Worth upgrading?

[ryan11d7]

Good evening friends,

So long story short, my roommate is getting a new computer in the next 2 weeks and offered to give his old computer to me to do whatever I want with. I am currently using an ancient computer and am debating soon about either upgrading/buying a new computer. I am just curious, do you think it is worth upgrading from these specs. Or would I be better off starting from fresh to build a new computer. I really only play WoW and some OW. I am not looking for anything exceptional max graphics ect. I usually play on 1080p and medium to highish graphics are usually more than enough for me.

Is it worth trying to upgrade this or just start fresh?

Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i5 4440 @ 3.10GHz 29 °C
Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM
12.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 798MHz (11-11-11-28)
Motherboard
Dell Inc. 0KWVT8 (CPU 1) 28 °C
Graphics
27MP33 (1920x1080@60Hz)
3072MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB (PNY) 24 °C
Storage
931GB Seagate ST1000DM003-1CH162 (SATA) 27 °C
4726GB StorLib Virtual Storage (ATA)
Optical Drives
PLDS DVD+-RW DH-16AES
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio

[Fascinate]

Wait are those the specs of the computer he is giving you?

[Samarin]

That's quite a nice thing to be given, grats. I'd say run with it for a while and see how it behaves.

[ryan11d7]

Yes those are the specs of his "old" computer lol. My question is, will that suffice?

Also a note, is it weird for the ram speed to show 798mhz, that seems really slow?

[Msshammy]

If those are the specs of the PC he's giving you then I'd grab it in a heartbeat! The video card alone is worth it. Not much you can do to upgrade it though. Still for free I would jump on it and find a way to thank your roommate. That's a pretty good gift.

[chazus]

That computer is better than most peoples. It's better than mine (except the cpu speed but w/e)

if it's free, it's a steal. The parts alone are worth ~$700

800mhz is normal. That's the single data speed. It's DDR3-1600

[Msshammy]

Yes those are the specs of his "old" computer lol. My question is, will that suffice?

Also a note, is it weird for the ram speed to show 798mhz, that seems really slow?

798 or 800mhz double data rate.. so 800*2=1600mhz .. yes that is correct.

[Fascinate]

Why would he give you a computer with a 1060 lol. I guess rich parents? Either way no reason to touch it, that CPU is still very good even by todays standards. And yes the ram is 1600mhz.

[ryan11d7]

Would it be worth maybe upgrading the CPU, or will the performance increase be minimal compared to the cost a say 6500-6600 would cost?

The only thing I might do is more RAM then?

Also, I heard something about the 1060 3GB slowing down the CPU or something due to Nvidia trying to reduce the cost of the 6GB to around 200 and the way they had to achieve that had something to do with the cores being reduced or something like that?

[Fascinate]

Nah i wouldnt touch anything in that PC. 1060 3gb is a great card, its only around 5-7% slower than the 6gb model but its also 20% cheaper, so its a better value.

[Th3D0n]

Not worth upgrading anything atm, especially if you only play wow and some OW, it's enough to play at medium/high easy. It's pretty expensive to buy something that's a significant upgrade to what your roommate had, unless you want the really new high end stuff, keep that, it's pretty sweet.

[ryan11d7]

What graphics level should I expect out of that assuming 1080p and 60fps - in raid?

It is infact a Dell XPS8700, I know typically Brand Name computers tend to have shitty PSU's and what not. So I am sure I can make 1-2 minor upgrades.

[Fascinate]

If anything add an SSD to it:

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/rrvZ...ct275mx300ssd1

Plenty of space to fit WoW and OW onto.

[ryan11d7]

If anything add an SSD to it:

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/rrvZ...ct275mx300ssd1

Plenty of space to fit WoW and OW onto.

I have considered a SSD. I have basic knowledge of the difference between SSD and HDD, but I am rather uninformed when it comes to detailed information. However, is it possible to have both on your computer? As in, your operating system and most of your files on the HDD and simply just put things like WoW and OW like you suggested onto the SSD to make them run more efficient?

[Fascinate]

I have considered a SSD. I have basic knowledge of the difference between SSD and HDD, but I am rather uninformed when it comes to detailed information. However, is it possible to have both on your computer? As in, your operating system and most of your files on the HDD and simply just put things like WoW and OW like you suggested onto the SSD to make them run more efficient?

Ya, ideally you would put programs and operating system on there as well. Like windows 10+two games and lightweight programs could all easily fit on that drive. Most people use HDD's for rarely played games or music/video files.

[ryan11d7]

So having both is possible, and when you download/install something I assume you can choose which Drive you are putting it on? Im assuming if you have Operating system on the SSD and your computer is booted up, you can still open/use files and applications that are installed on the HDD?

[Lathais]

Would it be worth maybe upgrading the CPU, or will the performance increase be minimal compared to the cost a say 6500-6600 would cost?

The only thing I might do is more RAM then?

Also, I heard something about the 1060 3GB slowing down the CPU or something due to Nvidia trying to reduce the cost of the 6GB to around 200 and the way they had to achieve that had something to do with the cores being reduced or something like that?

The problem is, if you upgrade the CPU to a 6500-6600 you would also need a new motherboard and RAM, which makes it not really worth it. If you really wanted to put a better CPU in there, you could possibly look for a used 4690k and get a CPU Cooler for it and OC it. I wouldn't bother though as the gains would be negligible.

I wouldn't do more RAM either. In all honesty, 8GB is more than enough for most people. If building a new rig a lot of people are putting 16, just because it's easy to do when building new. You've got 12 though, so you're more than fine.

The 1060 3GB will be more than fine especially considering the games you play and especially considering it's free.

I would just use it for a year or so and see how happy you are with the performance, then consider upgrading at that point if you are not really satisfied with it.

- - - Updated - - -

I have considered a SSD. I have basic knowledge of the difference between SSD and HDD, but I am rather uninformed when it comes to detailed information. However, is it possible to have both on your computer? As in, your operating system and most of your files on the HDD and simply just put things like WoW and OW like you suggested onto the SSD to make them run more efficient?

You wouldn't want to put your OS on the HDD. That defeats half the point of having an SSD. With OS on the SSD your system can go from completely powered down to in game in 10-20 seconds. Everything you do is so much snappier. Loading browser, it's up as soon as you click it, no loading. Anything applications you use frequently should also go on the SSD, like your browser and whatnot. Only put things you don't use very often and large files on your HDD.

[Zeta333]

That ram is a little janky, id go to 16. iv always thought 12 was an odd number to have

[ryan11d7]

I was considering going 2x8gb. But if that won,t make a difference. Someone did mention the 4x3gb ram Ram listed seemed slow.

[Lathais]

I was considering going 2x8gb. But if that won,t make a difference. Someone did mention the 4x3gb ram Ram listed seemed slow.

No, you mentioned that it seemed slow and it was explained that it was normal.

As for 12 being a weird amount, yeah, it kinda is, but RAM isn't quite like it used to be either. There used to be much larger advantages to having a matched pair of RAM as opposed to a single stick. In the day, it was much better to have 2 256MB sticks than 1 512MB stick. Nowadays, you won't really notice the difference between 2x 4GB sticks and an 8GB Stick. Many people still think that all RAM should be evenly matched pairs though, so the 12 seems odd, but you would not really get any noticeable benefits changing it in any way.