Intel and AMD don’t want you to know this… (but your old computer is still fine)

[mr moose]

I've been saying that for a while now. Intel know very well you don't need to upgrade that often, 80+% off their market could easily operate on 2 cores and 4G.  There is a reason they never pushed more cores for such a long time,  there is no demand in the market.

[ruhmath]

Hi,

     I have a core i7-2600 @ 3.40 GHz (this is not the "k" version)

8 GB DDR3 Ram

Amd radeon RX 560 series graphics card

1TB Hard drive

What else do I need to put in this system??

I know it needs an ssd

Should I also upgrade the ram to 16GB

well I do not have enough but I can afford an SSD and ram should I go for it? also if you could suggest which SSD and which ram speed should I get

IF anything else needs an upgrade tell me I will do it in the near future when I get the money

Thanks

[Windows9]

33 minutes ago, ruhmath said:

Hi,

     I have a core i7-2600 @ 3.40 GHz (this is not the "k" version)

8 GB DDR3 Ram

Amd radeon RX 560 series graphics card

1TB Hard drive

What else do I need to put in this system??

I know it needs an ssd

Should I also upgrade the ram to 16GB

well I do not have enough but I can afford an SSD and ram should I go for it? also if you could suggest which SSD and which ram speed should I get

IF anything else needs an upgrade tell me I will do it in the near future when I get the money

Thanks

8GB RAM is fine, just get a good SSD and a better USB controller. You can get a USB-C one on ebay for £10

[ruhmath]

11 minutes ago, Windows9 said:

8GB RAM is fine, just get a good SSD and a better USB controller. You can get a USB-C one on ebay for £10

Thanks you very much

[Windows9]

4 minutes ago, ruhmath said:

Thanks you very much

No problems,

In the future if you need help create a new thread under troubleshooting instead of posting in a LTT video thread, you will get a response more quickly

[maksakal]

I'm guilty of buying old computers, upgrading them with an SSD and a fresh OS install and reselling them for a profit. Old hardware is still perfect for people who don't game. Heck I've upgraded laptops owned by friends and relatives with an SSD so they can get another 5 years out of them. Not everybody needs the latest and greatest.

Having said that, I myself having been thinking about upgrading my system because of all the securityholes in the old hardware. This is something which is under lit.

[KaitouX]

21 hours ago, Nystemy said:

A GTX1650 costs 150+ usd.
And it has only about 75% of the performance compared to the GTX970.
They both have similar memory specs, so that won't make a major impact here, so its mainly some minor architectural differences that can close the gap a bit.
If one can get a 970 for 150-170 usd, then its a fairly good deal, even compared to a brand new 1650.

1650 Super not 1650, the 1650 is horrible value, the 1650 SUPER is about as fast as the RX580/GTX 980. As I've said a good deal on a 970 is around $100 not $150+ and it isn't that great of a deal for that prices because the AMD options are cheaper while performing better , having more memory and better DX12/Vulkan support. Also ignoring the gimped memory on the 970 and saying that they got similar memory specs doesn't make much sense even more as the 1650 got updated to GDDR6 lately while the 1650 Super had better memory from the start, the only similar thing is capacity and even at that the 970 is worse due to the mentioned gimped memory making it realistically a 3,5GB GPU.

 

21 hours ago, Nystemy said:

Though, LGA1200 is rolling out so the older generation tend to drop in price, both retail and second hand. Though, flagships tends to remain expensive regardless...)

But that doesn't change the fact that the i5 6400 is a bit on the slow side as far as CPUs go, so I would at least look for something better.
Like an I5 6600, or an I5 7500, or the I7 6700, or the I5 7600K. Or whatever else one can manage to find, I would though still state that one should look around for at least a day or three before committing to one CPU or another. Since the first thing one finds is rarely the best deal of the week.

Intel CPUs in general never have significant price drops in retail, and even used it is kinda stupid how high the prices are for older i7s are(i7 4790K often is sold at over $150, where I live I've seen it sell for 200€). Also there's no CPU that is really worth paying for that isn't a i7 as those CPUs aren't going to be that much of a improvement over the i5 6400, if it was a dual core i3 or below maybe it would work as stopgap but in this situation saving the money would be probably the smart choice. I would consider the 7700k if it costed around $150, more than that might as well save for a better CPU on a newer platform, and even $150 would be kinda hard to accept for a old dead end platform 4c/8t CPU for me.

[Treithop]

The biggest problem imho usually is the motherboard - firstly, you don't really have that much choice in upgrades for your CPU, unless you go shopping for a used one that was top of line with that chipset, but that has its own risks and actually may not be that cheap at all. Its even worse and less upgrade possibilities if you bought your PC on an outgoing socket. 

