Greetings all,
Approximate Purchase Date:
August, 2010
Budget Range:
< 1000 after rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important:
Practicing and recording music with Audacity, Pro Tools and MUseScore with a Focusrite 2i2, while watching instructional videos, Microsoft Office products, surfing the internet.
Are you buying a monitor:
No
Parts to Upgrade:
Motherboard
CPU & a cooler
Video card
Memory
HDD (if I am building, I would like to go SSD)
Do you need to buy OS:
Yes
Preferred Website(s) for Parts:
Amazon
Newegg
Location:
Montana
Parts Preferences:
I have had good luck with the current Asus Motherboard, so I am partial.
Overclocking:
No
SLI or Crossfire:
No
Your Monitor Resolution:
1920 x 1080
Additional Comments:
My current system is very quiet. I would like to keep it that way.
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading:
I built a system in 2010 for Photoshop, casual gaming, watching videos, and surfing the internet. It has performed flawlessly, in fact it handled Photoshop like a dream.
But, times change. I have changed careers. I no longer use Photoshop, and I don’t game on it anymore. For several years, I only used it for casual surfing, banking, and keeping photos.
For the last couple years, I have been using it primarily for playing and recording music via Audacity and Pro Tools. This is just a hobby. I am learning to play bass guitar. This system allows me to watch instructional videos and record what I play for later review. For that, I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 to input audio. It is operating smoothly and handling the workload just fine.
However, I am getting the warning that I need to upgrade to Win11, but cannot because the motherboard\CPU don’t comply.
This computer has served\is serving me very well. It has plenty of processor to do what I need. The best case scenario would be to just somehow get Win11 to work on it. But since it is 14 years old, I wouldn’t mind replacing it.
I am stuck between buying an off the shelf system (note: I am laptop-opposed) or upgrading what I have. The system I built was with the thought of potentially upgrading as necessary, hence the nice full tower case and big PSU.
I hate the thought of an off the shelf system. I like building systems because it is fun, though this one was the last one I did.
I love my HAF X case. It is huge, but not taking up much-needed space. It was super easy to build my current system in it. I have had several other mid-tower cases over the years, but they all had drawbacks. My biggest complaint is that the current system will heat my office. In the summer, that can be a pain. But with A/C, I can keep the room at 77° or so.
Current system:
Case:
Coolermaster HAF X
Motherboard:
Asus P6X58D Premium
Power Supply:
Zalman ZM750-HP 750w
CPU:
Intel core i7 930 2.8 GHz quad core
Memory:
2Gx3|CORSAIR CMP6GX3M3A1600C8
I have since replaced this with (3) G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) Desktop Memory, 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM
CPU cooler:
ZALMAN|CNPS10X
Video card:
ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB
This was replaced by an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti that a friend gave me
Monitors:
(2) - Asus VH236H via DVI
Primary HDD:
WD Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0
Secondary HDD:
WDC WD10EZEX-08WN4A0 ATA 1 TB
Tertiary HDD
External Seagate 2 TB SSD USB I use as a backup drive.
CD/DVD:
ASUS 24x DRW-24B1ST SATA CD\DVD Burner
I would like to reuse my case, power supply (unless it is suggested I replace it due to age), CD\DVD burner, external SSD HD, and monitors\keyboard\mouse.
I am thinking I could probably sell the mobo\CPU\HDDs to someone locally that is into building systems and doesn't mind it cannot run Win11.
Approximate Purchase Date:
August, 2010
Budget Range:
< 1000 after rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important:
Practicing and recording music with Audacity, Pro Tools and MUseScore with a Focusrite 2i2, while watching instructional videos, Microsoft Office products, surfing the internet.
Are you buying a monitor:
No
Parts to Upgrade:
Motherboard
CPU & a cooler
Video card
Memory
HDD (if I am building, I would like to go SSD)
Do you need to buy OS:
Yes
Preferred Website(s) for Parts:
Amazon
Newegg
Location:
Montana
Parts Preferences:
I have had good luck with the current Asus Motherboard, so I am partial.
Overclocking:
No
SLI or Crossfire:
No
Your Monitor Resolution:
1920 x 1080
Additional Comments:
My current system is very quiet. I would like to keep it that way.
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading:
I built a system in 2010 for Photoshop, casual gaming, watching videos, and surfing the internet. It has performed flawlessly, in fact it handled Photoshop like a dream.
But, times change. I have changed careers. I no longer use Photoshop, and I don’t game on it anymore. For several years, I only used it for casual surfing, banking, and keeping photos.
For the last couple years, I have been using it primarily for playing and recording music via Audacity and Pro Tools. This is just a hobby. I am learning to play bass guitar. This system allows me to watch instructional videos and record what I play for later review. For that, I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 to input audio. It is operating smoothly and handling the workload just fine.
However, I am getting the warning that I need to upgrade to Win11, but cannot because the motherboard\CPU don’t comply.
This computer has served\is serving me very well. It has plenty of processor to do what I need. The best case scenario would be to just somehow get Win11 to work on it. But since it is 14 years old, I wouldn’t mind replacing it.
I am stuck between buying an off the shelf system (note: I am laptop-opposed) or upgrading what I have. The system I built was with the thought of potentially upgrading as necessary, hence the nice full tower case and big PSU.
I hate the thought of an off the shelf system. I like building systems because it is fun, though this one was the last one I did.
I love my HAF X case. It is huge, but not taking up much-needed space. It was super easy to build my current system in it. I have had several other mid-tower cases over the years, but they all had drawbacks. My biggest complaint is that the current system will heat my office. In the summer, that can be a pain. But with A/C, I can keep the room at 77° or so.
Current system:
Case:
Coolermaster HAF X
Motherboard:
Asus P6X58D Premium
Power Supply:
Zalman ZM750-HP 750w
CPU:
Intel core i7 930 2.8 GHz quad core
Memory:
2Gx3|CORSAIR CMP6GX3M3A1600C8
I have since replaced this with (3) G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) Desktop Memory, 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM
CPU cooler:
ZALMAN|CNPS10X
Video card:
ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB
This was replaced by an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti that a friend gave me
Monitors:
(2) - Asus VH236H via DVI
Primary HDD:
WD Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0
Secondary HDD:
WDC WD10EZEX-08WN4A0 ATA 1 TB
Tertiary HDD
External Seagate 2 TB SSD USB I use as a backup drive.
CD/DVD:
ASUS 24x DRW-24B1ST SATA CD\DVD Burner
I would like to reuse my case, power supply (unless it is suggested I replace it due to age), CD\DVD burner, external SSD HD, and monitors\keyboard\mouse.
I am thinking I could probably sell the mobo\CPU\HDDs to someone locally that is into building systems and doesn't mind it cannot run Win11.
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