Can I upgrade my computer, or should I totally replace it?

[jim584672]

I've been waiting for my 4 Ghz overclocked Sandy Bridge system to die for 13 years, with some upgrades over the years, a new BIOS chip, new CMOS battery, multiple keyboards & mouses, and 2 power supplies. Windows 10, 16 GB RAM, 500 GB SSD, 4 TB HD, GTX 1660 Ti OC. My Dell 19" flat panel monitor from 2005 finally died last year, short of making it 20 years, so I bought a new 27" Dell QHD. Sometimes, things force your hand. lol

Sandy Bridge 2500K just keeps chugging!

 

[DrRoy]

Your computer should run Photoshop with no problems.

What is your current amount of RAM?

16 GB of RAM. Also, I clean out the dust every year or two. It's just been a few months this time.

 

[sdtech]

SnowballCamper - time to upgrade to a newer Mac. Apple has stopped updating MacOS 12 Monterey, which was released in 2021 according to macOS - Wikipedia

The M4 Mac Mini is more than 10 times faster than your existing machine. Amazon has this model on sale for $499.00

Apple 2024 Mac Mini Desktop Computer with M4 chip with 10‑core CPU and 10‑core GPU: Built for Apple Intelligence, 16GB Unified Memory, 256GB SSD Storage​

actually 23 times faster... but who's counting

 

[Jerry1]

You can always upgrade an existing unit but I wouldn't. I run them until they no longer perform as needed and then get a new one. Seven years isn't great, but it's long enough that I'd just get another machine. For the price of an upgrade plus a couple hundred bucks, you can have something much better than you would have from an upgrade. If budget is not a significant concern, you can have something really nice.

 

[Aerides]

More than 5 years and you have a little cash? Go new.

Also, Adobe crashes are not uncommon, regardless of your hw/setup.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

With the introduction of new AI technology in just about every software that runs on a computer, I think now is a great time to upgrade to a better/faster computer with more RAM if the budget can afford it. AI requires resources and sometimes those resources are on the personal computer to make it a better experience. Personally, I tend to buy a new computer every 4 years or so.

 

[Ronstar]

I'm not a computer wizard, but I would replace if I was OP. Photoshop pushes computers to their limits. It is the only software that has pushed my 2022 32 GB Mac Studio to its limit editing a 9 GB file. I have subscription based Photoshop, so maybe its performance is tied to the performance of my internet connection.

I don't know much about CPU's and video cards, but I have upgraded pc's in the past without achieving the performance improvements that I expected.

My advice is to find a photoshop power user or someone computer savvy enough to recommend a computer with the specifications needed to run photoshop effectively.

Then BTD and enjoy!

 

[Qs Laptop]

16 GB of RAM. Also, I clean out the dust every year or two. It's just been a few months this time.

16 GB of RAM should be plenty for Photoshop. If it consistently freezes on Photoshop, especially with the replace tool and since you said the most you've ever done inside a computer box is replace RAM, I would consider a new rig.

Ronstar's advice about finding out what power users of Photoshop use to run their software is solid.

 

[Time2]

13 years ago, one of my buddies did a his research and built a computer. I ask him to send me his list of parts, I bought them all and built the same computer. It has worked fine until about 6 months ago when the power supply quit. I bought a new power supply and it is working fine again. However as the computer is getting rather old, I have been poking at my buddy for a couple years to build a new computer. He finally did it, so I have a new list of parts to buy, so I can build a new computer. If his new list is a stout as his previous, a new computer could outlast me!

 

[SnowballCamper]

SnowballCamper - time to upgrade to a newer Mac. Apple has stopped updating MacOS 12 Monterey, which was released in 2021 according to macOS - Wikipedia

The M4 Mac Mini is more than 10 times faster than your existing machine. Amazon has this model on sale for $499.00

Apple 2024 Mac Mini Desktop Computer with M4 chip with 10‑core CPU and 10‑core GPU: Built for Apple Intelligence, 16GB Unified Memory, 256GB SSD Storage​

I know, I know. The safari browser doesn't work on a few sites so I use chrome as a backup for them. DW and I were just shopping yesterday online for one. I don't need it to be ten times faster, as fast as it was when it was new would be good enough (I think most of the slowdown is website code). I'm procrastinating the data transfer process which is relatively easy on the Mac but still not fun. All I really do is browse the internet with it.

 

[Ian S]

Assuming you are running the latest version of Windows 10, the first thing to do is to run the MS app to confirm that your rig can be upgraded to Windows 11. If it can't, then IMHO, it would be time for a new PC. If it can be upgraded, then before you do that, do a reboot, make sure as few programs are running as possible then try PhotoShop on its own and see if the problem persists. It's very odd that only one PS tool is always affected. Have you tried removing and reinstalling PS? Is your main drive an SSD? If it's possible to upgrade to Windows 11, you will definitely want an SSD for the OS and programs. Also, IMHO, you should double the RAM. Then you have to decide if the tinkering with and spending money on an almost 8 y.o. machine is worth it. Personally, as someone who built his own machines for the last 20 years, my new machine is a powerful mini pc running Windows 11. Only thing I've added is a second SSD for extra storage.