I'm running a bit older system myself - x79 motherboard with i7 4820k. I could theoretically upgrade to 4930k or 4960x and that's about it... Even the more beefy 4960x is not that big of a jump and you can only get used ones which are 200+ atm. But more importantly - components do fail, sooo if there is a problem with your motherboard - good luck... Sure, you can get refurbished or used ones on ebay (not cheap either really), but at this point you are starting to test your luck with used components on ebay which can be either a good thing, or an expensive mistake.

The big question is - how much is it worth to put in an older system (both upgrades and failed components) before actually buying a modern system?

[Results45]

4 hours ago, Treithop said:

The big question is - how much is it worth to put in an older system (both upgrades and failed components) before actually buying a modern system?

 

Short answer: if either you need that level of reliability and performance or if you can afford to fork-out $600-$850.

[caincha]

Nah… I'd go with another 240gb SSD and setup a RAID zero for the system with a 4tb HDD for storage. You don't lose that much having your games on a HDD.

Also I don't think in 'real life use' you'd see much improvement in RAM speed unless going from DDR3 to DDR4 so I would just grab a second stick to double the existing one.

And probably buy a faster CPU. Not sure about the GPU but then again I'm not a 'gamer' so… meh…

[GDRRiley]

those i7 are doing fine but poor i3 and i5 are being murdered

[GDRRiley]

1 hour ago, caincha said:

Nah… I'd go with another 240gb SSD and setup a RAID zero for the system with a 4tb HDD for storage. You don't lose that much having your games on a HDD.

Also I don't think in 'real life use' you'd see much improvement in RAM speed unless going from DDR3 to DDR4 so I would just grab a second stick to double the existing one.

And probably buy a faster CPU. Not sure about the GPU but then again I'm not a 'gamer' so… meh…

raid 0 makes 0 sense expect for some workloads like scratchdisk for video editing

some workloads can be memory bound but usually only on tasks like VMs

thats the top end cpu for that platform to get any better means a CPU+board+ram unless you bought a used 4/5th gen chip and board. that would save ram costs

[HenrySalayne]

13 hours ago, Treithop said:

The big question is - how much is it worth to put in an older system (both upgrades and failed components) before actually buying a modern system?

There are some things you could upgrade and still use with a new mainboard: graphics card, storage or a new PSU. Or peripherals like a monitor, mouse or keyboard. I wouldn't consider these a bad investment even if your mainboard dies the very next day.

On the other hand, CPU, RAM or the mainboard are tightly bound together. There is a rule of thumb that the perfomance has to increase by 30% to be clearly noticeable. If you are running into some serious bottlenecks, it might be different, but upgrading to a new CPU which is only 15% faster, is - generally speaking - a waste of money.

 

[Required]

LOL I Pay Linus 5000€ if he is only working on my old Laptop for 1 Month without one complain!
4GB Ram and a Core 2 Duo T8300 CPU with 2,4GHz and Internal Graphic!

If the Complain he pay me 5000€!

Linus Challenge accept?

[Rocketdog2112]

Ha.... I got this competition won rocking a 2008 Dell XPS 730X with a 2.0 Alienware MB and the hybrid A11b Bios. Also sporting a 1tb Samsung 860 Evo ssd, an Intel i-7 990X (4.0 GHz OC), Nividia GeForce GTX 980 GPU and 12gb (Tri-Channel) of Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer 1600MHz DDR3 with XMP. I'm usually cruising around 75fps and 114fps in Sli compatible games. She's old but still capabile, fun to tinker with and rock solid. 

[caincha]

On 6/1/2020 at 9:57 PM, GDRRiley said:

raid 0 makes 0 sense expect for some workloads like scratchdisk for video editing

some workloads can be memory bound but usually only on tasks like VMs

thats the top end cpu for that platform to get any better means a CPU+board+ram unless you bought a used 4/5th gen chip and board. that would save ram costs

Didn't know about the CPU in that case sure RAM instead of CPU. But RAM upgrade not replacement would make more sense - a lot more gbs instead of slightly higher mhz.

Everything else I'd still do like I said and it'll probably be cheaper than what suggested on the video and just as good.

[Results45]

On 6/2/2020 at 5:41 PM, Rocketdog2112 said:

Ha.... I got this competition won rocking a 2008 Dell XPS 730X with a 2.0 Alienware MB and the hybrid A11b Bios. Also sporting a 1tb Samsung 860 Evo ssd, an Intel i-7 990X (4.0 GHz OC), Nividia GeForce GTX 980 GPU and 12gb (Tri-Channel) of Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer 1600MHz DDR3 with XMP. I'm usually cruising around 75fps. She's old but still capabile, fun to tinker with and rock solid. 

 

Makes me want to try keeping a PC "future proof" while keeping the original CPU, PSU, motherboard, case, and cooler for 7 or more years. 

 

I wonder if a PCIe 4.0 + DDR5 supported system pieced together next year with a 20-24 core 5950X and other solid core components would still make for a competent office work & light-to-moderate gaming rig in 2027..........

