Resend my activation email : Register : Log in 
BCF: Bike Chat Forums


New computer required.

Reply to topic
Bike Chat Forums Index -> The Geek Zone Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
View previous topic : View next topic  
Author Message

Polarbear
Super Spammer



Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Karma :

PostPosted: 13:09 - 13 Dec 2018    Post subject: New computer required. Reply with quote

As above, my old laptop keeps crashing and I suspect hard drive. Thing is it's ancient and slow as a slug on mogadon so I'll be looking to replace.

I use it for office, internet, streaming and playing old games. (civ 2, Heroes of might and magic, pirates etc. Embarassed ) so I doubt I need something really powerful though I suppose 4 k is standard nowadays?

A few questions -

I have a laptop, it never moves so is it better value getting a desktop rather than another laptop.

Do I go for something with a separate graphics chip/card or are the latest versions of integrated sufficient to do the job?

Is £500 a reasonable price for something that won't be out of date in 5 minutes? There are lots of laptops under that.

The laptop I have at the moment has an AMD A8 CPU and an R5 graphics with 8 gig ram.

And is it worth waiting for January for sales with a computer or is it SCS bullshit time with no real savings?

Ta muchly. Thumbs Up
____________________
Triumph Trophy Launch Edition
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail You must be logged in to rate posts

M.C
Super Spammer



Joined: 29 Sep 2015
Karma :

PostPosted: 14:12 - 13 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

It sounds alright, buy an SSD, clone your old drive if you CBA doing a clean install.
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

Polarbear
Super Spammer



Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Karma :

PostPosted: 14:29 - 13 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

M.C wrote:
It sounds alright, buy an SSD, clone your old drive if you CBA doing a clean install.


You reckon its the drive slowing me up rather than the whole system?
____________________
Triumph Trophy Launch Edition
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail You must be logged in to rate posts

M.C
Super Spammer



Joined: 29 Sep 2015
Karma :

PostPosted: 14:40 - 13 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is it windows 10 or 7, and how much crap have you installed? I recently stuck an SSD in a relatives computer, cloned the drive and boot-up time went from 4 mins to under 40 seconds Laughing
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

Confusion
Scooby Slapper



Joined: 02 May 2013
Karma :

PostPosted: 15:19 - 13 Dec 2018    Post subject: Re: New computer required. Reply with quote

Polarbear wrote:
As above, my old laptop keeps crashing and I suspect hard drive. Thing is it's ancient and slow as a slug on mogadon so I'll be looking to replace.


It is more likely to be a software issue. Try booting a different system
and run a few hardware diagnostic tests. Live bootable Linux discs
are ideal for testing. Mint, Ubuntu or whatever you fancy.

Quote:
I use it for office, internet, streaming and playing old games. (civ 2, Heroes of might and magic, pirates etc. Embarassed ) so I doubt I need something really powerful though I suppose 4 k is standard nowadays?


You shouldn't need a particularly powerful machine for that.
I haven't seen a laptop with a 4k screen. Most if not all current
laptops will have a lower resolution screen, although the graphics
chip may be able to support external HD or UHD screens.

Quote:
I have a laptop, it never moves so is it better value getting a desktop rather than another laptop.


I prefer to use a desktop as my main machine. Then tend to be
more powerful, reliable and cheaper in the long term because
they can be fixed or upgraded without having to replace the
entire machine.

Quote:
Do I go for something with a separate graphics chip/card or are the latest versions of integrated sufficient to do the job?


On-board graphs are certainly fast enough for me.

Quote:
Is £500 a reasonable price for something that won't be out of date in 5 minutes? There are lots of laptops under that.


You will get a decent laptop for that. Mine cost €299 six years ago
and is still going strong.

Quote:
The laptop I have at the moment has an AMD A8 CPU and an R5 graphics with 8 gig ram.


That is a reasonably good spec and should be quite capable of
handling everything on your list of requirements.

Quote:
And is it worth waiting for January for sales with a computer or is it SCS bullshit time with no real savings?


Well, since you missed thanksgiving a few weeks ago, you may as
well wait for the January sales.

In the meantime, wipe that hard drive clean and reinstall your
OS. This should restore it's original level of performance. As others
have said, a SSHD will give it a further boost.
____________________
Bandit 650SA, ZZ-R1100
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

M.C
Super Spammer



Joined: 29 Sep 2015
Karma :

PostPosted: 16:03 - 13 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm still not sure about O/B graphics, they used to be like having a tapeworm, maybe they've improved but personally I'd still want dedicated graphics on a laptop or desktop.

The screen thing's why I recommend upgrading/salvaging his current laptop, as laptops seem to have barely moved on in the last decade. Just for example look at this POS ('as seen on tv' like it's some great offer): https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/lenovo-ideapad-330s-14-intel-pentium-gold-laptop-128-gb-ssd-blue-10180843-pdt.html

That will be worse than what the OP's currently using, and is similar spec to my decade old laptop that cost £500 (which btw's 1080 Wink).
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

Polarbear
Super Spammer



Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Karma :

PostPosted: 16:38 - 13 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Running windows 10.

