New Computer?

[LilSnoop40]

Good morning, I am looking for a recommendation.  I am looking to get 2 new desktop towers, would like to spend under $1,000 on each.  They will be used for running quickbooks, .pdf editor, office, etc.  don't want any lagging while opening multiple windows.  Currently the towers we have are lagging as they are probably 5-10 years old.  please advise, no gaming just office work, one will act as the server for quickbooks as the hard drives are shared for quickbooks to work.

 

One of the 2 computers can be better as it will be the server maybe have a second hard drive as it will be the backup drive.

 

Thank you

Edited January 16, 2020 by LilSnoop40

[Brandon H Supervisor]

before I get to tower recommendations I'd like to ask, do you have HDDs or SSDs in your current towers? You may be able to solve for the app loading lag in your current towers simply by adding SSDs and reinstalling Windows on them without having to spend for a pricey upgrade

 

SSDs are great at bringing mildly older hardware back to life

[LilSnoop40]

currently these two computers are running windows 7, but I wanted to installed windows 10 on them, they both have 4+ gigs of ram with no ssd they are sata not IDE

[Brandon H Supervisor]

4 minutes ago, LilSnoop40 said:

currently these two computers are running windows 7, but I wanted to installed windows 10 on them, they both have 4+ gigs of ram with no ssd they are sata not IDE

yeah I'd get a couple SSDs then and install 10 fresh on them with their respective 7 keys to see how they perform. If performance isn't up to par then you can put those SSDs in your new towers and boost their performance

 

edit: I'd recommend the Samsung EVO drives; they're very dependable

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-250GB-Internal-MZ-76E250B-AM/dp/B07864WMK8/

[LilSnoop40]

do you have one you recommend? also i would just remove the current drive, get mounting brackets and plug into any sata slot on the mb?  will i notice a big difference?

[Brandon H Supervisor]

2 minutes ago, LilSnoop40 said:

do you have one you recommend? also i would just remove the current drive, get mounting brackets and plug into any sata slot on the mb?  will i notice a big difference?

just edited my post with my recommendation of Samsung EVO

 

You will most definitely notice a difference with bootup and application loading time with a SSD over HDD. That's why I recommend giving it a try before going full upgrade as with your use case your current setup should be fine, it just needs a little boost.

 

I'd also recommend you wipe your current HDDs after the 10 install and keep them plugged in as a secondary data storage drive instead of remove them entirely. SSDs get a bit pricey when getting larger than 1TB so a 120-200GB drive is perfect for a boot drive and to store essential apps but then have the larger HDD for general files/data.

[Mockingbird]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($119.92 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: *ASRock B450 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: *G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($62.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: *Western Digital SN750 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($39.71 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: *ASRock Radeon RX 580 8 GB Phantom Gaming X Video Card  ($166.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: *Cougar MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.00 @ B&H) 
Power Supply: *Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $573.58
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-16 09:38 EST-0500

[Brandon H Supervisor]

^ if you do end up needing a new rig those parts would definitely treat you well. Though I do prefer the Samsung SSDs over WD personally

 

or would you prefer pre-built if needed?

[LilSnoop40]

ok would this Samsung SSD be ok "https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-860-evo-250gb-internal-sata-solid-state-drive/6178653.p?skuId=6178653"  maybe i will try this first if they don't notice the difference i can grab the parts above.

 

just so i understand if the ssd drives alone don't fix it, the parts above will handle what is needed with no issues?

 

these are the specs of the 2 current towers

Thank for both of your suggestions.

Edited January 16, 2020 by LilSnoop40

[Brandon H Supervisor]

16 minutes ago, LilSnoop40 said:

ok would this Samsung SSD be ok "https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-860-evo-250gb-internal-sata-solid-state-drive/6178653.p?skuId=6178653"  maybe i will try this first if they don't notice the difference i can grab the parts above.

 

just so i understand if the ssd drives alone don't fix it, the parts above will handle what is needed with no issues?

 

these are the specs of the 2 current towers

Thank for both of your suggestions.

yep, that looks to be the same SSD I linked from Amazon

 

and yes if the SSDs alone aren't enough to boost your current PCs to your liking the rest of the parts @Mockingbird listed should suit you well. Or we can recommend some pre-built machines if you'd prefer not to put it together yourself.

[LilSnoop40]

great, i will get the hard drive and try that first.  if no good i will buy the parts above as i don't mind building them.  

 

as both of the computer above have 4gb of memory currently 64 bit ok or should i run 32 bit os?  

 

Thank you

[Brandon H Supervisor]

Just now, LilSnoop40 said:

great, i will get the hard drive and try that first.  if no good i will buy the parts above as i don't mind building them.  

 

as both of the computer above have 4gb of memory currently 64 bit ok or should i run 32 bit os?  

