[SOLVED] Need help upgrading an old PC

Jimbob999

Commendable
Jul 29, 2020
7
0
1,510
MB: Asus P7P55D-E
CPU: Intel Core i5 760
RAM: 4GB PC3-10666 DDR3 Memory
GPU: GeForce GTX 460 768MB Video Card
HDD: 1000GB 7200RPM
PSU: Gigabyte 460W Premium Grade

Built in 2010.

Hi there,

I'm getting a little confused over what is the best option to go for upgrading this old little machine.

I need a new HDD for sure, but unsure what is the best option to go for as I'm really not sure what the motherboard would support?

I believe the motherboard supports up to DDR3, so was going to try and max out on that RAM?

Now I'm not sure if I want to upgrade the GPU or CPU due to budget constraints, but if you seem to think it would be much better to do so, then I would be happy to hear it.

The machine drags so slowly now and some tasks, such as windows updating in the background, can cripple it for hours and make it totally unresponsive to even ctrl-alt-del

Happy to hear all options or ideas if there is anyone out there that wants to throw out their two cents!

Thanks

Jimbob
 
Solution
Too fast trigger finger...
Buy in haste, repent at leisure.
I nope you have time to consider.


1. How much ram do you need?
If you think 8gb will do it for you, buy a 2 x 4gb kit of ram with the same specs as your current 4gb.
You will get a guaranteed 8gb, and if your ole ram plays nice which is likely, you will have 12gb.
As an alternative, buy a 4 x4gb kit to get 16gb.
Do not buy individual sticks which might seem cheaper.
Ram must be matched and matching 4 sticks costs more.
Buying on ebay should get you a decent price.
Speed is not too important and 1600 or 1333 is ok.

2. How much of your 1tb HDD is actually being used?
If it is mostly full, say 80% then buy a 1tb samsung 860 ssd.
The EVO will cost about $130, and the...

Jimbob999

Commendable
Jul 29, 2020
7
0
1,510
I think that you should really be thinking about a new PC rather than upgrading.

That said, more memory and an SSD would help a lot.

Cheers, I did actually buy a new machine a while back, but at times need this second machine, so now looking to upgrade it.

I'm just a little confused over what type of HDD would be best and accepted by the motherboard.

Also, do you know if this would work?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00J8E8Y5C/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks :)
 
Probably not on the memory, it looks like that motherboard is limited to 4GB sticks, so you would need 4x4GB for 16 GB of total memory (the max for that motherboard). Buy a kit, not individual sticks.

For the SSD/HDD, any SATA III (6 Gb/s) drive should be fine. I would certainly go with a SSD. The motherboard does not have a m.2 slot, so avoid those drives.
 
I don't see the memory on the QVL list, but I expect that it will work. If it doesn't, you might have to return/exchange it, so not a huge problem. Yes, two 4x2GB kits.

There are some non-m.2 PCI-E SSDs, but they are not cost effective. I'd just go with a SATA III SSD. The difference versus a HDD is huge. PCI-E is even faster, but the SATA->PCi-E difference isn't as dramatic as the HDD->SSD upgrade.
 
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Too fast trigger finger...
Buy in haste, repent at leisure.
I nope you have time to consider.


1. How much ram do you need?
If you think 8gb will do it for you, buy a 2 x 4gb kit of ram with the same specs as your current 4gb.
You will get a guaranteed 8gb, and if your ole ram plays nice which is likely, you will have 12gb.
As an alternative, buy a 4 x4gb kit to get 16gb.
Do not buy individual sticks which might seem cheaper.
Ram must be matched and matching 4 sticks costs more.
Buying on ebay should get you a decent price.
Speed is not too important and 1600 or 1333 is ok.

2. How much of your 1tb HDD is actually being used?
If it is mostly full, say 80% then buy a 1tb samsung 860 ssd.
The EVO will cost about $130, and the slightly slower QVO will be about
I recommend samsung partly because of quality, but also because they have a easy to use ssd migration app that will easily move your C drive to their ssd.
Everything will be so much faster.
Do not be put off by the sata interface vs. pcie.
You would not notice any difference.
You are looking at some 40x faster random I/O and 3x faster sequential.
 
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Solution

Jimbob999

Commendable
Jul 29, 2020
7
0
1,510
Too fast trigger finger...

O dear!

1. I'm sure I can send it back if needed.

I only bought the 2x 4GB kit
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00J8E93G6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If it works with the old 4GB, I'll be more than happy with 12GB I think, that's if the old 4GB is actually still going after all these years of torture.


2. My 1TB HDD was constantly full, having to uninstall some bits, but mainly removing old download files, and other large ones. Now I've moved onto a new machine (its a such a dream compared), I was looking at removing a lot more stuff from it, to free up a lot of space. However the pain is real when trying to load it up and do anything on it.

Its as if I read your mind, I went for the Samsung 1TB Evo. I did a bit of reading here (and there), and saw the Samsung tool to transition over windows onto the new drive. Plus other recommendations for the drive against others, so I was sold.


The reason for the hastiness is I have a day off tomorrow that I can dedicate to sorting it out if it doesn't just plug in and play :)

But yes you are right I should have given it a little more time to reflect before making a decision :(
 
You should be OK.
I would expect the kit you bought to run properly.
Possibly, the old 4gb kit might work, but if it does, the 1600 speed ram you bought will lower to match the 1066 of the 4gb stick.
That is not necessarily bad.
The difference will show up mainly in the performance of integrated graphics.
You will have the ability to try it both ways.

If you have not used a ssd before, you will be thrilled at the difference.
 

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