. Windows 10 keeps itself updated and most other (decent) products will automatically check for updates to themselves regularly as well. I suspect Belarc Advisor is aimed more at corporate customers who have hundreds of PC to keep updated...

Budget for new pc? Unlimited at this point. Although I might make reductions to pay for installation and failure insurance.

Take a close look at the PCS warranty options then and consider one of the extended warranties - they're worth it for pace of mind.

 

[Oussebon]

Q. Curious if anyone uses Belarc Advisor or other software to ensure a complete license is captured for peace of mind? I have never used software like this and wonder if it is worth the effort.

I've used it before. On OEM systems it often won't give the correct licence key but it might for your own software on a custom build.

Edit: If Belarc Adviser has any update features I've never used it, I only know it as a tool that lists system information including licence keys (which may be inaccurate on volume licenced/OEM machines like a Dell etc).

You won't want to use Windows 7 on the new system, as it's not fully supported on new hardware and also it stops getting updates including security updates in Jan 2020. If you hate copying your data over to the extent that you're literally going to pay someone to do that for you, you probably don't want to set yourself up for migration to a new OS in about a year's time.

Also, NB that PCS's home installation service says:

Transfer up to 10GB of end user data and application files including email, internet favourites, My documents, My pictures, My Videos, My Music.

For which you'd pay £131. If you edit photos and have had your system for many years, do you really only have upto 10gb of "user data and application files"?

Intel are releasing new CPUs in October, or so everyone believes. They will be compatible with existing motherboards, and a new, higher tier of motherboards is being released too. These mobos have nearly all been leaked already so everyone's pretty sure the CPUs are imminent.

If budget is more or less unlimited I'd suggest waiting for the i9 9900k (maybe ~£450, so ~£100 more than the i7 8700k) to come out if you can hold on 1 month or so.

 

[CMStorm]

All very useful. Thank you for your feedback and thoughts so quickly.

Hahah, gosh the temptation to wait for a month for new CPU releases........

Basic home set-up I have happily paid for before. Plugging in my Epson peripherals (amazed they still work although I would not recommend Epson), connecting to the internet, driver updates...really just making sure it all works, ten times faster than I can do it.

Might be more questions as I start choosing the kit. USB sockets spaced out so they face the user is a must. Got four at the mo

 

[Oussebon]

Connecting to the internet = plug in ethernet cable

Driver updates = windows does it automatically these days. And PCS will have installed drivers before it ships.

 

[CMStorm]

Configuring...I can see this is gonna take a few sessions!

Going forward with the popular two HD plan...

Q. 1st Hard Disk, how big should the SSD be? All I can work out is my pc currently uses 186GB (that's using and not my storage data of 744GB sitting in other folders).

The 2nd Hard Disk is likely to be a standard HDD of 3TB, or even 4TB.

 

[Oussebon]

A 256gb SSD is popular and I'd suggest at least that since you will want Windows, programs, and current photo editing projects on there.

 

[CMStorm]

So maybe a 500gb ssd, yep I will go with that suggestion

I feel I want the fast CPU, so i7.

But I would like some help choosing these though...?

Motherboard?
Graphics Card?
Power supply? I remember someone modifying my selection on here last time to make the system easier to make/maintain/cool, which was good.
Processor cooling?

 

[CMStorm]

Oh, no tips (yet) on these parts for a high spec pc?

 

[Oussebon]

I didn't see your post yesterday.

Are we waiting for the new CPUs to be out, or are you determined to press ahead immediately? As there's no real point giving advice ahead of time because new motherboards are also coming out, and PCS's stock can change - so no point splitting hairs between, say, a Noctua cooler or an H80i cooler today if it's possible PCS stopped selling the Noctua and sell something else instead by the time you order in a few weeks

 

[CMStorm]

Ahar, I am keen to get going. Don't really want to wait.

