is it worth udating an Dell PC with i7-4790 16 gb of ram?

[genobkk]

I have had my pc or 5 years or more, I have not used it much in the past but now wanting to use it for Lightroom editing RAW files, etc.  I was thinking about buying a laptop with Thunderbolt 3.0 and then l could buy a GPU and have the best of both worlds but for the price of laptops in Thailand with Thunderbolt 3 I could buy a laptop and a PC.    I was thinking about installing a SSD drive in my current pc to boost start up times, etc but is it really worth it?     my PC has NO c ports, etc so a new computer or laptop may be my best option     Tech changes so quickly so some insights and thought would be helpful.  Thanks  

[gunderhill]

4 minutes ago, genobkk said:

was thinking about installing a SSD drive in my current pc to boost start up times, etc but is it really worth it?

yes  way  faster in every  way.

[genobkk]

12 minutes ago, gunderhill said:

yes  way  faster in every  way.

yes, but my system is very old, is it worth it on something this old?  could I still get a few more years use of it?

[jackdd]

Add an SSD and put windows and your software on this, this will definitely make a big difference.

I think your i7 should still be fast enough for nearly everything, so i would give this a try first.

Your mainboard should have USB 3.0 ports, yes thunderbolt 3.0 would be faster, but USB 3.0 is also fast.

[JamJar]

Don't make a drama, the PC is not old and SSD are not expensive. But don't go cheap. Crucial MX 500 at a minimum.

 

You're not going to get a new PC for the cost of an SSD. If you are still unhappy, you can still move the SSD to any new PC/laptop.

 

[shady86]

Not sure if your dell is a SFF model, else you cna install a Gtx 1650, it doesn't need external power plug. A SATA SSD would be a huge upgrade and cheap now. 4th gen i7 is still pretty good cpu, even if you upgrade laptop most are still quad cores, unless you get high end ones with 6 or 8 cores.

[JamJar]

A useful article concerning system requirements for Lightroom Classic; https://www.pugetsystems.com/recommended/Recommended-Systems-for-Adobe-Lightroom-Classic-CC-141/Hardware-Recommendations

 

[Slip]

What do you consider to be the benefits of thunderbolt?  It came as an option on one of the msi laptops I was looking at when I bought the one I have now, but couldn't see the point for the extra expense.  If you are dealing with raw image files is the extra expense worth it?  I agree with the points that Jamjar and Jackdd have made.  A new SSD is cheap compared to the other options, and you can always swap it out to a new build.

[genobkk]

11 hours ago, Slip said:

What do you consider to be the benefits of thunderbolt?  It came as an option on one of the msi laptops I was looking at when I bought the one I have now, but couldn't see the point for the extra expense.  If you are dealing with raw image files is the extra expense worth it?  I agree with the points that Jamjar and Jackdd have made.  A new SSD is cheap compared to the other options, and you can always swap it out to a new build.

Thunderbolt I would want more for laptop. The C connection for my camera but SD card reader can solve that.  I don’t remember exactly when I bought the PC, 5-7 years ago.  I wanted to install an SSD when I bought it but they said I need to buy windows again, not sure why they could not just copy it over but seems now the imaging thing is mush more common. I have rarely used the PC but the photo hobby has gave me a need for it.   I did not realize the 4th generation i7 was still still decent   Thanks for all the imput lately and have gotten a bit rusty on PC stuff  

[genobkk]

14 hours ago, shady86 said:

Not sure if your dell is a SFF model, else you cna install a Gtx 1650, it doesn't need external power plug. A SATA SSD would be a huge upgrade and cheap now. 4th gen i7 is still pretty good cpu, even if you upgrade laptop most are still quad cores, unless you get high end ones with 6 or 8 cores.

