Would you upgrade this?

[Ayoralyn]

Hello everyone. I was just recently thinking about getting myself a new computer. Then I was just checking up on when I bought my last one, and it's not more then a little over a year ago. And I figured, that if I have to buy a new compter every year and a half, it's going to get a bit expensive. So I was just wondering if there was any of these parts you could and would upgrade, or if you would actually buy a new computer alltogether? How often does some of you guys buy a new computer? Thanks in advance!

Motherboard: ASRock X58 Extreme
CPU: Intel Core i7 920
Memory: Kingston 3x2GB DDR3 HyperX
SSD disk: OCZ Vertex Turbo 60GB
Additional disks: 2xWestern Digital 1500MB
Graphics Card: Inno3D Geforce GTS 250 1024GB GDDR3 (Couldn't find the exact model on newegg or amazon, I'm from Denmark so I don't exactly know the american electronics sites either. The prudoct number is N250-1DDN-D3DY)
Power Supply: NorthQ 400watts ATX 17db (Same problems os with teh graphics card. The product number for it is NQ-4001AT.)

I am using Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit edition.

Part of the reason I'm asking is, that during the last couple of days, it's been running significantly slower then it used to do. I don't know if some part is just starting to break, or what it is. Or it's just getting old. I know items become old fast in the computer world, but I wouldn't think it would get old this fast, as the last couple of computers I've had, I had for a about 3 years. Another part of the reason is Diablo 3. Anyways, I'd like to know what you guys think! I have a very basic understanding in computers, I can put the parts together myself, but I to rely on people and friends to tell me which parts to buy. So, expect some questions if you get too technical Thanks in advance.

 

[Vriess]

From what I've seen theres not a huge jump from the first gen cores to the second, I'd spend your money on a new graphics card or maybe some cooling to try and squeeze more mhz out of your i7

Also if your comp is seeming slow run some benchmars and try and get a feel of what numbers your build should be putting out vs what it is, if it really isn't operating at what it should be try and figure out the problem

 

[plugwash]

While a new CPU/MB will be faster yours is still perfectly reasonable.

If your system seems to be running much slower than it used to it's time to try and find out why. Check for overheating and run various benchmarks (in particular i'd suggest a drive speed test on the SSD a very slo drive is often the first sign of a dying drive) to try and determine where the problem is. You might also want to try a clean windows install.

Also your PSU is a brand i've never heard of and that rings alarm bells immediately.

 

[Dangman]

SSD disk: OCZ Vertex Turbo 60GB
Additional disks: 2xWestern Digital 1500MB
Graphics Card: Inno3D Geforce GTS 250 1024GB GDDR3 (Couldn't find the exact model on newegg or amazon, I'm from Denmark so I don't exactly know the american electronics sites either. The prudoct number is N250-1DDN-D3DY)
Power Supply: NorthQ 400watts ATX 17db (Same problems os with teh graphics card. The product number for it is NQ-4001AT.)

These are the four parts that you should replace. Especially the PSU: I'm honestly surprised it's still running your PC after a year already. It only has 18A on the +12V rail. So any day now you're looking at potential hardware death. So definitely replace that PSU ASAP. Go for the Corsair 650TX V2 650W PSU as an upgrade.

GPU wise, what's the max resolution of your monitor?

HDD wise, are you installing your programs onto those Western Digital drives? And you sure you're using those EXACT drives?

SSD wise, you really should get a new SSD. That OCZ SSD isn't that good at all. From what I've read, the peformance of those OCZ SSDs do indeed decrease over time. Nothing you can do to fix that. It's an inherent quality issue with those SSDs. And note that the beginning performance was pretty slow to begin with. So go for the Crucial C300, C400, or M4 series SSDs or Intel's 320 or 510 series SSD

Your current CPU, mobo and RAM are fine.

Also your PSU is a brand i've never heard of and that rings alarm bells immediately.

NorthQ isn't available in North America. They can select/choose decent PSUs however. At least two of their PSUs is bad though if you count the PSU the OP has.

 

[Ayoralyn]

Thanks all for the replies, they are of course helpful. I am already preparing a clean install, it was my first option. And I have been thinking about doing it for a while, and this would be a good excuse to do it.

Regarding the PSU. I have actually never had a NorthQ PSU die on me, maybe I've just been lucky, I don't know But I hear ya, and I will think about replacing it. They are not that expensive anyway.

