Topic: New PC For Image Processing?

[GillE]

My PC isn't very old but it struggles for speed when opening certain programs and processing images.  I'd like to improve its performance or, if that is not possible, find an alternative.  The trouble is that I don't understand modern computer component specifications - is an AMD Athlon X4 860 Quad Core Processor 3.70 GHz CPU any good?  It's what I'm using now.  I also have 8Gb RAM, the computer operates 64 bit Windows 10 and my motherboard is an ASUSTeK A68HM-Plus.

Any guidance would be much appreciated  .

[Simon]

I'm not very up to date on modern specs either,.Gill, but I found upgrading the hard drive on my old Windows 7 Desktop to a SSD gave it a new lease of life.  It now boots up in around 40 seconds, rather than 4 minutes, and programs do open and run more expeditiously.  I believe I documented the process on here somewhere, so I will try and find it for you.

[Simon]

I can't find the thread on here, Gill, but I found what I had written elsewhere, if this helps:

I purchased a Crucial 120Gb SSD drive, which came with instructions on how to migrate an existing system to the new drive, using the Acronis clone tool.  As I already have Acronis on board for backups, I didn't need to install Crucial's version, so used the Clone tool as instructed to clone my existing C drive to the new SSD.  The clone job took about 18 minutes, which worried me, as I thought it was going to take much longer for an 80Gb drive, but I thought I'd go with it and see what happened, as all I needed to do then was physically swap the current hard drive for the new SSD.  Had it all gone to pot, I would have still had the original drive which I could have popped back in, plus I had a backup on a separate backup drive, so I had nothing to lose, really, as all of my data was on other drives, and the C drive only had Windows and programs on it.

So, with trepidation, after exchanging the drives, I fired up the machine, and within about 20 seconds, my desktop appeared as normal, and everything seems to be working as it should.  I'm struggling to believe it was all that simple, but now I have a much faster booting machine, with about 45Gb of space on my C drive, compared to about 4Gb which I had before.  So, all in all, I'm quite pleased with myself, and it was all done before lunch!   

[daveeb]

My PC isn't very old but it struggles for speed when opening certain programs and processing images.  I'd like to improve its performance or, if that is not possible, find an alternative.  The trouble is that I don't understand modern computer component specifications - is an AMD Athlon X4 860 Quad Core Processor 3.70 GHz CPU any good?  It's what I'm using now.  I also have 8Gb RAM, the computer operates 64 bit Windows 10 and my motherboard is an ASUSTeK A68HM-Plus.

Any guidance would be much appreciated  .

I'd have to agree with Simon as it's the only easily upgradeable item and would definitely speed things up. The CPU is quite old and slow compared to what's on offer now and probably accounts for the slowness.
You don't need more memory and the newest CPU's possibly wouldn't be compatible with the motherboard, would be a lot of hassle, and wouldn't really be cost effective.

[GillE]

Many thanks for your help, Simon and Dave.

I'm more than a little peeved to find out my processor isn't up to snuff - eBuyer told me it would be more than adequate when I bought the computer from them two years ago.  Perhaps a SSD would be a good upgrade but since modern graphics programs tend to use the CPU very heavily, I'm now veering towards the idea of a new PC with a decent processor and an in-built SSD.

What sort of processor should I be looking for, and where should I buy it?  I'm reluctant to deal with eBuyer again.  I understand graphics programs work better on single thread CPUs (whatever they might be!) which means AMD chips might not be as good as Intel... but I'm woefully out of my depth here.

[Simon]

I've had dealings with https://www.cclonline.com/ previously and not had any problems.  I purchased my Windows 10 laptop from them (when it was Windows 8.1), and it's still going strong after about 5 years. 

They have a good range of components, and if you were minded too you can actually build your own PC, but I think you'll find that the descriptions will be more than adequate to help you find what you want.  Of course, it's all depends on your budget, and the more CPU power you want, obviously, the more the overall package is likely to cost.

