What is still an acceptable spec PC these days?
Discussion
skyebear said:
The cheapish phone I'm writing this on has 12GB RAM.
Look up CPU benchmark and compare yours against current ones. As well as raw performance it also gives price/performance so you can see what one will provide best value.
The newest iPhone only has 8GB RAM so maybe you mean 12GB of SSD storage?Look up CPU benchmark and compare yours against current ones. As well as raw performance it also gives price/performance so you can see what one will provide best value.
Benchmarks are a good idea though, I’m pretty sure my 2018 laptop has roughly the same spec as the desktop that was nine years older than it! The desktop will probably be fine for a family PC for someone, although it won’t support Windows 11.
Guessing a Core i7-965, compared with a modern i3-14100
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/839vs5831/Int...
CPU Mark - yours: 3424, i3: 15050
So a modern i3 is more than 4 times as fast at less than half the power
And 4GB RAM will struggle to run Chrome, let alone a modern game.
PC specs these days would be approx
Light: i3, 8GB, 256GB SSD
Ok: i5, 16GB, 500GB NVMe
+ graphics card if you want gaming
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/839vs5831/Int...
CPU Mark - yours: 3424, i3: 15050
So a modern i3 is more than 4 times as fast at less than half the power
And 4GB RAM will struggle to run Chrome, let alone a modern game.
PC specs these days would be approx
Light: i3, 8GB, 256GB SSD
Ok: i5, 16GB, 500GB NVMe
+ graphics card if you want gaming
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/839vs5831vs47...
Added a low end laptop processor from a couple of years ago. i3 1215u with a 15w tdp. 10854.
Still magnitudes faster than a Core i7 desktop model from 15 years ago. What is the tdp on that, 130w? Crazy inefficient.
Added a low end laptop processor from a couple of years ago. i3 1215u with a 15w tdp. 10854.
Still magnitudes faster than a Core i7 desktop model from 15 years ago. What is the tdp on that, 130w? Crazy inefficient.
Sounds like an i7-860 (?). I had an old Dell Studio with the slightly faster i7-870. Over the years I had upgraded to an SSD and 16GB RAM. It was OK for Office and browsing, but definitely no good for games or anything demanding. Also doesn’t have a TPM security chip for Windows 11, which limits the market for a second hand sale as a complete the system I flogged the CPU and RAM on eBay for around £30, kept the blu-ray drive and SSD, rest went to the recycling
Sounds like you’re due a Christmas present
Sounds like you’re due a Christmas present
ScotHill said:
skyebear said:
The cheapish phone I'm writing this on has 12GB RAM.
Look up CPU benchmark and compare yours against current ones. As well as raw performance it also gives price/performance so you can see what one will provide best value.
The newest iPhone only has 8GB RAM so maybe you mean 12GB of SSD storage?Look up CPU benchmark and compare yours against current ones. As well as raw performance it also gives price/performance so you can see what one will provide best value.
Benchmarks are a good idea though, I’m pretty sure my 2018 laptop has roughly the same spec as the desktop that was nine years older than it! The desktop will probably be fine for a family PC for someone, although it won’t support Windows 11.
wyson said:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/839vs5831vs47...
Added a low end laptop processor from a couple of years ago. i3 1215u with a 15w tdp. 10854.
Still magnitudes faster than a Core i7 desktop model from 15 years ago. What is the tdp on that, 130w? Crazy inefficient.
I just purchased a new Dell laptop for my daughter with the i3 1215u and it cost £299. As you have shown, the CPU benchmark is nearly three times higher than the i7.Added a low end laptop processor from a couple of years ago. i3 1215u with a 15w tdp. 10854.
Still magnitudes faster than a Core i7 desktop model from 15 years ago. What is the tdp on that, 130w? Crazy inefficient.
My last upgrade a few years ago was from a i5 4690k to an i5 11400, from a raw single core cpu perspective it wasnt much faster.
Obviously it has more cores so it will be faster in certain circumstances.
The big performance improvement was sata ssd to nvme. Going from 500MB/s to 7000MB/s is quite a jump.
Obviously it has more cores so it will be faster in certain circumstances.
The big performance improvement was sata ssd to nvme. Going from 500MB/s to 7000MB/s is quite a jump.
Intel stood relatively still for many years.
I'd only consider an Apple Silicon Mac now, unless my computing was specifically based on advanced use of the Microsoft tech stack. Windows development / MS Office / Azure development etc.
M chips are really quick, more power efficient, battery lasts all day like a phone, super quiet. Everything Intel chips I've used are not.
Mind you, Intel are taking delivery of the latest EUV tech from ASMR now, and have FINALLY given up fiddling with older EUV tech. Future chips might be significantly better.
I'd only consider an Apple Silicon Mac now, unless my computing was specifically based on advanced use of the Microsoft tech stack. Windows development / MS Office / Azure development etc.
M chips are really quick, more power efficient, battery lasts all day like a phone, super quiet. Everything Intel chips I've used are not.
Mind you, Intel are taking delivery of the latest EUV tech from ASMR now, and have FINALLY given up fiddling with older EUV tech. Future chips might be significantly better.
Edited by wyson on Saturday 9th November 12:14
ScotHill said:
I have an i7 2.8GHz with 4GB RAM and 500GB hard disk, fifteen years old now - how does that sit with the specs of today, would it run modern games or is it a bit decrepit? I'm guessing the memory is low but does the processor still hold up?
Modern games will mostly be about graphics.I think they write the games to favour fast hardware.
My young relative who's very good at this kind of thing would suggest getting an X-box.
It just works, you plug it in, you have the same gear as your opponents/team-mates, Job Done.
I have been running some simple CAD on an old PC, been having a few problems.
Having looked a the price of a decent graphics card, I've decided to retire the PC, which is similar age to yours.
For a couple of hundred quid, i've picked up a slightly second hand i7 with NVidia graphics.
I don't think my i5 was ever quite the same after updating to Win10. It's quick enough at most things with 16GB and an SSD, but my newer 'work' machine was just subtly better.
OutInTheShed said:
Modern games will mostly be about graphics.
I think they write the games to favour fast hardware.
My young relative who's very good at this kind of thing would suggest getting an X-box.
It just works, you plug it in, you have the same gear as your opponents/team-mates, Job Done.
This is a good point, after all an xbox/ps5 is made for the job.I think they write the games to favour fast hardware.
My young relative who's very good at this kind of thing would suggest getting an X-box.
It just works, you plug it in, you have the same gear as your opponents/team-mates, Job Done.
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