Thanks.  I am not sure if it is the SFF model or not, currently it has a graphic card slot  certainly not onboard.  Yes it still seems ok, especially compared to my 2009 MacBook Pro. That thing takes a decade to boot and can not even use Lightroom because I can not upgrade the OS.   Ok I may give the SSD a try   I wanted them to instal one when I bought it, but they insisted they could not move the windows and wanted to buy another copy, I guess imaging is much more common now 

[genobkk]

12 hours ago, JamJar said:

A useful article concerning system requirements for Lightroom Classic; https://www.pugetsystems.com/recommended/Recommended-Systems-for-Adobe-Lightroom-Classic-CC-141/Hardware-Recommendations

 

WoW the recommend 9th generation i7.  I thought that might be over kill 

[Isaanbiker]

17 hours ago, genobkk said:

yes, but my system is very old, is it worth it on something this old?  could I still get a few more years use of it?

You can. But if you need to upgrade the motherboard, a new CPU and memory sticks, it isn't worth doing so.

 

  Better to buy a new one that's on the newest standard. I've done so with an older one, always problems that the PC can read the memory sticks, because the slots wear out after many years.

 

    

[Isaanbiker]

2 hours ago, genobkk said:

Thunderbolt I would want more for laptop. The C connection for my camera but SD card reader can solve that.  I don’t remember exactly when I bought the PC, 5-7 years ago.  I wanted to install an SSD when I bought it but they said I need to buy windows again, not sure why they could not just copy it over but seems now the imaging thing is mush more common. I have rarely used the PC but the photo hobby has gave me a need for it.   I did not realize the 4th generation i7 was still still decent   Thanks for all the imput lately and have gotten a bit rusty on PC stuff  

Don't worry about a new activation key, you can buy one for only 100 baht via Ebay these days.

 

  These keys were used before in another machine and are refurbished, fully working.

 

  Totally legal. Even some Thai websites are now offering cheap keys, but I'd look for someone at Ebay with a good reputation.

 

   You don't lose your activation once it was digitally activated. Only when you change the motherboard. And they could have cloned your hard drive a task you can easily do alone.

 

   Please download Macrium for personal use, it's free form the UK and the best backup and restore program in my opinion.

 

   You can also clone partitions, or a whole hard drive with it.

 

  

 

  

[jackdd]

1 hour ago, genobkk said:

WoW the recommend 9th generation i7.  I thought that might be over kill 

This is a shop offering systems to business users, not surprising that they recommend top of the line components ????

It doesn't mean that this is required.

[genobkk]

6 minutes ago, jackdd said:

This is a shop offering systems to business users, not surprising that they recommend top of the line components ????

It doesn't mean that this is required.

yes certainly would not need something that high end  just for basic photo editing RAW 30 mp imagine files . Yes it would future proof me 6 or 7 years and if I got into video editing I would need but I am not their yet. 

[JamJar]

5 hours ago, genobkk said:

Thunderbolt I would want more for laptop. The C connection for my camera but SD card reader can solve that.  I don’t remember exactly when I bought the PC, 5-7 years ago.  I wanted to install an SSD when I bought it but they said I need to buy windows again, not sure why they could not just copy it over but seems now the imaging thing is mush more common. I have rarely used the PC but the photo hobby has gave me a need for it.   I did not realize the 4th generation i7 was still still decent   Thanks for all the imput lately and have gotten a bit rusty on PC stuff  

 

Utter nonsense. No need to do that and not even a need to clone. Just incompetence or plain lies.

 

[JamJar]

5 hours ago, genobkk said:

Thanks.  I am not sure if it is the SFF model or not, currently it has a graphic card slot  certainly not onboard.  Yes it still seems ok, especially compared to my 2009 MacBook Pro. That thing takes a decade to boot and can not even use Lightroom because I can not upgrade the OS.   Ok I may give the SSD a try   I wanted them to instal one when I bought it, but they insisted they could not move the windows and wanted to buy another copy, I guess imaging is much more common now 

 

You don't need to image anything and anyway, Windows 10 Pro can be had for as little as 100 baht. What is the Service Tag/Express Code on it?

[Stocky]

7 hours ago, genobkk said:

Thunderbolt I would want more for laptop. The C connection for my camera but SD card reader can solve that.  I don’t remember exactly when I bought the PC, 5-7 years ago.  I wanted to install an SSD when I bought it but they said I need to buy windows again, not sure why they could not just copy it over but seems now the imaging thing is mush more common. I have rarely used the PC but the photo hobby has gave me a need for it.   I did not realize the 4th generation i7 was still still decent   Thanks for all the imput lately and have gotten a bit rusty on PC stuff  

The OEM license is tied to the whole system so not only motherboard or HDD. So you can upgrade parts of it but at some point Microsoft will consider it a new machine and deactivate your licence. You can switch the HDD, but you need to clone the OS to the new drive for it to be accepted.

