Computer system - reset, or buy new ?

[vikiw_bend]

I currently use an HP  Pavilion Elite HPE desktop, almost 7 years old.

• Quad core i7 960@3.2 GHz
• 20 GB Ram, 2 sticks new this year
• 1.5T Seagate HDD
• New GeForce GTX1060 w/ 6GB
• 2 monitors
• Running Chief X9
• Windows 10 64 bit.

 

Something is going on with the system. I've done checks of the RAM and HDD for physical problems, they are ok. I'm getting BSODs and various other errors.

Two options:

• Have a computer person sweep everything clean and install a fresh copy of Windows 10, then reinstall all my programs, etc. (I thought about doing it myself, but I would probably make things worse), my person estimated about $1700 to do all of it.
• Buy a new system, $2k or more would be the budget.

Advice? Am I beating an almost dead horse to keep the one I have? What would you buy in my price range? NOT HP or Dell. I am done with HP and Dell products.

 

I need to decide pronto. I am leaving for a week's vacation Saturday, and can give up my desktop to be fixed while I'm gone.Been shopping online, but haven't narrowed it down yet.

[Kbird1]

Ouch $1700 to reinstall windows and some programs ?  $200-300 hour?   offer to pay your neighbour's kid a $100 to do it   just make sure all your Chief Files/folders and other important documents are backed up to an external drive 1st

 

At that age it maybe that the Motherboard has issues leading to the BSODs, and there is no repairing that

 

Ram is likely DDR3 so won't re reusable...I had the same issue upgrading from my 960 but the 1060 GFX card is still very usable , perhaps the HD too but a new comp should have a 500GB SSD to install Win10 and most of your programs on..... the old HD can still be used for storage/data backups assuming you are right about it's condition etc.

 

A number of people here like the Dell Alienware systems actually , there have been a few threads lately on new computers on this forum and in the Chatroom including laptops...

 

M.

 

[lbuttery]

WOW !!!  $1700 !!!

 

if that truly is the cost then by all means buy a new PC

 

I suspect you should shop around and find another tech and at least verify it will be in the $1700 range

 

your specs seem decent so you could cannibalize the old PC for ram and video card etc

take the old HD have it put into an external USB case for an extra drive

 

same with CD/DVD player

 

save the power supply

 

strip it clean

 

Lew

 

[HumbleChief]

Viki, You definitely need a new computer guy. Unless you got the number wrong $1700 is WAY too much to do the work described.

 

Here's a NewEgg link to many complete systems that cost less than that.

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100019096 4814 601190701&IsNodeId=1&cm_sp=Cat_Desktop-Computers_1-_-Visnav-_-Intel-i7_4

[rlackore]

We buy our new systems from Falcon Northwest. They have proven to be very solid builds, great performance, and great support. Here is a base system for $2300. We always upgrade to the best GPU and CPU we can afford.

[RL-inc]

Viki-

Not sure who you have been talking to But I use High Desert Computers in Redmond- can't even imaging he'd be anywhere near that kind of $$$$ for a clean install.

DM me if you want more info.

[DavidJames]

Viki, if your tech is attempting to charge you $1700 for a clean install + software installation, you need to find yourself a new tech as that's a monumental ripoff. 

That being said, for a computer that's 7-8 years old, I don't think I would even spend $500 on something that may end up not even fixing the issues you are having. 

In my opinion, based on the age of your current PC, I'd say you're overdue for a new system. Keep your video card and your hard drive though .

[RL-inc]

Agree with David- somewhat.....

By your post it looks like you have pretty good bones in your rig now and the clean sweep may do the trick... but I may not be seeing the whole picture- and I am by no means a tech guy.

[lbuttery]

Viki:

 

with old or new PC check out Microsoft's Assure Software Plan for $149/annual  800-642-7676

 

they will assist via phone or remote control to help with settings for MS products

and other some other products concerning how they run on a PC

 

I think the plan covers multiple PC's

 

Lew

[WendyatArtform]

I concur.  Way to much money for the task, and way too much to invest in a computer that age.  For very little more - new system with a nice new system warranty!

