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PC Upgrading/Replacing

obvious Child

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Have you put off replacing or upgrading your computer?

If so, why?

I'm due for a new rig, but I found that my current can do everything I throw at it adequately to the point I don't see a real reason to upgrade/replace. I don't play much games, and the one game I was going to upgrade for was patched into garbage by its developers so I stopped playing. I was going to retain my Windows 7 License, so the abomination that is Windows 8 wasn't going to play a role. I got a new video card a few months back that cut my video conversion times by a third. I just don't see the need anymore.

Sadly though, I already bought a new case as it was on sale. Maybe if the i7 3770k drops below $300 I'll bite the bullet, but I just don't see the need.
 
Have you put off replacing or upgrading your computer?

If so, why?

I'm due for a new rig, but I found that my current can do everything I throw at it adequately to the point I don't see a real reason to upgrade/replace. I don't play much games, and the one game I was going to upgrade for was patched into garbage by its developers so I stopped playing. I was going to retain my Windows 7 License, so the abomination that is Windows 8 wasn't going to play a role. I got a new video card a few months back that cut my video conversion times by a third. I just don't see the need anymore.

Sadly though, I already bought a new case as it was on sale. Maybe if the i7 3770k drops below $300 I'll bite the bullet, but I just don't see the need.

i just upgraded my bedroom PC not too long ago and i doubt ill be doing anything for quite sometime since im not a huge PC gamer.

i5-3550 CPU 3.3GHz
16GB
Geforce GTX550 TI video card
Dual 23 monitors
EVGA UVPlus+ 39 USB VGA for my flat screen and to keep the Video Card outputs free
Logitech G700 mouse
Logitech G110 keyboard
Logitech Webcam C920
sony srs-02100 2.1 stereo system (had this for over 10 years its awesome)

did have three monitors and dual cards but i didnt like the setup at home so i put it in my girlfriends rig. i have three monitors at work, if i need a third monitor at home to make working form home easier i just fire up the laptop

and yes i will be avoiding windows 8, my daughters laptop has it and im not really a fan
 
I too have contemplated buying a new PC. I'm still using an XP Pro machine with a 2.8 Ghz duel Pentium. It does everything I need. I am starting to finally see a little lag loading some web pages, but it might be them. Not me. It is a Lenovo M 7259. I selected this model because it was the last good machine I could find in the local area that had XP loaded, and no preloaded software I didn't want. It came with a W7 Pro license, but I never took the DVD's out of the envelops. The best part of this computer, and another reason why I selected it... No free trial software. It only had Windows XP, and a Lenovo toolbox. I.E. No registry bloating.

With the rapid rate things change, I haven't kept up with what I would even want. All in all, I will simply continue to use this one until I need a new machine. I hate changes. One thing I hated going from my previous machine to the current one was changing from Windows 2003 to Windows 2007. Too many functional changes. I still haven't found out how to set some defaults in Excel like I like to use them.

I still use an old XP laptop when I travel. It's the same one I bought my daughter for HS when XP just came out. A couple years ago, when I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she said money. When I asked why, she said she needed a faster laptop for her Architectural Design class in college. I told her I would buy her a new laptop in exchange for her old one. This old 17" HP 8100 series was I think $1,299 when I bought it for her It's still a very viable laptop today. I replaced it with a 18.4" Toshiba satellite, for $1,000. I almost paid the extra $200 ($300?) for the next step up for what she needed it for. 3D rendering and CAD. This is why it is the larger laptop and full keyboard. Anyway, it had the 2nd fasted GPU you could put in a laptop, at the time. The more spendy one was the fastest GPU, and used twice the power. I figured this would be a big enough improvement, she didn't need one that would have a greater risk of internal heat damage. She was so happy. Her 3D renderings were now the fastest of her classmates in college.

Oh...

This older laptop plays streaming Netflix just fine.
 
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and yes i will be avoiding windows 8, my daughters laptop has it and im not really a fan

I heard (yes rumor) there is a way to make Win 8 have a traditional desktop, and that it's a good operating system after that. Any thoughts?
 
I heard (yes rumor) there is a way to make Win 8 have a traditional desktop, and that it's a good operating system after that. Any thoughts?
Install Start8 from start8.com. $5, well worth it.
 
I heard (yes rumor) there is a way to make Win 8 have a traditional desktop, and that it's a good operating system after that. Any thoughts?

oh its good in general but they way the bury things in it is annoying and i already added the start button to it etc

its not a rumor there are many ways to add a start button and to not load up in the box/windows screen but to a classic desktop

Im well above avg in basic computer literacy but what they hide now and how you have to search for things just agitates me, they are making things less user friendly for people who have the knowledge to tweek things and more user friendly for monkeys it should be a mix of BOTH
 
Have you put off replacing or upgrading your computer?