For the benchmarks, anyone that could give me a few pointers as to which ones I could use? I think I'm mainly talking about some hard drive tests, and graphic cards tests.

Danny, what exactly do you mean when you ask if I'm using those exact drives? Do you mean as the ones I've linked to, or if I'm actually installing stuff on those drives? My SSD is being used for windows, and various programs assosiated with windows. All gaming stuff, movies, music, pictures, basicly everything, is on my WD's.

My screen resolution is 1280*1024. I'm also looking for some better monitors hehe. But decided to wait for some reasonable priced 120hz.

Overheating is a viable option too, as summer just hit here. But I mean, should the weather really have THAT big of an impact? I live in Denmark, so it's nok like we have some insane hot weather days. Maybe 30 degrees celsuis tops on a very hot day. How would I check my different stuff for overheating? I know that some if it can be seen in the bios setup, but can I see everything there? Or can I get a nifty little program to check the heat on my items? Thanks again for the replies, and thanks again in advance for any further help

 

[tiraides]

The weather may play a role in your (potential) overheating issues, but we also need to know what case you're using. Older cases are generally not the best for cooling off newer systems as they oftentimes don't have the right type (e.g., 80mm instead of 120mm) or number (two when you should use at least four) of fans needed.

If you replace nothing else, you need to replace your power supply and SSD for the reasons that Danny noted earlier. You can use an imaging/cloning program like Acronis True Image to "transfer" the contents of your OCZ SSD to a new primary drive.

 

[Ayoralyn]

I am actually using the Acronis True Image software to backup my drives etc

This is the case I'm using: NZXT HU-001. White though, but I guess that's not really important.

 

[Ayoralyn]

I don't know if anyone have had any experience with the program called PerformanceTest from PassMark.com, but I use their graphs as a general guideline sometimes. Anyways, I tried this program, and got the following result:

CPU: 5757.1
3D graphics: 1116.4
Memory: 1479.6
Disk: 484.6

If I checked correctly, all the numbers but the disk were at, or a bit higher then listed on the website. The disk should have about 3-600 points more. So maybe it is the disk that's starting to fail. I will look around for some disk testing software.

 

[saedrin]

Next on your list is a new monitor. 1280x1024 is so 1995.

 

[cyclone3d]

System in sig gets this in passmark:

CPU: 8902.5
3D Graphics: 2863.1 (GTX 460 768MB @ 860/2100)
Memory: 3845.9
Disk: 609.8 (500GB WD Black) - an SSD should be way faster.

For the Disk test, a small office server I am building, gets over 3300 with a PERC 5/i w/1GB RAM and
4x Samsung F4 320MB drives in RAID 10.

 

[Haiku214]

GPU may need an upgrade. Overclock your CPU.

 

[Dangman]

Regarding the PSU. I have actually never had a NorthQ PSU die on me, maybe I've just been lucky, I don't know But I hear ya, and I will think about replacing it. They are not that expensive anyway.

Good. Stick to Corsair (not the Gamer series) or Antec (not their Basiq series) or Seasonic and you should be set.

Danny, what exactly do you mean when you ask if I'm using those exact drives? Do you mean as the ones I've linked to, or if I'm actually installing stuff on those drives? My SSD is being used for windows, and various programs assosiated with windows. All gaming stuff, movies, music, pictures, basicly everything, is on my WD's.

Both actually. Those drives aren't meant for PC usage. Hence their slow performance. If anything, you should be installing your games on a faster hard drive like the Samsung F3 1TB. You've almost negated the advantage of a SSD by using such slow drives for program installation and such

My screen resolution is 1280*1024. I'm also looking for some better monitors hehe. But decided to wait for some reasonable priced 120hz.

Ok, hold off on the GPU upgrade until you actually upgrade to a large monitor. At that low of a resolution, Diablo 3 should run very well with your current video card.

How would I check my different stuff for overheating? I know that some if it can be seen in the bios setup, but can I see everything there? Or can I get a nifty little program to check the heat on my items?

SpeedFan works pretty well for me. Also try GPU-Z for their GPU temperature reading capability

 

[saedrin]

Hardware monitor is also a fantastic tool for a lightweight application that can monitor all of your temperatures.

 

[Ayoralyn]

Okay, seems like I bought the wrongs disks then when I bought the computer. Because those are the ones I'm actually using. I went back and coublechecked. Are they meant for server usage? How come, if I may ask, are they not meant for normal PC use?

