Desktops forum: What should I do: upgrade my computer or buy a new one?

Couldn't afford all I needed, but they had a good deal on motherboards and processors...just had to get them. I tried the combination I wanted four times online, and by the time I found the credit card number, they were sold out. So I traveled to the store and wala!

Ever look thru Maximum PC where all types of systems are reviewed? I've seen several that are very close to $10,000 reviewed. Yea its nuts to pay that much but thats what some companies are asking. They will use an NZXT case like the Phantom and jam it full and water cool it. Nowadays my rig would cost about 1800 to build but last year the 2TB drives were well under $100, and those were the WD Blacks with 64 mb cache. Tempted to sell a bunch of HD's but dont want to risk loosing any data or improperly erasing it.

I often agree with that. These days the updates in software are often offer incremental advances or they just add things you don't really care that much about. Sometimes they have bugs that make things crash easier. If you computer isn't pretty new it well might crash your machine for that reason. That said, I wouldn't go back to XP. Windows 7 is pretty good.

You are multiple posting the same identical post in this thread. That is spam and you need to be aware that we routinely delete spam posts.

This is not a discussion that is suitable to ask questions of your own so I suggest you create your own discussion and use that to ask your questions.

Mark

If your 5 year old computer was really high end at the time, it's probably still worth keeping. But most people buy mid- to low-end systems.

I can tell you positively that the latter is the way to go! In the last 2 years or so, advances made to components and the incredible drop in pricing are a compelling case for starting over again. Exactly 12 months ago I faced the same decision, because that,s what it is and having written many posts both here and elsewhere before committing myself I priced everything up. Yes, a few €,s cheaper to replace but where do you stop since a large amount of the ingredients did not mix with others and so, other than the power cable and plug, it was going to be near 100% so might as well go the whole hog and get a new box as well!!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously tho' I am delighted with the build of my new computer. Not an "off the shelf" machine but much more pleasing a made to measure one using the very best and latest components all for less than 800 of your "Green Backs". Enjoy but just find a company who will do it properly, that,s all.

I believe that there are a few questions to ask yourself to answer your question. First question to ask is your computer too slow? If no, then the second is: Is our hard drive too full? If yes, the third is: Do you have a good amount of RAM (3-4GB or more)? Then ask, have you been turning your computer off when you are not using it for 4-6 hour periods to keep it from deteriorating unnecessarially from heat and wear. Finally if yes: Is there any software you would like to get or upgrade to that doesn't run on XP? Again if the answer is no, then you are most likely in good shape until the business world moves on from the ultra stable and capable Win XP and the anti-virus and firewall software is not updated and available.

I've been messing with Win 8 Developers Preview, do yourself a favor and stick with Windows 7.

I have been messing around with win 8 developer and while it's nice, I HATED it since I have been around PC since it's birth! (meaning since DOS 2.0 and all operating systems since, including OS/2) The problem I having with Win 8 is all new desktop stuff and in my opinion, it's designed for easy transistion from and to Android stuff on Smartphones and right now there is NO big screen that does the same touch screen stuff as smartphone and/or tablets does. If there is, then it's EXTREMLEY expensive to own!
But I do agree that Win 7 is a winner over XP or Vista. However I agreed that you should go with new 64 bit multicore processors and use win 7 64 bit and you won't be disappointed. I do build PC's from scratch and I have a 11 year old PC that still runs very good for XP (at the time, it was a high end PC build) and now I built a PC with 2GB memory and 2.5Ghz Intel Pentium dual core and win 7 64bit loaded and I find it very usefull for websurfing and even burning and ripping CD/DVD while doing other stuff very stable.
Now, with the price of SSD dropping, I would install Win 7 on it and use SATA harddrive for all other stuff.

Buy an Apple? Surely you are jesting! We have both Apple and PC computers in our home. My wife likes the Apple because it is simple for her. I use two PCs because I find them much more producutive. Regarding upgrading or buying a new computer to replace a 6 year old system. It depends on what you use the machine for. If you need speed, then buy. If speed is not critical, then upgrade if you are handy and knowledgeable. The advice to replace the mother board and CPU as well as the power supply is good advice. You will probably want to run Win64 bits and get more memory which is relatively cheap. Personally, I have an older Dell XPS which was, at the time, pretty fast. It's pretty long in the tooth with XP and a single core CPU and 4G memory. It's fine for simple things but it crashes (recovers OK) more frequently so I'll replace it. I'll probably build my own after Win8 comes out.

My all time favorite desktop PC died two days before Christmas. I spent two weeks looking for parts and upgrading it. Then I got it working again. One day later it died again. My new PC arrived two days ago. It's a lot faster, shinier, and cooler looking. And it works. That's the good news. The bad news is that all my software was 32 bits. Oh and did I mention I used Outlook Express to store all my email? The good news is that I backed up my PC every Sunday night so I didn't loose any data (or software). I even managed to restore all the Outlook Express messages to Windows Live. I still have a lot of software to upgrade.

Based on my experience, if I had it to do all over again, I would forget about fixing the old PC and go straight to buying a new one. I wasted two weeks and some bucks trying to get the PC to work.

I did save some money on the new PC. I didn't have to buy a monitor since I already had a flatscreen that's both DVI and HDMI enabled. I also bought the new PC with 1t hard drive and one DVD player. The old PC has two DVD players and I plan to try to install one in the new PC. It also has two 500G hard drives and I am going to see if they work in the new PC, too.

