I am currently using the computer in my profile specs to the left. I built this computer a while ago and I'm hitting a point where I am starting to have performance issues. I am very Windows savvy. I truly understand how it works and how to improve performance within it. I read heavily on the subject, but generally avoid any topics related to computer hardware affecting that performance. After months of testing I am positive that I have gotten the maximum performance out of Windows, and by extension my existing computer hardware (already overclocked to where I can keep it stable). I don't have a lot of cash. I'm thinking a maximum of $500 to invest in new hardware, but of course the cheaper the better. I built this machine as a gaming computer, but now need to use it for work. I'd like to build a very fast computer, specifically in regards to how well software performs. I'm looking for the type of performance that would give me the best speed if using Photoshop, Firefox with 100 tabs open, having a lot of resource consumptive software open at the same time, etc... I'm just don't know a lot about computer hardware theory or current available technologies. I assume that all I need to replace is the motherboard, CPU, and RAM. Of course I would need a new CPU cooler as well. The drives, video card, sound card, case, and external peripherals can stay for now. I can upgrade them in the future, with maybe the sole exception being obtaining a small SSD drive to store Windows on. I like Windows 7 over Windows 10, and doubt the performance jump is big enough between them to justify upgrading to that and the time to learn a new OS inside and out. Though if you feel differently, please let me know. The big question is how do I get the most out of the money that I have to invest right now? Do I buy used hardware to improve the quality of my old machine (quad-core processor upgrade or upping to 8GB of RAM, for example) or do I just buy a new mobo, ram, and cpu that utilize more current technology? I can probably invest in an all new cutting edge PC in a year or two, but I really need to upgrade right now in order to work more efficiently. My computer is simply too slow to allow for the types of things I described above. At least at the level I desire. I've been stuck on a 32-bit OS but will be changing that to 64-bit as soon as I get my new hardware. I'm hoping you guys can give me some advice on how to proceed. I am capable of doing hardware research myself, though I'd love to receive any recommendations. Right now I'm really just trying to figure out how to go about maximizing performance for my particular current needs. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you! :thumbup:
There nothing you can do with LGA775. It's old and obsolete, any investment will be a waste. $500 is enough to get solid modern system. Since you prefer to keep your system for a while, I highly suggest to get more cores. Example: CPU : Ryzen 5 1600 (6 cores) - $223.87 (comes with cooler) Motherboard : MSI Gaming AMD Ryzen B350 - $92.18 Memory : Corsair Vengeance DDR4 16GB - $126.94 Total : $445
Thank you for your response. When I built my system I decided to stick with a 32-bit OS, something I now regret, because support for 64-bit software was very weak. I'm curious, I know more cores are good for servers and specific types of environments. Does this apply to Desktop computing? Are many programs designed to use the 6 cores? I've been trying to read up on 4 cores versus 6 cores and I still feel very confused :wanker:.
Don't overthink. More cores means more processes can be done at the same time. If you seriously work with photoshop and having lots of tabs open, you really need 64bit system to support more RAM. I would get at least 16GB for stress free work.
Or maybe something like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Asus-z170...419413d&pid=100005&rk=2&rkt=6&sd=192091019999
Games haven't been using too many cores for a long time because most people didn't have more than 4, actually still don't. It's far more challenging to code games to adjust to varying core counts than some more straightforward applications that don't rely on user input all the time but that rather process a workload methodically. Such applications, like encoding, computing, compiling, rendering, etc, have been able to use as many cores as the PC has no problem for over a decade. So yeah, it's not that hard to find desktop computing situations where multi-core is better than few-cores. Seeing how you used your old computer for so long, wouldn't it be logical to build a new PC you can also use for a while? Quad core mainstream is soon starting to be a decade old thing. It might be the best for some things (gaming) still today, but it can't last forever anymore.
