Upgrading to a new desktop, how much of an improvement between old and new systems?

[dragonwolf8504]

Ok, here's the deal, my girlfriend's dad's computer bit the dust last night and he ordered a new computer and will be picking it up today from Microcenter, I helped him pick out the machine.

In the meantime I discovered that it seems that the psu on the old computer is what died, so he was planning on replacing the psu in the old one and use it for a backup, the biggest thing is how much of an upgrade is he looking at between the 2 machines.

Old one:

Operating System Licenses Included Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Case & Motherboard
Case Orientation Vertical
North Bridge Chipset Intel X58 Express
Processor
CPU Brand Intel
CPU Core Quad-Core
CPU Type Core i7
CPU Speed 920 (2.66GHz)
Turbo Boost Speed Up to 2.93GHz
Level 2 Cache 4 x 256KB
Level 3 Cache 8MB
FSB QPI 4800MT/s
CPU Socket LGA 1366
CPUs Installed 1
CPUs Supported 1
CPU Main Features Virtualization Technology
Turbo Boost Technology
Hyper-Threading Technology
Memory
Total Memory 6GB
Form Factor 240-pin DIMM
Memory Configuration 3 x 2GB
Memory Slots (Total) 4
Memory Slots (Available) 1
Maximum Memory Supported 16GB
Hard Drive
HD Capacity 1.2TB
HD Interface SATA
HD RPM 7,200 RPM
HD Configuration 2 x 640GB
RAID RAID 0
Multimedia Drives
Optical Drives Included 1
Optical Drive SuperMulti DVDRW
Optical Drive Specs SuperMulti Double Layer DVDRW Drive
Video
GPU Type Dual ATi Radeon HD 4670
Video Memory 2048MB
GPU Interface PCIe x16
Display Interface 2 x DVI
2 x HDMI
2 x VGA
Audio
Audio System High Definition Audio
Audio Channels 7.1
Communications
LAN Gigabit LAN
LAN Data Rate Speed 10/100/1000Mbps
WLAN Wireless LAN
Wireless Technology 802.11b
802.11g
WLAN Data Transfer Rate Up to 54Mbps
Card Reader
Card Reader 8-in-1 Media Card Reader
Media Supported CompactFlash I
CompactFlash II
MicroDrive
MMC
Secure Digital
SmartMedia
Memory Stick
Memory Stick PRO
Front Panel Ports
USB 2.0 2
FireWire 400 1
Back Panel Ports
VGA 15-pin 2
DVI 2
HDMI 2
USB 2.0 8
FireWire 400 1
eSATA 3Gb/s 2
LAN RJ-45 1
Expansion Bays
External 5.25" Bays (Total) 5
External 5.25" Bays (Available) 4
External 3.5" Bays (Total) 1
External 3.5" Bays (Available) 0
Internal 3.5" Bays (Total) 4
Internal 3.5" Bays (Available) 2
Expansion Slots
PCIe x16 Slots (Total) 2
PCIe x16 Slots (Available) 0
PCIe x4 Slots (Total) 1
PCIe x4 Slots (Available) 1
PCIe x1 Slots (Total) 2
PCIe x1 Slots (Available) 0
PCI Slots (Total) 1
PCI Slots (Available) 0
Keyboard
Keyboard Standard
Connection Type USB
Power Source USB
Mouse
Mouse Optical
Buttons 2
What's in the Box
Preloaded Software Adobe Acrobat Reader
ESET NOD32 Antivirus 60-Day Trial
Microsoft Office Ready 60-Day Trial
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts 1 Year
Labor 1 Year

Link: http://www.microcenter.com/product/324108/G207


New Machine:

