Best desktop PC (2019-2020) Thread poster: Cristina Lo Bianco
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Hi everybody,
I need to upgrade or replace my 7 years old desktop PC. I have been thinking about it for some time because it's getting slower and slower, but now it's urgent because the fan has started to make an awful noise.
This is what I have at the moment:
Processor: Intel Core i5
RAM: 8 GB
HDD: 500 GB
2 monitors
I think that I need to upgrade at least to 16 GB of RAM (or maybe more?) but I don't know much about processors (my so... See more Hi everybody,
I need to upgrade or replace my 7 years old desktop PC. I have been thinking about it for some time because it's getting slower and slower, but now it's urgent because the fan has started to make an awful noise.
This is what I have at the moment:
Processor: Intel Core i5
RAM: 8 GB
HDD: 500 GB
2 monitors
I think that I need to upgrade at least to 16 GB of RAM (or maybe more?) but I don't know much about processors (my son says I need to by an i7, but he is only 13 years old!).
Also, I was wondering if an SSD would be wothwhile and if liquid cooling is something to think about.
Any advice?
Thank you in advance!
Cristina ▲ Collapse
| | | | Dan Lucas 
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:55
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Don't trust the 13-year old (if he is recommending liquid cooling) | Dec 5, 2019 |
Cristina Lo Bianco wrote:
but now it's urgent because the fan has started to make an awful noise.
In the short term, the fan can be replaced easily, for $20 or so. Open up the case (13-year old will help), identify the noisy fan, turn off PC. Look carefully at fan size (80mm and 120mm are common) and the plug, because the number of pins is important. Order replacement, unplug old fan, plug in new one. Usually it really is that simple.
Beyond that, liquid cooling etc. is only required if you've got a super-fast (and hot) PC used for gaming or some other processor-intensive task. I used various liquid-cooling setups for many years and it is overkill for the office. So if it's your son who is suggesting that, disregard him.
Processor - i7, just for future-proofing. Your son is right on that.
Memory - 16Gb is fine. Even a large process on my machine seldom takes as much as 1Gb.
SSD - definitely, it speeds up the system a good deal.
Storage capacity - as long as a piece of string. Your SSD will probably be no more than 256Gb unless you pay more but many systems use a combination of SSD and spinning HDD. I have a 256Gb SSD and would like more.
I personally would get a laptop and plug my monitors into that, but if mobility isn't needed at all, buy a decent quality desktop without a monitor from Dell or somebody.
Dan
[Edited at 2019-12-05 08:25 GMT]
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I wonder will you use AI in PC for your translation jobs or not. If not, decent reasonable price PC you are using now is sufficient for a future of 7 years. I am using machine learning software with translation jobs and feel that high power PC is too luxurious.
| | | | Cristina Lo Bianco
Italy
Local time: 06:55
Member (2008)
English to Italian
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TOPIC STARTER
Thanks a lot Dan!
You are probably right about my son. He is saving money to buy a gaming PC for himself, so he is probably biased.
Have a nice day,
Cristina
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Cristina Lo Bianco
Italy
Local time: 06:55
Member (2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
@Soonthon:
I'm not sure what AI is, so I guess that I am not using it...
Anyway, I thhink it is the right time for me to upgrade.
Have a nice day!
Cristina
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 06:55
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Cristina Lo Bianco wrote:
This is what I have at the moment:
Processor: Intel Core i5
RAM: 8 GB
HDD: 500 GB
2 monitors
If you don't know anything, a good starting place is the Logical Increments list (although their scores tend to favour gaming computers, which is why my new computer would be listed as "minimum" on their scale). I replaced my own 7-year old computer 6 months ago with a self-built model that I put together partly with the aid of PC Partpicker. It shows only components that are known to be compatible with each other, and can give you an idea of cost and power requirements, although one needs to search local computer stores for parts.