If so, why?

I'm due for a new rig, but I found that my current can do everything I throw at it adequately to the point I don't see a real reason to upgrade/replace. I don't play much games, and the one game I was going to upgrade for was patched into garbage by its developers so I stopped playing. I was going to retain my Windows 7 License, so the abomination that is Windows 8 wasn't going to play a role. I got a new video card a few months back that cut my video conversion times by a third. I just don't see the need anymore.

Sadly though, I already bought a new case as it was on sale. Maybe if the i7 3770k drops below $300 I'll bite the bullet, but I just don't see the need.

This is the problem the TV and computer industry are running into. Computers have gotten to the point where really frequent upgrades aren't necessary. If you build a proper desktop it could last you 5 years easy.

I built mine back in 2011 and it's still kicking, playing even new games full graphics.

I've got:
- AMD Phenom II 1100T processor
- Radeon HD 6950 graphics
- Gigabit motherboard
- Corsair 750w power supply
- 1 TB HD
- 8 gb Corsair RAM
- Cooler Master case
- 32" LCD primary monitor flanked by two 22" monitors

My desk is my favorite place in the world.

I'm an AMD fanboy. All of my computers are AMD. And yeah, I'm sticking with Win 7 as well. I wouldn't touch Win 8 with a 10 ft stick.

oh its good in general but they way the bury things in it is annoying and i already added the start button to it etc

its not a rumor there are many ways to add a start button and to not load up in the box/windows screen but to a classic desktop

Im well above avg in basic computer literacy but what they hide now and how you have to search for things just agitates me, they are making things less user friendly for people who have the knowledge to tweek things and more user friendly for monkeys it should be a mix of BOTH

I had to pick out a laptop for a family member and set it up for him. It had Win 8 on it and it drove me bonkers. They've changed too much, and none of it is intuitive. Horrible, horrible idea.
 
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Have you put off replacing or upgrading your computer?

If so, why?

I'm due for a new rig, but I found that my current can do everything I throw at it adequately to the point I don't see a real reason to upgrade/replace. I don't play much games, and the one game I was going to upgrade for was patched into garbage by its developers so I stopped playing. I was going to retain my Windows 7 License, so the abomination that is Windows 8 wasn't going to play a role. I got a new video card a few months back that cut my video conversion times by a third. I just don't see the need anymore.

Sadly though, I already bought a new case as it was on sale. Maybe if the i7 3770k drops below $300 I'll bite the bullet, but I just don't see the need.

Because I have enough problems getting it to function without messing with it's innards. Every time I've tried to improve on a computer - it's obvious I don't know enough. I could take it to someone, but that costs just as much as a small computer these days.

It's easier if I just use it until it dies - and then buy a new one.
 
Im well above avg in basic computer literacy but what they hide now and how you have to search for things just agitates me, they are making things less user friendly for people who have the knowledge to tweek things and more user friendly for monkeys it should be a mix of BOTH

That's what my father has expressed dislike about when he went to Win 7. I'll stick with XP as long as I can hold out.
 
That's what my father has expressed dislike about when he went to Win 7. I'll stick with XP as long as I can hold out.

well your father is right, win 7 also did some hiding/burying of things advanced users use but its even worse with Win 8

IMO XP was the best windows ever

they should have went with XP2

im also fine with windows 8 and their future plans to have an OS (and light versions) thats good for PCs, Laptops, Tablets and phones because IMO that IS the way to go but it needs to be a better mix with OPTIONS not limits

XP2 and XP2 lite
XP2 touch and XP2 touch lite

is what they should have done IMO but who the hell am i, im certainly not the one with billions of dollars in my bank account lol
 
I heard (yes rumor) there is a way to make Win 8 have a traditional desktop, and that it's a good operating system after that. Any thoughts?

Seems very unlikely.

Do not forget that no matter what the desktop level might look like, underneath that, it is still Windows.
 
Seems very unlikely.

Do not forget that no matter what the desktop level might look like, underneath that, it is still Windows.

Going to happen in October when Windows 8.1 is released. You will be able to load directly into desktop. But no, the start button will not return in its traditional format, although there will be a physical start button that will take you to your program list/app list, which yes is in the so called metro look.

Windows 8 is by far the best OS from Microsoft, and most of the criticizm against the OS is based on hearsay, rumour, Apple/Linux fanboys and very little actual usage by those who are critical. And yes I have some problems with some parts of the OS, but hardly anything that is "OS breaking".
 
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Not going to buy a new PC any time soon. Got a new rig.. well motherboard and processor a little over a year ago (i5 2500k) and it is running fine. I usually upgrade every 3 or so years. Next upgrade will be a touch screen laptop I suspect, but that is down the line so to say.
 