And thanks all for the great replies, I will be trying those programs out, and will be in touch with the results

 

[Ayoralyn]

Okay, let's see. I downloaded all 3 programs, and have been looking at the numbers now. I think they are too high, but I leave it up to you guys to decide if you think it has any major impact on performance.

GPU temperature is by all 3 programs reported to be 56.0 C
Then I have 3 temperatures on my motherboard it seems, HWmonitor and SpeedFan agree that the first two is 46.0 C, and 52.0 C. HWmonitor believes the third one to be 124 C and SpeedFan reports 127 C. I can't exactly see what it is, but I can probably find out if you guys want some report or something from the programs.
For the cores they both pretty much agree. Core 0: 55-56 C. Core 1: 52 C. Core 2: 54 C. Core 3: 55-57 C.
For my Western disks both programs report one of them to be 47 C and the other to be 49 C.
HWmonitor doesn't seem to have my SSD disk listed, but SpeedFan reports it of being 47 C.

I think that was everything. As I said, I think some of them are way too high, but I don't know if it is enough to have a big impact on performance.

IF you think it is, what would you suggest as cooling? You know my build. I'm not made of money, but I have enough so I don't have to by super low end stuff. Thanks everyone in advance!

 

[Jbort1984]

I would go with a psu and video card upgrade

any one else try this performance test program is saing my 6950s are 6850s

 

[cj3waker]

new PSU, anything 750w should give you breathing room for a high end gpu upgrade.
Look for good mfgs like XFX, Corsair, Silverstone, Seasonic, Antec, Enermax, Seasonic..to name a few

Im guessing you meant 1500gb on the WD drives, if not trash them. but if they are indeed 1.5tb drives, I would only replace them if you ran out of space.

New monitor for sure, you can pick up nice 22"+ in the ~$150ish range easy

you will have a very stable and much more enjoyable system at this point, but if you are into gaming, your gts 250 will be sorely lacking at this resolution, So id go for a gtx 560 or AMD 6950 as they are awesome bang for buck cards

 

[Ayoralyn]

I was wrong about the PSU btw. I was looking at the wrong bill. I have a Corsair 650w. Should be fine, yeah?

 

[Ayoralyn]

And yes, new monitors is actually high on my wish list

 

[Dangman]

Okay, seems like I bought the wrongs disks then when I bought the computer. Because those are the ones I'm actually using. I went back and coublechecked. Are they meant for server usage? How come, if I may ask, are they not meant for normal PC use?

They were designed for use with PVR and other set-up devices, not a computer, even a server.

IF you think it is, what would you suggest as cooling? You know my build. I'm not made of money, but I have enough so I don't have to by super low end stuff. Thanks everyone in advance!

Are those CPU temps at load?

I was wrong about the PSU btw. I was looking at the wrong bill. I have a Corsair 650w. Should be fine, yeah?

Should be fine.

 

[Ayoralyn]

Are those CPU temps at load?

Nope, that's when they are doing nothing.

 

[msny]

Hello everyone. I was just recently thinking about getting myself a new computer. Then I was just checking up on when I bought my last one, and it's not more then a little over a year ago. And I figured, that if I have to buy a new compter every year and a half, it's going to get a bit expensive. So I was just wondering if there was any of these parts you could and would upgrade, or if you would actually buy a new computer alltogether? How often does some of you guys buy a new computer? Thanks in advance!

Motherboard: ASRock X58 Extreme
CPU: Intel Core i7 920
Memory: Kingston 3x2GB DDR3 HyperX
SSD disk: OCZ Vertex Turbo 60GB
Additional disks: 2xWestern Digital 1500MB
Graphics Card: Inno3D Geforce GTS 250 1024GB GDDR3 (Couldn't find the exact model on newegg or amazon, I'm from Denmark so I don't exactly know the american electronics sites either. The prudoct number is N250-1DDN-D3DY)
Power Supply: NorthQ 400watts ATX 17db (Same problems os with teh graphics card. The product number for it is NQ-4001AT.)

I am using Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit edition.

