New computer or upgrade?

[mscpbd]

I have a 7 year old computer, custom built for me, and I need to see if anyone can tell me if I can upgrade the video card to an RTX- 3080 or do I just need to start over?  

 

I have a MS-7917 - x64 PC

Processor - Intel Core - i74790K CPU @ 4.00 GHz - 4 cores - 8 processors

BIOS - American Megatrends v1.8 - 11-6-2004

32 GM RAM

Nvida GTX-970 Video card

 

I appreciate any pointers you can give me. I looked for an online tool to enter data for compatibility but didn't find anything.

 

Debra

 

 

 

[Renerabbitt]

13 minutes ago, mscpbd said:

I have a 7 year old computer, custom built for me, and I need to see if anyone can tell me if I can upgrade the video card to an RTX- 3080 or do I just need to start over?  

 

I have a MS-7917 - x64 PC

Processor - Intel Core - i74790K CPU @ 4.00 GHz - 4 cores - 8 processors

BIOS - American Megatrends v1.8 - 11-6-2004

32 GM RAM

Nvida GTX-970 Video card

 

I appreciate any pointers you can give me. I looked for an online tool to enter data for compatibility but didn't find anything.

 

Debra

 

 

 

Very difficult to find a card right now..we might see some if nvidia does in fact block cryptomining on their next inventory of cards. I've been looking for months.

[Kbird1]

31 minutes ago, mscpbd said:

I have a 7 year old computer, custom built for me, and I need to see if anyone can tell me if I can upgrade the video card to an RTX- 3080 or do I just need to start over?  

 

I have a MS-7917 - x64 PC

Processor - Intel Core - i74790K CPU @ 4.00 GHz - 4 cores - 8 processors

BIOS - American Megatrends v1.8 - 11-6-2004

32 GM RAM

Nvida GTX-970 Video card

 

I appreciate any pointers you can give me. I looked for an online tool to enter data for compatibility but didn't find anything.

 

Debra

 

 

 

 

 

It should , is it maybe older than 7 years though? more like 17 ?........  the date on the bios says 2004 ....maybe that is a typo?

 

hmmmm if model no# is right there is no V1.8 Bios ......at least not online

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z97-GAMING-5#down-bios

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z97-GAMING-5/Specification

 

To be honest as Rene said they are very hard to find ( or have you found one? )  , many including myself have bought a prebuilt to get one

@MarkMc has several posts about his Prebuilt (3070) on here too.

 

M.

[MarkMc]

I target 5yrs on a new machine. Looks like that was a decent computer when you got it but 7 yrs is a bit. Along with the availability of GPUs (which stinks- may change, may not) I'd be getting a new machine. Here is Chiefs blog on system requirements.

The desktop in my signature from a custom builder was $3k delivered. I just configured something with only slightly less than mine  for a client at $2500 and worked out a second choice of a nice machine with a B560 board, 3060 Ti, i5 10600 at under $2100. There are some pre-builts for a little less.

Few specific pointers-

• Don't worry about PCIE 4, it makes no real world difference for what we do in Chief (not much in games either-big deal in video editing) B
• But do get a good M2 drive for the C drive.
• I went for a hi end Z490 board for the ports and thermals. I have not researched the B560 boards, the Z590 boards carry a premium. ON pre-builts you they are often not listed or proprietary.
• Can't tell you much about AMD chips, I considered them and nixed the idea for a few reasons but they are doing fine overall. Not sure it saves much.
• Both Intel and AMD are changing CPU chipsets and sockets next time out so anything you get this year will not allow for a future CPU upgrade without a new MOBO. Pretty much means a new machine for most folks. Then again if the plan is 5 yrs that doesn't matter much. (But Kbird just had an older machine rebuilt to save some parts :)

Finally here is article comparing Pre-built machines to custom-it mostly covers AMD but the principals will carry through.

I used AVA Direct for mine and am very happy. I looked at every custom builder out there but then I'm really fussy about parts and cases. Prices of all are competitive to each other. Be sure to talk with a human if you go that way.

[Kbird1]

3 minutes ago, MarkMc said:

I. (But Kbird just had an older machine rebuilt to save some parts

 

 

Yes , because it was a System Builder, local to me, they agreed to let me reuse my old case, Power supply and CPU Fan to save some money.

At the time I did not think about the 32GB RAM in the old machine which I could of reused too as it was DDR4 already.

 

But then it doesn't hurt to have a second PC in the house for others to use either, or as a backup, I would of looked at Mark's build from AXA

if I could of. ( they don't ship here) , I agree with his other comments on PCIe4 etc , my Z590 board was the same price as the Z490 though

but I did not go High End (mid) like Mark, some boards need an 11th gen Chip to enable the extra .m2 slot(s) though , but most have 2 or 3

.m2 slot these days , one for OS and 1 for a Data Drive.

 

 

M.