 

Thank you

no, 64bit will always be faster now a days due to enhancements in the architecture. even with the minimum 4gb

[LilSnoop40]

ok, that is what i had on them already.

 

thank you kind sir

[Jim K Global Moderator]

52 minutes ago, Mockingbird said:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($119.92 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: *ASRock B450 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: *G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($62.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: *Western Digital SN750 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($39.71 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: *ASRock Radeon RX 580 8 GB Phantom Gaming X Video Card  ($166.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: *Cougar MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.00 @ B&H) 
Power Supply: *Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $573.58
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-16 09:38 EST-0500

Kind of overkill for his propose. Ditch the dedicated GPU and get an AMD/Intel CPU with integrated graphics.

 

Though, as Brandon suggested, I would try a SSD first, see if that clears up the issues ... if not, a budget build with current components will be significantly faster than what he currently has.

 

 

[Brandon H Supervisor]

Just now, Jim K said:

Kind of overkill for his propose. Ditch the dedicated GPU and get an AMD/Intel CPU with integrated graphics.

 

Though, as Brandon suggested, I would try a SSD first, see if that clears up the issues ... if not, a budget build with current components will significant be faster than what he currently has.

 

 

hey for as cheap as he managed to get that build I say why not 

 

$570 isn't too bad a price at all for all that. gives good wiggle room with the extra power.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

6 minutes ago, Brandon H said:

hey for as cheap as he managed to get that build I say why not 

 

$570 isn't too bad a price at all for all that. gives good wiggle room with the extra power.

Yea, I misread and thought he wanted two desktops for a thousand (vs each). I still think it is a waste for a dedicated GPU for the computers intended purpose though.

[LilSnoop40]

yeah, will to spend up to $1,000 per tower but the price above for each will be good if the ssd doesn't do the trick.

 

thanks for all your thoughts!

[LilSnoop40]

is there a cloning software that i can use after i get the one computer done that i can use on the second computers ssd as it will be the same software on each.  or must i install everything from scratch?

[Brandon H Supervisor]

11 minutes ago, LilSnoop40 said:

is there a cloning software that i can use after i get the one computer done that i can use on the second computers ssd as it will be the same software on each.  or must i install everything from scratch?

yes there are several. check the box the SSDs come in as samsung may supply a disc or a download+key for one to be used.

 

alternate solution is to buy a sata-to-usb cable with software separately; it's good to keep around so is up to you if that's useful.

Here's one I've used in the past: https://www.amazon.com/Apricorn-Notebook-Upgrade-Connection-ASW-USB3-25/dp/B005C983NA/

 

edit: if you're planning to upgrade to Windows 10 anyway though I'd recommend just starting from scratch so everything is clean on the Windows 10 install for best possible performance

[LilSnoop40]

ok, i have that cable already. do i just get the pc setup and everything installed then plug the new ssd into the pc using that cable and clone then i can just put into the other tower and it will boot up?   

 

sorry i have always don't complete clean installed software by software for each pc

[LilSnoop40]

is there any benefit to doing this vs clean installing all software every time?

 

can i setup up a computer, load the os on it, all over software that is need, clone it and install it on any other tower or laptop or no as the drivers will be different on each device?

 

Thank you

[forster]

Its most sensible to fresh install. You dont want to be dealing with errors on cloned drives on new hardware, you should back up everything externally first and then start with fresh installs on your new hardware. You're saving yourself a lot of headaches in the long run, although I appreciate it doesn't seem that way from where you are now.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

depends on the situation; if you're just going for a one to one conversion over to the SSds then cloning is the way to go. the only reason I recommend a clean install on the SSDs in your case is because you're planning to upgrade to Windows 10 anyway. upgrading from 7 to 10 can leave some baggage behind potentially slowing the system a little so you may not get a proper feel of the SSDs benefiting you. A clean install will leave you with a fresh setup giving you optimal speed to base your decision on if you want new PCs.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

10 minutes ago, LilSnoop40 said:

can i setup up a computer, load the os on it, all over software that is need, clone it and install it on any other tower or laptop or no as the drivers will be different on each device?

 

Thank you

technically yes, you'll run a "sysprep /generalize" which will remove dedicated drivers and trigger it to scan the new hardware for the proper drivers on next boot

 

in a run dialog or from a command prompt window with admin you'd run the following:

Sysprep /generalize /shutdown

 

you could do this if you decide your current PCs aren't good enough when you go to put the SSDs in they new PC once built.

[sc302 Veteran]

for what it is worth, I picked up a few Optiplex 5070 Micro BTX's for about 570 a piece.  8GB memory, i5 9500T 3.7GHz, Win 10 pro, 256GB M2 SSD.  3 year warranty from a single vendor with the possibly to extend, if that is important to you.