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Suggestions for upgrading my machine?


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#1
othafa

othafa

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http://www.microcent...esktop_Computer

I have had this computer for about 8mos and it seems to do the jobs I need. I'm not a PC gamer but I do a lot of music editing and a little video editing. Running 2 x 22" monitors. I am a musician and am thinking of doing more of my practicing and recording from home. I'd like to put a little money into this computer to have it hold me over for another year or so and still be able to handle the additional recording and playback tasks I will be throwing at it. I have had the occasional blue screen--about 1-2 times a month when I am taxing the machine with multiple tasks.

My monitors seem a bit on the dim side (not sure if that's the monitors themselves or not but they are mismatched and both have the issue) and HD video is too much so I'd like to upgrade the video card. I am running a mixer (non-USB) and 2 KRK Rockit 8 powered monitors at the moment so I'd like to upgrade the sound card as well to get some more input/output options. Am I also going to need to upgrade my power suppply?

Thanks a ton in advance!
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#2
phillpower2

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:welcome: othafa

Before we can suggest an add on video card or PSU upgrade we need to be sure how much room there is inside the case, the MB that you have may be the micro ATX size and this can pose a problem with some add on video cards as the better cards can be on the large size, you will also need to measure the present PSU dimensions to ensure that any potential upgrade will fit in the space available, below are a couple of links to give you an idea of the dimensions of both;

GPU

PSU
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#3
othafa

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Thanks a bunch--will do as soon as I get home in a few hours...
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#4
othafa

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http://s5.photobucke...IdeaCentre K430

Here you go--power supply looks like 3 3/4" tall. Also looks like there is room, but let me know what you think!

Thanks!
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#5
phillpower2

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The space for the PSU does not look to be a problem (typical dimensions are 5.9" x 3.4" x 6.3").

The add on video card is not so straight forward, please see the attachment below;

You are welcome BTW :)
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#6
iammykyl

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Gday.
While Phillpower2 is abed, Posted Image you are up, I hope you both don"t mind me sticking my oar in.
Link to your computer, also has a picture gallery > http://www.microcent...esktop_Computer
Upgrading will depend a lot on how serious your music production/eding is going to be and on the software you are going to use.
I don't think the case is ideal for a workstation type build, it is a bit small and is limited with only having two internal drive bays, looked at moving all parts to more suitable case but, Motherboard information is non existent and suspect a special as it has a header that connects for the mode selecting, so think to difficult.

General info, > http://www.tim-carte...Id=22&ItemId=89
Suggestions.
Upgrade the PSU.
Install a 250GB SSD. partition the existing HDD for source files/finished projects. if software allows, utilizes the external bay.
install a sound card.
I would not upgrade the GPU until I saw result from the performance. It is also possible that the considered low quality is just not correct set up.

Possible cause of BSOD.
From your pictures. The RAM does not look right. It should have been a Kit, with two colours, it is not, it may be the same specs but have subtledifferences. It does claim to have "Intel Flex Memory Access This Intel technology makes upgrading easier by "allowing different memory sizes to be populated and remain in dual-channel mode," according to Intel. ????

Manual, > https://docs.google....mm_20120627.pdf
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#7
phillpower2

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Gday.
While Phillpower2 is abed, Posted Image you are up, I hope you both don"t mind me sticking my oar in.

:lol:

Thanks for pitching in iammykyl :)
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