Bang For My Buck PC Upgrade?

[willland]

I recently got a rocking deal($448.00 shipped) on a new Dell XPS 8700 desktop PC configured exactly like in link.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-8700/pd?oc=fdcwgp1312&model_id=xps-8700

As fast and as awesome as this computer is, I am considering upgrading something whether it be adding 8GB more RAM, an 250GB SSD hard drive, better video card, or better sound card. I can't do all right now so what do you guys think will offer most performance for my buck?

I am not a big gamer(use XBox 360 for that) or do major photo editing but do rip CD's and do stream music wirelessly to various 2-channel and multichannel systems.

Where should an approximate budget of $150.00 to $200.00 be better spent?

1) Asus GeForce GTX 750 video card for $149.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121855&nm_mc=AFC-dealnews&cm_mmc=AFC-dealnews-_-NA-_-NA-_-N82E16814121855

2) Asus Zonar Essence STX sound card for $189.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132010

3) Dell 4GB x 2 = 8BG memory for $56.99 x 2 = $113.98

4) Samsung 840 EVO MZ-7E250BW 250GB SSD hard drive for $159.00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W01AZ5550

Any suggestions would be great help.

Bill

Edited May 3, 2014 by willland

[billybob]

Wow, all great choices for improvement. To me, the memory looks like the bargain, in my limited opinion. With the hard drive very close second.

Thanks!

Edited May 3, 2014 by billybob

[The Dude]

I would think if you have other means of video, and audio playing. I would go for the hard drive or ram up grade, as you will need those anyways to store and enjoy the music and videos your rip to your computer.

[The Dude]

I must say I am no computer expert, that is just what makes since to me.

[willland]

Wow, all great choices for improvement. To me, the memory looks like the bargain, in my limited opinion. With the hard drive very close second. Thanks!

I would think if you have other means of video, and audio playing. I would go for the hard drive or ram up grade, as you will need those anyways to store and enjoy the music and videos your rip to your computer.

Thanks guys, we are all pretty much on the same page.

Bill

[jason str]

The SSD will be your best upgrade by a longshot.

Video card if you play the latest graphic intensive games.

8 Gb of memory is plenty, 8 more will make no difference in normal usage.

Waiting for your hard drive to find something sucks.

Here is a chart to determine best babg for your buck. Passmark link

[willland]

The SSD will be your best upgrade by a longshot.

Jason,

That is the direction I will most likely go.

Here is a chart to determine best babg for your buck. Passmark link

Thanks for the informative link.

Bill

[mustang guy]

I have to agree with the SSD. If you ever do decide to upgrade the memory, make sure the memory slots aren't already full. If they are, you will be throwing out memory to add it. Full banks of memory on prepackaged computers is very common.

[Guest Steven1963]

I've built all my own computers since the early nineties so here is a topic I actually have some knowledge in. What you have now is sufficient for what you are using it for.

That said, here is my suggestion, in order of gaining the most bang for your buck:

1. get the SSD and transfer your OS and other programs over to it and use the 1tb hard drive as a backup drive. Hard drives do crash and burn and if you have anything on it that is irreplaceable it *may be gone forever.

2. RAM upgrade. But only if you typically have more than 2-3 run of the mill applications open at once. Run of the mill is defined as a word processor, a browser, and maybe one other along those lines. It does not include any video or photo viewing/editing programs such as Adobe photoshop or lightrooom.

Any of the other upgrades you mentioned would be a waste of money considering what you said you use the system for.

*there are ways to recover data on a bad HD, but they can be cost prohibitive.

Steve

Edited May 4, 2014 by Steven1963

[wvu80]

The SSD is BY FAR the best bang for your buck. The Samsung 840 EVO for $150 is the one you want.

You can do all the research you want, and find other units $20 cheaper, or the Samsung 840 Pro for $20 more, but I can save you some time. Just pick up the EVO because it's the best one for home use, and you can thank me later.