Part of the reason I'm asking is, that during the last couple of days, it's been running significantly slower then it used to do. I don't know if some part is just starting to break, or what it is. Or it's just getting old. I know items become old fast in the computer world, but I wouldn't think it would get old this fast, as the last couple of computers I've had, I had for a about 3 years. Another part of the reason is Diablo 3. Anyways, I'd like to know what you guys think! I have a very basic understanding in computers, I can put the parts together myself, but I to rely on people and friends to tell me which parts to buy. So, expect some questions if you get too technical Thanks in advance.

I build new about every 4 years, and upgrade every 2 years. Just built a new
system, last one was core 2 duo. Better to try to buy ahead with upscale parts
in the first place, so you have an upgrade path. Your system is at the low
end to start with.

I'd say start over.

 

[Ayoralyn]

I build new about every 4 years, and upgrade every 2 years. Just built a new
system, last one was core 2 duo. Better to try to buy ahead with upscale parts
in the first place, so you have an upgrade path. Your system is at the low
end to start with.

I'd say start over.

I have considered it, and then keeping this one as a back up. But thought I would ask here first, to see what the generel oppinion was. But it seems like there is some/a lot of my items that shouldn't have been bought to start with.

 

[Dangman]

Nope, that's when they are doing nothing.

Hmmm, those temperatures are a bit high then. Shouldn't affect performance but possibly longevity. I recommend this HSF:
$29 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
$40 - Thermalright Cogage TRUE Spirit HSF

 

[Ayoralyn]

Hmmm, those temperatures are a bit high then. Shouldn't affect performance but possibly longevity. I recommend this HSF:
$29 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
$40 - Thermalright Cogage TRUE Spirit HSF

Thank you. I will take it into consideration

 

[joekaveh]

If I were to upgrade, I'd start with the PSU and then maybe a new GPU. That's about it.

 

[Ayoralyn]

Just wanted to let everyone know what I've decided. I'll be getting myself a new video card (still not decided on exactly which one, it's a jungle out there). A new CPU cooler as wlel, and a new 120mm case fan as one of them seems to be dieing. Thanks all for the help, it is much apreciated!

 

[Dangman]

Just wanted to let everyone know what I've decided. I'll be getting myself a new video card (still not decided on exactly which one, it's a jungle out there). A new CPU cooler as wlel, and a new 120mm case fan as one of them seems to be dieing. Thanks all for the help, it is much apreciated!

So you're not replacing the SSD? Or the HDD? And you're going for the upgrade you need the least right now since you only have a 1280x1024 monitor?

 

[Cobalt35]

I don't know if anyone have had any experience with the program called PerformanceTest from PassMark.com, but I use their graphs as a general guideline sometimes. Anyways, I tried this program, and got the following result:

CPU: 5757.1
3D graphics: 1116.4
Memory: 1479.6
Disk: 484.6

If I checked correctly, all the numbers but the disk were at, or a bit higher then listed on the website. The disk should have about 3-600 points more. So maybe it is the disk that's starting to fail. I will look around for some disk testing software.

For interests sake I ran this test on my i7-2600k, GTX580 (both at stock) and 2xWD 1TB WD Black drives in RAID 0::

CPU: 9983.3
3D: 4420.4
Memory: 2527
Disk: 1624.2

The biggest difference you'll see in terms of upgrades is the video card, although at 1280x1024 it's not really worth upgrading it much imo.

 

[tiraides]

Just wanted to let everyone know what I've decided. I'll be getting myself a new video card (still not decided on exactly which one, it's a jungle out there). A new CPU cooler as wlel, and a new 120mm case fan as one of them seems to be dieing. Thanks all for the help, it is much apreciated!

Bad move. You don't need a new video card until you buy a new monitor. Save those two purchases for the same time frame.

You need to replace the SSD and hard drive. Since you're still having heating issues, buy a new set of fans for your case as well as one of the two CPU coolers that Danny referenced earlier. You should also consider replacing your power supply; again, listen to Danny.

 

[Ayoralyn]

Right, forgot to mention that I will of course be buying 1-3 new monitors with a new graphics card. My bad, sorry! (I actually have a couple of threads going on the subjects, I haven't decided on anything yet)

For the PSU, it wasn't the northQ. It was a Corsair 650w, I do believe I updated that somewhere, my mistake if I didn't. And I do believe the advice after I said it, was that it would be fine with that one. So unless you tell me now the corsair 650w isn't good enough eithe,r then I will be sticking with this one.

Yes, I'm replacing the CPU cooler with one of the mentioned ones, and I will be replacing a case fan as well.

