Question Upgrading Computer's Hardware?

[Scarlet Illusion]

I've been considering upgrading my computer for a while, and now with the New Piapro requiring a beefier system, now seems to be time to finally upgrade my computer. The problem is, I've never upgraded hardware before and don't really know what I need for best results with the stuff I'm trying to use. I've done google searches, but I just get confusing and mixed results.

I thought this would be a good place to ask since a lot of you are probably familiar with "heavy-duty" video editing, etc.. And, to avoid confusion, I'm not looking to get a new computer, but rather, get better hardware. (For reference, I typically run on a macbook and I'm looking to upgrade its hardware.)

What hardware do you all recommend for running stuff like After Effects and Vocaloid 5, as well as other heavy applications. Also, what do you recommend for things like rendering videos (like from MMD, for example)? I'm not much of a hardware junkie; more of a software and operating system junkie. ^^"

Also, what's the most cost-effective way to upgrade my computer? I've always been intimidated when it comes to upgrading because just a GPU alone can be very expensive.
(That and I don't know much about replacing hardware, lol.)

 

[peaches2217]

Watching. I have a dual-core HP laptop and have been wondering the same thing.

 

[Scarlet Illusion]

Don't mind me. I'm just bumping this. ^^

 

[MagicalMiku]

1) what are the specs of your Macbook? what model is?
(i'm asking because some models of Macbook are easy to upgrade, others.. not)

please keep in mind that for any heavy duty task, like editing music and video, a strong GPU is not needed, but you need a good CPU (processor) and lot of RAM. the CPU and the GPU can't be changed on a notebook.

another important questions:
2) what is your budget for the upgrade?
3) do you use your PC only at home, or also on the go? because a desktop PC is cheaper and more powerful
4) do you use only Mac OS or also Windows 10?

 

[uncreepy]

I've built 5 PCs (all Windows ranging in size from full size tower to mid to micro), but they were all desktops and not laptops. I would be interested in looking up what type of parts can go in a laptop in order to help you out, though.

The thing people most commonly upgrade for their computer to play games/run editing software is either adding more RAM (so you can run more heavy programs) and/or upgrading the graphics card (so your computer can handle more complex graphics). Honestly, upgrading to a good graphics card (as in not the cheapo crud in store bought computers) is going to set you back around $100 (give or take like... $50ish depending on how much you want to future-proof the upgrade and how many monitors can plug in to it, how many fans it has, etc). Thanks to bitcoin miners, RAM prices shot up a lot, so getting one stick costs like $50 and getting two costs twice as much. (Note, remember that I don't exactly know how big/how many parts you can add to a laptop, because I haven't looked inside one before. So this is from the perspective of a major desktop lover.)

However, once your computer is too old, you have to upgrade the motherboard (the thing that literally everything plugs in to ranging from internal things like a graphics cards to external things like a mouse) in order to plug in new, more power parts. So I guess the first step is telling us (like MagicalMiku said) is what model you have and what is your budget. The model of computer and the motherboard within will let you know exactly what type of parts you are able to put in it.

Also, it's possible that the cost of the new parts might make upgrading not worth it to you if you weren't expecting them to be that much.

Side note, the learning curve for modifying your computer is really stinking hard, but once you struggle through the first one, it becomes kind of addictive. My journey started with getting burned by a computer repair guy and swearing to do everything myself after that, then my irl friend helped me change the graphics card in my computer, then I spent hours researching and learning about all the basic parts required to build a PC. YouTube, Tom's Hardware forum, Newegg, and PCPartPicker are your friend.

 

[mobius017]

I've never built a computer or replaced the components in one, with the exception of switching RAM chips. There are a few things I'd like to say that you might find helpful, though.

