Question Guidance on upgrade or totally replace.

[Pinkpig]

Hello all,

I currently have a HP Prodesk 600 G1 sff. I was thinking of upgrading the CPU from I5-4590 to I7-4790k and also sata ssd to a nvme ssd with an pcie adapter. This will probably cost me around ~$250. I feel like a need a little more umph from my PC. I mainly do basic things and trading/screen recording on it. No games or graphics/video editing etc...

I'm not sure how much boost I will get from the upgrades. Or will the money be better put to a another machine, like a refurbished one. Willing to add a bit more onto the $250.

Thank you for your advice.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I currently have a HP Prodesk 600 G1 sff. I was thinking of upgrading the CPU from I5-4590 to I7-4790k and also sata ssd to a nvme ssd with an pcie adapter. This will probably cost me around ~$250. I feel like a need a little more umph from my PC. I mainly do basic things and trading/screen recording on it. No games or graphics/video editing etc...

I'm not sure how much boost I will get from the upgrades. Or will the money be better put to a another machine, like a refurbished one. Willing to add a bit more onto the $250.

Thank you for your advice.

1) The main benefit from the "K" series CPU SKUs, is overclocking. You have an OEM board. OEM boards (other than perhaps AlienWare), DON'T allow overclocking.

So why bother? At stock, it will be a mediocre performance uplift at best.

2) NVMe SSD in a PCI-E adapter. Be aware that using a PCI-E adapter, requires a PCI-E x4 slot, which few desktops have. Which means, that you need to plug it into the (generally only) PCI-E x16 slot. Which is normally used for a GPU.

Honestly, you would likely get more of an upgrade out of a GPU upgrade (if using the Intel onboard graphics), and possibly a 4K60 or even 4K120 monitor/TV, than you would out of an NVMe SSD, as long as you're currently at least on a SATA SSD.

Plus, you likely wouldn't be able to boot off of the NVMe in a PCI-E slot, so that means that you couldn't put your OS on it, which is one of the larger benefits for using an NVMe drive.

If you can't afford a full system upgrade, to something with a much newer contemporary CPU and fast DDR4 RAM and a really nice GPU, then at least, if you're doing "trading" (I assume stocks or CC), then invest in a really nice 4K screen (if not already there), and at least a semi-decent GPU, for driving said 4K screen, and watching online 4K videos (4K YouTube is a thing), and driving the display for "trading". I wouldn't go so far as to invest in an RTX 3080/3090 though, for "4K Gaming", unless you are also a hardcore gamer, but your current quad-core Haswell system doesn't have enough CPU grunt to push 4K gaming in AAA titles, even if you had the GPU grunt. (I was thinking something more like an RX 560/570/580, or better, a GTX 1650 / 1650 Super, just to drive the 4K display for 2D Windows work.)

Edit: I was just recently looking at ebay, at i5-8400 (6C/12T 8th-Gen), as well as i5-10400 (6C/12T 10th-Gen), "Refurb" desktops, and new ones, from HP and Lenovo. (They are both having sales through their ebay stores right now.) Roughly $400-450 for a 6C/12T, 8-12GB of RAM, some had 16GB Optane and a 1TB HDD, others had a 128GB or 256GB NVMe SSD and a 1TB HDD, and some had an RX 550 card, others only had the onboard Intel HD630 (which isn't really for gaming, but is fine for watching videos and doing 2D work, mostly.)

 

[Pinkpig]

1) The main benefit from the "K" series CPU SKUs, is overclocking. You have an OEM board. OEM boards (other than perhaps AlienWare), DON'T allow overclocking.

So why bother? At stock, it will be a mediocre performance uplift at best.

2) NVMe SSD in a PCI-E adapter. Be aware that using a PCI-E adapter, requires a PCI-E x4 slot, which few desktops have. Which means, that you need to plug it into the (generally only) PCI-E x16 slot. Which is normally used for a GPU.

Honestly, you would likely get more of an upgrade out of a GPU upgrade (if using the Intel onboard graphics), and possibly a 4K60 or even 4K120 monitor/TV, than you would out of an NVMe SSD, as long as you're currently at least on a SATA SSD.

Plus, you likely wouldn't be able to boot off of the NVMe in a PCI-E slot, so that means that you couldn't put your OS on it, which is one of the larger benefits for using an NVMe drive.

If you can't afford a full system upgrade, to something with a much newer contemporary CPU and fast DDR4 RAM and a really nice GPU, then at least, if you're doing "trading" (I assume stocks or CC), then invest in a really nice 4K screen (if not already there), and at least a semi-decent GPU, for driving said 4K screen, and watching online 4K videos (4K YouTube is a thing), and driving the display for "trading". I wouldn't go so far as to invest in an RTX 3080/3090 though, for "4K Gaming", unless you are also a hardcore gamer, but your current quad-core Haswell system doesn't have enough CPU grunt to push 4K gaming in AAA titles, even if you had the GPU grunt. (I was thinking something more like an RX 560/570/580, or better, a GTX 1650 / 1650 Super, just to drive the 4K display for 2D Windows work.)

