Is now the time to buy a new PC?

[maxhamee]

Hello fellow steam community members,

So I've been too busy with multi shift work, planning redesigns/building additions onto my household and backing up old photos and programs to really give the industry a look at. The last chance I got to even look was arguably before bitcoining took off and overinflated most GPU's. Now however I want to try and spend the time upgrading the houses stuff, I've already got a family member a new pc more then a year back, new televisions, etc. But now I want to upgrade from my own, and possibly significantly if the price is right, and need significant direction now due to how out of touch. I'm probably only going to have the time in the very near future to consider this, or else have to wait until fall/winter to try again. For context from what i want to move away from, as my weakest house unit currently:

- OS: Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1 (64 Bit)
- Motherboard Make and Model: MSI H61M-P23 (MS-7680) 2.0
- CPU: Intel Core i3 2100 CPU @ 3.10GHz
- Video Card: Intel (R) HD Graphics Core clocks at 847MHz and memory size is 2108 MBytes
- Monitor(s): Current: COMPAQ FP7317 (Resolution 1280-1024) @ 60/75 Hertz (True Color 32Bit)
- RAM: DDR3 6 GB (4096 Mbytes and 2048Mbytes with 4 slots available) Channel# Dual (DRAM Frequency 685.1Mhz)
- Power Supply: Currently 300 W

As you can see, upgrading the unit itself isnt a viable stopgrap I want anymore.
Some goals im looking at currently for a new PC or points to consider during discussion:

-I would rather have multiple HDD drives versus a SDD/HDD combo. I don't trust SDD's. I'm looking at Western Digital as they are in my past info the company with a track record of good livelihood. I don't like Seagate. 2 drives essentially.
*Another point for the dual drives concept is I may have the desire to be able to record and play games in the future simultaneously. So thats another reason for the tech upgrade needs.
-If a unit is prebuilt and has a good deal, I would like to understand/know if its upgradeable to any degree. For instance, if a system is limited to only reading 16GB of x speed RAM, there's not much point in buying more of it. I would rather have a legitimate upgrade path then a locked down but somewhat capable unit. For example, if Windows 10 x version can read 64GB, but the mobo is limited to 16 for whatever reason, that would be an issue.
-due to the room its in in basement, I'll likely have to open it every couple months to clean it, which i do with the current unit. But because of this, it'll likely be cooler as my current rig has continually remained despite near full-time on status.
-Power supply shouldn't be an issue if I want to run things at maximum. In the past, seen some units with this blatant flaw being sold so definitely dont want to consider that.
-if we look at CPU's, I understand the newest generation ones will be more expensive, but if the difference is notable for appropriate cost I may want to just go the upgraded route. I would rather have a higher CPU overhead in a pre built, with a lower GPU that can be upgraded later if need be, then the inverse.
-GPU wise, ill be real. My only recent years experience is NVIDIA. I like their update methods, how simplistic that is. I've heard heat is an issue with some of the newer Radeon's, so i'd rather just stick on that route.
-I don't know what a high end viable (cost) RAM speed would be now. I'm kind of lost.
- I may just use my 4k television next to the computer as a monitor, honestly. I'm not sure, so for now feel free to avoid the monitor question unless you're really concerned.
- I likely will upgrade my router as well but ive done research and feel i've narrowed it down.

FEEL FREE to explain to me the viability of other drives, GPU's, etc. I'll be real, I'm a little out of touch with the current scenario, but realize WIN10 is probably here to stay and 7's on its way out. I would GLADLY take any additional time to absorb new information so I can be up to date.

Thank you for your time, incredibly sincerely. Feel free to write my Steam page as well if you find issues contacting me here with thoughts/concerns/ideas. I feel like an old fuddy-duddy asking for help but I'm just out of touch at this point...You folks are great and I appreciate you ^_^

Sincerely

Max Hamee

[maxhamee]

For additional context, the computer I got a year+ back for my other in the household was a Lenovo Ideacentre Y700 I believe, with a 1050ti. The unit cost around 700 dollars after tax. I want a better PC hopefully then both that and the Windows 7 one I have I mentioned above.

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

Ram is still high, but you only really need 16 for gaming, though 8 is still passable. SSDs have a much longer life than they used to, probably even longer than mechanicals these days, so there is nothing to worry about with them.