It seems like maybe I just didn't understand how much you think the harddrives is the problem. Because what I've read in this thread so far, yes, they were probably the very wrong choices back when I bought them, but it didn't seem like the number 1 thing for me to replace. Is that the case then?

Most people suggested af PSU and GPU upgrade. Since I was wrong about the PSU, I figured, alright, it might be time for a new video card. I just forgot to mention that I will be getting some new monitors as well, or at least 1 new main gaming monitor.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I hope this clears it out a little, and I will be waiting for your replies. Believe me, I do listen to what you say, it is the reason why I'm here. I haven't bought anything yet.

 

[tiraides]

Having the Corsair PSU already changes the entire equation. If you plan on buying a video card greater than the HD 6950 or two video cards for CF/SLI, then I would recommend a more powerful PSU.

As such, I still recommend a new SSD and HDD since your current SSD appears to be slowing down and your two HDDs are designed to be storage drives.

 

[Ayoralyn]

Idon't think I will buy a very powerful video card. I'm still trying to figure out which, but it seems that as I'm "only" going to be gaming on one of my monitors, a lot of the high end cards is war overkill for me to get.

What harddrives would you suggest then?

Edit: I'm thinking that the 2x1.5TB disks I have, are not completely useless right? I mean I could still use them for downloads, storing movies, music, pictures, and basicly anything right? You are thinking that they are just way to slow to handl programs/games? So I might be looking to purchase 1-2 "small" harddrives and maybe just raiding them for the games and stuff?

And regarding the SSD. If I get another one for my OS, would you still use the old SSD for maybe a select few games I would want to run more smooth, or would you rather use the harddrives I might buy instead, and basicly just throwing the other SSD away? I hope I make myself clear, it was a bit hard to explain

 

[tiraides]

Go with an SSD with at least 120GB of space for Windows and your most important programs. Here, we recommend the Intel 510, the Crucial C300, and the Crucial m4 series SSDs. Though the OCZ Vertex 3 SSDs are reportedly faster, we don't recommend them due to the company's problems with its older model SSDs and its longstanding customer service issues.

You should also buy a fast 7200RPM HDD to store other frequently-used programs. We often recommend the Samsung HD103SJ 1TB HDD as it performs as well as more expensive drives. Don't worry about SATA 6Gb/s drives as they don't work any better than SATA 3Gb/s HDDs.

You can reuse those 1.5TB drives as storage drives.

 

[Ayoralyn]

Go with an SSD with at least 120GB of space for Windows and your most important programs. Here, we recommend the Intel 510, the Crucial C300, and the Crucial m4 series SSDs. Though the OCZ Vertex 3 SSDs are reportedly faster, we don't recommend them due to the company's problems with its older model SSDs and its longstanding customer service issues.

You should also buy a fast 7200RPM HDD to store other frequently-used programs. We often recommend the Samsung HD103SJ 1TB HDD as it performs as well as more expensive drives. Don't worry about SATA 6Gb/s drives as they don't work any better than SATA 3Gb/s HDDs.

You can reuse those 1.5TB drives as storage drives.

Thank you for the reply. I will most likely be going for the some Crusial, been recommended another place as well.

You seem to know what you are talking about, any monitors you could recommend? For gaming.

Edit: Also, would there be a big difference performance wise if I buy 1x128GB SSD disk, or 2x64GB and stripe them?

 

[Dangman]

Edit: Also, would there be a big difference performance wise if I buy 1x128GB SSD disk, or 2x64GB and stripe them?

Depends on the SSDs. Though for simplicity's sake, go for a single SSD.

 

[tiraides]

Thank you for the reply. I will most likely be going for the some Crusial, been recommended another place as well.

You seem to know what you are talking about, any monitors you could recommend? For gaming.

Edit: Also, would there be a big difference performance wise if I buy 1x128GB SSD disk, or 2x64GB and stripe them?

Go with the m4, as it's newer (and, at some places, cheaper).

I don't follow monitors that much, but any Samsung, Acer, Asus or LG monitor with a 5ms or faster refresh rate would be good for gaming.

In addition to what Danny mentioned earlier, you also lose TRIM support when you use two (or more) SSDs in RAID.

 

[Ayoralyn]

Single SSD it is then. Thank you again for the help, I will look around, and will start with the harddrives and some ekstra/new cooling. And then look into the monitor/video card at the beginning of next month. Thanks again for your patience and helpful advice!