New PC - name brand, Overclockers, or...?

[Sir Trev]

Come you techy types - need your advice. Our aging Dell Inspiron tower unit is getting very slow and we need to go up a size in hard drive with all the pics we take.

For named brand configuration with a 2TB storage drive I have to move up to the low end of the gaming machines, but they come with fancy graphics cards I don't need and they are pricy.

I can spec what I need for half the price on Overclockers but I've never used a site like this and have no idea if they are reliable or if I'll run into support issues if I have prlblems in two or three years time.

Upgrading the old unit with a new drive and more RAM is not an option as I don't quite trust the local break-fix places not to rummage through our personal data in the process and I don't have the patience or know how to DIY.

Which way would you go? It only has to run the interweb browser, very simple Word/Excel files, and Lightroom, so I'm looking at i5 processor, 500MB SSD for OS (Win 11) and apps, 2TB storage, 16MB RAM and not much else.

[DJ123]

For what you need the PC to do, i'd say an i5 CPU is overkill. Unless you're editing the pictures you're uploading in Photoshop, or something similar - then you'll need the processing power.

I'd look at a basic tower with the core needs (W11, i3/i5, and whatever RAM), and add the 2TB HDD & extra memory yourself - pretty easy to do/not too costly for a local place to set up for you if needed.

Overclockers are good as are Scan too. I used Scan frequently when i worked in IT purchasing/building. You can spec your own PC up online, or compare prebuilt specs they can add in components to as well.

Edit; adding in quick PC i configured from one of their base spec Home/office PC's;


exclude duplicates

[garynortheast]

Trev, buy yourself a Sata III, 2TB SSD (if that's the size you need), then send it and the hard drive from the machine to me and I'll clone the HDD onto the SSD for you. I have a standalone device specifically for this purpose. I'll send them back to you when the job is done. You then just need to stick the ssd to a suitable part of the chassis with double sided foam tape, plug it in and start the machine.

[DarrenSV650S]

What's your current pc spec? And what is your budget?

You could probably just get a new 250GB SSD and RAM upgrade to speed-up your current PC. Then get a new 2TB HDD.

[daktulos]

I was in a very similar position for my mother recently, and bought this:

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/hp-2...ea/version.asp

It's a decent spec (i5, 8GB) but has a small SSD, so bought one of these as well:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-Blue-SN5...dp/B07YFFX5MD/

That worked out a lot cheaper than finding a PC with both a decent CPU and a big SSD.

I have a USB M.2 enclosure from Amazon. You can switch disks and then boot from the USB which will re-install the new bigger disk. It takes a while, but easy enough.

[Ruffy]

Originally Posted by Sir Trev

... need to go up a size in hard drive with all the pics we take.
...
Which way would you go? It only has to run the interweb browser, very simple Word/Excel files, and Lightroom, so I'm looking at i5 processor, 500MB SSD for OS (Win 11) and apps, 2TB storage, 16MB RAM and not much else.

Sir Trev, if you don't have something in place already, budget for at least 2 hard drives of the size you think you need (preferably bigger). Why? Backup

2TB is pretty small by today's market. For the small-ish extra cost, I'd suggest looking at 4TB min.

Good idea to separate OS/apps from data files and SSD will help with operational speed. However, to avoid the leap to 'gaming' machines, could you buy a compact 'ready to go' unit with the processor, RAM and smaller SSD spec you want and just use external HDDs for your data? (USB3 is pretty swift for day-to-day file handling.)

But, please, whatever you do, end up with at least two storage drives of sufficient capacity for all your forecast needs (one for storage and one for backup, with backups taken regularly/frequently) unless you want to lose that increasingly large and precious photo collection at some random, unpredictable point in the future.

Sorry if this sounds preachy - data recovery is stressful enough, data loss is properly traumatic. (Yes, sadly, I'm speaking from bitter experience.) If you're already sorted for backup then ignore me and accept my apologies.

[Bibio]

your machine is slow as it needs to be cleared out and things turned off in the startup also depending on your antivirus you might be getting conflicts.

put it this way i'm still using an AMD 4300 and it does everything i need including 4k video via kodi. ok my graphics is a GTX 1050 Ti but its overkill for what i do.

my advice is to get a 8Tb USB external drive, dust out the internals of your old PC and get someone (not PC world) to give it a good old gut out data wise (i'm sure Gary will help you there)

you dont need a powerful computer for what you do and ignore the prompts for windozzzz11 its a marketing ploy.

i use these desktop drives as they have the extra USB ports. i daisychain the drives but you can also use the ports for other devices like cameras and USB thumb drives etc.etc.

[ethariel]

When you say Lightroom, just the odd tweak and pre-set here and there or full on image stacking and possibly porting to photoshop too?

I'm a bit overkill in backing up my photos but a couple of 2 to 4Tb drives - one for using and another just to back up the other is a relatively cheap way to go about it.

If your a bit paranoid then you can toss in a NAS or a server to back up everything and if yout totally nutty then have a 'Cloud' storage to back it all up to :P (Ok im guilty).

[Sir Trev]

Hello all. Just clarify, I do have a separate 5TB drive for backups, which does me fine. And as I've found the receipt for my old tower I now know its over seven years old, and there's no way my luck is as good as Bibster's in keeping older kit going. With the increased risk of age-related component failure I defo don't want to get it all cleaned out and replace just the storage. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions, and the offer of help Gary.

So, I'll go down the Overclockers route. Turning down the processor to an i3 (I only tweak levels in Lightroom and Phase1) means I get what I need for just under £600, a lot cheaper than a Dell XPS. Once I get past the deadline for my January credit card bill I'll order one.

[Bibio]

if you go the overclockers route then tell them you dont want bloatware installed. its bloatware that slows modern pc's down. for instance you dont need driver software/apps you only need the drivers installed as windows takes care of everything these days and i wouldn't be surprised if win10 already had most of what you need native. you also want recovery medium like a thumbdrive as these can cost £40odd separate.

most driver apps report home to check for updates which is not needed.

DONT install any other antivirus software and stick with the one that comes with windows.

also not many people know but you can point your user folders like my documents and even your desktop to a separate or removable drive so if your pc goes down you have all your data.