Options
Upgrade or replace PC?
Slarti Bartfast
Posts: 6,607 Forum Member
✭
I'm not sure how long I've had my MSI Hetis G31 desktop but it feels like the best part of ten years (:o) and I'm wondering whether I can breathe a bit of fresh air into it with an upgrade or two.
It's current specs are:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz (socket 775)
RAM: 4GB (max 4GB)
HDD: 298GB SATA (80% free, OS and software only, everything else is on external drives).
Clearly I can't add any more RAM as I'm already at the max. Assuming I can just drop any socket 775 CPU in there I could maybe upgrade to a quad core or something if that would help. I could also maybe replace my SATA HDD with an SSD as that might give me some additional speed.
Or I could replace the whole thing with something like this. I've no idea if that's value for money or much of an improvement though.
Edit: I should add that I use this computer as a media player (local Plex server and local Plex client hooked up to TV) and a server (remote/mobile Plex and Subsonic clients). It doesn't really get used for much else.
It's current specs are:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz (socket 775)
RAM: 4GB (max 4GB)
HDD: 298GB SATA (80% free, OS and software only, everything else is on external drives).
Clearly I can't add any more RAM as I'm already at the max. Assuming I can just drop any socket 775 CPU in there I could maybe upgrade to a quad core or something if that would help. I could also maybe replace my SATA HDD with an SSD as that might give me some additional speed.
Or I could replace the whole thing with something like this. I've no idea if that's value for money or much of an improvement though.
Edit: I should add that I use this computer as a media player (local Plex server and local Plex client hooked up to TV) and a server (remote/mobile Plex and Subsonic clients). It doesn't really get used for much else.
0
Comments
For example - http://www.ebuyer.com/643320-zoostorm-desktop-pc-7260-8001 which is £189.99 or £129.99 if you trade in an old PC.
This is the key point. The PC is being used for a specific purpose.
Is it doing that job well or not?
If it is then keep it until it dies, if not then upgrade it to a more powerfull sytem addressing the weaknesses of the current set-up.
Thanks for the suggestion, I could do with something that's small factor though as it will sit in a TV cabinet along with the skybox and game consoles.
Do you think upgrading some of the hardware is an option or not worth doing?
Plex (specifically, transcoding videos for local or remote viewing) can be pretty heavy on the processor. I don't tend to have any issues with actual playback but halfway through a movie the computer fan will go into overdrive which I've assumed is because the processor is being worked pretty relentlessly.
It's so old I would say its not worth it.
If you want small form factor that shouldn't be an issue and the new pentiums hardly heat up at all even under load so that will remove the noise problem.