Although I don't like any of the cases. All seem to invite dust and put USB points in stupid places. Absolutely amazed at this, they should NEVER be packed right next to one another so a user can only plug in two things at a time and they should never point straight upwards to suck in debris. The best solution is SPREAD under a dust cover or on the diagonal that points towards the user. I probably have at least a dozen USB devices and maybe just one with a USB cable long enough to not need to rest the device on top of the case. <sigh>

Oh and why don't the cases have a handle at each end? Always wondered about this.

Use my existing case? Not likely. Calculations, cleaning, disassemble, would cost more in than the case.

Sorry if this sounds a bit angry

 

[ubuysa]

Ahar, I am keen to get going. Don't really want to wait.

Although I don't like any of the cases. All seem to invite dust and put USB points in stupid places. Absolutely amazed at this, they should NEVER be packed right next to one another so a user can only plug in two things at a time and they should never point straight upwards to suck in debris. The best solution is SPREAD under a dust cover or on the diagonal that points towards the user. I probably have at least a dozen USB devices and maybe just one with a USB cable long enough to not need to rest the device on top of the case. <sigh>

Oh and why don't the cases have a handle at each end? Always wondered about this.

Use my existing case? Not likely. Calculations, cleaning, disassemble, would cost more in than the case.

Sorry if this sounds a bit angry

Why not find a case that meets your needs elsewhere and send it to PCS?

 

[Oussebon]

Absolutely amazed at this, they should NEVER be packed right next to one another so a user can only plug in two things at a time and they should never point straight upwards to suck in debris.

Frankly the dust is a non-issue. Unless you stand over your PC eating biscuits, dust and other things falling into the USB ports isn't a problem and you'll periodically dust the PC anyway so can give the USB ports a quick blast with compressed air, same as you will the innards.

As for the USB ports being side by side, I can't think of the last USB device I saw that caused this issue. I guess one of my old USB pens pre-2010 when people still thought it was gimmicky to make them in the shape and size of a of an actual highlighter pen, but even my chunkier-than-average Sandisk Extreme will happily nest next to other USB pens. Most USB devices that need to be plugged into the PC on a near-permanent basis tend to get plugged in at the back. If you have one particularly large USB device that needs to go in at the front and you need to avoid it blocking the other ports, then a short extension cable would be my suggestion.

I won't go as far as to say it's never a problem, but it's not a problem for the great majority of people, so it's done like that I guess.

Some cases do have the USB ports spaced out more and/or arranged as _ _ rather than | |. But these often have only 2 USB ports at the front (Corsair 200R, 540 Air) as it uses up more space, unsurprisingly. The Sharkoon VG4-W puts its 4 USB ports at the front arranged _ _ _ _. And so only has room for 1 front intake, which is obscured by HDD cages, and has sucky airflow as a result. Because some genius put the front IO there instead of room for another fan in a cheap case.

You can always find an alternative case and send it in.

And to be sure there's something of a fashion at the moment for the fronts of cases being 'clean' - either so you can have tempered glass across the whole front (with optional RGB fans behind), or a minimalist brushed aluminium type panel.

Oh and why don't the cases have a handle at each end?

Dead space, harder to fit into those PC desks everyone loves to use, and most people not moving the PC around much I suppose. Some cases do have handles - the most common ones being intended for gaming builds taken to LAN parties. Though there are a few big ones with handles too.

I think not waiting for the new CPUs is a mistake if you have an otherwise functioning system.

I've suggested the Fractal R6 as it's an excellent case.
You could look at the Mastercase MC500M if you want your USB ports more angled to the front: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/images/cases/11559/3_big.png - there are 4 USB ports if you include the Type C. And the USB ports are arranged 'horizontally' instead of stacked vertically next to each other.

As a starting point:


Case
FRACTAL DEFINE R6 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™ i7-8700K Six Core (3.7GHz @ up to 4.8GHz)
---FREE PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Battlefield 1 & More! w/ select Intel CPUs!
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
5TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 128MB CACHE
1[SUP]st[/SUP] M.2 SSD Drive
500GB WD Black™ M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3400MB/s R | 2500MB/s W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 14 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,727.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-overclocked/tSK0FQChN4/


If going for the MC500M case then perhaps go with thew Asus Z370-E as it supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 type C front connection, which I believe the case supports also.