Need New Computer to Run 11

This is the highest Xeon model my motherboard (Asus P8H61 socket 1155) can get:

Intel Xeon E3-1245 v2

This is my 3rd generation Intel Core-i7 socket 1155:

Intel® Core™ i7-3770

I don't see any noticeable difference with a quick comparison...

Your PC is 12 years old and thus realistically not much life left in it. Chances of failure increase a lot.

Suggestions of many more years of continued use are unrealistic, there is a MTBF consideration of all electronic components.

So, yes, you need to get a new one, obviously it needs to able to run Windows 11. All that means is a recent CPU.
Basic specs would be 16 GB+ of RAM DDR 5, 1 or 2 TB SSD.

Application considerations you will have to lookup.
Probably OK with integrated graphics which are much better these days. If say an Nvidia graphic card is required then you would only need a low end one.

The CD/DVD writer could be an external USB one, no problem.

" I actually have a brand new Epson printer in the closet for printing CDs and DVDs"
That is bad practice for CDs I have quite a number that have labelling ink damage the active dye layer in the CD which is close to the label side. I never use any label, just label the jewel case.

Helmut said:

Your PC is 12 years old and thus realistically not much life left in it. Chances of failure increase a lot.

Suggestions of many more years of continued use are unrealistic, there is a MTBF consideration of all electronic components.

So, yes, you need to get a new one, obviously it needs to able to run Windows 11. All that means is a recent CPU.
Basic specs would be 16 GB+ of RAM DDR 5, 1 or 2 TB SSD.

Application considerations you will have to lookup.
Probably OK with integrated graphics which are much better these days. If say an Nvidia graphic card is required then you would only need a low end one.

The CD/DVD writer could be an external USB one, no problem.

" I actually have a brand new Epson printer in the closet for printing CDs and DVDs"
That is bad practice for CDs I have quite a number that have labelling ink damage the active dye layer in the CD which is close to the label side. I never use any label, just label the jewel case.

Click to expand...

There are 40+ years old arcade machines and vintage computers and game consoles still working. If you were right, they would all be broken by now, so don't exaggerate. Yes, more than 10 years make technology old (much like 10 dog years), but that doesn't mean it's totally useless or broken. As long as my computer still serves my needs, I decide when to replace it. Not Microsoft, not anyone else. And if I could afford a new one with the same or more features, I would have replaced it. I want to go to at least Core-i7 or Core-i9 with at least 32GB RAM and I would have to replace all my old hardware that don't go on the new motherboard. So the cost of replacing my current system is higher than you think. I don't want just any new computer. I want something equivalent or better to what I have. So do other posters. Right now I would have to settle with a new Core-i3 with very little benefit in performance (if any) over my old Core-i7. It would be a big WASTE of money! Replacement is not always cost-effective. Most times is better to improve what we have. When I was serving in the Army, we had a rule of thumb: If repairing or upgrading it costs more than half of buying a new one, THEN replace it, otherwise keep it until is broken again.

spapakons said:

If he cannot upgrade all the components, he can first add a discreet graphics card. It will make a huge difference for photo and video editing when hardware acceleration is used. For example, My Core-i3 could render 6-8 frames in HD per second (software rendering including crop/resize and other filters). My Core-i7 can do 10-15 and if I use nVidia CUDA hardware acceleration, my 1080 could to 150+ frames and my new 3050 can do over 300! Next I would replace the mechanical hard disk with a SATA SSD (more than 10 times faster than an average mechanical disk). Then I would maximize RAM. Then I would replace the Core-i5 with a Core-i7, although the difference will not be too high. It certainly was higher from my Core-i3 to Core-i7. I am not sure if a Xeon CPU would be faster because they don't have some multimedia instructions as the "consumer" models have.

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An i7 would definitely be a step up and they can be had for a song these days used. Even so just 8 more GB of RAM and a discrete GPU would make a world of difference when joined with an i5 running @ 3.4 GHz. It won't be blazing fast but it would certainly feel like a brand new PC. Unless our friend is doing seriously demanding graphical work or anything super intensive an inexpensive $200 -300 card and dbl the RAM would do fine. I suppose it would have been prudent to ask Bill what he uses his computer for to better address his computing requirements but for the uses he already has listed he would be fine with an upgrade and save himself the better part of a thousand dollars. Just my view. User preference prevails.

spapakons said:

There are 40+ years old arcade machines and vintage computers and game consoles still working. If you were right, they would all be broken by now, so don't exaggerate. Yes, more than 10 years make technology old (much like 10 dog years), but that doesn't mean it's totally useless or broken. As long as my computer still serves my needs, I decide when to replace it. Not Microsoft, not anyone else. And if I could afford a new one with the same or more features, I would have replaced it. I want to go to at least Core-i7 or Core-i9 with at least 32GB RAM and I would have to replace all my old hardware that don't go on the new motherboard. So the cost of replacing my current system is higher than you think. I don't want just any new computer. I want something equivalent or better to what I have. So do other posters. Right now I would have to settle with a new Core-i3 with very little benefit in performance (if any) over my old Core-i7. It would be a big WASTE of money! Replacement is not always cost-effective. Most times is better to improve what we have. When I was serving in the Army, we had a rule of thumb: If repairing or upgrading it costs more than half of buying a new one, THEN replace it, otherwise keep it until is broken again.

Click to expand...

I am of precisely the same persuasion. There are enough landfills full of PCs that should never have been there in the first place. All this planned obsoletion is getting out of hand. A good PC can last 20 years before it needs to be scrapped. Again, it all depends on what it's being used for. In Bill's case, based on the usage he has listed, his PC has plenty of life left in it and a discrete graphics card is more of an investment because it can be removed and added to a newer PC in the future. Okay, I said my piece. If a person is on a budget the above words by spapakons speak to value IMO.