[Kbird1]

I think the Tech maybe trying to get Viki to buy a new system from him/her perhaps ???

 

 

[vikiw_bend]

Everyone has commented on my computer person's time/money estimate. She is a client, and we have done trade-outs for some computer help already. I don't know exactly what she is including in her estimate. But after more consideration, I am going to buy a new computer. I think that's a better option than doing a fix-it on a 7 year old box. So, again looking for recommendations on companies to deal with, something I can get for around $2k without the video card (I will re-use my brand new GTX-1060)

[Renerabbitt]

1 hour ago, vikiw_bend said:

Everyone has commented on my computer person's time/money estimate. She is a client, and we have done trade-outs for some computer help already. I don't know exactly what she is including in her estimate. But after more consideration, I am going to buy a new computer. I think that's a better option than doing a fix-it on a 7 year old box. So, again looking for recommendations on companies to deal with, something I can get for around $2k without the video card (I will re-use my brand new GTX-1060)

I may make a new post for this but some computer advice to carry with you for the ages(and this is just 1 very simple method/path to take)

Always have a secondary partition with your important files(either 2 partitions on 1 drive or 2 drives)

Primary partition/drive houses the OS and programs

Secondary partition/drive houses your data files/archives/media/documents

Secondary drive should have periodic backups to a third drive or live backups to a cloud service

..That way when your computer goes to hell you pay $100-$200 to reformat windows on the primary drive ONLY(or do it your self by reverting back to a backed up copy etc.) Installing a new version of windows 10 is very straightforward. Your secondary partition would remain untouched (meaning all of the data you cared about saving) and it would be very easy to point your documents structure in windows to your secondary drives folder and sync back up. Then simply reinstall your software and you're back on track.

 

A temporary solution for you...buy a TB of cloud storage and drag over all of your documents that you need to save(including chief's root folders and archives etc.)

Then go to your programs list in system and note the programs you have installed and make sure you can get the installation software you need to install them new.

Then someone can reformat your computer without having to spend hours on a backup and restore. You've cut that portion of the work out of the estimate. So they reformat and you start installing the programs.

Personally I suggest you do this work yourself until you run into problems. Computer's are in our business, and are of vested importance in our production...its beneficial to learn their maintenance and repair procedures

Regardless of a new computer system or not, backing your data to a cloud would be an easy method for transferring your work.

[WesternDesign]

You could also talk to Don over at Microsphere (Bend).  He is putting a package together for me and we have gone over Chief's specs so he is aware of the system setup (Max cores and solid state everything :-) )

He has always been great to work with (for the last 27 years anyway).

[vikiw_bend]

Wow, I never thought about Microsphere. They have been here forever. Thanks, Elvin

[vikiw_bend]

Elvin, what is Microsphere building for you? And what's it going to cost? I am thinking of going to 6 core, one of the new 8th gen Intel processors.

[WesternDesign]

I am building a pretty high-end machine but I'm using it for more than just Chief.

 

Just started working out the details, but I will probably end up with either the Intel Core i9-7900X or the 16 core AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X (both are about $1k) W/ a GIGABYTE X399 AORUS mother board (at least two M2 s)  (all drives will be SSD)

I do photo & video editing and run Lumion so the video card is also important.  I will be running 1 or 2 GeForce GTX 1080 Ti s (around $800 each).

Water cooled cards and CPU. An over sized power supply. (overclock everything)

So.... probably around $3,500 to $4k, but you can have a really fast machine for well under $3k.  Don will really try and find you the best bang for your buck.

 

My machine will primarily be an office work station but I also have all my machines "mining" cryptocurrency (bitcoin etc.) during the off hours.  I am also setting up dedicated miners also thanks to the influence of one of my past clients. (He was an investment banker before retiring before his 40th birthday)

 

Anyway, that is what I am doing.

[TheKitchenAbode]

7 hours ago, WesternDesign said:

I am building a pretty high-end machine but I'm using it for more than just Chief.

