pc expertise?

wiredgeorge · 07-06-2023, 02:44 PM

My shop's current PC may be outdated. HP brand i-3-2100 @ 3.1G with 8g RAM and 222G storage.

Was thinking of an upgrade refurb HP Z230 i-7-4770 with 16G RAM and 1TB drive.

Honestly storage isn't a factor as the smaller storage on the older machine is more than adequate. I am sure my system isn't optimized but takes forever to boot up and my home machine is much faster with a newer gen processor and 16G RAM.

How much better performance will I see if I upgrade. BTW: Both machines have genuine Win 10 Pro.

**sourdough** · 07-06-2023, 02:50 PM

Haven't had time to respond to the overall question but you say you're running Windows 10. All support ends for Windows 10 in 2025 IIRC. This might be a good time to upgrade the browser as well.

**flybouy** · 07-06-2023, 03:22 PM

George with out knowing what software you run, if you access the internet, etc. it's difficult to sa if slow boot up is the only issue then certainly , more ram would help with that as well as a faster hard drive. As Danny mentioned, win 10 will not be supported in the future and current machine is not upgradeable to Win 11. After Win 10 is no longer supported then that means no more security patches from MS.

Essentially your current PC will put the information stored on it (client info like cc numbers, personal identity info?) at risk. Computers and related hardware are subject to wide price swings. I'd suggest purchasing the fastest cpu, the most ram, and the fastest/ largest HD that you can afford. Then don't skimp on the security (VPN, anti-virus, etc.) to protect that asset.

wiredgeorge · 07-06-2023, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sourdough

Haven't had time to respond to the overall question but you say you're running Windows 10. All support ends for Windows 10 in 2025 IIRC. This might be a good time to upgrade the browser as well.

That is a happy note. No sooner does MS come out with an O/S than they set the egg timer on it. I may just go back to NT; ran that for many years after it went out of support with no ill effects. Win 10 seems a bit of a memory hog... recall my NT machine had 256K memory.

jsb5717 · 07-06-2023, 03:30 PM

All of this depends on what type of a user you are. Hunt and Peck? Occasional browsing? Power user?

The RAM bump alone will help with online browsing speed. Moving from a 2nd Gen i3 to a 4th gen i7 with the bump in RAM will feel like night and day. I'm not sure, though, if that hardware will support Win11. That'll take a little research to see min requirements.

hlh1 · 07-06-2023, 04:14 PM

The biggest improvement in boot up time will be noticed with a solid state hard drive. I bet yours is an old, slow, rotating platter HD. I've kept many of my old PCs "up to speed"' with installing the OS on an SSD HD. I retired last year after 40 years in IT. I have a small "data center" in my basement and run 7 PCs and servers with OS from XP to Win10 and Linux. Norton's, and other virus protection software, can keep a Win7 machine running safely along with a modern browser like Firefox. Win7 is still my favorite OS. I can update to Win11 but I'm in no hurry as Win10 with the above software will run safely for years going foward. If it's time for a new PC, sure, get a Win11 machine with a SSD HD and 16GB of RAM. Unless you're running CPU intensive applications most any modern CPU is fine. I personally like the AMD processors the best.

wiredgeorge · 07-06-2023, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hlh1

The biggest improvement in boot up time will be noticed with a solid state hard drive. I bet yours is an old, slow, rotating platter HD. I've kept many of my old PCs "up to speed"' with installing the OS on an SSD HD. I retired last year after 40 years in IT. I have a small "data center" in my basement and run 7 PCs and servers with OS from XP to Win10 and Linux. Norton's, and other virus protection software, can keep a Win7 machine running safely along with a modern browser like Firefox. Win7 is still my favorite OS. I can update to Win11 but I'm in no hurry as Win10 with the above software will run safely for years going foward. If it's time for a new PC, sure, get a Win11 machine with a SSD HD and 16GB of RAM. Unless you're running CPU intensive applications most any modern CPU is fine. I personally like the AMD processors the best.

I do no intensive computing. I worked UNIX admin doing mostly backup/recovery stuff (mostly AIX) for a few years after retiring from the Fed but never did any PC admin stuff. My home office computer: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3470S CPU @ 2.90GHz 2.90 GHz w/16G ram and SSD storage. I do have a hard disk in the system in my office shop.

hlh1 · 07-07-2023, 03:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

I do no intensive computing. I worked UNIX admin doing mostly backup/recovery stuff (mostly AIX) for a few years after retiring from the Fed but never did any PC admin stuff. My home office computer: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3470S CPU @ 2.90GHz 2.90 GHz w/16G ram and SSD storage. I do have a hard disk in the system in my office shop.

Does your shop PC have an SSD?

One way to speed up boot time is to put the PC to "Sleep" rather than "Shut down".

Max23 · 07-07-2023, 04:53 AM

I only build gaming pc's so I'm gonna have you spend way more than u need. Lol. I will say, if your looking for fast boot times, you can speed up 10x over a regular ssd by using a m.2 ssd and they're not that expensive. Highly recommend an m.2. My pc goes from off to surfing the internet in 30 seconds.