Startup Operating System Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Operating System Licenses Included Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Windows 8 Professional 64-bit
Case & Motherboard
Computer Case PowerSpec ATX 7670
Case Orientation Vertical
North Bridge Chipset Intel Z87 Express
Processor
CPU Brand Intel
CPU Core Quad-Core
CPU Type Core i7
CPU Speed 4770K (3.5GHz)
Turbo Boost Speed Up to 3.9GHz
Level 2 Cache 4 x 256KB
Level 3 Cache 8MB
CPU Socket Socket 1150
CPUs Installed 1
CPUs Supported 1
CPU Main Features Virtualization Technology
Hyper-Threading Technology
Execute Disable Bit
MMX
SSE
SSE2
SSE3
Advanced Vector Extensions
Turbo Boost v2.0
Supplemental SSE3
SSE4
AES Instructions
Extended Memory 64 Technology
FMA3 Instructions
Advanced Vector Extensions 2.0
Memory
Total Memory 16GB
Memory Speed DDR3-1600
Form Factor 240-pin DIMM
Memory Configuration 2 x 8GB
Memory Slots (Total) 4
Memory Slots (Available) 2
Maximum Memory Supported 32GB
Hard Drive
HD Capacity 2TB
HD Interface SATA
HD RPM 7,200 RPM
HD Configuration 1 x 2TB
Solid State Drive
SSD Capacity 120GB
SSD Interface SATA 6Gb/s
Multimedia Drives
Optical Drives Included 1
Optical Drive Blu-ray Burner
Optical Drive Specs 14x Blu-ray DVD Burner Drive - 14x BD-R; 2x BD-RE; 8x BD-ROM; 8x DVDR DL; 16x8x6 DVDRW; 48x24x48 CD-RW
Display
Display Type Display Not Included
Video
GPU Type NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660Ti AMP
Video Memory 2GB
GPU Interface PCIe x16
Display Interface 1 x HDMI
1 x DisplayPort
1 x DVI-I
1 x DVI-D
Audio
Audio System Realtek ALC892
Audio Channels 7.1
Communications
LAN Gigabit LAN
LAN Data Rate Speed 10/100/1000Mbps
LAN Interface Integrated
WLAN Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n
Wireless Technology 802.11b
802.11g
802.11n
WLAN Data Transfer Rate up to 150Mbps
WLAN Interface PCIe
Front Panel Ports
USB 2.0 3
USB 3.0 2
Audio 1 x headphone
1 x microphone
Back Panel Ports
PS/2 1
USB 2.0 2
USB 3.0 4
LAN RJ-45 1
Audio 5
Digital Audio 1
Expansion Bays
External 5.25" Bays (Total) 4
External 5.25" Bays (Available) 3
External 3.5" Bays (Total) 1
External 3.5" Bays (Available) 1
Internal 3.5" Bays (Total) 5
Internal 3.5" Bays (Available) 4
Expansion Slots
PCIe x16 Slots (Total) 2
PCIe x16 Slots (Available) 1
PCIe x1 Slots (Total) 1
PCIe x1 Slots (Available) 0
PCI Slots (Total) 3
PCI Slots (Available) 3
Keyboard
Keyboard Standard
Number of Keys 104
Connection Type USB
Power Source USB
Mouse
Mouse Optical
Buttons 3
Connection Type USB
Power Source USB
Power
Power Supply 500 Watt
Combined +12V Rating 432 Watts (36A)
Physical Specifications
Width 7.25"
Depth 17.5"
Height 16"
Weight 17.2 lbs.
Box Size 13.4" x 24.4" x 24.4"
Shipping Weight 20.3 lbs.
What's in the Box
What's in the Box G411 Desktop Computer, Power Cord, Mouse, Keyboard, Quick Start Guide, Warranty Sheet, Recovery Media for Windows 7 Pro (64-bit) and Windows 8 Pro (64-bit)
Preloaded Software NOD32 Trial
Internet Explorer 10
Microsoft Office 2013 Trial
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts 1 Year Limited
Labor 1 Year Limited

Link: http://www.microcenter.com/product/415256/G411_Desktop_Computer

I'm just wanting to make absolute certain I was right when I said the new machine would blow the old one away.

He doesn't really play a lot of games (his grandson like to play minecraft and Marvel Heroes with me, but that is about all the gaming that gets done) but does use Google CAD software and such, and the old machine has been doing great for him, from what I could find out about the new machine should do far better. I told him if he wanted a true cad machine, the Quadro's or the Firepro's where the true cards for CAD work, but those cards are rather expensive. So this is what we settled with. What throws me for a loop is the i7-920 would've been still good enough for me these days on gaming (though old) I would have been upgrading the gpu's and ram first on the old machine and go from there. But he wanted to go with the newest and best that Microcenter had in their brand that didn't break the bank. (I guess powerspec is an in house brand) and that's all he has bought since the pentium 4 era. Just wanted opinions on the new system and to see if anyone knew the differences between the 2.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[USAFRet]

The main differences seem to be the processors, RAM, and the drive setup.