+++

Notes: After a ton of research, I upgraded to the EVO 840 250 GB a month ago. It's like getting a faster processor, faster HDD, and faster video card all rolled up into one. I use mine for the Win7 OS and apps and put all the data including temp files on a 1TB drive.

The bundled software (you'll upgrade immediately from the web site) is excellent. To make the transfer from the existing software to the new SSD, you will need some method to connect to the USB port. Samsung offers a kit for this, I used a $20 docking station.

After formatting and due to the nature of SSD's and the "Turbo" mode of the EVO in particular, you will end up with about 210 GB useable.

If you get the 128 GB version (110 GB usable) for $80, you can put your OS (about 30 GB) and some limited apps like Firefox on it, but bigger is better so don't cheap out, buy the size you need right off the bat.

Edited May 4, 2014 by wvu80

[Rich_Guy]

As for size of an ssd, do your own math to see what you yourself will need. On my home desktop I use a 128 GB Samsung 830 series drive. With my Windows 7 os, and all of my many programs I have collected also both Internet Explorer which is unused and my browser of choice WaterFox which is the high performance 64-bit version of FireFox for those who have never heard of WaterFox. With my 128 GB ssd drive it gives me an actual 119 GB of which I currently have 54.4 GB of free space. I then use 2 Western Digital Caviar Black Hard Drives 1 TB each, one for storage and a second just for backups.

I would recommend Samsung as the best ssd. If you can find an 830 series model it uses a better quality more expensive memory than the current standard version 840 series models and since it's last years model if you can find it, it is often cheaper. I believe the current 840 Pro series models also use the better memory but these are more expensive. The better memory supposedly has a potential of twice the life.

[willland]

I have to agree with the SSD. If you ever do decide to upgrade the memory, make sure the memory slots aren't already full.

It came with 8GB expandable to max 16GB. I don't know if two slots are open for 4GB each or one slot for 8GB.

Thanks,

Bill

[willland]

That said, here is my suggestion, in order of gaining the most bang for your buck: 1. get the SSD and transfer your OS and other programs over to it and use the 1tb hard drive as a backup drive.

That looks like exactly what I may be doing.

The SSD is BY FAR the best bang for your buck. The Samsung 840 EVO for $150 is the one you want.

Another vote for the Samsung 840 EVO.

Just pick up the EVO because it's the best one for home use, and you can thank me later. +++

Can I thank you now?

And of course everyone else.

Bill

[Rich_Guy]

It came with 8GB expandable to max 16GB. I don't know if two slots are open for 4GB each or one slot for 8GB.

Thanks,

Bill

I'm not sure how many slots are being used in your Dell XPS 8700 but it is now expandable to 32GB not 16GB, this often happens as larger memory becomes available.

Something also to keep in mind is what operating system you are using as this also puts limits on how much memory your computer is able to use.

Here is an example of what different Windows 7 and Windows 8 versions can use for maximum memory

Windows 8 (64 bit)

Enterprise: 512 GB

Professional: 512 GB

Home: 128 GB

Windows 8 (32 bit)

Windows 8 Enterprise: 4 GB

Windows 8 Professional: 4 GB

Windows 8 Home: 4 GB

Windows 7 (64 bit)

Windows 7 Ultimate: 192 GB

Windows 7 Enterprise: 192 GB

Windows 7 Professional: 192 GB

Windows 7 Home Premium: 16 GB

Windows 7 Home Basic: 8 GB

Windows 7 (32 bit)

Ultimate: 4 GB

Enterprise: 4 GB

Business: 4 GB

Home Premium: 4 GB

Home Basic: 4 GB

Starter: 2 GB

Edited May 4, 2014 by Rich_Guy

[willland]

I'm not sure how many slots are being used in your Dell XPS 8700 but it is now expandable to 32GB not 16GB, this often happens as larger memory becomes available.

That is good to know. All literature on my model XPS 8700 that I have read says expandable to 16GB. I am running Windows 8.1 64 bit Home version.

