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PLEASE HELP - should change my entire system or just upgrade

nanotech

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Joined
May 17, 2021
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Hello
I currently have a Full size Cooler Master HAF X case with the following build components
ASUS P9X79 Pro motherboard
Intel i7 3820 3.6 GHz. CPU - Socket 2011 LGA
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 gpu - 2 GB
2 X 4 GB sticks of Kingston DDR3 RAM - 799 MHz
1 TB Western Digital Hard Drive - old and tired
Running windows 10 64 bit OS

The system is slow and cranky
Applications take too long to start and respond

I am not at all hardware savvy or software savvy

I do NOT have any security software protection at all

I run Registry Mechanic and Glary Utilities often

I am NOT a gamer - do NOT play at all

But I use my computer a lot for business and surfing

I need it to be very very RELIABLE and FAST

I DO use graphics software like Corel Draw and sometime Adobe graphics products to fix graphics files

I use a lot of office productivity tools and Customer Relations Management software

I use Acrobat Pro to create and edit pdfs and a lot of graphics file edits

I surf a lot with literally 30 windows open all at once

BUT my computer seems very tired and I think I need an upgrade

I am very confused about whether I should change my entire system or just upgrade

PLEASE advise with detail suggestions on specific hardware

I do NOT mind USED components

I am on a BUDGET

Thank you

Yacob
 
I run Registry Mechanic and Glary Utilities often
Please uninstall this absolute trash.

I do NOT have any security software protection at all
Use Defender and download malware bytes to run periodically if you arent savvy and dont want to spend the money.

Applications take too long to start and respond

This is likely your old hard drive. I imagine you need to space since you use corel and appear to draw. I would reccomend getting a 250gb SSD for your OS and a new hard drive to actually store your stuff on.

This should remediate a lot of your issues.
 
Time to buy a sata ssd. You can easily clone your existing drive into the new one and be ready to enjoy it in very little time
 
Hello
I currently have a Full size Cooler Master HAF X case with the following build components
ASUS P9X79 Pro motherboard
Intel i7 3820 3.6 GHz. CPU - Socket 2011 LGA
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 gpu - 2 GB
2 X 4 GB sticks of Kingston DDR3 RAM - 799 MHz
1 TB Western Digital Hard Drive - old and tired
Running windows 10 64 bit OS

The system is slow and cranky
Applications take too long to start and respond

I am not at all hardware savvy or software savvy

I do NOT have any security software protection at all

I run Registry Mechanic and Glary Utilities often

I am NOT a gamer - do NOT play at all

But I use my computer a lot for business and surfing

I need it to be very very RELIABLE and FAST

I DO use graphics software like Corel Draw and sometime Adobe graphics products to fix graphics files

I use a lot of office productivity tools and Customer Relations Management software

I use Acrobat Pro to create and edit pdfs and a lot of graphics file edits

I surf a lot with literally 30 windows open all at once

BUT my computer seems very tired and I think I need an upgrade

I am very confused about whether I should change my entire system or just upgrade

PLEASE advise with detail suggestions on specific hardware

I do NOT mind USED components

I am on a BUDGET

Thank you

Yacob
I believe that your biggest problem is that HDD drive that you already called "Old&Tired" it will be much better for you IF you can get yourself one SSD and install the system on it...GL
 
i agree it looks like from your hdd, it start to wear, sometimes you gonna hear unstable spinning, harsh clicking, unresponse when copying big files, or just unusual noise when it run
 
A 2TB 3.5" Seagate FireCuda should make your PC more responsive (It has an 8GB solid state cache)
If you get a hard drive second hand be sure to check for any bad sectors.

You did not list your power supply.
 

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try SSD 128GB for the OS/boot drive, $20
1TB nvme on PCIe 4x riser adapter card, for working files and programs strongly advisable.
xeon 2650v2 $40 aliex
4x4 1866 server memory also at aliex $40 total.

that would be my best bet for $100, also by selling the old parts recoup some of the cost, you could keep them.
 
try SSD 128GB for the OS, $20
1TB nvme on PCIe 4x riser adapter card, for working files strongly advisable.
xeon 2650v2 $40 aliex
4x4 1866 server memory also at aliex $40 total.

that would be my best bet for $100, also by selling the old parts recoup some of the cost, you could keep them.
ECC Reg memory don't work on his motherboard.......
 
A 2TB 3.5" Seagate FireCuda should make your PC more responsive (It has an 8GB solid state cache)
If you get a hard drive second hand be sure to check for any bad sectors.

You did not list your power supply.

You need to read up, the SSD cache doesn't work for sh*t, it never has in Windows because it moved the frequent used files over to the SSD part if there is space for the file this is the way Windows handle this so a SSD is much better then this.

Only place where the SSHD like the FireCuda tech worked was with PS4 it was faster at loading then a regular HDD but the SSD is the clear winner.
 
A 2TB 3.5" Seagate FireCuda should make your PC more responsive (It has an 8GB solid state cache)
If you get a hard drive second hand be sure to check for any bad sectors.