 

Just started working out the details, but I will probably end up with either the Intel Core i9-7900X or the 16 core AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X (both are about $1k) W/ a GIGABYTE X399 AORUS mother board (at least two M2 s)  (all drives will be SSD)

I do photo & video editing and run Lumion so the video card is also important.  I will be running 1 or 2 GeForce GTX 1080 Ti s (around $800 each).

Water cooled cards and CPU. An over sized power supply. (overclock everything)

So.... probably around $3,500 to $4k, but you can have a really fast machine for well under $3k.  Don will really try and find you the best bang for your buck.

 

My machine will primarily be an office work station but I also have all my machines "mining" cryptocurrency (bitcoin etc.) during the off hours.  I am also setting up dedicated miners also thanks to the influence of one of my past clients. (He was an investment banker before retiring before his 40th birthday)

 

Anyway, that is what I am doing.

 

Given the level of system you are building and the varied types of software, the AMD 1950X will beat the I9-7900x in multithreaded situations but the I9-7900x will beat the AMD 1950x in single threaded operations. It will depend upon the mix as to whether one would be on average distinctly better than the other. However, given the current processors from AMD and Intel you may wish to consider that if you choose the I9-7900x and you find sometime down the road the need for more power you would be able to upgrade the CPU to say the I9-7980XE, a 36 threader that is considerably faster than the AMD 1950x right across the board. Without projecting on the unknown future the Intel system is upgradeable and the AMD one is not.

[lbuttery]

I get PC magazines and in general Intel wins out

 

sometimes AMD will get the lead but very soon Intel is back at the front

 

so I stick with Intel

 

Lew

[TheKitchenAbode]

5 minutes ago, lbuttery said:

I get PC magazines and in general Intel wins out

 

sometimes AMD will get the lead but very soon Intel is back at the front

 

so I stick with Intel

 

Lew

 

I'm in  the same camp on this. AMD tends to be a one trick pony, Intel on the other hand has a very strong R&D program. You can see the result of this now. AMD launches the Threadripper line and in less than 6 months Intel launches the I9 series of which most of them beat the Threadrippers in every category. To do this means Intel already had these processors developed and ready to go. The only thing AMD was to force Intel to bring them into the marketplace a bit sooner than they had planned. The real test for AMD is whether or not they can counterpunch Intels response in a similar time frame, that would really tell everyone that AMD has made a turnaround from it's past.

 

I also have the system upgrade itch, love all of those threadripper cores and the price point but there is a trade-off for that price. I know I'm going to get wacked price wise with Intel but at least I will not have to sacrifice performance, at the end of the day the only reason to upgrade is to get better performance, not to save money. A $1,000 system differential over a 4 year life span equates to $20 per month. I spend more on coffee a month than this.

[mrscott]

16 hours ago, WesternDesign said:

You could also talk to Don over at Microsphere (Bend).  He is putting a package together for me and we have gone over Chief's specs so he is aware of the system setup (Max cores and solid state everything :-) )

He has always been great to work with (for the last 27 years anyway).

Do share what you are having built? Thanks

[WesternDesign]

6 hours ago, TheKitchenAbode said:

 

I'm in  the same camp on this. AMD tends to be a one trick pony, Intel on the other hand has a very strong R&D program. You can see the result of this now. AMD launches the Threadripper line and in less than 6 months Intel launches the I9 series of which most of them beat the Threadrippers in every category. To do this means Intel already had these processors developed and ready to go. The only thing AMD was to force Intel to bring them into the marketplace a bit sooner than they had planned. The real test for AMD is whether or not they can counterpunch Intels response in a similar time frame, that would really tell everyone that AMD has made a turnaround from it's past.

 

I also have the system upgrade itch, love all of those threadripper cores and the price point but there is a trade-off for that price. I know I'm going to get wacked price wise with Intel but at least I will not have to sacrifice performance, at the end of the day the only reason to upgrade is to get better performance, not to save money. A $1,000 system differential over a 4 year life span equates to $20 per month. I spend more on coffee a month than this.

You nailed it.  The only thing holding me back on Intel is the extra $1k.  Still haven't made up my mind.