Upgrading my computer...

[FaeMinx]

Hello everyone... long time since I've been here...
Not sure if this is the right section?

Anyways, my Surface Pro 2 which has been my main computer for many years now has a pretty much dead battery - it's over 80% loss of capacity and dropping fast.
Any kind of serious work drains the battery faster than it charges, so my work time is getting less and less.
I realize I shouldn't have been using it this way and now I've paid the price - I'm pretty sure I would break the screen trying to open it up, and a new screen is over R5000, never mind the cost of a new battery + shipping... so it does not seem financially viable to repair this thing.

So I had a look at my old desktop computer that has been functioning as a simple media machine ever since its graphics card and SSD fried (shortly after getting the Surface Pro 2).

This is whats in there:

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 - 2500k CPU @ 3.30GHz
8GB G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3 - 1600
Corsair VS650 PSU
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard

Oh yes, and it's running Windows 7 (*GASP*)

I would like to use the machine for video editing, photoshop, and as my gaming rig for the next few years... I am not ready to jump into VR yet, so gaming would only be on a 1080p monitor.

Budget is important, as finances in my line of work look to be strained for the forseeable future...

*** I am looking for a Graphics Card, a SSD of at least 300GB, as well as a 4TB disk drive. ***

What would you recommend?
Would it be nescessary to upgrade my RAM and PSU, or can I make do?
I guess I need to upgrade to Windows 10 as well? (No, I won't be going Linux... so no need to suggest it, thanks)

* P.s. I would like to edit 1080p video only, and run most games at max settings on a 1080p monitor.

Thank for your help.

 

[FBnil]

Surface Pro 2

Ok, I can see why; it's hard to open up that s*cker!

I usually would suggest a normal desktop with wacom tablet, but you are probably used to the pen and display of the surface. So I'd say get a Surface 4 (not a 6, those are expensive), but those have the same problem:

(this video is good, it explains that you need a föhn/hairdryer to warm up the glue and make it less sticky. Also shows the correct use of plastic tools (old creditcard would do too). So to get to the battery, you need to expose the heatsink paste, which means that if you assemble it back wrong, then it overheats.

conclusion: Get a shop to change your battery, it will be cheaper than a new/refurbished pro. Make a backup of your files before sending it in.

There is no shame in Windows 7. It has less telemetry, and is lighter. Also: We are going into hard times; thin cows. Try to save up money.

Don't buy this shitty wacom: https://estore.wacom.com/en-US/catalog/product/view/id/5065/s/one-by-wacom-small-ctl472k1a/

It will not match what you are used to.

Maybe this one (and it will STILL feel as a downgrade): https://estore.wacom.com/en-US/wacom-one-dtc133w0a.html

Warning: Before you switch brands, always test it out before buying, the feel is different. The software is sometimes different.

 

[FaeMinx]

Thank you for the videos!
When I have spare cash lying around sometime in the future, I will attempt to refurbish the Surface Pro 2... if parts are still available...

I usually would suggest a normal desktop with wacom tablet

Well, I guess I should have specified... At this current time, a graphics tablet isn't of vital nescessity. If I absolutely have to, I can still use my Surface Pro 2 for a short time.
I have decided to revitalize my old desktop computer (specs available in original post), what I am looking for is advice on a new Graphics Card *primarily*, that will pair nicely with the machine I have.

Don't buy this shitty wacom: https://estore.wacom.com/en-US/catalog/product/view/id/5065/s/one-by-wacom-small-ctl472k1a/

Not a chance! I would only concider a tablet with a screen...

Maybe this one (and it will STILL feel as a downgrade): https://estore.wacom.com/en-US/wacom-one-dtc133w0a.html

Perhaps... I will investigate further. But that will be sometime in the future.
Right now i just want to get my old desktop fully functioning again.... I just need a Graphics Card, a SSD, and a Disk Drive for storage.

 

[PowerGod]

I don't know what are your expectation about the videogames to play, but your machine seems to me not so "future-proof".

Your PC is mostly the bare minimum right now for most of the games, and some of them require also a Win8+ OS (right now everything that needs Win10 always works in Win8 too).
8 GB RAM should work for most of the games, if them are not full FPP open world.

I have an Nvidia GTX 960 and is most of the time the "minimum" requirement but still does a good job, I'm pretty happy with it, but it's 4/5 years old, so maybe you can find one cheap right now.
Anyway, I'm happy with Nvidia in general (at least on Windows, on Linux I had a lot of issues with this type of cards), them can be forced for really low resolutions (like 320x200) in a simple way, if there are old games that needs those resolutions.

 

[RZR]

Not sure if it's worth keeping that motherboard. Nowadays you can get a very nice setup with Ryzen CPU...

CPU
The most interesting CPU you can fit there is an i7 3770K, 4(8) cores overclockable.