• The things I think people typically swap to improve computer performance are RAM, CPU, and hard drive.
• Probably the single best thing you can do to improve both the number of things your computer can do at once and the "weight" of the programs it can run at once is add as much RAM as it will allow. What it allows depends on your motherboard and your OS.
  • Your motherboard has physical slots on it into which the RAM chips go. So you can only have as many RAM chips as you have slots. Each RAM chip can have varying amounts of actual RAM capacity on it. How much RAM you can have, in that case, depends on your budget, the available RAM chip capacities, and which RAM chips are compatible with your motherboard.
  • Your OS has a say in how much RAM you can have, as well. A 32-bit OS will support much less RAM than a 64-bit OS; even if you load up the motherboard's RAM chip slots over that amount, the OS will ignore it. So be sure to know what kind of OS you have so that you don't buy RAM chips that you won't end up being able to use.
• The CPU is also involved with your computer's speed. Having multiple cores improves your computer's speed by allowing it to process things in parallel, provided that the software you're running supports it. This varies by software version; probably not much you can do as far as choosing software, unless the software specs call out if it is or isn't good/better with multiple cores. To that end, I just wanted to point out that you should consider what kind of software you want to run and what its required specs are--Piapro NT requires 4 cores, for instance. (Since the software is the reason you're looking at upgrading, though, you clearly are aware of this point already.)
• The hard drive is involved in both your computer's storage capacity and its speed.
  • For audio/video/image editing, you may want to look at a larger hard drive size so you have somewhere to store these larger files. Or else have a plan for storing completed works on an external hard drive or in a cloud storage account.
  • There are two kinds of hard drive you might want to consider
    • Hard disk drive (HDD): The kind of hard drive that's been in use for years, it uses a spinning disk whose magnetized bits of information are read by a physical arm. Relatively cheaper, with larger capacity available, and from what I hear it still has a longer lifespan than the next option. However, it's also the slower of the two.
    • Solid state drive (SSD): This is the newer kind of drive. In design, it's similar to a flash drive, though it doesn't have the performance drain associated with communicating over USB; I assume it's higher-spec than the typical USB memory stick, too. Because it doesn't rely on a physical arm/spinning disk that have to move to retrieve the information, it operates much faster than an HDD. But because it's newer, and the tech is still being improved, it's more expensive and tends to fail somewhat sooner than an HDD. It also comes in smaller capacities than HDDs.
  • Replacing the hard drive necessarily involves replacing the OS (provided you are replacing the hard drive on which the OS is installed, of course). At that point, you're obviously basically redoing everything in terms of reinstalling stuff, which might be a lot of work. Obvious point, but something to consider. At that point, if you have the funds, you might want to just get a new computer and buy more high-spec components all at the same time.
• IIRC, the speed of your bus (the pathways on the motherboard that connect different components together) also impacts how fast your computer can run. So be sure that your bus is a good match for your CPU. No use having a race car for a CPU but forcing it to drive over a beat-up dirt road and get slowed down. The only way to replace the bus is to get a new motherboard, though, I believe.

Does the above sound right to our more hardware-savvy people?

 

[uncreepy]

I think you provided a lot of extremely good information that explained things in an easy-to-understand way. However, the reason in my other comment for suggesting only RAM and graphics card is because that's what people on gaming forums/people using art programs usually ask for help changing.

Replacing the CPU is a lot of more troublesome and intimidating for beginners and it isn't usually mentioned in periodic (as in every few years) upgrades of PC hardware. When you change your CPU, you have to put a pea sized glob of thermal paste on it so it doesn't get destroyed by the heat. In addition to getting the right amount seeming intimidating, changing the CPU almost always means you have to change your CPU fan. The CPU fan that comes with your computer is referred to ask a stock cooler. It is usually just a single fan. When you upgrade the CPU, you have to get a new fan (called a heat sink and usually has 2-3 fans in a fancy shape) that screws in properly to the fan AND the motherboard, so you have to look extremely close at the specs for what type of shape it has versus your motherboard. On top of that, you have to know how much room you have in your computer so that fan isn't too large, if it's too large, you can't close your computer anymore. I think anything CPU-related is way too complicated for a simple upgrade for most people. For changing RAM or graphics cards, all you have to do is pop them in (like a cartridge basically) and out, no screws, no paste, takes a few minutes.

The reason some people like to build their own computers is that they get an extremely powerful computer for a fraction of the cost of a store brand of similar power. It is also future-proof except for things like changing out your graphics card in a few years. You can also control how it looks (like if you want a mainly black computer with glowing red LEDs or something). People doing this usually require a crazy amount of power along with a proper cooling system, because they like to push their computer to the limit for gaming (overclocking). I think most people doing regular tasks such as checking email or using one "heavy" software at a time (like a 3D program) do not require anything near this level of "extra".

 

[Scarlet Illusion]

Wow! Thanks so much for the information, everyone! You're all so helpful!