Max23 · 07-07-2023, 05:04 AM

On a more serious side. HP tends to put a ton of bloatware in their pc's which does slow them down. Are you stuck on HP? I'd pick HP over Dell however. Lenovo does a good job of having a cleaner hard drive if your buying off the shelf and not building.

hlh1 · 07-07-2023, 05:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Max23

On a more serious side. HP tends to put a ton of bloatware in their pc's which does slow them down. Are you stuck on HP? I'd pick HP over Dell however. Lenovo does a good job of having a cleaner hard drive if your buying off the shelf and not building.

This is a good point, and why I typically build my own tower PCs so I know what's on them. I do have HP notebooks PCs with the bloatware you're talking about.

hlh1 · 07-07-2023, 02:45 PM

George, per you original question, your boot time should definitely improve with the new PC you mentioned.

wiredgeorge · 07-07-2023, 03:38 PM

I think I am going to get an SSD storage drive. The computer in my home office has an SSD drive and it loads extremely fast although it does have a later processor and 16G of ram. I watched a youtube video on installing and it looks pretty easy and if you get a Samsun, they have software to port over the OS from the hard drive to the new SSD drive. I am only using a small amount of the hard drive I have now and it is 2xxG.

Millertyme76 · 07-08-2023, 02:30 AM

I second the M.2 drive. My laptop went from about a 5 minute start to usable time down to 20 seconds. I had a 1TB hard drive that spun at around 5400 rpm originally. There is free software available on the internet that will copy your current hard drive to a new hard drive.

wiredgeorge · 07-08-2023, 03:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flybouy

George with out knowing what software you run, if you access the internet, etc. it's difficult to sa if slow boot up is the only issue then certainly , more ram would help with that as well as a faster hard drive. As Danny mentioned, win 10 will not be supported in the future and current machine is not upgradeable to Win 11. After Win 10 is no longer supported then that means no more security patches from MS.

Essentially your current PC will put the information stored on it (client info like cc numbers, personal identity info?) at risk. Computers and related hardware are subject to wide price swings. I'd suggest purchasing the fastest cpu, the most ram, and the fastest/ largest HD that you can afford. Then don't skimp on the security (VPN, anti-virus, etc.) to protect that asset.

I user Cyberghost 8 VPN and AVG anti-virus. Danny's post prompted me to run the Microsoft tool to see if my computers could upgrade to Win 11 and none of the processors are in the group acceptable to Microsoft so it will be a new computer(s) in 2025 I guess as I want to keep them in support for updates.

Max23 · 07-08-2023, 04:33 AM

It's not all about the processor for win11. You also need a motherboard that is tpm ready or to install a tpm module. Then yes have a processor that is acceptable for it. Best to just buy a new machine unless you can build from scratch. I would never use Samsung ghosting for a hard drive. Operating systems get clogged up with junk over time. Moving it just maintains the junk that slows you down. Make sure your current version of windows is registered to your Microsoft account. You can then create a thumb drive at microsoft.com and use it to install it on your new hard drive. Verify the license with your Microsoft account and good to go with a new operating system. Yes you have to reinstall all your software but you now have a non bloated super fast HD. I reinstall a fresh OS every few years. When i build it usually lasts me 10 yrs updating graphics cards in between. The speed boost is always amazing.

Kzneft · 07-19-2023, 09:16 AM

If you go to ...
https://www.dellrefurbished.com you can get great deals on these. They all include warranties, and many are 1/2 the cost of new and eve lower. I buy all my laptops from here. I teach CAD/CAM classes so you can find exactly what you need for a lot less than new.

wiredgeorge · 07-19-2023, 09:59 AM

I am cheap... I bought an HP EliteDesk:

HP EliteDesk 705 G1 Desktop - AMD A8-7600B @ 3.10GHz 8GB RAM 256GB SSD - WiFi
$62.84

The seller (eBay) recycles used computers and puts a fresh copy of Win 11 Pro on them. Works MUCH faster than my old PC with a hard drive. I did spend some time doing updates as the install was bare. No junk on the computer; only O/S.

hlh1 · 07-19-2023, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

I am cheap... I bought an HP EliteDesk:

HP EliteDesk 705 G1 Desktop - AMD A8-7600B @ 3.10GHz 8GB RAM 256GB SSD - WiFi
$62.84

The seller (eBay) recycles used computers and puts a fresh copy of Win 11 Pro on them. Works MUCH faster than my old PC with a hard drive. I did spend some time doing updates as the install was bare. No junk on the computer; only O/S.

Wow! The OS is worth more than the PC you got. I was pretty sure an SSD would really speed things up for you.

wiredgeorge · 07-19-2023, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hlh1

Wow! The OS is worth more than the PC you got. I was pretty sure an SSD would really speed things up for you.

It surely did. I have to hook up the old system and retrieve some files; mostly pictures as all I had to do the transfer of files was a 16MB thumb drive. I have an external hard drive with Win10 Pro O/S and don't want to format it and lose the O/S as I may use it to restore the old computer after I figure out how to really get rid of all the data on the hard drive (HHD). Then I will sell the old computer. I also have two older Win10 systems I used to use for business that need the same thing done.

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