You did not list your power supply.
I have a NOCTUA NF P12 cooling fan for the CPU and a FRACTAL design 750 Watt PS
 
ehh, why. im sorry, i assumed since it is 2011.
OP can only trust the P9X79 PRO Memory QVL then.
NP....I also wish it's working as I could get for myself some cheap ram :)
 
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Get a 500GB Crucial MX500 and run OS on it along with all the apps. Later on upgrade to additional 2TB HDD for storage.
 
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Get a 500GB MX500 and run OS on it along with all the apps. Later on upgrade to additional 2TB HDD for storage.

Not a bad choice, but I would look for what's needed usually a 250-256GB SSD is more then enough for most users.

But again check prices and see what's might be on sale sometimes you can be lucky :)
 
Not a bad choice, but I would look for what's needed usually a 250-256GB SSD is more then enough for most users.

But again check prices and see what's might be on sale sometimes you can be lucky :)
250 goes for $48, 500 is on sale at amazon for $56.
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When you're on a tight budget compromises have to be made but Defender should have come along with Win 10. Malwarebytes has a free version. Just download it and scan your PC and then uninstall.

If it were me I would get a small SSD and put the OS on that and a 4 TB hard drive and when you can upgrade to 16 GB RAM.

If you can buy from Amazon they are running a sale on WD Blacks HDD. Here's a 4 TB for $150

 
You need to read up, the SSD cache doesn't work for sh*t, it never has in Windows because it moved the frequent used files over to the SSD part if there is space for the file this is the way Windows handle this so a SSD is much better then this.

Only place where the SSHD like the FireCuda tech worked was with PS4 it was faster at loading then a regular HDD but the SSD is the clear winner.
I have three 2TB 3.5" Seagate FireCudas and all work well (and fast) with Windows 10
 
I have three 2TB 3.5" Seagate FireCudas and all work well (and fast) with Windows 10

Oh god please no, I thought these times where ancient where we seen Windows on large drives not even OEM's does this anymore expect with SSD's or RAID.
 
Any suggestions on which supplier is competitively priced with good quality hardware ?

Or do I have to shop at different suppliers ?

Is Aliexpress a safe place to buy - good quality hardware ?
 
Oh god please no, I thought these times where ancient where we seen Windows on large drives not even OEM's does this anymore expect with SSD's or RAID.
Maybe you are right and I am a little behind the times ;-)
 
Good Morning,

I have been building systems for about 30 years now, and while I understand the need to extract as much productivity out of your system as you can. There is a limit.

At some point you spent a considerable amount of funds on the system you currently have. The board and CPU you have were considered upper level gear back when they were originally released but lets take a closer look at your gear:

That CPU was released in 2012, so its just about a DECADE OLD. The mainboard is also from that same period.

It is a testament to how well made some of that gear was but if this is truly used for business than I would suggest its well past time for you to invest in some new gear.

You did however wait a bit too long given the sorry state product availability is in right now.

but there are a lot of helpful folks around, myself included that can help you find what you need.

Put plainly, you need a NEW SYSTEM, not upgraded parts and pieces. Its slow because all the parts in it are 10 years and 5 generations+ old.

that is par for the course for gear of that vintage. Nothing wrong with using it provided you understand the limitations and the expected performance you will get from it.

What I don't know is your budget, or if you can afford to replace your system, if you can, do your self and your business needs a favor and do that. :).

I would suggest the following components as a place to start:

Availability is not guaranteed given todays shortages and increased pricing, but given what you had, here is something that will perform well given your previous standards:

Asus Strix X570-e Gaming
AMD Ryzen 5800X
(2) 16GB DDR4 3200Mhz Dims n- 32GB Ram total.
Sabrent Rocket Plus 1TB M.2 PCI-e 4.0 SSD
Phaneks Enthoo Pro Metal panel case Full tower, good cooling and not RGB infected
Windows 10 Pro - if needed or if you don't already have it.
850Watt ATX Power Supply, get something quality so you don't have to replace this later, ideally, if you can spend the extra get a 1000Watt, it will give you the needed power for a better video card later.
Video card, I wish I could make any kind of recommendation here, there just isn't much available, you could actually use your existing card although it will be disappointing.
If we are just making solid recommendations, and you can find one at a price less than a kings ransom, the 3070 RTX is a great card.

Apart from the video card, I have many customers running this exact configuration, we run it as an AutoCAD and Graphics workstation mostly.

Pay no attention to the "gaming" labels on the mainboard, I selected this one for features and reliability, I have yet to get a bad one of these.

It is fantastically fast and responsive and is able to manage heavy workloads.
 
i agree with the new ssd it will solve loads, also how are your temps ? when was your cpu and gpu last pasted a bit of new Tim wouldnt hurt if its been a long time like morethan 3 years.
 
Forgot the CPU cooler, just stay with the basics, AMD Prism Air cooling is fine for the CPU I recommended.

PS, Avoid Ali Express if you can, I have heard some really mixed results out of there and some really wonky brands. Stay with vendors that you can trust and return parts that have issues to.

Places like NewEgg.com

PS PS,

you could likely go with a lower end CPU to save on costs, but if you want this system to last you nearly as long as the last one, invest in better than average performance components, they will last longer and will maintain performance for a longer term as well.
 
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