Which would you use for your parents pc??

[daveybrat]

So i'm currently upgrading my parents old Windows XP system to a Windows 7 based computer.

It has an Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300 2.53GHz cpu, 4GB of DDR2 Ram, AMD HD 4670 video card, and a WD 640GB Black Edition Hard drive.

It will be running a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium.

Now my dilemna is that i can either keep the WD Black 640GB drive in it, or swap it for a brand new WD Velociraptor 300GB hard drive that i have still in the sealed bag.

They don't need a ton of space and i'm thinking that the extra 'Pep' that the Velociraptor gives over the 640GB might be worth it.

Thoughts?

 

[Cerb]

Yes. While SSDs make the Velociraptors poor choices today, you can very much feel the difference, and the later 2.5" models are nice and quiet, as well.

 

[daveybrat]

Yes. While SSDs make the Velociraptors poor choices today, you can very much feel the difference, and the later 2.5" models are nice and quiet, as well.

Thanks Cerb, my thoughts as well.

 

[dbcooper1]

No doubt it would boost performance, but save yourself some time and possible grief by first spinning up the Velociraptor in the PC and see if your Mom's sensitive to the frequency.

 

[sxr7171]

No doubt it would boost performance, but save yourself some time and possible grief by first spinning up the Velociraptor in the PC and see if your Mom's sensitive to the frequency.

Very true. Some people can hear high frequency very well and find it annoying. I think women are statistically more susceptible.

 

[VirtualLarry]

TBH, I wouldn't bother. Either go SSD if you are concerned about latencies, or go home.

Get them a V300 120/128GB drive for $70, and call it a day. Throw in the 640 Black for storage.

 

[Carson Dyle]

TBH, I wouldn't bother. Either go SSD if you are concerned about latencies, or go home.

Get them a V300 120/128GB drive for $70, and call it a day. Throw in the 640 Black for storage.

I agree. Install an SSD if you want to speed things up and keep the 640GB drive. The Velociraptor would offer an incremental boost, at best.

You're only upgrading the OS, and nothing else (apart from maybe the boot disk)? What is it about Windows XP that they've outgrown?

 

[Cerb]

But, an SSD costs extra money. The Velociraptor and plain 640GB both cost $0, and the preparations for April 18th are going to go on either way.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Installing a new Veliciraptor costs whatever it could be sold for.

If April 18th is the worry, then I'd be very tempted to spend a few hundred dollars more to build a new system for the future, rather than spending $100 on a new OEM license of Windows, plus whatever it costs to upgrade the system disk for a five year old machine.

 

[Cerb]

That would barely make the drive worth packing up and shipping, at least to anyone with any sense. The 640GB aught to have better resale value.

I agree about going with a whole new PC, though. OTOH, I've also been there, and there's a saying about blood from a stone... Used business desktops tend to be the compromise reached.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I agree about going with a whole new PC, though. OTOH, I've also been there, and there's a saying about blood from a stone... Used business desktops tend to be the compromise reached.

Why a whole new PC though? That PC still has life in it yet. An SSD would probably perk it up real nice, along with the upgrade to Windows 7 (64-bit, right?). That's what I would do.

If OP has the budget for it, though, consider an H81 board, and a G3220 Haswell Pentium chip.

 

[VirtualLarry]

It has an Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300 2.53GHz cpu, 4GB of DDR2 Ram, AMD HD 4670 video card, and a WD 640GB Black Edition Hard drive.

First off, that CPU is 2.6Ghz, so if it's running at 2.53, your BIOS settings are wrong.
Second, a Haswell Pentium G3220 is 3.0Ghz, plus probably 30-40% IPC advantage. If you upgraded to the G3220, then you could probably ditch the video card too if you wanted to to save power. Unless they game, of course.

 

[bononos]

Would running 8.1 help? Its supposed to have a lighter footprint than win7.

 

[spaceman]

id sale the raptor and keep the 640gb in it

 

[Blue_Max]

The hybrid SSHD makes WAY more sense than a high-RPM drive!

 

[daveybrat]

First off, that CPU is 2.6Ghz, so if it's running at 2.53, your BIOS settings are wrong.
Second, a Haswell Pentium G3220 is 3.0Ghz, plus probably 30-40% IPC advantage. If you upgraded to the G3220, then you could probably ditch the video card too if you wanted to to save power. Unless they game, of course.

Oops, you're right Larry, it's actually a E5200 2.53GHz.

Also, i do have a spare Core2Quad 2.66GHz processor that's just laying around i could pop into the board. That should be a decent upgrade for free??

So in the end it'll be an Intel Core2Quad 2.66GHz, 4GB DDR2, Gigabyte G31, AMD Radeon HD 4670 512MB, WD 300GB Velociraptor, Windows 7 Home 64-Bit.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Oops, you're right Larry, it's actually a E5200 2.53GHz.

Also, i do have a spare Core2Quad 2.66GHz processor that's just laying around i could pop into the board. That should be a decent upgrade for free??

So in the end it'll be an Intel Core2Quad 2.66GHz, 4GB DDR2, Gigabyte G31, AMD Radeon HD 4670 512MB, WD 300GB Velociraptor, Windows 7 Home 64-Bit.

Yeah, that would still be a pretty nice rig. Make sure that that mobo can handle the TDP of the quad-core CPU, don't want to risk burning out the VRMs. As long as it stays at stock speeds, though, it should likely be fine.

Edit:
For comparison, I'm still running a Q9300 quad-core, overclocked from 2.5Ghz to 3.0Ghz, on a Gigabyte P35-DS3R board, with 8GB of DDR2, and a 30GB OCZ Agility SSD as a boot drive, and a 640GB WD AAKS drive as a data drive, along with an HD4850 512MB card. All running Win7 HP 64-bit. Still a very nice rig, nice and responsive.


(Although, if you can afford it, an SSD would really be the cherry on top of the cake. The velociraptor might be more reliable than the SSD would be though.)