Set a budget, and someone will make you a part list. There is nothing worth saving from your current computer, so either try to sell it or keep it as a back up.

[Sapph]

1st of all: SSD is basically mandatory. It's just so much faster than a HDD. There is nothing "untrusty" about them. If anything, they are more trusty than HDD which have moving parts.

2nd: what would your budget for the pc be?

3rd: 16gb of RAM is plenty for gaming and the speed will truly only matter on AMD Ryzen cpus as the way they have been designed, they gain a lot of performance the faster your RAM is. But due to few design limits, there is a limit to how high the memory clockspeed can be and still work on them.

[maxhamee]

Originally posted by Dr. Fronkensteen:

Ram is still high, but you only really need 16 for gaming, though 8 is still passable. SSDs have a much longer life than they used to, probably even longer than mechanicals these days, so there is nothing to worry about with them.

Set a budget, and someone will make you a part list. There is nothing worth saving from your current computer, so either try to sell it or keep it as a back up.

I'd prefer 16 or higher, just to have that overhead honestly given my idea is to possibly record and play games. But again, if it's doable to get a higher speed that outclips any of my needs then 16 should be fine. Just the option to upgrade in the future is a bigger concern on that front.

On SSD topic for both of you; that could be again an old fuddy duddy thing, but I've always had the notion of a ssd, given thats the history of them, being bad at constant read/write activities and have limitations regarding that. I figure I will use this computer for the long haul, so that's why I dont really want to add one. The added speed vs health is my concern, primarily, with the tasks i plan for it.

Regarding budget, I realize based on preliminary searches that the deal we got for the Lenovo is better then ill likely be able to get now because of the bit coin inflation nonsense. So by default it looks like I'll be spending over 800 for a very good, long term PC. My hope is to be at worst around 1,500 or below for the right pre built or parts deals (I realize I can go significantly cheaper in some cases by buying parts individually, but my time I can take advantage of this again is of real concern) especially considering Intel is often the CPU type I have great experiences with and tends to be more costly as you go up last I checked. Just because I have much more experience with them, that's also good. I might be convinced to go UP to 2,000 as my absolute maximum but it'd have to be a damn good option. I'm cringing at that because habitually im pretty good at minimizing footprints on my wallet, but for the right system I'd consider it.

I want to reiterate once more the topic is "Is now the time to buy a new PC?" because I understand there are seasons in which tech costs go notably down. If there's a PC I should look at, or parts I should look at for a future PC upgrade as well, later versus now at a somewhat specific timeframe it'd be nice to know and see if putting off a bit longer will grant real savings. Basically, if its pre built or a part, point at it and go "not now, but x time in november..." and I'd consider that as well!

If anything else I missed mentioning, bring up here too. Thanks!

[Viper]

SSDs are not limited at all. Samsung for example has a 10 year warranty on there SSDs ( 850 Pro). Yes 10 years and on there 1 Tera Byte model 1200 TB written forecasted lifetime. This would be writing the entire SSD 1200 times. At average use it projects out to be about 110 years before it wears out. For comparison Western Digital has a 3 year warranty on there mechanical HDD. So I don't know where you get your ideas about SSDs but they are no where near reality. HDDs are a mechanical motorized rotating platter. SSDs a memory chips with no moving parts. Not a chance your average HDD will outlast your average SSD.

[Dysnomia]

Upgrading your machine with used parts is a reasonable option, unless you want a higher-end GPU than a 1060. The motherboard can take an i7 3770, which you can get for $60-$80 on eBay. Used sticks of 4GB DDR3 RAM are very cheap, so you could easily bring it up to 8 GB, or since you have 4 slots, 16GB. Install a new 500W PSU, then get a 1060.

I definitely recommend SSDs. The speed difference is night and day. I've only had problems with really sketchy ones from companies I'd never heard of. Yeah, they'll eventually get write fatigue, but the bearings on HDDs eventually wear-out, and they've had it if they're dropped while spinning, so it's a really a toss-up.

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/CbLZzY

It will handle your 4K tv decent enough as well.