Cheers chaps so it seems it's not the hardware so I'll do a complete factory reinstall and see what happens. Thumbs Up
____________________
Triumph Trophy Launch Edition
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail You must be logged in to rate posts

M.C
Super Spammer



Joined: 29 Sep 2015
Karma :

PostPosted: 16:53 - 13 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Polarbear wrote:
Running windows 10.

Purgatory on a HDD. Win' 10 needs an SSD IMO, the only issue will be if you need a lot of storage.
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

P.
Red Rocket



Joined: 14 Feb 2008
Karma :

PostPosted: 18:52 - 13 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Polarbear wrote:
Running windows 10.

Cheers chaps so it seems it's not the hardware so I'll do a complete factory reinstall and see what happens. Thumbs Up


I'd never consider rebuilding unless you are upgrading to an SSD.

Even a 240GB is like £40 or so. The increase in usability is unreal.
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail You must be logged in to rate posts

andym
World Chat Champion



Joined: 16 Nov 2010
Karma :

PostPosted: 19:29 - 13 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Paddy. wrote:
I'd never consider rebuilding unless you are upgrading to an SSD.

Even a 240GB is like £40 or so. The increase in usability is unreal.


I bought my laptop for £550 with I7 (7700 or something), 8GB DDR4, GTX 1050 and 1TB HD and thought it was the badgers nadgers.... until a friend booted up her laptop and was up and running in about 20 seconds... I was still waiting about 5 minutes later, and that was on a clean install of Windows 10

That night I ordered a 240gb WD Green SSD for £38, (I'd already bought a CD ROM HD caddy for getting stuff from my old laptop hard drive for £4), now anything more than 15 seconds to boot and I'm checking the startup to see what's going on.
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail You must be logged in to rate posts

Riejufixing
World Chat Champion



Joined: 24 Jun 2018
Karma :

PostPosted: 21:29 - 13 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

M.C wrote:
Polarbear wrote:
Running windows 10.

Purgatory on a HDD. Win' 10 needs an SSD IMO, the only issue will be if you need a lot of storage.


Seems OK to me. I'm running it on my (old) laptob, a Toshiba Tecra 11a (?). No SSD. It's the 32-bit version too......
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

Riejufixing
World Chat Champion



Joined: 24 Jun 2018
Karma :

PostPosted: 21:31 - 13 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Paddy. wrote:
Even a 240GB is like £40 or so. The increase in usability is unreal.


Yup. I bought a 500GB SSD a while ago (last Christmas?), and it makes a difference. I think it was £120 then.
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

M.C
Super Spammer



Joined: 29 Sep 2015
Karma :

PostPosted: 23:17 - 13 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

We must have different definitions of OK, I had Win' 10 on a 7200 rpm Spinpoint drive and it was still awful. My laptop currently has a HDD but that only has a (relatively) clean Win' 7 install so is ok. I had an SSD in there but I stuck it in the family PC, as I couldn't stand Win' 10 on a HDD Smile
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

Riejufixing
World Chat Champion



Joined: 24 Jun 2018
Karma :

PostPosted: 23:41 - 13 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dunno. I'm running the latest Windoze 10 on a Toshiba Tecra A11-1EG, i5 4GB (2.86GB usable) 32-Bit with a 320GB 5,400 rpm HDD, and it gets a login prompt less than 10 secs after power on. It will run World of Twanks acceptably but with Really Crap Graphics (TM).
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

M.C
Super Spammer



Joined: 29 Sep 2015
Karma :

PostPosted: 23:57 - 13 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like the response times of an SSD, that you can install/uninstall loads of stuff without it impacting system performance, and that you can pretty much fill-up your drive (again) without impacting performance.

I only got mine a few years ago as I had filled up a 1TB HDD, I wish someone had told me about them sooner Smile
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

P.
Red Rocket



Joined: 14 Feb 2008
Karma :

PostPosted: 10:07 - 14 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

I bought a 500GB M2 SSD during black friday.

That is insane compared to the 2.5inch ones and I've since installed another, removed my 2TB 7200rpm drive and threw it in the bin. Laughing
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail You must be logged in to rate posts

RhynoCZ
Super Spammer



Joined: 09 Mar 2012
Karma :

PostPosted: 12:59 - 14 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Next time you boot the system up, press ctrl + shift + esc, there find performance card and see how is your PC doing. If the CPU is pegged at 100% or very close to it all the time, you either have malware issues OR the CPU just can't handle the tasks. The same goes for the RAM usage.

I also agree, that you (everyone!) should get an SSD for the system. There's no need to go crazy with the specs. Even the slowest SSD is going to be way, way faster, or rather more responsive, than the fastest HDDs ever made (one of those very loud Raptor drivers with 10k rpm).

With an SSD, you click at something and stuff happens. Even data that you haven't used in years will load up like it was yesterday.