Even though this is a Best Buy link, I bought my 8700 directly from Dell. This is exactly the model and configuration I have.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-xps-desktop-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive/3979106.p?id=1219094930042&skuId=3979106&st=categoryid$pcmcat212600050008&cp=1&lp=2

I don't doubt what you say(I am clearly close to a novice) but this indicates a max of 16GB RAM.

8GB DDR3 memory

For multitasking power, expandable to 16GB.

Bill

Edited May 4, 2014 by willland

[Rich_Guy]

Here is Crucial's upgrade page for your Dell XPS 8700, as you can see it shows maximum memory as 32GB. If your not aware Crucial is a top brand memory maker in my opinion one of the best. Many brands of memory are just brand names they don't actually manufacture their own memory just put their name on it. Crucial is I believe the largest memory manufacturer and one of the most reliable brands.

http://www.crucial.com/upgrade/Dell-memory/XPS/XPS+8700-upgrades.html

Many computers specifications state a lower expansion capability than what they actually currently are, the reason is at the time these specs were written that was using the largest memory modules available at that time but memory keeps being made in larger modules which a lot of computers are able to handle so their expansion capabilities may be larger that in their specifications which were written when the larger modules were not available.

Edited May 4, 2014 by Rich_Guy

[mustang guy]

It came with 8GB expandable to max 16GB. I don't know if two slots are open for 4GB each or one slot for 8GB.

Thanks,

Bill

I'm not sure how many slots are being used in your Dell XPS 8700 but it is now expandable to 32GB not 16GB, this often happens as larger memory becomes available.

Something also to keep in mind is what operating system you are using as this also puts limits on how much memory your computer is able to use.

Here is an example of what different Windows 7 and Windows 8 versions can use for maximum memory

Windows 8 (64 bit)

Enterprise: 512 GB

Professional: 512 GB

Home: 128 GB

Windows 8 (32 bit)

Windows 8 Enterprise: 4 GB

Windows 8 Professional: 4 GB

Windows 8 Home: 4 GB

Windows 7 (64 bit)

Windows 7 Ultimate: 192 GB

Windows 7 Enterprise: 192 GB

Windows 7 Professional: 192 GB

Windows 7 Home Premium: 16 GB

Windows 7 Home Basic: 8 GB

Windows 7 (32 bit)

Ultimate: 4 GB

Enterprise: 4 GB

Business: 4 GB

Home Premium: 4 GB

Home Basic: 4 GB

Starter: 2 GB

Windows 8 is to operating systems what Bose is to high fidelity.

[willland]

Windows 8 is to operating systems what Bose is to high fidelity.

Funny you say that because I did not think I would like it and was dead set on uninstalling it and loading Windows 7. After some initial getting familiar with 8.1 and a few trial and errors(finding stuff) under my belt, I decided to to keep it.

My buddy is a beta tester for Microsoft and he too hated Windows 8 at first, but over a little time, warmed up to it after updating to 8.1. He even designed and configured his wife's Windows 8 laptop to mimic Windows 7 in graphics and functionality because she really has a hard time with change and likes familiarity.

Bill

[Rich_Guy]

I was an early beta tester for both Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Windows 8 has never been something I wanted to try, looks fine for touch screen use but I don't care for most of the changes for non touch screen desktop use. From what I understand Windows 8 also limits or eliminates a lot of things I use with my HTPC.

[willland]

Windows 8 has never been something I wanted to try, looks fine for touch screen use but I don't care for most of the changes for non touch screen desktop use. From what I understand Windows 8 also limits or eliminates a lot of things I use with my HTPC.

Supposedly, a Windows 8.2 update is coming out this fall(August?) for those who prefer Windows 7 and the traditional "start" button.

My new Asus monitor is not a touch screen and that is by design. If I had bought an all in one desktop with full swivel features or detachable for lap use, then a touch screen would be practical.

Bill