Edit: I was just recently looking at ebay, at i5-8400 (6C/12T 8th-Gen), as well as i5-10400 (6C/12T 10th-Gen), "Refurb" desktops, and new ones, from HP and Lenovo. (They are both having sales through their ebay stores right now.) Roughly $400-450 for a 6C/12T, 8-12GB of RAM, some had 16GB Optane and a 1TB HDD, others had a 128GB or 256GB NVMe SSD and a 1TB HDD, and some had an RX 550 card, others only had the onboard Intel HD630 (which isn't really for gaming, but is fine for watching videos and doing 2D work, mostly.)

Thank you for your comprehensive reply! and the suggestions on CPUs. That helped me narrow down on which desktops to look at. Seems like a new PC might be the better route with the sale/discount they have on Ebay. The performance upgrade seems to be better as well.

How are Acer desktops? there's a i5-10400 desktop, that fits the bill nicely on ebay. Has dual HDMI ports, which i need for dual monitor. Other's have 1 HDMI and a vga port. I don't want a vga port.

Thank you.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, I would consider avoiding Acer laptops, and Dawid [YT], refers to his Acer Nitro Gaming PC as "Acer Nitro Suck-Face Loser Edition", due to having lots of little "Gremlins" with it. (He later transplanted it into another PC.)

So, personally, if the price is good, I might consider Acer. I don't really like pre-builts, but I was looking to purchase for other people, and one of those might fit the bill for them just great.

An i5-10400 is a 6C/12T 10th-Gen, should be great for general usage, and gaming, if you can fit a GPU in there.

 

[VirtualLarry]

HP Pavilion 590 i5-8400 12GB RAM 16GB SSD 1TB HDD RX 550 4GB Tower Desktop PC | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for HP Pavilion 590 i5-8400 12GB RAM 16GB SSD 1TB HDD RX 550 4GB Tower Desktop PC at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

That would be my pick. (And yes, computer-hq is reliable, I've dealt with them through Newegg before, they have decent prices on good refurb gear.)

Here's an i3-8100, 4C/8T, 8GB, $249 refurb.

HP 590-p0033w Intel i3-8100 3.6GHz 4GB 1TB + 16GB DVD±RW Desktop PC Window 10 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for HP 590-p0033w Intel i3-8100 3.6GHz 4GB 1TB + 16GB DVD±RW Desktop PC Window 10 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[Pinkpig]

Now im torn between the HP pavilion 590 i5-8400($400) vs a Acer Aspire TC Desktop Intel Core i5-10400($300).
Acer has dual hdmi and HP sas hdmi and vga. Not sure if i want vga for my dual monitors. I don't want to spend to upgrade the GPU.

HP is probably better quality but has 14 day warranty only. Acer has a 2 year warranty but lesser quality.
$400 vs $300.
haha im torn.

Thank you for your suggestions again.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Acer Aspire TC Desktop Intel Core i5-10400($300).

Can you give me a link?

 

[Pinkpig]

Can you give me a link?

Acer desktop

 

[UsandThem]

Here's a Dell for $300 I saw on Slickdeals

I'd personally take a Dell over an Acer any day of the week.

 

[Pinkpig]

Here's a Dell for $300 I saw on Slickdeals

I'd personally take a Dell over an Acer any day of the week.

Awww so close until i saw the VGA port.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Here's a Dell for $300 I saw on Slickdeals

I'd personally take a Dell over an Acer any day of the week.

Having worked on far too many of both brands, I'd rather hit myself in the thumb with a hammer, than own either.

@VirtualLarry,

You are confusing Intel generations. Neither the 8th gen i3 nor the i5, has hyperthreading. Hence, 4/4 and 6/6.

OP,

The nvme is a waste of time. You will never tell the difference outside of benchmarks, given your usage.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You are confusing Intel generations. Neither the 8th gen i3 nor the i5, has hyperthreading. Hence, 4/4 and 6/6.

Thanks for the correction! Don't know why I was thinking that.

 

[VirtualLarry]

While I've got your attention, which would be better, a brand-new HP Slim Celeron G4900 for $179.99 from ebay, versus a used Celeron G5900 for $169.99? I believe that G4900 is 8th-gen, and the G5900 is 10th-gen?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Friends don't let friends buy Celeron. Had to Ark both of those, 2/2 is useless imho. Unless you have/grab cheap drop in replacement i3s, I would not bother.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, I was thinking, if I got the G5900 Celerons (found 2 left BNIB for $199.99 + $14.97 ship), then I could drop in at least a G6400 2C/4T 4.0Ghz Dual-core w/HT Pentium Gold CPU. (I presume? Celeron and Pentium aren't that far apart.)

Was planning on dropping in a 16GB kit, or a single 16GB DDR4-3000 DIMM out of one of my 32GB kits (planned to buy two of these PCs and upgrade them). Also, drop in a 512GB SATA 2.5" SSD, OR, replace the HDD, depending on how many SATA ports are on the mobo. (Or disconnect the DVD drive, LOL.)

Just for a pair of super-charged "browser boxes", for a friend's Mom and GF. Maybe. Depends if I get money before they sell out.

(The slim form-factor would be a bonus, in this case, rather than a hinderance, and the fact that they would be "new", before modding, is also a plus.)

 

[Shmee]

Nothing less than i3 IMO.

As for the OP, I would consider upgrading to an i7 4790/4770, and possibly upgrading RAM depending on what you have now. What are your full specs? I would skip the NVMe drive for this system, but you could always upgrade the SATA SSD for a faster model with more capacity. (depending on what your current one is of course). Also, getting a cheap video card might help with driving more monitors for trading.