That's a nice SSD, but I don't really need all those GB tbh. I have two SSDs in my laptop: the 128GB Samsung M.2 it came with and a 500GB Samsung that I swapped in from my old PC. My main desktop has a 250GB Crucial SSD and I replaced my partner's laptop HDD with a 500GB Samsung. I don't think I'll ever want to have a PC for my own use without an SSD - there's such a huge performance difference. Well, unless a new faster drive hits the market.
I was tempted to take the 128GB M.2 from my laptop and stick it in the server with a SATA/M.2 adapter, but then I thought it would be nice to keep that in the laptop and do a regular clone/shrink so that if the larger drive ever failed I could simply swap the boot order.
So I've ordered a 120GB WD SSD and another 1TB HDD from Ebuyer. That ups my backup/Plex libraries to 8TB (including the freed up existing 1TB HDD). Loads more room for art movies.
Could the paucity of computer component related threads be down to people not needing to upgrade as much? I got my current PC back in 2011 and it's still running everything I want it to and running it well. I generally play older games as they're likely to run maxed out but it does a fair job of some more (relatively) up to date titles. I got the Dirt Rally game (I think it's that one, the uncompromising one released ~1 year ago) and that looks really nice.
I've got an i5 somethingorother, a GTX560ti and 8GB RAM tbh. I've added disk space over the years, but that's it.
I used to like keeping up to date with all the new hardware, but as is usually the case with these things, you need time, money and inclination and at the moment I've only ever got two of those three things at any one time.
I'm considering an upgrade to my desktop PC but I either can't keep up with what's good now, don't care or don't want to spend the money.
It's currently a refurb HP Elite 8200, Core i5 2400, 8GBtbhx4, that was sent by mistake instead of a similar lower spec HP SFF PC about 5 or 6 years ago. I could probably stick an SSD in it and improve things massively without outlaying more on a new system.
Only upgrades I've made is 4GB to 8GB ram and a half height graphics card capable of driving 3 LCDs.
I'd probably go for another refurb job from HP or Dell. I've never been cutting edge because I don't game. And some of the refurb deals around are cheaper than building. I guess hobbies change and I'm less inclined to tinker. I want it to "just work".
Which is similar to my feelings about phones these days. I used to feel the need to get the latest and greatest, maybe because I always felt whatever I had was inadequate in some way, but they're all nearly the same these days with minor incremental upgrades and cost far too much. Probably helps that my One Plus 3 is definitely the most reliable and trustworthy phone I've ever had. Only feel the need to upgrade because of storage.
Rather make a phone last 6-12 months longer and be able to go on another holiday. Different priorities!
You have a point. My desktop is a similar spec - i5 4690K with 8GB based on a Novatech bundle and loads of old bits from the previous PC. I've had it nearly 4 years and unless it goes bang it will probably last another 4. I recently added a better graphics card so I could play Obduction. It's had an SSD and a new CPU cooler because I pinched the stock one it was supplied with for my backup PC.
My recent mucking about hasn't been as much fun as in the past, largely because I feel guilty about spending the money.
Absolutely! Until a few months ago, my main PC was built in 2009 and consisted of a Core i5 750, 8GB RAM (upgraded from the original 4GB tbh), 256GB SSD, Radeon 7870. Ran most things I threw at it quite nicely. The only issue was a bit of increased struggling with modern games which I do play from time to time. Older games plus everything else still ran fine though.
Of course, go back to the mid-2000s and before and an 8 year old PC would have been laughably outdated. Heck, even a 3 year old PC would have been struggling (for example, if you had a PIII 500, TNT2 Ultra when 1.4GHz Athlons and GeForce 4s were around).
Yep, things have slowed up massively over the last 10 years or so. I see it particularly at work where there's a 3 year refresh cycle and 2.6GHz Core i5 laptops with 8GB of RAM are being replaced with slightly-newer-gen 2.6GHz Core i5 laptops with 8GB of RAM that are maybe 20% faster.
That was the problem I had when getting a new laptop last year. All I really wanted was a high resolution screen. Ended up with a modest speed boost and an SSD. Much slimmer and lighter laptop, but that's a given with time.
Yup, same here. My i5-2500K (never overclocked it even though that was the plan with the unlocked multiplier of the K) and it's still fast enough for nearly everything I do.
Sometimes wish I had more than 4GB tbh, and the graphics card definitely struggles with newer games. Although the last one I payed was Doom and I just about got away with that by lowering the detail and resolution.
I definitely wouldn't be installing beta versions of Windows anymore like I used to. It was fun at the time playing with betas of ME and XP.
My work laptop is pretty decent, much newer, but I don't find that really any quicker than my desktop. I think SSDs have helped a lot with loading times and general speed of things. Don't want to go back to a computer with a spinny disk as a boot drive.
Haha. That didn't last too long, luckily. I hardly used it when it was up in the attic.
The kids have now got bunk beds in the same room so my computer room is back :D That may have to change when they get a little older, though, and require more space :'(
I had a similar issue myself, compounded by the fact that no current manufacturer makes a laptop with a decent screen (matte, 16:10 or 3:2), decent keyboard (nice key travel and feel), and decent trackpad (not too big, ideally with discrete buttons). Some laptops have one or two of these, but I'm yet to find a modern one with all three.
In the end, I upgraded my old 2010 ThinkPad X201 (now has 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD) and bought a new battery for it.
To be honest, I asked for it as a Christmas pressie, so it's actually a proper Lenovo one and holds a good charge as a result. Haven't tried some of the unbranded or Duracell ones, but I might try one at some point as I do like having a spare battery.
Like a lot of things, Lenovo batteries are just a sticker put on a Panasonic/Sanyo/Sony product (and a couple of unverified reports suggest Panasonic do the best ones).
What I don't know is if the cheap ones are one of those brands or are completely unbranded, (which I'd avoid because fires and stuff) - so guess I'm going to have to try asking and prepare myself for a few rounds of support staff misunderstanding and telling me it's guaranteed lenovo compatible etc.
Call center ESL smurfs fielding calls for disparate products who know SFA about any of them, and are reading from scripts from which they aren't allowed to deviate in any case?