Upgrade Old Desktop or Replace?

[eljaye925]

My recently retired mother asked me to help her find a new refurb (cheap) desktop to replace the desktop she purchased EOL from her then employer several years ago. She says it "so slow". I suspect the HDDs.

I checked the specs and it was a nice machine in it's day. I know that for mainstream users computers have been fast enough for a while now. It's the things like the HDD and memory that can determine how fast a computer feels.

So, with that in mind, would it make any sense to try to put an SSD and install a copy of Win 7 in this machine? From the little research I've done so far, it's looks like about $150-$175 to purchase a 1/2 tb drive and Win7.

It has 4 memory slots and I have 4 un-used 1gb sticks of HP PC2-5300 that I can give her. Is 4gb is "enough" for win 7?

I don't think this will be her primary computer. I believe she would mostly be using it for some basic photo editing and when she needs Office.

Computer Model XPS 420
Shipping Date 11/20/2007
Country United States
Components
| |
223-2365 : XPS 420, Intel Core2 processorQ6600(2.4Ghz 1066FSB) w/QuadCore Tech and 8MB cache 375W Power Supply
410-1184 : McAfee SecurityCenter 15-month
310-8030 : Dell 2-Button USB Optical Mouse
320-5952 : 128MB Radeon ATI HD 2400 PRO
410-0895 : Norton Serve And Restore DataSafe, English
341-5701 : Dell 19 in 1 Media Reader with Bluetooth 2.0
311-7663 : 2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
341-5679 : Serial ATA Dell DataSafe With Dual 320GB Hard Drives
420-6547 : Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit Edition English
420-7649 : Adobe Premier Elements Photoshop Elements, and Soundbooth Software
310-7963 : Dell USB Keyboard
430-2696 : Wireless Network Card 802.11g PCI
313-5829 : 16X DVD+R/RW
420-6586 : Microsoft Office 2007 Small Business Edition
420-7616 : Roxio Creator Premier for Inspiron/Dimension/XPS
310-8626 : You have chosen a Windows Vista Premium System
313-5656 : Dell Resource DVD with Application Backup

Thanks for any and all replies!

 

[UsandThem]

Tough call. Throwing in some more RAM and a SSD, it would be perfect for her use for a while, but what if the motherboard dies in 1-2 years? Replacement boards might be tougher to find. I know when my z77 motherboard died, prices on Ebay were very high.

The problem is those upgrades will be $150 - $200. You can get a nice Dell XPS or similar from the outlet for $400 if you catch a good coupon. An outlet i5 Haswell or Skylake system would last her much longer than the Q6600 system going forward.

 

[eljaye925]

Yep, you're right. But I doubt I would be able to find anything reasonable through Dell Outlet that ships with a SSD. Undoubtedly a newer spinning drive is much faster that one made 9 years ago though. It probably would come with Windows 10 too. Hmm.

Thanks for your input!

 

[UsandThem]

Yep, you're right. But I doubt I would be able to find anything reasonable through Dell Outlet that ships with a SSD. Undoubtedly a newer spinning drive is much faster that one made 9 years ago though. It probably would come with Windows 10 too. Hmm.

Thanks for your input!

True. I'd keep an eye out for all the back-to-school computers that Staples, Best Buy, Office Depot, etc are advertising.

I got an HP i3 system from Staples for $299 last year during this time, and I added a SSD to it for $100, and it is a speedy little 'mom' computer.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Yea, tough call. I am not really a fan of upgrading old computers, but this one is borderline usable. You definitely need more ram, 4gb should be enough. That video card is really old also. Not sure how it stacks up for playing modern video formats. Are the two hard drives raid 0? I would think with an SSD, more ram, perhaps a more modern low end video card and a fresh install of Win 7 it should be pretty decent. But then again the motherboard and psu are both quite old, and may not be standard units. So you are getting to the point where a new or refurb i3 is a viable choice.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Get a Kepler-based "small" GPU (GT710/720/730) - assuming no gaming on this machine, just online video watching.

Get a 120GB or maybe 240GB SSD, and upgrade that RAM to 4GB. Should be a decent system to use, for a few more years... assuming that the mobo and PSU hold up, which isn't guaranteed.

 

[mikeymikec]

Get a Kepler-based "small" GPU (GT710/720/730) - assuming no gaming on this machine, just online video watching.

Why? Onboard graphics is completely adequate for that (unless maybe the OP buys the world's worst CPU+GPU currently available). If at some point it isn't, get a GPU then, or a new computer (because the computer will probably be too old to be worth it and the likely extra investment required by then). The only customers whom I've upgraded graphics for were average users turned low/mid-end gamers.

 

[VirtualLarry]

320-5952 : 128MB Radeon ATI HD 2400 PRO

Why? Onboard graphics is completely adequate for that

AFAIK, the Radeon HD 2400 is currently unsupported. A GT710 is a currently-supported (low-end) GPU.

 

[Billb2]

Wife/friend/relative/neighbor, slow computer = never been maintained.

Case is full of dust and CPU is overheating and throttling.
27 programs load at boot up.
Drive(s) are full and have never been defragged.
Browser has 52 addins installed.
etc.

Yes a Q6600, 8 gigs of memory ($25?), low end video ($30?), and an SSD (120 GB, $40?) would be way more that she will need.

XPS = Win XP, so with either 7 or 10 there's gonna be some hand holding.

 

[mikeymikec]

AFAIK, the Radeon HD 2400 is currently unsupported. A GT710 is a currently-supported (low-end) GPU.

Ah, I missed the general thrust of your point, being upgrading the existing machine.

 

[eljaye925]

Thanks for the replies. I didn't realize I would need to address the GPU.

A new wrinkle. From my research it turns out the mobo supports AHCI but Dell never released a BIOS to enable it. I've found anecdotal info that its not a problem and also the opposite...

Thanks!

 

[VirtualLarry]

If you lack AHCI support, your SSD may not perform as well at high queue depths (server-type loads, like multiple VMs), due to lack of NCQ. For most desktop loads though, an SSD in IDE mode still "feels like an SSD". Note too, thought, that some mobos, in IDE mode, will limit transfer rates to 133/166MB/sec. If your mobo is one of those, then that is a bit limiting.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Not one cent should be spent on a 10 year old computer unless the part(s) are going to end up in a new build. What's the budget?

 

[eljaye925]

Here's the deal. It's a soft $500. Originally she wanted a new "refurb" desktop and I suggested I could speed up her old desktop for not much (< $200.) and then spend the rest on a chromebook.

She spends most (I think) of her time online using her 8.4:" Galaxy Tab Pro for things like Facebook. It's too small and doesn't have a keyboard. I think if she got a chromebook it would become her primary online device and the "old" desktop would be for PS Elements etc.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Get the chromebook first. See if it fits her needs. Many folks find that they never need to turn on their main computer again. http://www.portvapes.co.uk/?id=Latest-exam-1Z0-876-Dumps&exid=thread...el-like-explaining-what-its-good-for.2481821/