 

 

[mscpbd]

Thanks Guys!  It looks like I'm going to have to try and get a pre-built one just to find video cards that are newer. I've seen the newer video cards but the prices are just about the cost of a new PC! 

[BigKahuna]

i JUST UPGRADED TO PREPARE OF X13 AND REAL TIME RAY TRACING. MICROCENTER HAS PUT TOGETHER A PRETTY SWEET GAMING COMPUTER FOR A PRETTY DECENT PRICE. 

Powerspec G467,  i9 / 3.7GHz , 1 TB SSD ( I ADDED A SECOND)

  32GB  WITH  NVIDEA RTX 3080 .  VERY FAST AND GETS TONS OF  1 TB RAVE REVIEWS ONLINE FROM GAMERS. sO FAR NOT USING IT MUCH AS i AM TRANSFERRING STUFF OVER BUT COMPUTER AND DELL 27" MONITOR FOR JUST UNDER $3000

[richoffan]

With much helpful input from the people on ChiefTalk I upgraded from my 10 year old machine last August to this one. It's hooked to (2) 32" Samsung curved monitors and a 5T Seagate external backup. Life is good.... 

[mscpbd]

Bit the bullet and bought a new one, hubby is wanting my old one for a project so he's a happy camper! 

 

The new system will be in next week - I'm dreading downloading and installing all the software but looking forward to the speed;  it was time to give her a rest.

 

Thanks for the input!

 

 

 

[HumbleChief]

14 hours ago, mscpbd said:

Bit the bullet and bought a new one, hubby is wanting my old one for a project so he's a happy camper! 

 

The new system will be in next week - I'm dreading downloading and installing all the software but looking forward to the speed;  it was time to give her a rest.

 

Thanks for the input!

 

 

 

Would you mind sharing what you ended up purchasing? And how it performs real world Chief?

 

Thanks

 

EDIT: Personally waiting for X13 to see what is needed as an upgrade if anything.

[para-CAD]

I’m working with Puget Systems to build a new beast. I too try to rotate about every 5 years. I’m saving up to go really big (because the kid in me wants to just once in life)

I tell myself it’s only a couple jobs and paid for, so after the new fence and landscaping, this is my next target. 
 

Maybe by fall. 
 

[CARMELHILL]

3 hours ago, para-CAD said:

I’m working with Puget Systems to build a new beast. I too try to rotate about every 5 years. I’m saving up to go really big (because the kid in me wants to just once in life)

I tell myself it’s only a couple jobs and paid for, so after the new fence and landscaping, this is my next target. 
 

Maybe by fall. 
 

 

Holy crap! And I thought the system I built in my signature was overkill!!!!!!

[architect]

I would love to see that $12,000 system compared to a $2,000 system as far as "time it takes to" redraw, renders etc in CA.....

 

 

[HumbleChief]

19 hours ago, para-CAD said:

I’m working with Puget Systems to build a new beast. I too try to rotate about every 5 years. I’m saving up to go really big (because the kid in me wants to just once in life)

I tell myself it’s only a couple jobs and paid for, so after the new fence and landscaping, this is my next target. 
 

Maybe by fall. 
 

A simple question. Why? 

 

[para-CAD]

I do much more on a computer than just CA.  Adobe is sometimes demanding.  Video encoding is time sucking. I'm hoping to cover the more cores requirement and also the more memory needs. 

It's only money, right?.  I drive a paid off older truck so I'm not saddled with too many other debts right now.  I'll keep this thread in the loop when I finally pull the trigger.  

 

[para-CAD]

Why do people buy a Mercedes AMG and not a Toyota Tercel?  

 

[Joe_Carrick]

On 5/25/2021 at 3:07 PM, mscpbd said:

Bit the bullet and bought a new one, hubby is wanting my old one for a project so he's a happy camper! 

 

The new system will be in next week - I'm dreading downloading and installing all the software but looking forward to the speed;  it was time to give her a rest.

 

Thanks for the input!

 

 

 

I suggest purchasing "ZInstall".  It will make your life real easy.  The things to remember when using it is to connect with an ethernet cable and make sure you use the same microsoft account on both systems so that all your favorites & passwords get transferred.

[HumbleChief]

19 minutes ago, para-CAD said:

I do much more on a computer than just CA.  Adobe is sometimes demanding.  Video encoding is time sucking. I'm hoping to cover the more cores requirement and also the more memory needs. 

It's only money, right?.  I drive a paid off older truck so I'm not saddled with too many other debts right now.  I'll keep this thread in the loop when I finally pull the trigger.  

 

Understood and that's a great 'why' in my opinion. I wonder what will have changed between now and the fall as far as hardware etc. and what that configuration might look like?

[HumbleChief]

Doug, I had one more thought about the system spec'd above. I understand it's for more than Chief and perhaps 64 cores will be great for other programs but Chief is generally quicker with the CPU's single core speed and not so dependent on the number of cores. Just sayin' and looking forward to feedback on how it performs.