To answer @MagicalMiku 's questions:
1.) I run on a Macbook Pro Mid-2012
2.) As for budget, I'm sorry, but I don't have. I should have thought about this before I posted this! orz
I'd prefer to keep it under $1000 (though under $700 would be better, but probably unrealistic).
3.)Despite it being a laptop, I only ever use it at home! I use laptop because I prefer to not be limited to one space when I'm working, so the portability of a laptop is preferable to desktop.
4.)I use both MacOS and Windows 10, but mainly MacOS. (I run Windows 10 through Parallels and on an HP laptop, switching between the two depending on what I need. I.e. Using SAI through parallels while more graphics intensive things such as MMD are run on my HP laptop.

Additional information:
I run on 64-bit OS for both Win and MacOS
Specs for MAc:
Intel Core i5 (2.5 GHz)
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
Memory: 4 GB
(I don't have the Windows laptop convenient right now, but I can check hardware specs if need be. Though, it has a horrible battery and can't charge past about 40%... it was a 2017 model and the battery wore out in nearly a year despite being lesser used. The Macbook on the other hand has great battery and overall runs better out of the two.)
My both laptops' hard drives are about 500GB with around ~60 GB remaining.
I also have 1TB USB hard drive that I can use.

Let me know if you need more information!

 

[MagicalMiku]

Thank you so much for all the detailed information! ^u^

ok so.. there are many things you can do

1) upgrade the RAM of your Macbook:
as you can see from this video, is not difficult to upgrade the RAM


I don't know if that model supports 16 GB, so it'd better to just buy a single stick of 8 GB of LPDDR3, like this:
http://amzn.com/B006YG8X9Y (price 37$)

you could also upgrde the HDD with a SSD, but there are 2 things to keep in mind: your Macbook only supports SATA SSD (slower than modern NVMe SSD), and the bottleneck is really the CPU Core i5 dual core 2.5 Ghz. so here we go to the next step

2) buy a new, mini PC

probably not many know that now you can buy a powerful mini PC that is more than capable to run any software you need. my personal recommendation goes with the Intel NUC 8i5BEH (price 469$):

http://amzn.com/B07GX59NY8

it's equipped with an Intel Core i5 8259U processor (4 core, 8 threads, TDP 28W, base clock 2.30 Ghz, Boost clock up to 3.80 Ghz), an Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655, Bluetooth 5.0 and Wifi. because is a barebone kit PC, you need to buy storage, RAM and the OS:
- Western Digital SSD NVMe 500GB (62$): http://amzn.com/B073SBX6TY
- (optional) internal Hard Drive Seagate 1 TB (44$): http://amzn.com/B07H28QRKN
- (optional) Logitech MK270 Keyboard Mouse wireless kit (25$):

http://amzn.com/B079JLY5M5

- 16 GB RAM Crucial DDR4 (59$): http://amzn.com/B019FRBHZ0
TOTAL: 590$

if you need a monitor, I recommend the Samsung 27" PLS (129$):

http://amzn.com/B07Y2RB6SV

here is a video about the Intel NUC, as you can see, you only need a screwdriver, and in 2 minutes you can install the RAM and the storage ^u^


3) buy a new laptop PC

in this case, I recommend the ASUS Vivobook S15 (599$):

Robot Check

+ it's portable
+ ASUS brand quality
+ Intel Core i5 quad core (4 core/8 threads) base clock 1.60 Ghz, Boost clock 3.90 Ghz
+ you don't need to buy a monitor
+ it already has RAM, SSD and Windows 10
- a bit less powerful than the Intel NUC (especially the graphics, but for MMD and video editing is still very very good)

I stayed in your budget, and I didn't post any "build-your-own-PC" configuration, because if you don't have any experience in building a PC, is better to choose a mini PC or a new notebook. In both cases, you'll have a huge upgrade compared to your Macbook mid-2012, you will really feel like a generational leap :)
hope it helped

 

[Scarlet Illusion]

Ooh! Thank you so much!

I really appreciate that you went through the extra work to share links to everything you mentioned and mention the hardware specs! Now I have some different options to look through. (This is gonna be fun!)

Thank you again!!

 

[MagicalMiku]

you're very welcome(●'◡'●)

 

[peaches2217]

Are those about the only options for people running an HP laptop? I just got this one under a year ago and all I want are more cores (mine's dual-core), so if I got a new one so fast my mom wouldn't let me live it down. A desktop isn't an option for me because I don't really have my own space, so I just go to McDonalds or anywhere with free wifi.

 

[uncreepy]

There are a lot of videos on YouTube about upgrading a laptop's CPU.

Here's one I grabbed:

He talks about the other parts you're seeing, too.

