On Mon, 22 Apr 2013, Craig Sanders <cas@taz.net.au> wrote:
if your m/b takes DDR2 RAM then it' still possible that upgrading RAM alone may be enough, but it's a bigger gamble....if it doesn't work, you'll just be throwing the money away unless you have a use for a 2nd computer after you buy a new one. DDR2 is pretty much obsolete, and more expensive than newer DDR3 - 4GB of DDR2 costs $56.
Of course if they are going to keep using the old system then upgrading the RAM won't be such a waste. Having a second PC is a really good idea for anyone who's serious about a computer hobby and it could also be given to a friend or relative.
Alternatively, if you do go for a new system with an i7 CPU, you may find that the built-in Intel GPU is good enough - they're low-end if you're a gamer, but more than adequate for video playing, and they have good open source drivers.
My experience of Intel video cards is that they are quite good for playing video with the free Linux drivers. So far the only time I've found a built-in Intel video controller to be inadequate for my use (which is occasional video playing and other tasks that aren't particularly challenging - I'm not a serious gamer) is when I got a monitor with a resolution higher than FullHD.
The FX-8350 @ $209 is $100 cheaper than the i7-3770, and a decent AM3 motherboard is also about $50 to $100 cheaper (e.g. Sabertooth Z77 for i7 @ $244 vs Sabertooth 990FX for AMD CPUs at $197)
http://www.graysonline.com When I'm buying new hardware I visit Grays Online. You can get entire systems for less than the cost of the CPUs you list. Sure they won't be as fast, but I'd rather buy a new system every year or so than wait years for a big upgrade.
as Russell suggested, a RAID-1 array is better/safer. but if you don't need the extra terabyte of storage, 2x2TB drives is a lot cheaper than the 2x3TB drives he suggested.
http://www.tecs.com.au/shop/storage/desktop-sata-hard-drives.html?limit=30 At the above there's a Seagate 2TB disk for $119 and a Seagate 3TB disk for $139. Not a lot cheaper, only $20 for the extra TB. There's a WD Green 2TB disk for $99 and a WD Green 3TB disk for $159, so if you want the WD Green series then there's a significant price difference. But generally you won't want WD Green for a RAID array due to the head parking issues. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/