If you want an AMD computer, you generally choose the CPU first, and then the motherboard. If you want an Intel computer, choose the motherboard first, but remember to select DDR4 memory in the filters.
Unfortunately, "Core i5" isn't enough information. We need the numbers that come after the "5". If you don't know what they are, you can find out using a small program called Speccy. For the type of work we do, it doesn't matter whether you have Intel or AMD, so you might as well consider the cheapest option, which is... Ryzen 5 (and if you take a "G" version, you get a free graphics processor).
If you will get in trouble with your family if you don't get an Intel, just remember that some Core i5s are faster than some Core i7s, so the "5" or "7" isn't the important part of the name (look here and sort by score, if you[r son] don't believe me).
One thing that is important is that you get a motherboard that is most capable of getting the best performance out of the other things that you plug into it. For example, you can get a very fast SSD but if the motherboard is incapable of handling such fast speeds, the SSD will be slow.
I think that I need to upgrade at least to 16 GB of RAM (or maybe more?) but I don't know much about processors (my son says I need to by an i7, but he is only 13 years old!).
All of the information that I have read recently leads me to believe that 8 GB ought to be more than enough for us. But I got myself 16 anyway, because it's not really an expensive expense these days.
Also, I was wondering if an SSD would be worthwhile...
Yes, you absolutely need an SSD or two. My new computer has three hard drives, namely an M.2 SSD (250 GB), a traditional SSD rescued from an old computer (250 GB), and a traditional HDD (3 TB) for all the other files.
...and if liquid cooling is something to think about.
No, that's a fad. Liquid cooling only makes sense if you have a very hot processor and a very hot graphics card for playing the most modern and intensive games. Also, liquid can leak. If your processor is shipped with a free heatsink or fan (models labelled OEM come without it), it should be sufficient.
In my own new computer, when I had a bit of extra room in my budget, I upgraded my power supply to a quieter version. It's amazing how quiet it is in my office now.
Soon, you'll be wanting to buy newer monitors, so take that into account when selecting a motherboard and/or when considering whether you need a separate graphics card.
What's your budget?
Dan Lucas wrote:
Processor - i7, just for future-proofing. Your son is right on that.
The important thing for future-proofing with all computers is the motherboard, and not all i7 processors that are for sale at this time are compatible with most modern motherboards. Compare for example the i3-9300 to the i7-4770 -- the i3 works with a more modern motherboard with faster RAM and better support for SSD, has the same number of cores, uses 25% less power, and has a similar benchmark score. And costs the same.
[Edited at 2019-12-05 10:04 GMT]
| | | | | RAM RAM RAM :) | Dec 5, 2019 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
I think that I need to upgrade at least to 16 GB of RAM (or maybe more?) but I don't know much about processors (my son says I need to by an i7, but he is only 13 years old!).
All of the information that I have read recently leads me to believe that 8 GB ought to be more than enough for us. But I got myself 16 anyway, because it's not really an expensive expense these days.
Of course it depends on the applications you use, but more RAM can make a big difference. I have 32 GB in my systems and I'm quite happy about that. Browsers with many open tabs gobble up lots of RAM, huge Excel files do, and I also use voice recognition that is quite RAM-hungry. A CAT working on a big project will also be happy about more RAM.
| | | | Ivana Kahle
Germany
Local time: 06:55
Member (2007)
German to Croatian
+ ...
| Dell is a working horse | Dec 5, 2019 |
My "horse's name" is:
Dell Precision 3630
Here are the specs:
Processor: Intel Xeon
RAM: 32 GB
System type: 64 bit
It runs on Windows 10 Pro for Workstations.
If you need a good monitor too, Dell has high quality 27" monitors.
The whole package is costy, but it's worth the money.
Hope that helps.
Best regards,
Ivana.
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Cristina Lo Bianco
Italy
Local time: 06:55
Member (2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Thanks to everybody... | Dec 6, 2019 |
...for your valuable advice and have a nice week-end!
Cristina
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