With A LOT of patience and keeping Microsoft Security Essentials updated, even an old Windows XP PC can be used for simple Office work and checking the socials. Of course, I wouldn't like to use one, I would rather replace it with a much faster refurbished (so I won't pay a fortune) running Windows 11 unofficially. My current PC is very fast, so I have no reason to replace it yet. Being Windows 11 compliant is not serious motivation for me. Also I read that someone sued Microsoft for letting Windows 10 without support. Not anyone can afford buying a new PC just to be Windows 11 compliant and of course few know that they can upgrade their existing one to Windows 11 unofficially. Microsoft has scared most inexperienced users that unless they replace their PC, it will stop working after October 2025. This of course is BS. In worst case, it won't be compatible with new hardware and new applications, but it will keep working and it will keep being safe if they update Windows Defender regularly. Exactly like older computers running Windows 7 with an updated Microsoft Security Essentials. They still work fine, but lack compatibility with newer hardware and new applications. Most of them are capable of running at least Windows 11 23H2, but they are not upgraded because the cost of a new license doesn't justify the benefit of running a new Windows version (work computers) or the owners are not aware it can be done unofficially (novice users), they believe Microsoft's BS that any non-compliant PC is junk. Not, it's not!

I believe this is the ram for your machine

1 x 8gb stick cruciaal ram (to give 16gb) £35.99


1 x 500 gb samsung evo ssd drive (beem using one of these for a number of years) £52.99 (there are cheaper options)
Just to replace the current 500gb boot drive - you'll see a massive difference

Samsung Evo 870

Windows 11 - Free

Greatly superior computer for about £89.

You could spend more and get a good graphics card as mentioned above, but just these two will make a huge difference.

On the other hand if you can afford a new PC I can understand why someone would want an official version of Windows 11 that's supported rather than an unsupported one, although it will receive updates for a number of years to come before you have to do an in place upgrade.

To my mind it seems a shame to just scrap a perfectly good working computer that just needs a couple of parts which don't cost much. Mine is a very basic core i5 and 16GB of RAM made a huge difference. An SSD makes a huge difference as well.

Agree with previous comments about replacing the spinning hard drive with a SSD making the biggest difference. I'm running a 2011 Dell XPS 8300 desktop with the latest Win11 with no problems. Of course being 84 yrs old I'm in no hurry for anything anymore.

Hazel123 said:

I believe this is the ram for your machine

1 x 8gb stick cruciaal ram (to give 16gb) £35.99

Crucial 8GB DDR4-3200 SODIMM | CT8G4SFRA32A | Crucial UK

Buy Crucial 8GB DDR4-3200 SODIMM CT8G4SFRA32A.

uk.crucial.com

1 x 500 gb samsung evo ssd drive (beem using one of these for a number of years) £52.99 (there are cheaper options)
Just to replace the current 500gb boot drive - you'll see a massive difference

Samsung Evo 870

Windows 11 - Free

Greatly superior computer for about £89.

You could spend more and get a good graphics card as mentioned above, but just these two will make a huge difference.

On the other hand if you can afford a new PC I can understand why someone would want an official version of Windows 11 that's supported rather than an unsupported one, although it will receive updates for a number of years to come before you have to do an in place upgrade.

To my mind it seems a shame to just scrap a perfectly good working computer that just needs a couple of parts which don't cost much. Mine is a very basic core i5 and 16GB of RAM made a huge difference. An SSD makes a huge difference as well.

Click to expand...

No.

The old (Gen3) 7010 uses DDR3.

Dell confused the issue by re-using the model number.

SSD prices are very low, last time I checked DDR3 costed the same as DDR4 and any discreet graphics card, even entry level, will make a difference to the onboard. So upgrading these should not cost a fortune.

bobkn said:

No.

The old (Gen3) 7010 uses DDR3.

Dell confused the issue by re-using the model number.

Click to expand...

Apologies for that mistake - yes I just looked up the ram for the model number without checking the generation

Fun fact: My motherboard can take both 2nd generation and 3rd generation CPUs, so initially I bought 2nd generation Intel Core-i3 2300 to save a few Euros. But I discovered that the maximum RAM speed it supported was DDR-1333, so my DDR-1600 RAM would never work at 1600MHz! Immediately I contacted the shop and replaced it with my former 3rd generation Intel Core-i3 3200. Thankfully we have a few days to make our mind and return goods. However the RAM would not work at 1600MHz in the Auto setting. I had to manually set the speed to 1600MHz in BIOS. Not big deal for an expert, but not easy for a newbie.

I have sooo much spare DDR3 RAM in storage. IF I could send it to the OP for free I would. Garage sales, second hand stores, take it or leave it centers . . . You can come by it so easily without having to pay top dollar for it.

Second hand on ebay - I've done that before.

I had a lot of old parts but I had to empty the house so I can rent it. My wife throwed away most of them

spapakons said:

I had a lot of old parts but I had to empty the house so I can rent it. My wife throwed away most of them

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Ha! Say no more. My wife used to get on my case about all my PC parts until she got her own hobby. Now she doesn't dare because I'll just tell her to get rid of all her old yarn.

Hazel123 said:

Second hand on ebay - I've done that before.

Click to expand...

Same with graphics cards. Son sold his on ebay when he upgraded it and it had hardly been used. There are some good used bargains. I'd get new for an ssd though.

When you assemble a PC from an assortment of old parts, do you get to scream "It's alive!" if it boots?

(Reference to the 1931 "Frankenstein" movie.)

We have a Greek forum that you can also sell or buy second hand. I have posted my nVidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti but nothing yet. I will probably have to reduce the price...