Checking the market, today I can buy a 512GB SSD (Western Digital) for the same money, that I payed for their 1TB HDD two years ago. Not to mention my current SSD (system drive) costed more than double of what they ask for a 512GB SSD today. Feck, I might as well buy a 1TB SSD! Shocked

EDIT for those who play games: SSD means the ''fast travel'' is an actual fast travel. Wink
____________________
'87 Honda XBR 500, '96 Kawasaki ZX7R P1, '90 Honda CB-1, '88 Kawasaki GPz550, MZ 150 ETZ
'95 Mercedes-Benz w202 C200 CGI; MZ 150 ETZ, '98 Mercedes-Benz w210 E200 Kompressor
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

Riejufixing
World Chat Champion



Joined: 24 Jun 2018
Karma :

PostPosted: 13:19 - 14 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

RhynoCZ wrote:
I also agree, that you (everyone!) should get an SSD for the system. There's no need to go crazy with the specs. Even the slowest SSD is going to be way, way faster, or rather more responsive, than the fastest HDDs ever made


This has been the case for many years, even back to the fairly early 1980s. However, solid state storage can't match the price/TB, although the dfferential has dropped in the last 30 years or so.

Edit: The SSD should not be just "for the system", it should be used for any application that is much improved by fast data access (of various types, but that's a different subject).
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

Im-a-Ridah
World Chat Champion



Joined: 20 Oct 2006
Karma :

PostPosted: 13:28 - 14 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can get a 128GB SSD for £20 then if the computer still doesn't feel fast enough just change the laptop. This way you don't have to invest in a high capacity SSD and another computer too. Make sure its not a RAMless SSD though as they are significantly slower.

If you want a desktop I would suggest something Ryzen based.
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail You must be logged in to rate posts

Polarbear
Super Spammer



Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Karma :

PostPosted: 14:07 - 14 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have ordered this -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01F9G46Q8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

SanDisk 480 GB SSD.

There were cheaper ones on both ebay and Amazon but have gone for a 'name' from Amazon so I get what it says it is.

I will be asking how to clone a hard drive next. Embarassed

Thanks for all the suggestions. Thumbs Up
____________________
Triumph Trophy Launch Edition
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail You must be logged in to rate posts

P.
Red Rocket



Joined: 14 Feb 2008
Karma :

PostPosted: 14:14 - 14 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Solid Thumbs Up

I still haven't filled my 500GB, not by a long shot so it should last you!
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail You must be logged in to rate posts

Riejufixing
World Chat Champion



Joined: 24 Jun 2018
Karma :

PostPosted: 14:23 - 14 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hm. The last SSD I bought for a PC was a Samsung 850 EVO 500 (a year ago). £139.99. The updated replacement (Samsung MZ-76E500B) is now £71.45...
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

M.C
Super Spammer



Joined: 29 Sep 2015
Karma :

PostPosted: 14:26 - 14 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Polarbear wrote:
I have ordered this -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01F9G46Q8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

SanDisk 480 GB SSD.

There were cheaper ones on both ebay and Amazon but have gone for a 'name' from Amazon so I get what it says it is.

I will be asking how to clone a hard drive next. Embarassed

Thanks for all the suggestions. Thumbs Up

I think SanDisk are meant to be ok, for a tenner more I'd have got a Crucial (MX500) or Samsung drive. Macrium Reflect (free edition)* works well, if you're cloning a larger to smaller drive it'll resize everything automatically.

If you haven't done a clean install yet I recommend doing a clean install on the new SSD, if you have you can clone the new installation to save doing it again, although you'll need an external drive caddy (a few quid off eBay), or a PC assuming you have enough spare cables.

*you don't have to enter your email to download it.
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

M.C
Super Spammer



Joined: 29 Sep 2015
Karma :

PostPosted: 14:29 - 14 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Riejufixing wrote:
Hm. The last SSD I bought for a PC was a Samsung 850 EVO 500 (a year ago). £139.99. The updated replacement (Samsung MZ-76E500B) is now £71.45...

SSD prices shot up (along with RAM), I got a MX300 525GB for £80 in late 2016, then the replacement model was well over £100 last year, only in the last 6 months they've fallen (£70 currently).
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message You must be logged in to rate posts

Polarbear
Super Spammer



Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Karma :

PostPosted: 14:31 - 14 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

See I know jack shit about what brands are good or not but I know sandisk are a big memory card maker so I presume their SSD will be reasonable. It's only a big memory card afterall. Isn't it?

Anyway, time will tell. Very Happy
____________________
Triumph Trophy Launch Edition
 Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail You must be logged in to rate posts
Old Thread Alert!

The last post was made 5 years, 105 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful?
  Display posts from previous:   
This page may contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if a visitor clicks through and makes a purchase. By clicking on an affiliate link, you accept that third-party cookies will be set.

Post new topic   Reply to topic    Bike Chat Forums Index -> The Geek Zone All times are GMT + 1 Hour
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Page 1 of 4

 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You cannot download files in this forum

Read the Terms of Use! - Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group
 

Debug Mode: ON - Server: birks (www) - Page Generation Time: 0.10 Sec - Server Load: 0.24 - MySQL Queries: 17 - Page Size: 136.38 Kb