If all you're doing is surfing the web, e-mails and a little word processing I don't think you can buy a new machine that can't do all that well.
Most people have a lot more computer than they will ever use.
If it ain't broke...
 
i just upgraded my bedroom PC not too long ago and i doubt ill be doing anything for quite sometime since im not a huge PC gamer.

i5-3550 CPU 3.3GHz
16GB
Geforce GTX550 TI video card
Dual 23 monitors
EVGA UVPlus+ 39 USB VGA for my flat screen and to keep the Video Card outputs free
Logitech G700 mouse
Logitech G110 keyboard
Logitech Webcam C920
sony srs-02100 2.1 stereo system (had this for over 10 years its awesome)

did have three monitors and dual cards but i didnt like the setup at home so i put it in my girlfriends rig. i have three monitors at work, if i need a third monitor at home to make working form home easier i just fire up the laptop

and yes i will be avoiding windows 8, my daughters laptop has it and im not really a fan

I've got an almost identical system with a tad faster CPU i5-3570 3.4Ghz but less graphics card GT440 for quieter and cooler running. I don't play games or run anything beyond movie/youtube vids. A VelociRaptor 500GB hard drive is half the price of an SSD though slower in performance. Ideally having two drives, one smaller capacity SSD as the primary and a larger HD for data storage. With a small case the whole thing ran less than $600 built, not including a monitor. You can design a cheap desktop if you watch the parts you install and don't have to have the very newest/fastest, especially since tablets and laptops dominate the market.

I hope any new upgrade will be the next generation of PC.
 
I've got an almost identical system with a tad faster CPU i5-3570 3.4Ghz but less graphics card GT440 for quieter and cooler running. I don't play games or run anything beyond movie/youtube vids. A VelociRaptor 500GB hard drive is half the price of an SSD though slower in performance. Ideally having two drives, one smaller capacity SSD as the primary and a larger HD for data storage. With a small case the whole thing ran less than $600 built, not including a monitor. You can design a cheap desktop if you watch the parts you install and don't have to have the very newest/fastest, especially since tablets and laptops dominate the market.

I hope any new upgrade will be the next generation of PC.
niiiiiiiiice
hmm my PC is very quiet and cooler, at least the software says so lol

as far as my hard drive i THINK its a 500GB but i honestly dont know, it might be bigger. im at work right now but i dont care at all about my local. I have two NAS systems on my network (IOMEGAs) two TB each but running in mirror form so 1 TB each.

I use them for all my storage and only keep games on my local hard drive when im playing them

the one is just for me, the other hoses all out movies and music and files of the other PCs in the household.

If i learned one thing over the years i try to keep my local storage as clean as possible
 
Seems very unlikely.

Do not forget that no matter what the desktop level might look like, underneath that, it is still Windows.

Yes, but from the people I know who have used Win 8, it's the desktop they dislike about it. Great for a tablet, just not a computer.
 
Yes, but from the people I know who have used Win 8, it's the desktop they dislike about it. Great for a tablet, just not a computer.

You can get an add-on that will boot to your "normal" desktop if that's what you prefer...
 
You can get an add-on that will boot to your "normal" desktop if that's what you prefer...

Yes, we discussed that. Shouldn't have to do that. It adds a layer to the boot process, and possibly every function you use. What's the point of buying a faster PC is it's just all a bloated OS?
 
Yes, we discussed that. Shouldn't have to do that. It adds a layer to the boot process, and possibly every function you use. What's the point of buying a faster PC is it's just all a bloated OS?

It doesn't affect boot time at all. It simply solves an issues for those that can't or don't want to figure out how to use the operation system...
 
Another reason I don't see much point in buying a faster PC is that they aren't making speed progresses at the rate they did in the past. CMP (Chemical Mechanical Planarization,) a field I am intimately familiar with, was the paradigm shift needed to go from micron level features on integrated circuits, to submicron. The semiconductor industry had met another barrier, and until another paradigm shift comes, I don't suspect we will see any large changes.
 
It doesn't affect boot time at all. It simply solves an issues for those that can't or don't want to figure out how to use the operation system...
Perhaps. It still doesn't make the a system work better than XP. Does it? What about all the changes making it harder for advanced used to use?

I'm happy with booting in under 30 seconds with my XP machine. It does every thing I need. I have thought about going to an SSD, but I would need to add a controller card, or I won't see much speed improvement. My 500 GB Barracuda is already pretty damn fast.
 
I heard (yes rumor) there is a way to make Win 8 have a traditional desktop, and that it's a good operating system after that. Any thoughts?

I have Windows 8. When the computer boots up, one of the 'squares' on the desktop changes it to a regular Windows 7 screen. It works just fine that way.
 
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