 

[JoeWras]

Where's RobbieB when you need him?

Blow. That. Dough!!!!

 

[GamblingMan]

If it were my computer, I would like to diagnose the issue before making a decision. I don't mind replacing a component to keep a computer going.

There is a number of things you can do for free to narrow down the issue.

Run a memory test.
Check CPU and GPU temps; also check the fans.
Run a (hard)drive checker.

A seven-year power supply can always be a suspect.
Photoshop is pointing to GPU or memory.

 

[HFWR]

My laptop is apparently not upgradeable to Windoze 11. I bought a new on last year, courtesy of Costco. I’ve migrated essentials, but it’s mostly on reserve, as I’m still using the older one as the DAW for my home studio for now.

This may be my last computer, per se. I still use it as such, but more often I’m perusing the web on a tablet. I can use sheets and docs online, for the limited amount of spreadsheeting I do. (Old habits…)

 

[DrRoy]

Well, I solved one part of it. The replace tool works whenever my internet connection is active. The other issues are solved by closing PS and reopening, no reboot needed. I can live with that for a while longer.

 

[CO-guy]

Well, I solved one part of it. The replace tool works whenever my internet connection is active. The other issues are solved by closing PS and reopening, no reboot needed. I can live with that for a while longer.

My last computer seemed fine after 7 years, but took a while to boot up and lagged with some apps, so I bought a new one for less than I paid for the old one 7 years ago that turns on instantly and works wonderfully. Why wait until it completely breaks to upgrade?

 

[Out of Steam]

As a PC, it's easy for a tinkerer to fix and upgrade. I used to tinker, but I'm happy with my old Mac mini thats been running for twelve years now. The replacement will cost about the same as the new one did a decade ago. It's a matter of how much unfunctional software I will tolerate before the upgrade...The downside to the Mac is the software doesn't upgrade on old hardware.

I've run into the inability to upgrade the Apple office suite (Numbers, etc.) with my backup Mac, bought in 2014, right now. It has also stopped upgrading the OS.

 

[Out of Steam]

Last time I was tinkering with a Windows computer, which I decided to retire because it wouldn't upgrade to Windows 11, I was told that the OS needed to be on a solid state drive for acceptable operation.

 

[wmc1000]

I bought an i5-8600 cpu desktop last September. Yes, it was used and I got it off Ebay.

I added the following to my desktop: an M2. NVME 1TB drive from Amazon, a used NVIDIA 1030GT 2GB DDR5 and an additional 24GB of RAM to 32GB total.

For a total cost of only $220 with my additions it has plenty of processing power and runs Windows 11. A 6 core processor will have no issues at all in today's computing environment unless you are a hard-core gamer.

Most of the time my computer is simultaneously sending g-code to my 3D Printer while I am doing other things on it. I have the full Adobe CS4 suite which I have owned since 2008 and I use Photoshop quite often and have never had a problem.

 

[JoeWras]

Should I update my Altair 8800? It is only 45 years old. Plenty of life left.

 

[jim584672]

Should I update my Altair 8800? It is only 45 years old. Plenty of life left.

You could probably sell that antique relic for big $$$.

 

[GenXguy]

My last computer seemed fine after 7 years, but took a while to boot up and lagged with some apps, so I bought a new one for less than I paid for the old one 7 years ago that turns on instantly and works wonderfully. Why wait until it completely breaks to upgrade?

Only 7 years? My desktop computer is 13 years old and still going strong, albeit with some upgrades, it's still the same motherboard and processor. Can I upgrade my computer, or should I totally replace it? If sounds like you probably just needed to change to an SSD drive, it would have booted faster and launched apps quickly like mine.

It's funny, I was always working with various new computers on my job in IT, and they didn't feel any faster than mine in general usage.

 

[jim584672]

The new processors are faster but not that much faster that you would notice much of a difference. The main improvement is energy usage for the new processors is much lower for the same computing power.

 

[GenXguy]

One big difference with new processors is that they have more cores. So you can get a processor with 24 cores, for example, but for so many single threaded operations, the net performance increase isn't so great. It actually reminds me of when I built my first dual processor computer a couple decades back and used Adobe Premiere which was multi-threaded and supposed to take advantage of dual processors. But it turned out, many of the functions didn't benefit much from it. At least they are getting better.

 

[sdtech]

You could probably sell that antique relic for big $$$.

I saw a history of personal computers on display the Smithsonian American History museum a few years ago. I think I had once owned 3 of them.