RAM
Might be worth fitting another RAM stick there to take profit of Dual Channel DDR3, or just buying a pair of DDR3 2800 sticks (this depending on the CPU, the 3770K supports only DDR3 1333/1600 so you would need to check that out)

GPU
Depending on the budget, but minimun GTX1070. Anything below that compromises performance/future proofing greatly. (which is overkill for the rest of that hardware, read last paragraph...)

SSD
You could fit a NVme SSD but you would need the PCIE3.0x16 for the GPU, so you would be limited to PCIE2.0x1 for the SSD, I don't know if it's worth it. So you would need a PCIE2.0x1 to M.2 adapter and a NVme SSD, a nice example in 1TB is PNY XLR8 CS3030 (again depends on budget).

Of course SATA3 SSD are cheaper, here the offer is quite broad.

HDD
Any SATA3 Barracuda or WD, here depends on price and local offers. Price of HDDs is pretty standard nowadays.

Now, your video editing software use only CPU when processing right? (ie.: now you can use CPU+GPU for rendering, I don't know how processing for video works right now...)
Then I would go for the i7 3770K or similar in order to take advantage of hyper-threading (4 more logical cores than your actual processor) and maybe getting a good cooler and overclocking it a bit. The extra stick is handy to take profit of Dual Channel DDR3. Regarding the GPU, a GTX1070 is overkill for that hardware, that depends on the games you play/plan on playing, take a look a some benchmarks, maybe you could live with a GTX1050? But I'd advise getting a GTX10XX or newer, as that generation is far better than the olders.

With this I think you have more than enough to begin looking.

EDIT:

I don't know what are your expectation about the videogames to play, but your machine seems to me not so "future-proof".

^ That. I don't really think it's worth investing in that machine either.

 

[levi]

I'm wondering how you fried your graphics card and SSD? Power surge, crappy PSU or simple user error?

Until you get that squared, I'd advise against buying a new graphics card or anything else with exposed electronics.

 

[comradekingu]

Cut the battery terminals and run a bench power supply?
Might be a BIOS setting to run on AC.

 

[TeDaDeS]

If you pc had issues, like a fried SSD, your system might not be as good as you hope. Maybe even a half working PSU.
If you add parts to it you might break those which is not what you want. But if they work correctly, it might be a good option to use it.

A low budget and wanting a workstation to do video-editing and photoshop usually don't mix really well.

You can always check if someone is selling a better complete set for cheap, I noticed a set is usually cheaper then getting separate parts.

If you want to buy only parts, get a used GF1050 (~$50) or 1060 (~$100, requires additional PSU plug for power) as those will be fast enough and have recent CUDA cores.
For the SSD, you might want to have a regular big HDD (~$50 for 2TB) for storage and an smaller SSD (~$30 250GB) for fast loading times.
8GB RAM could cause issues, but I would only upgrade if you have issues in practice.

 

[FaeMinx]

Ok, so I guess stating I wanted to play most games at max setting was a bit un-thought-out.

I have been making do with the integrated graphics on my Surface Pro 2 for many years now... back when my desktop had a graphics card, the most demanding game I owned was Witcher 2.

A game I have desperately wanted to play is:
No Man's Sky ... so that is what I'm aiming at.

I don't play multiplayer, and certainly never competitively. I have always considered 30fps good enough for me.

When I say I want this to be my gaming rig for the next few years... I will be quite happy if I am just able to play some of the newer games at 720p medium detail. I will be avoiding almost all shooters and am more into games with a creative bent... I do want to play Fallout 4 and Witcher 3 though.

Titles like Civilization Beyond Earth, Project Spark... Scrap Mechanic.

Ok, now to address the concerns you all have about frying both the SSD AND the Graphics card.... these events happened many years apart.
I built the computer myself and was very careful... However, I must say, I did get frequent blue screens for no discernible reason... which turned out to be a faulty motherboard which got replaced within warranty.

A year or so later the ultra cheap 60GB SSD just stopped working for some reason... I have no idea why. I replaced it with an ordinary 300GB HDD I had lying around. A few years later the *factory overclocked* Graphics Card died... I always assumed that it had just burnt itself out.

Since then it has spent a year being lent to a friend, and another 6 months or so as a media machine in my lounge with no hiccups whatsoever.

Talk of a half working PSU has me concerned, but I thought the Corsair VS650 was ok? Do you really think that it was the source of all the problems? If that is the case, could you recommend a reliable budget PSU for my build?

