Upgrade or new build?

azzers

azzers

azzers

Associate
Joined
7 Oct 2016
Posts
6
Location
Birmingham, UK
Hi all,

I've recently got a new job working for a market research company whereby the data that comes in is often massive (mainly on Excel, with thousands of cells being used). As such, my computer which is about 6 years old is struggling... so I'm weighing up the merits of buying a new one, building a new one or just replacing some of the parts in my current PC.

At the moment, my specs are:

Windows 10 pro 64 bit
Tower: Cooler Master HAF 912
Motherboard: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. H55M-UD2H (Socket 1156)
CPU: Intel Core i3 550 @ 3.20GHz
Graphics card: 1023MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 (MSI)
RAM: 8.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 666MHz (9-9-9-24). 2/4 slots used.
Storage: 465GB Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB (SSD)
Storage(2): 931GB SAMSUNG HD103SJ (SATA)

I don't do much PC gaming anymore, but I would like to future-proof myself for when VR becomes a bit more affordable, so getting a system with upgrade potential is definitely high on the list.

Mainly however, I just want a PC that can cope with large data files and runs fast when multiple applications are open.

My question is: Could I get awat with keeping my current Tower, Graphics card and SSD drive and just upgrade the Motherboard and CPU? Or would it just be best to start again? Any ideas for hardware to buy to fit my needs would be greatly appreciated.

My budget if I was to upgrade would be around £400-£500, but if building a brand new PC is advised, then the budget could increase to around £1000.
 
A kabylake board, i5k, compatible ram and either an rx 480 or a 10 series nvidia is all you would need really, unless that socket supports high end like the example of the 2500k on 1155 you will be better off with recent stuff especially for VR, haswell are still capable if it saves a few quid for a good graphics card.


Oh yeah what psu do you have? Might save money if it can be salvaged? The gtx 460 will cut it for none gaming still or less than demanding titles of recent, so you could save money and just get a new mobs combo.
 
Hi ExMale, thanks for your reply.

The PSU is a 250v 10A (?) - not really sure what this means in terms of the upgrade, reckon I could reuse?

Could you reccomend a kabylake/i5 combo I could roll with?
 
Regardless of whether you could salvage parts from the existing PC, as you are using it for business then you need to keep it as a cohesive whole unit as an instant go-to back up.
So many of my customers only ever have 1 viable device which is, imo, pathetic if they are serious about what they do. [you or your misses may have a laptop etc, ready for this]

Sounds like your hard drives are good for a new system. The OS should go across I understand.

The memory might be useful if you are going 2nd hand with a Haswell (or Ivy/Sandy K processor).

Need more from the PSU sticker. It should have multiple A (amp) and V (volt) entries on it.
Up to you on the case, keyboard and monitor etc.

You might only need motherboard processor and memory if going brand new.
If its just for work, you may find integrated graphics OK. Just buy a GPU when you go VR.
 
Hmm, all our files are backed up on Dropbox and OneDrive, and backed up on our PCS and shared with each other on a daily basis. Plus every week everything is backed up onto a separate hard drive by the big boss man. It would take a pretty monumental s**tstorm for us to lose any of the data, and having a PC purely for back up purposes is definitely overkill
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom