This last Black Friday, I picked out a personal computer with a decent amount of power at Best Buy as an early Christmas present. (Best Buy website listing:http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-inspiron-desktop-amd-fx-series-16gb-memory-2tb-hard-drive-black/4473100.p?id=1219751168579&skuId=4473100. A good number of the specs and hardward are included.) Prior to getting the computer, I had been looking at some of decently high performance computers available on the Best Buy website that were made by CyberPowerPC. I had one picked out, but it soon became unavailable, so I picked out a similar computer. I had to do this several times until none were available come Black Friday. So we (my parents and I) decided to see if there was one at our nearest Best Buy store; there was not. (Apparently they only sell CyberPowerPC computers on their website.) One of the sales reps at the store convinced me to buy the computer that I now have. (Plus, it was on sale.) At the time, there only seemed to be minor differences between the PC I bought and the ones I was looking at online (performance wise). However, this computer has some flaws that have become apparent.
The first thing is the CPU. When I bought the computer, really the only thing I knew about the performance specs of CPUs were the number of cores and processing speed. So little did I know that I had bought a desktop with a laptop processor until a few weeks after purchase. It does pretty good with normal tasks and a few games, but not so well when I'm running one of the railroad simulators that I have purchased. (Trainz: A New Era. The latest version of Trainz. I'm sure the performance demands can be found somewhere.) Just about every time the program's performance starts to suffer, the CPU is maxed out while the memory runs at about 15%-20%. (I'll admit, I do run it with rather high settings, but otherwise the graphics are subpar.)
The second thing (which is rather minor compared to the first) is the motherboard. The motherboard only has two SATA ports; one for the HDD, and the other for the optical drive. That's it. And it doesn't really make sense when you consider that the case has dedicated slots for at least one more 3.5" hard drive and two to three 2.5" hard drives. (Despite this fault, it has wi-fi connectability and Bluetooth built in!)
So after doing a little bit of researching, I figured that the best replacement for the current CPU (while staying on a budget) would either be an AMD FX-8370 with a Wraith cooler or an AMD FX-8350. Of course this means replacing the motherboard as well because of the different socket type (which would help eliminate the lack of SATA ports). But before going banana crackers on buying new hardware, I thought I would ask some questions.
1) Are there any CPUs that I would be better off buying instead of an FX-8370 or FX-8350, for around the same price (if not lower). (Budget wise, I'd like to stay in the $400-$450 range for the total price for CPU and the motherboard.)
2) What motherboard would you guys recommend for the FX-8370 and/or the FX-8350 (or for the CPU you recommend). I'm looking for a motherboard that will support the two USB ports, SD card reader, and the headphone/microphone jack in the front of the computer. ATX form factor. (The other requirements should be listed on the Best Buy listing.)
3) Is there any possibility that the GPU is the culprit? (AMD Radeon R9 360.)
4) I did a little research on motherboard replacement, and I ran into questions about having to re-install the OS (which I hadn't even thought of), and "how-to"s on how to replace the motherboard without a OS reinstall (which still requires a time consuming process). My computer came with, and is operating on Windows 10. Am I really going to have to re-install the OS or go through some patience-testing process if I replace the motherboard?
4) (This branches off the last question.) I've taken the hard drive out of my mother's laptop and hooked it up to my computer as the main hard drive, with little to no problems. (Her laptop came with Windows 8.) So if I was able to temporarily swap hard drives, does that mean I can go ahead and install a new motherboard without having to go through a large process? Surely swapping hard drives isn't that much different than using a new motherboard.
5) Am I really going to get better performance out of my computer by replacing the CPU, or would I better invest my time and money by buying a new computer when my current one becomes obsolete or conks out?
I hope I've included the needed information for you to answer my questions!
The first thing is the CPU. When I bought the computer, really the only thing I knew about the performance specs of CPUs were the number of cores and processing speed. So little did I know that I had bought a desktop with a laptop processor until a few weeks after purchase. It does pretty good with normal tasks and a few games, but not so well when I'm running one of the railroad simulators that I have purchased. (Trainz: A New Era. The latest version of Trainz. I'm sure the performance demands can be found somewhere.) Just about every time the program's performance starts to suffer, the CPU is maxed out while the memory runs at about 15%-20%. (I'll admit, I do run it with rather high settings, but otherwise the graphics are subpar.)
The second thing (which is rather minor compared to the first) is the motherboard. The motherboard only has two SATA ports; one for the HDD, and the other for the optical drive. That's it. And it doesn't really make sense when you consider that the case has dedicated slots for at least one more 3.5" hard drive and two to three 2.5" hard drives. (Despite this fault, it has wi-fi connectability and Bluetooth built in!)
So after doing a little bit of researching, I figured that the best replacement for the current CPU (while staying on a budget) would either be an AMD FX-8370 with a Wraith cooler or an AMD FX-8350. Of course this means replacing the motherboard as well because of the different socket type (which would help eliminate the lack of SATA ports). But before going banana crackers on buying new hardware, I thought I would ask some questions.
1) Are there any CPUs that I would be better off buying instead of an FX-8370 or FX-8350, for around the same price (if not lower). (Budget wise, I'd like to stay in the $400-$450 range for the total price for CPU and the motherboard.)
2) What motherboard would you guys recommend for the FX-8370 and/or the FX-8350 (or for the CPU you recommend). I'm looking for a motherboard that will support the two USB ports, SD card reader, and the headphone/microphone jack in the front of the computer. ATX form factor. (The other requirements should be listed on the Best Buy listing.)
3) Is there any possibility that the GPU is the culprit? (AMD Radeon R9 360.)
4) I did a little research on motherboard replacement, and I ran into questions about having to re-install the OS (which I hadn't even thought of), and "how-to"s on how to replace the motherboard without a OS reinstall (which still requires a time consuming process). My computer came with, and is operating on Windows 10. Am I really going to have to re-install the OS or go through some patience-testing process if I replace the motherboard?
4) (This branches off the last question.) I've taken the hard drive out of my mother's laptop and hooked it up to my computer as the main hard drive, with little to no problems. (Her laptop came with Windows 8.) So if I was able to temporarily swap hard drives, does that mean I can go ahead and install a new motherboard without having to go through a large process? Surely swapping hard drives isn't that much different than using a new motherboard.
5) Am I really going to get better performance out of my computer by replacing the CPU, or would I better invest my time and money by buying a new computer when my current one becomes obsolete or conks out?
I hope I've included the needed information for you to answer my questions!