[Sapph]

Originally posted by maxhamee:

On SSD topic for both of you; that could be again an old fuddy duddy thing, but I've always had the notion of a ssd, given thats the history of them, being bad at constant read/write activities and have limitations regarding that. I figure I will use this computer for the long haul, so that's why I dont really want to add one. The added speed vs health is my concern, primarily, with the tasks i plan for it.

Regarding budget, I realize based on preliminary searches that the deal we got for the Lenovo is better then ill likely be able to get now because of the bit coin inflation nonsense. So by default it looks like I'll be spending over 800 for a very good, long term PC. My hope is to be at worst around 1,500 or below for the right pre built or parts deals (I realize I can go significantly cheaper in some cases by buying parts individually, but my time I can take advantage of this again is of real concern) especially considering Intel is often the CPU type I have great experiences with and tends to be more costly as you go up last I checked. Just because I have much more experience with them, that's also good. I might be convinced to go UP to 2,000 as my absolute maximum but it'd have to be a damn good option. I'm cringing at that because habitually im pretty good at minimizing footprints on my wallet, but for the right system I'd consider it.

I want to reiterate once more the topic is "Is now the time to buy a new PC?" because I understand there are seasons in which tech costs go notably down. If there's a PC I should look at, or parts I should look at for a future PC upgrade as well, later versus now at a somewhat specific timeframe it'd be nice to know and see if putting off a bit longer will grant real savings. Basically, if its pre built or a part, point at it and go "not now, but x time in november..." and I'd consider that as well!

The part about SSD is not true at all. They have constant writing speeds. And where HDD can write at most ~100-150Mb/s on a good situation, a decent SSD can write 450-550Mb/s constantly. As long as cpu can provide data fast enough.
They also have far longer life span than HDD. Moving parts wear out quicker than non-moving parts.
Of course, HDD is still better for mass storage since you can get 1Tb for as much as a 128gb SSD. But operating system and couple of your most played games should be on the SSD.

The budget really depends what kind of pc you want to have. Something low-end but cheap for just casual gaming at 1080p 60hz?
A high-mid range pc for 1440p 60hz or 1080p 144hz at everything maxed?
A top of the line pc with the most powerful parts, able to run 1440p 144hz or even 4K 60hz (with some things turned down, instead being maxed)?


As for the time, NVidia most likely will be showing their new gpus on 20th of this month in Gamescom and a bit after that release them. And then there is later the Black Friday deal you can make use of.

[Damian]

No, in few months there will be a new CPU architecture, 10nm if i'm not wrong.

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

Originally posted by IIC13:

No, in few months there will be a new CPU architecture, 10nm if i'm not wrong.

Nope, still same old 14nm.

[FeilDOW]

No new architecture, just a re-re-re-refresh. Late 2019 or even 2020 before we see intel 10nm is my guess, or it could be pushed back more.

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

Originally posted by FeilDOW:

No new architecture, just a re-re-re-refresh. Late 2019 or even 2020 before we see intel 10nm is my guess, or it could be pushed back more.

Yeah they are currently saying late 2019.

[maxhamee]

Originally posted by Sapph:

Originally posted by maxhamee:

On SSD topic for both of you; that could be again an old fuddy duddy thing, but I've always had the notion of a ssd, given thats the history of them, being bad at constant read/write activities and have limitations regarding that. I figure I will use this computer for the long haul, so that's why I dont really want to add one. The added speed vs health is my concern, primarily, with the tasks i plan for it.

Regarding budget, I realize based on preliminary searches that the deal we got for the Lenovo is better then ill likely be able to get now because of the bit coin inflation nonsense. So by default it looks like I'll be spending over 800 for a very good, long term PC. My hope is to be at worst around 1,500 or below for the right pre built or parts deals (I realize I can go significantly cheaper in some cases by buying parts individually, but my time I can take advantage of this again is of real concern) especially considering Intel is often the CPU type I have great experiences with and tends to be more costly as you go up last I checked. Just because I have much more experience with them, that's also good. I might be convinced to go UP to 2,000 as my absolute maximum but it'd have to be a damn good option. I'm cringing at that because habitually im pretty good at minimizing footprints on my wallet, but for the right system I'd consider it.