 

I upgraded my two dell laptops recently to SSD drives. I used Macrium Reflect to clone the drives, once cloned it was easy to switch the drives over. They rebooted with the new drives no problem, both were running Win7, so once I'd switched to the SSDs I successfully upgraded both to Win10.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2019 by Stocky

[Thainess]

No, don't date a computer, date a Thai girl instead. The computer you describe is not sexy enough.

[wgdanson]

5 hours ago, Isaanbiker said:

always problems that the PC can read the memory sticks, because the slots wear out after many years.

I have had the memory sticks in my pc for over 7 years and the slots are not yet worn out. Please tell me what could cause this 'wearing out'.

[JamJar]

34 minutes ago, Stocky said:

The OEM license is tied to the whole system so not only motherboard or HDD. So you can upgrade parts of it but at some point Microsoft will consider it a new machine and deactivate your licence. You can switch the HDD, but you need to clone the OS to the new drive for it to be accepted.

 

I upgraded my two dell laptops recently to SSD drives. I used Macrium Reflect to clone the drives, once cloned it was easy to switch the drives over. They rebooted with the new drives no problem, both were running Win7, so once I'd switched to the SSDs I successfully upgraded both to Win10.

 

 

 

Sorry, but this statement is quite wrong. You should not be giving advice on a technical forum if you do not know of what you write.

There is absolutely no need to clone the drive and the OEM licence for both Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 is tied just to the Motherboard.

[Stocky]

37 minutes ago, JamJar said:

There is absolutely no need to clone the drive and the OEM licence for both Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 is tied just to the Motherboard.

I'm happy to stand corrected, however that was the advice given to me, and cloning worked fine. The end result was what I wanted.

[JamJar]

5 minutes ago, Stocky said:

I'm happy to stand corrected, however that was the advice given to me, and cloning worked fine. The end result was what I wanted.

 

It appears the people who advised genobkk were the same people who advised you.

 

If genobkk is suffering from a sluggish device, it probably better to run a clean install to a solid state drive, as opposed to importing the old problems to the new drive.

 

If the OS was pre-installed by DELL; Installing Windows 7(not recommended), he can use any DELL re-installation media(I have the image available if necessary). That will 'handshake' with the embedded marker within the BIOS chip on the Motherboard.

Windows 8/8.1; the product key is within an MSDM table within the UEFI environment on the Motherboard, so will auto-activate with the correct edition/SKU.

 

Windows 10, you can upgrade for free from either of the above. Either over the top or via a clean install. Once activated, will stay activated, even if you change the storage drive etc.

 

[JamJar]

1 hour ago, Stocky said:

The OEM license is tied to the whole system so not only motherboard or HDD. So you can upgrade parts of it but at some point Microsoft will consider it a new machine and deactivate your licence. You can switch the HDD, but you need to clone the OS to the new drive for it to be accepted.

 

I upgraded my two dell laptops recently to SSD drives. I used Macrium Reflect to clone the drives, once cloned it was easy to switch the drives over. They rebooted with the new drives no problem, both were running Win7, so once I'd switched to the SSDs I successfully upgraded both to Win10.

 

 

 

Also, unless you actually wanted to upgrade over the top of your original Windows 7 install, in order to not have to reinstall programs etc, it was all a horrible waste of time.

 

You could have simply clean installed Windows 10 directly to the SSD and applied the Windows 7 activation in varied ways. Twenty minutes and done.

 

 

[Stocky]

46 minutes ago, JamJar said:

in order to not have to reinstall programs etc

That is precisely what I wanted to do.

[JamJar]

30 minutes ago, Stocky said:

That is precisely what I wanted to do.

 

I never have such a complicated setup, that it isn't just as easy for me to run a clean install. But I understand that there are those who do.