Some advice on sensible upgrade (please)

[woldbur]

Would like some sound advice, please.

My current system is listed below. This was home built a few years ago and runs fine. Use is mainly office, web, lightroom and photoshop (planned). Some games, nothing too cutting edge. Like testing other distros too but usually virtualbox.

Getting fed up with slow XP logon times and start-up delays and wondering if the following upgrade makes sense:

Samsung SSD 830 128GB as new boot drive.
Windows 7 64gb.
(May keep xp as dual boot)

Alternatively toying with the idea of Z68/2500K/8GB, but not quite convinced it will give the value .


Current system:


Operating System
MS Windows XP Professional 32-bit SP3
CPU
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.40GHz 55 °C
Kentsfield 65nm Technology
RAM
4.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 391MHz (5-5-5-18)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK Computer INC. Maximus Formula (LGA775) 42 °C
Graphics
HP LP2475w (1920x1200@60Hz)
HP LP2475w (1200x1920@60Hz)
512MB GeForce 8800 GTS 512 (BFG Tech) 73 °C
Hard Drives
244GB Western Digital WDC WD2500JB-00FUA0 (PATA) 40 °C
733GB SAMSUNG SAMSUNG HD753LJ (SATA) 38 °C
977GB SAMSUNG SAMSUNG HD103SJ (SATA) 41 °C
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S203P
Audio
SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio

Many thanks, the previous advice on my current system proved invaluable.

 

[zooted]

Sounds sensible to me. Your system is still pretty good considering your usage. The ssd will provide a nice boost to load times and overall snappiness.

 

[Chaz21]

Alternatively toying with the idea of Z68/2500K/8GB, but not quite convinced it will give the value .

An ssd boot drive is always a good idea in today's environment. You might also consider the z68 board with a lesser cpu like the i3-2105/2125 (over the vanilla 2100 because of the better HD3000 graphics). That setup should serve your purpose well while also leaving you a clear upgrade path to the overclock-able SB's if you suddenly develop a taste for extreme gaming.

 

[geofelt]

A SSD will transform your PC, and Samsung 830 and Intel 520 are the best ones today. 120gb is very good. Use your hard drives for overflow and storage.
When you install windows to the SSD, make certain that the sata mode is set to AHCI(not IDE or raid). That will enable trim support which helps maintain the ssd performance.

Windows 7 64 bit is a much better os than XP, so you are good there.

Both could be carried over in the future to a new build.

Your 4gb of ram is not really good enough, so you will need to add 4gb or so. DDR2 ram is a bit expensive, and not useful in a new build, so consider that as a wasted cost.

So long as the Q6600 is doing the job, there is no real need to change it out now.

If you will upgrade the cpu, wait until april when the 22nm ivy bridge successor cpu's to the 2500K should launch.

 

[woldbur]

A SSD will transform your PC, and Samsung 830 and Intel 520 are the best ones today. 120gb is very good. Use your hard drives for overflow and storage.
When you install windows to the SSD, make certain that the sata mode is set to AHCI(not IDE or raid). That will enable trim support which helps maintain the ssd performance.

Windows 7 64 bit is a much better os than XP, so you are good there.

Both could be carried over in the future to a new build.

Your 4gb of ram is not really good enough, so you will need to add 4gb or so. DDR2 ram is a bit expensive, and not useful in a new build, so consider that as a wasted cost.

So long as the Q6600 is doing the job, there is no real need to change it out now.

If you will upgrade the cpu, wait until april when the 22nm ivy bridge successor cpu's to the 2500K should launch.

Good thoughts, many thanks. I guess it will be better to waste money on DDR2 Ram than on Win7 32bit. Do you expect ivybridge to come in at a similar pricepoint as 2500K ?

Thanks for your thoughts, again.

Woldbur.

 

[woldbur]

An ssd boot drive is always a good idea in today's environment. You might also consider the z68 board with a lesser cpu like the i3-2105/2125 (over the vanilla 2100 because of the better HD3000 graphics). That setup should serve your purpose well while also leaving you a clear upgrade path to the overclock-able SB's if you suddenly develop a taste for extreme gaming.

I am interested in your comment. Do you think HD3000 would outgun my present graphics card? I did not think so.

Woldbur.

 

[woldbur]

Sounds sensible to me. Your system is still pretty good considering your usage. The ssd will provide a nice boost to load times and overall snappiness.

Thanks for your comment. I need that boost.

 

[geofelt]

Good thoughts, many thanks. I guess it will be better to waste money on DDR2 Ram than on Win7 32bit. Do you expect ivybridge to come in at a similar pricepoint as 2500K ?

Thanks for your thoughts, again.

Woldbur.

Buy the windows 7 upgrade kit. not oem. It is priced about the same as oem, but is considered as retail, and can be transferred to a different motherboard.
It will come with both 32 and 64 bit dvd's, so you are covered there.
If you have a second pc that needs a windows 7 upgrade, look for the family pack which lets you upgrade 3 pc's for about $160.

When sandy bridge was launched, the integrated graphics were compared to a $50 graphics card.
ivy bridge is supposed to have a considerable improvement over that. Still, I think your 8800GTS will be better than either.

The 2500K equivalent, the 3570K is supposed to have a cost of $10 more than the 2500K.

 

[woldbur]

Ok, so I now ordered 256 gb Samsung 830 and the Win7 upgrade professional (DVD). Going for 8gb DDR2 RAM would set me back UK 120 pounds so I am giving this a miss (have 4x1GB on the Asus Formula). I kinda expect the 256GB SSD extra headroom will give 64bit Win7 enough breathing space to perform well with 4GB RAM. If not, it will be a new motherboard (Z68).

Any thoughts ?

Woldbur

A SSD will transform your PC, and Samsung 830 and Intel 520 are the best ones today. 120gb is very good. Use your hard drives for overflow and storage.
When you install windows to the SSD, make certain that the sata mode is set to AHCI(not IDE or raid). That will enable trim support which helps maintain the ssd performance.

Windows 7 64 bit is a much better os than XP, so you are good there.

Both could be carried over in the future to a new build.

Your 4gb of ram is not really good enough, so you will need to add 4gb or so. DDR2 ram is a bit expensive, and not useful in a new build, so consider that as a wasted cost.

So long as the Q6600 is doing the job, there is no real need to change it out now.

If you will upgrade the cpu, wait until april when the 22nm ivy bridge successor cpu's to the 2500K should launch.

 

[geofelt]

I doubt that there is aything in ultimate that is of value to you as a home user compared to home premium.

An extra 4gb of ram is not that expensive compared to the benefits you get with 64 bit windows 7. Even replacing your ram with a 8gb kit would be good. Consider it.

The more ram you have, the more code windows 7 can keep in ram, ready for instant reuse.

If you will run a 64 bit enabled app like photoshop, the app can use ram as workspace instead of the much slower hard drive or ssd.