Normally, I would recommend watching multiple videos until it feels less intimidating. But upgrading a laptop actually seems more troublesome than a PC now that I've started researching. It reminds me of when I wanted to upgrade my store-bought PC, opened it up, and was horrified to find out it was blocked off with metal and literally impossible to access the motherboard. I found out that some laptops require you to basically take out all of the parts in order to get to the CPU. Once you get to it, sometimes it's soldered to the motherboard. Some companies lock the BIOS so it can literally only work with the CPU inside and won't recognize newer models.

I was going to suggest taking it to a computer repair shop to have them do it, but apparently some shops refuse laptops because of the reasons I listed above.

Upon further research, I found out that the cost of a new CPU for a laptop seems to be about twice as much as the CPU for a desktop (I paid less than $90 for mine), but "mobile CPUs" are shockingly twice as much, around the $200 range.

With all this trouble/surprisingly high cost, it makes getting a gaming laptop look really good. S: (As a personal side note, I have built a gaming PC for slightly over $500.)

I was thinking, maybe if you are dead set on getting Miku NT, you could just preorder her for safekeeping and attempt to use it on your current laptop and see how bad the performance actually is. (Or simply buy her later when you have a better laptop/more money.) Then you could just wait to use her for when you do have a more powerful laptop (her full version isn't going to be released until August anyway, that's 8 months to figure out about laptop buying/upgrading costs).

I feel bad for getting up your hopes about upgrading the laptop. But as I said, I'm a PC girl and didn't expect laptops to be so tricky/expensive. :( The expense might have to do with the fact that not many people upgrade laptop parts compared to PC gamers. (Supply and demand.)

 

[peaches2217]

Dammit. Nevertheless, thank you so much for your help! It's hard asking for help sometimes without being made to feel like an idiot so I especially appreciate your patience. My laptop's still under warranty, so maybe I could upgrade to a different model for a discount? I don't know if it works that way - it probably doesn't - but might be worth checking out...

 

[Scarlet Illusion]

Maybe you all could help me with this. I'm looking at a couple of different Macs for the purpose of running heavier software like V5 and Piapro NT, but I'm not sure which truly has the better hardware and would be a better buy. The Mac Mini is tempting to go for because the lower price, but I don't mind shelling out a bit more for a Macbook with better specs since I prefer the portability of laptop computers.

Macbook Pro 15 in. Retina

Display: 15.4-inch LED-backlit Retina display with IPS technology; 2880x1800 resolution

Processor: 2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz

(I'll be honest. I have no idea what the heck a "turbo boost is" or what the difference is between an i5 or i7 processor.)

Memory: 8.0GB PC3-12800 (1600MHz) DDR3L on-board memory

Storage: 512GB built-in Flash Storage

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M graphics with 1.0GB GDDR5 memory and Intel HD Graphics 4000 with 384MB DDR3 shared memory

Wireless: AirPort Extreme wireless card (802.11n)

Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.0

Mac Mini 2.5Ghz

Processor: 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz

Memory: 4.0GB (2x2.0GB) PC3-12800 (1600MHz) DDR3 SO-DIMM, supports up to 16.0GB

Storage: 500GB Serial ATA hard disk drive @ 5400RPM

Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000 graphics card with up to 1.0GB shared memory

Wireless: AirPort Extreme wireless card (802.11n)

Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.0

(Needs a monitor, but I would just end up getting the one MagicalMiku recommended to me.)

 

[uncreepy]

My verdict: Anything with the name "mini" in it is going to signal a weaker product when compared to a non-mini item.


Processor: Pro has 4 cores, Mini has 2 cores. You want more cores, because it means you can multi-task without lag.

Memory: DDR3 is a type of RAM stick, so if you were to upgrade by adding extra sticks, you would have to get DD3 and not DD4. Pro has twice as much as Mini. RAM affects overall system performance (the more RAM you have, the more programs you can run at once.)

Storage: They are about the same.

Graphics: Pro = NVIDIA is the standard for gaming/3D, it's a good graphics card brand. The Intel graphics card seems to be a budget line when compared to NVIDIA and AMD. I Googled about the Intel HD Graphics 4000 and it appears to have been discontinued as of December 2019, so that means that graphics card won't be supported with updates in the future, this is a red flag to me.

Wireless/Bluetooth: Same for both Mini and Pro.

 

[Scarlet Illusion]

Thank you, Uncreepy!!
(Good to know about Nvidia. Now I feel more confident in getting the Pro!!)