I want to reiterate once more the topic is "Is now the time to buy a new PC?" because I understand there are seasons in which tech costs go notably down. If there's a PC I should look at, or parts I should look at for a future PC upgrade as well, later versus now at a somewhat specific timeframe it'd be nice to know and see if putting off a bit longer will grant real savings. Basically, if its pre built or a part, point at it and go "not now, but x time in november..." and I'd consider that as well!

The part about SSD is not true at all. They have constant writing speeds. And where HDD can write at most ~100-150Mb/s on a good situation, a decent SSD can write 450-550Mb/s constantly. As long as cpu can provide data fast enough.
They also have far longer life span than HDD. Moving parts wear out quicker than non-moving parts.
Of course, HDD is still better for mass storage since you can get 1Tb for as much as a 128gb SSD. But operating system and couple of your most played games should be on the SSD.

The budget really depends what kind of pc you want to have. Something low-end but cheap for just casual gaming at 1080p 60hz?
A high-mid range pc for 1440p 60hz or 1080p 144hz at everything maxed?
A top of the line pc with the most powerful parts, able to run 1440p 144hz or even 4K 60hz (with some things turned down, instead being maxed)?


As for the time, NVidia most likely will be showing their new gpus on 20th of this month in Gamescom and a bit after that release them. And then there is later the Black Friday deal you can make use of.

And that's why I ask the questions, because apparently on the internet that misconception you folks keep telling me is wrong is still alive and well about SSD's. Like I said before, I will take the information you folks give me and try and absorb it, really appreciative! ^_^ Regarding storage though I should still probably target at least 1 significant HDD for film/game save storage alongside any SSD. I guess the next question becomes, if I get it prebuilt should I request windows (and windows updates files) be set to the HDD so the SSD can be free to do high demand tasks like play the newest games without restriction? You folks would know best, you have to use SSD's super consistently due to high demand games, and my experience is very low.

Yes, I heard Intel is going into 6 core/8 core territory as well which is why I mentioned the time frame. I'm very excited about the potential of those newer CPU's! So perhaps should wait...don't really want to but if that's something to consider (I'm sadly used to waiting on tech upgrades).

Super appreciative to know about NVIDIA and casual black friday reminder. The assumption is no dramatic change in structure?

My goal with the PC is to be able to record and provide gameplay at 1080p/60FPS simultaneously. I will likely try to play older as well as newer games on this system going forward (I know Win10 is the current standard, so hopefully I can avoid any pitfalls). I want to have the overhead if I wanted to push it to 4k/30FPS or 4k/60FPS (obviously depends on title) but stability is a bigger deal for me. If I'm recording gameplay and its dipping heavily at even 1080p to a sub 25FPS level during recording/gameplay, that'd be very frustrating. Most games I don't look to turn up every graphical setting IF that power can instead be put towards AI or world rendering (a Skyrim for example, isn't the prettiest game nor needs to be but having the map being fully loaded is more of a concern). Believe me, I've gotten a lot of use out of Integrated Graphics and this monitor, because CPU's were always a bigger concern when I got the units. I also want the PC to have the option to be upgraded, a somewhat if not very clear path, should the need arise as stated before. The examples being, if the mobo is limited to 16GB RAM only that'd be a bummer if I wanted to buy more down the road. For example, the new Lenovo desktop has 16GB, can hold 32GB, but can only utilize 24GB in its current setup. I'd like to be able to have that 32GB option without the 24GB hangup (so that way if I do upgrade, both sticks remain the same). Or if I wanted to get a newer CPU, it'd be nice to know if thats even an option in the more recent future. And it should go without saying, but if I'm spending money I'd really hate the idea of this thing bottlenecking significantly performance wise, or shutting down at maximum performance because the PSU just cant take it.

Either way, I think buying a newer pc is a better option then trying to keep this current one. I just feel adding parts to this current setup would only delay me further upgrading to something with more significant staying power. Mentally I mean. I'm also just tired of telling my friends I cant play that game, or that game literally updated (diablo III) past my cpu's integrated graphics so I'm actually obselete. At a certain point, making concessions for me from others becomes difficult. Not everything can be a Terraria or Stardew Valley and I respect that.

Thank you all SO MUCH! You folks are awesome and your suggestions SUPER APPRECIATED!!! I'm sorry for replying later, I've been wiped out. Its my first multi day off in awhile and my body essentially shut down. Keep passing out.