Old:
i7-920
6GB RAM
2 x 640GB in RAID 0

New:
i7-4770K
16GB RAM
120GB SSD and 2TB HDD

Assuming all the settings are correct for the SSD, the whole system should feel a LOT snappier. The new CPU is 'faster', but the SSD will really make the difference.

 

[quilciri]

It's a significant upgrade. "Blows away" is a pretty subjective description. I wouldn't say a 4770k blows away a 920, partially because the speed difference between the 2k, 3k, 4k series has been pretty small. It's enough of a bump to be noticeable in CPU-intensive software, though.

He's much more likely to notice the speed in booting and loading applications from the ssd, though

One small criticism; if he's using it as a workstation, he's most likely not going to be overclocking, so a K series chip is a waste.

 

[AxlFone]

Drop one step back from lga 115o to lga 1155 and get this chip.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/400271/Xeon_E3_1230V2_33GHz_LGA_1155_Boxed_Processor
Then cheap B-75 mobo. Still good and reliable.
Z-77 was on rebate so took one. Chepar maybe get B-75 gigabyte D3H
http://www.microcenter.com/site/rebate-center/product-rebates.aspx?sku=362467
Then video card.
GTX 660Ti is fast enough
http://www.microcenter.com/site/rebate-center/product-rebates.aspx?sku=198713
Then just Ram corsair or Gskill 1600MHz 1.5V

Cooler Cooler Master 212 EVO.

SSD samsung pro or sandisk ultra plus. HDD seagate barracuda.
PSU Seasonic 550w Case Fractal R4
ODD any will do so cheapest is best.

Then he will have good fast reliable build for many years to come.

 

[mbarnes86]

Hi

The old machine is still a good spec

If it was mine I would test the hard disks ,then break the raid 0 and re create the raid as raid 1 mirror then re install windows from scratch

Slightly slower reading the hard disk but less risk of catastrophic hard disk failure

Get a good quality psu replacement

Clean out the fluff & dust first
Vaccum cleaner, air blaster and paint brush are useful

Regards
Mike barnes

 

[USAFRet]

Drop one step back from lga 115o to lga 1155 and get this chip.
....

Looks like Dad has already bought the new one.

 

[AxlFone]

so it seems.
this tells difrence. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/836?vs=47

 

[dragonwolf8504]

Yes, he already settled on one, the less time spent on setting up a machine the better. I would build him one that suit his needs better, but according to him time is crucial and anywhere that time can be dropped is best for him. It would take me probably an hour to get everything put together and another hour to get everything installed (OS, drivers, and basic stuff required for pc use, with the OS taking the majority of the time.) Then he would need to install all his software. He wants and needs something where all he needs to do is some basic configuration and start installing his stuff to it. This fit the bill in his eyes.

I know the K series is overclockable, and it may be somewhat of a waste due to his usage, but it might come in handy down the road in extending the longetivity. As stated earlier, we didn't have too much time to look into things AND he wanted to keep to the same brand he has been using. So even building a machine from scratch may have not even happened if we had the time.

I just figured I would try to add more information, this wasn't meant to be anything counter-productive.

The biggest thing I need to remember is while I could advise him on something different, (a custom build or such) it's ultimately up to him and his needs/ wants I may not be able to sway him once he has his sights set on a certain system.

Also it does look like the GPU is a decent upgrade since I just found out, he had disabled crossfire on the old machine and pulled one of the Radeons out due to it failing. (I thought something looked different when comparing machines and specs, but since I had headed home for the night I couldn't compare directly. I just spoke to him as he wanted to make sure the pickup was ready.) Anymore input and advice is nice, but it's more of a comparing the old one to the new one. I will take into account the modifying of the raid setup on the old machine and suggest that to him. As he does want to get the old machine running and will be moving it downstairs to his workshop. The new machine will be in his office on the main floor of the house.

 

[AxlFone]

Next time download the windows and make bootable usb drive then it takes just 2-3min to set up new windows. He be amazing look how did you do it so fast
And you score some points SSD:s are so fast now. And new pc as well
Hard to think back 10 years and remember how slow tey were Now they are amazing fast! I have Intel 960 in my 2 pc. First one is waiting new cpu to come.
Did order the 4930k. Hope it comes soon