Anyway, my advice is to buy a new PC.

Once you have decided you need more than a new hard drive or memory upgrade to accomplish what you want to do with your computer you will likely find that you will have to start with a new case to fit more modern components.
If your computer is a proprietary desktop (Dell, HP, IBM, etc.) you may not be able to make the most profitable upgrade: A new motherboard, memory, and CPU. The company-built computer most often has a very customized case that fits only their motherboard.
The company boxes often use the minimum power supply to run the 6 year old motherboard and drive(s). It will provide you with reboots/crashes at odd moments if you overload it with a multicore processor and honking video card on a full funcion motherboard. Once you have converted to a generic case and power supply you can keep updating the hardware within for a long time.
You can build a much more powerful computer from components ordered online. The major online retail sites often offer builder lists at discount. Hardware bloggers are eager to share the latest constructions in detail.

I have 2 windows xp computers 11 and 12 year-old that help me generate all my income. Running 2003 Outlook, Excel, Word and professional programs is no different than my other i7 computers. However when it comes to surf in the internet they are unable to handle the yieldmanager, zedo, mashups, and every stupid popups that come in Yahoo, Google, Bing and others and because the come with and are part of those web portals there are no practical ways to eliminate them. So I made direct link to web sites that use minimally those technologies( I wanted to say nuisances)

<div>For work and productivity that do not requires extensive internet seach your computer may be fine for few more years but if your looking for the latest news about the Kardasians, the Millies, the cougars, OMG, the Botox-Faces of the


senescent A-Listed or tiger mom get ready to buy a $1000+ new system. Unless you are a gamer or a graphic designer the latest home computer is for goofing off in the web. </div>
I just finish a project in my 11y/o Dell Pavillion with 512 RAM. Next Tuesday I will get 8K.<div>
Knowing what you want to do with your computer(s) will help you make your mind soon and without any future doubts. Make sure that the available cash is not burning your pocket so put in a some form of short term investment until the Malasyan flood resolve and prices of parts return to the pre-monsoonic era.

Good luck Lee
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Advanced amateur, computers since 1983. If you can afford it, a new computer about every 3 years (approx.) will keep you somewhat up to date. I've tried simply updating components, but I always run into some new wrinkle that something conflicts or won't work, or requires a new version of at least one app. At times, the OS takes a big step forward (e.g., Windows Me to XP, XP to Vista or 7), and some technical expertise is more than useful. I know folks who can upgrade successfully, but not me. However, since you have XP, you should consider pro help to upgrade at least to 7, a much better OS. And with Windows 8 coming this Fall, your old XP might well have some difficulties quickly. Win7 has compatibility mode, which I've found works with over 80% of mainstream XP programs. That may or may not continue with 8. But since XP is no longer supported (except for business, last I read), a good new buy will likely set you up for another 4-5 years with lots less hassle. I found my i7-920 was a (desktop) major step up, and recently (laptop) an i7-2670 cut my laptop times by half. Sandy Bridge (2nd Generation i-series) was a big leap forward, Ivy Bridge initially appears to be just as bit. So from my experience (and IT people I know), if you need an upgrade now (old unit is having issues, you need newer software, etc.), get a 2nd Gen i-series (even the i3 beats a Pentium or dual core 20 ways to Sunday) Sandy Bridge with at least 6 Gb of DDR3 (1333 preferred) RAM, a good mix of value and power. You'll note I'm not a big AMD fan, though their CPUs do an excellent job too, for less cost. I just prefer Intel. If your computer seems to be doing ok, and software is adequate, you might want to save up for one of the new units supposed to start being available in March or April, and that run Win7, but can also run Win8 when it comes out this Fall. That gives you value AND options on further upgrades or "hold 'em" for a few more years. Remember, though, upgrading to even Win7 will likely give you good reason to buy some newer software (freeware, Office, antivirus, photo or other apps). So when deciding what to buy, check out the cost of updated software that will benefit your upgrade or update. My son is in IT and helps when he can, so I have a slight advantage. I recommend setting up a realistic budget, a small "reserve" in case you guess wrong, and then find what will fit the budget. I've bought "refurbished" from Dell and HP, and had no problems with them (read the fine print!). Year-end deals can also help you find something a bit better for less money. My son's HP laptop (dv6t) cost $1300 customized with near-high-end components. I just bought the same laptop with two major components one step down (720p instead of 1080p, 5400 rpm hard drive rather than 7200) because my needs aren't as powerful. I save $400, still got blu-ray, 750 hard drive, i7-2760, some other neat bits, and still can afford to add my usual software (from the 3-license software that many providers sell for a few dollars more). Do your "homework" (yeah, I hate that word too, but it's really helpful). Good luck! cheyguy

John,

It really comes down to the reason you need/want to upgrade. If you are web surfing, doing some word or excel documents and the like then it probably comes down to the need for a software upgrade. If you are into video, audio or mutlimedia editing, 3D design, gaming or other system demanding activities then I would suggest you go with new hardware. Part of the challenge is particularly with compatibility. Six years ago DDR2 RAM was common, it is now hard to find and usually more expensive than DDR3. USB 3 is now becoming a common fitting. SATA 3 is now common place, which would be a preferred option if you are going for a SSD storage drive.

If you really need a hardware upgrade then I would recommend going new rather than pouring money into old technology. The new technology is incredibly cheap and will give you a better bang per buck.

Good luck