[LLEBTNCJD_its_something]

On 5/31/2020 at 1:41 AM, YellowJersey said:

My "powerful" computer that I use for photo editing is a 2012 Lenovo T530. Still does the job quite well. I don't intend on looking to upgrade until 2022, and even then I may not if this thing is still running fine.

 

 My other daily driver is a refurb T450 I got last year for $320.

 

 My policy is "Old good tech is still good tech." That's why I'm fine with paying a premium up front if I can be reasonably certain that I'll get a long usable life out of a product.

You only really need newer or powerful hardware if you're doing intensive stuff, like 4k video editing, CAD, higher end gaming, etc, imho anyway.

i have t530 also , works well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[YellowJersey]

12 hours ago, LLEBTNCJD_its_something said:

i have t530 also , works well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The thing is a tank crossed with a brick shithouse.

[Frank 70]

Hi Anthony, Hi all

 

Thanks for the Video at all ... I am preaching for nearly 20 years now something pretty similar - go and get your hands on the pretty fastest technical workstation you may lay your hands on, which is coming out from leasing contracts.Then start on that base to build ridiculous robust and long lasting machines. 

 

e.g. my recently finally died rig was based on an HP Z800 Workstation - two Socket XEON System - Forgot which one for less than 500 bucks. I got it with one CPU and 16 Gigs of Memory. During the course of time I upgraded it to finally something like

• two sockets with 6 Core XEON CPUs filled - but really watched on ebay an eternity for a reasonable priced second CPU Kit - I was willing to pay 250,-$ but did not need to 
• ridiculous 96GB of ECC Memory - the fastet that was technically working - some leftovers from trashed servers, totally unsupported but working perfect fine 
• 2* 1TB SSDs I got from the bargain corner in the internet 
• Finally a GTX 960 for back then 450,- $ (had something different in before for the first four years -but forgot about that)
• Very Finally an io Accelerator Board with 320 GB MLC Flash PCI 8x which was super ridiculous expensive server technology from fusion IO - since nobody was able to get drivers from them totally cheap for 120$ on eBay - even after their acquisition by Sandisk which lead to a totally cost free giveaway approach for the drivers which worked miraculously within Windows 10 although released for Windows Server 2012R2 

I can't overestate how much fun this system made until his sudden death earlier this year, keeping up to games like even Ghost Recon Breakpoint or The Division franchise on fair middle to high settings. Assuming German depreciation on assets like that I assume I got it for the given price after 5 years of usage and added personally little more than 9 years on it, spending  about 1500,-$ during 9 years having a system that outran many others until the last day on many many tasks - this was a lot of stuff not ending in the landfills. 

Actually I right now try the same trick with an Z4 again which is still a little less in the budget comfort zone. 

Regards, Frank

[AdmiralKird]

Hey Anthony, if you want an idea for a sequel (because I haven't seen anyone do this) compare how many old 2nd or 3rd gen Intels you need in a pseudo beowulf cluster to equal the rendering power of a modern threadripper and the price/performance benefit. I don't know how many of your usual testing programs support multi-machine rendering, but I know After Effects does. Might need to get each one loaded up with 8-12gb of ram, but if you seek used ddr3 sticks in big bundles it cuts the cost way down. Everyone always talks about how the old horses are great for gaming, but that cpu render power is there too - it doesn't have to be a complete punt! You just have to... keep chucking more systems at it. And with all the business/governments throwing their 9 year old SFF Optiplex's out the window, get them in bulk and it's a hidden boon.

The power req's aren't that bad either, each one draws like 145w or so, just don't leave them on when not in use.

[Darth Riker]

post removed

[Darth Riker]

12 minutes ago, BlueScope819 said:

Might want to get something better than a GTX 770, (you can just say that rather than saying the model number) such as a 1660S but I would wait a bit until Ampere and Big Navi launch.

@Darth Riker

 

Also this would be better as a standalone post in new builds and planning because no one is gonna see it here

Thanks. I've made a post over there now and have deleted my previous post.

[MaverickMP]

Proof an old system can still rock, even at 4k res.

 

Dual LGA1366, 96GB DDR3 ECC, RTX 2060... in GTA5 all high settings, 60FPS @4K res. And this is my rendering pc for work.

 

Added a 1x wireless and bluetooth card, a pic usb3.0 card, and a 4x sata 6gb expansion card.

[CommanderAlex]

22 minutes ago, MaverickMP said:

Proof an old system can still rock, even at 4k res.

 

Dual LGA1366, 96GB DDR3 ECC, RTX 2060... in GTA5 all high settings, 60FPS @4K res. And this is my rendering pc for work.

 

Added a 1x wireless and bluetooth card, a pic usb3.0 card, and a 4x sata 6gb expansion card.

Is that an EATX board in that case? Impressive!