I hesitate to actually recommend anything myself, as I'm just as out of the loop as you probably are, Gill, but maybe a phone call to them might be worthwhile?

I think eBuyer are more or less an Argos type store, rather than specialists, so I personally wouldn't look at them if I wanted to buy anything too specialised.

[Simon]

Just a further thought, but it may be worth investing in a good quality, high end graphics card, if the work you want to do is particularly graphics intensive.  That may be something a gaming machine could offer.

[daveeb]

Just a further thought, but it may be worth investing in a good quality, high end graphics card, if the work you want to do is particularly graphics intensive.  That may be something a gaming machine could offer.

I think graphics programs tend to use the CPU rather than the gfx card Simon, tho' I'm happy to stand corrected, I haven't been clued up properly since the windows XP days.
You would have to research the motherboard Gill and see what it is capable of accepting. There could be bios issues in that the chip isn't compatible with the bios on the mobo (or doesn't physically fit).
I don't know how much of an issue money is, but I got my last laptop at pcspecialist about 4 years ago and its been amazing. Still super fast. if you posted on their forum with your list of requirements and budget they are very helpful and would post up a "build" for you. Even if you don't intend to buy anything new it would give you an idea of what was needed.

[Simon]

I'm happy to stand corrected too, Dave. 

[GillE]

I think graphics programs tend to use the CPU rather than the gfx card Simon, tho' I'm happy to stand corrected, I haven't been clued up properly since the windows XP days.
You would have to research the motherboard Gill and see what it is capable of accepting. There could be bios issues in that the chip isn't compatible with the bios on the mobo (or doesn't physically fit).
I don't know how much of an issue money is, but I got my last laptop at pcspecialist about 4 years ago and its been amazing. Still super fast. if you posted on their forum with your list of requirements and budget they are very helpful and would post up a "build" for you. Even if you don't intend to buy anything new it would give you an idea of what was needed.

That's my understanding of graphics cards too, Dave.  My current PC is a PCSpecialist machine and I like your idea of asking their advice before I take any further action.

 

[Simon]

Gosh, it's Sod's Law, isn't it?  Having just said my laptop is still going strong after 5 years, it's just gone kaput, and it looks like I'm going to have to reset it and reinstall all my programs, which is a real pain in the arse.  I have multiple backups of the PC, because that's my main work station and has everything on it. The laptop was basically just for browsing and emails and other sorts of casual stuff, so I never bothered to back it up.   

[daveeb]

Gosh, it's Sod's Law, isn't it?  Having just said my laptop is still going strong after 5 years, it's just gone kaput, and it looks like I'm going to have to reset it and reinstall all my programs, which is a real pain in the arse.  I have multiple backups of the PC, because that's my main work station and has everything on it. The laptop was basically just for browsing and emails and other sorts of casual stuff, so I never bothered to back it up.   

It would be pretty quick apart from the windoze updates 

[Simon]

What a pain this is!  I've now got to set the machine up practically as new, without the actual benefits of having a new machine!  All of my data has been saved but all of my programs have been removed, so it's like starting again, and you tend to forget how many tweaks and changes you've made over the years when it all suddenly disappears.

[daveeb]

What a pain this is!  I've now got to set the machine up practically as new, without the actual benefits of having a new machine!  All of my data has been saved but all of my programs have been removed, so it's like starting again, and you tend to forget how many tweaks and changes you've made over the years when it all suddenly disappears.

Are you properly re-installing the OS ? i.e. scrubbing the drive and starting again 

[Simon]

No. There's a recovery option to reinstall Windows without touching personal data.  I knew it would wipe programs, but it's still a pain to have to reinstall everything.  Unfortunately, all other avenues had failed, including system restore, and startup repair options. The worry is, I don't really know what happened, as the PC started up fine, then it rebooted while I wasn't looking and that's when the trouble started.  I'm assuming it was an update that went wrong.