These are the components I have decided on for now:

MSI Radeon RX 570 Armor OC Graphics Card (8GB) | Computers | Buy online in South Africa from Loot.co.za

MSI Radeon RX 570 Armor OC Graphics Card (8GB) ; 0824142154816 ; Video Cards & Video Devices, Components, Computers

www.loot.co.za

Samsung 860 EVO SATA Solid State Drive (2.5")(500GB) | Computers | Buy online in South Africa from Loot.co.za

Samsung 860 EVO SATA Solid State Drive (2.5")(500GB) ; 8806088931777 ; Solid State Drives, Hard Drives, Components, Computers

www.loot.co.za

Western Digital Blue WD40EZRZ 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (4TB)(SATA III) | Computers | Buy online in South Africa from Loot.co.za

Western Digital Blue WD40EZRZ 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (4TB)(SATA III) ; 0718037840161 ; 3.5", Internal Drives, Hard Drives, Components, Computers

www.loot.co.za

to go with what I already have:

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 - 2500k CPU @ 3.30GHz
8GB G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3 - 1600 (2 x 4GB)
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard

I will probably only be buying these components in a few months time, so I still have time to deliberate.

** P.s. Is there any way I can test my PSU?

 

[PowerGod]

"The Witcher 3", "Fallout 4" and "No Man's Sky" could be indeed playable, but not at max settings... anyway 8 GB RAM is the minimum for all of these games, so adding some GBs could be useful.

I found "The Witcher 3" incredibly optimized... I was never expecting a game with this kind of detailed graphic to run maxed out on my PC (I only had to disable Nvidia Hair Works, that requires another dedicated GPU, and lower a little dynamic shadows)... I mean... you can see trees in distance over a mountain, that moves with the wind... I mean, trees tall less than a centimeter !! Most of the games with a distance like that just leaves them standing still, or hides them with mist (to don't even draw them)...

 

[spud42]

you can also get a bit more performance from that CPU motherboard combo. the CPU is a K skew so it is easily overclockable especially on a Z77 motherboard. 4GHz should be no problem . any SSD will make a difference but no need to get the fastest in your system. just make sure it has dram cache, so dont go ultra cheap...

i am currently using a gigabyte Z77 motherboard with an i7 3770K oc to 4.2 GHz until recently i also ran a GTX970 . if you can afford a CPU upgrade and are confidant in changing it, it is worth it.i had no problems with No Mans Sky on this system and i also had a 2500K in this system OC to 4 GHz before going to the 3770K.

if you are going to video edit more ram wouldnt hurt at all.. less stuttering as you scrub the timeline.

a 650W PSU will be fine.the VS650 is a good PSU do not go "budget" PSU as they reall are not reliable. a PSU is not something to cheap out on .

 

[ClockworkCoder]

I had a PSU backfire on me in the past. Literally took out half of the internal components with it... That was a fun day.

 

[FaeMinx]

8 GB RAM is the minimum for all of these games, so adding some GBs could be useful.

I have another 2 slots available... Do I have to get identical ram to bump it to 16GB, or will any DDR3 - 1600 (2 x 4GB) sticks do?
.... because I can't find exactly what I have anywhere...

I am going to try things, both the gaming and the video editing with just 8GB to start... The video editing is just to start a personal YouTube channel - it's not for professional work.
I don't want to drop too much money into this old girl, as I intend to build a VR capable machine from scratch in a few years time...

you can also get a bit more performance from that CPU motherboard combo. the CPU is a K skew so it is easily overclockable especially on a Z77 motherboard. 4GHz should be no problem.

One of the reasons I got them all those years ago... but I never had any reason to overclock...
I did buy an aftermarket CPU Fan, but nothing fancy...
Considering how the games I want to play perform, I'm going to try for at least 4GHz.
When overclocking - I should just set a temperature alarm, and dial back the clocks until it no longer sounds under heavy load? Yes?

i am currently using a gigabyte Z77 motherboard with an i7 3770K oc to 4.2 GHz until recently i also ran a GTX970 . if you can afford a CPU upgrade and are confidant in changing it, it is worth it.i had no problems with No Mans Sky on this system and i also had a 2500K in this system OC to 4 GHz before going to the 3770K.

Right now I can't afford anything! This all depends on how the cash flows in the next few months...
I will begin with just the upgrades I've mentioned, but really I want to spend as little as possible... Just enough to get by.
If cash is really tight, I may end up getting just the Graphics Card and forgetting about the SSD and HDD.

a 650W PSU will be fine.the VS650 is a good PSU do not go "budget" PSU as they reall are not reliable. a PSU is not something to cheap out on .

So the Corsair VS650 I already have is fine? You sure?
I thought it was a decent PSU when I got it...
....but if there is any chance that it's been responsible for the loss of my previous Graphics Card...

 

[levi]

** P.s. Is there any way I can test my PSU?

Thankfully I've never had one to go bad on me. I generally trust the manufacturers claimed wattage with about 20% justification, and thus far it's protected me. I guess you could go oldschool and break out the voltages and test them, but you'd need at the very least a o-scope to test those, and that probably cost as more again if not ten times as your new PC, so it may be more effective simply to specify a new PSU at at least your GPU+GPU requirements plus 20% as part of your rebuild spec.