Could someone advise on a new PC please

[blondie606]

HI all

I'm a complete numpty in this area...I don't really understand computers but think ( & have een told by an IT guy ) that I may need to sort a new one . I curently have an iextreme packard bell i6523 which has been running great but recently , whilst batch processing some photo's I got an error meesage " AMD processor has stopped / stalled " & cs6 shut down along with the web. Started up again fine but happened twice more .Apparently I'm asking it to more than it was intended to do. I've got a care policy on it through PC world & they suggested it may just need a firmware update on the AMD thing ? I've taken most of the phot'os off it & store them on 2 WD Hard drives now & work from them when processing shots to see if that helps but it played up again last night . Dunno if it helps but spec is : windows 7 home premium, ,Intercorei5 ,ATi Raedeon HD5450512mb , 500gb hard drive & 3GB DDR3 memory..... none of which means anything to me Oh ,& I keep getting a message that says " high memory usage by photoshop " I run Norton 360 which seems fairly good , though did run malwarebytes through it a while back to sort another problem.....

So had a read through various posts on here & found this spec in another thread ( apologies for lifting it
Case
FRACTAL DESIGN CORE 1000 BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4440 (3.1GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® H81M-PLUS: Micro-ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st Hard Disk
500GB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 16MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days


I spoke with PC Specialist but as I'm not computer savvy I wondered if you guy's n gal's could advise me.....

I only use the pc for web browsing & photo's ( CS 6 & elements plus a couple of downloads like Photomatix , neat image ,Norton 360 etc) I have Office 2010 which rarely gets used but come in handy . I don't do gaming , don't stream anything , occasionally use itunes . File sizes are quite big D7000 around 19mb RAW but can batch process around 100 shots at a time...downsizing them & watermarking them for my website . I have a screen & keyboard , the tower doesn't need to be pretty just functional .Would the above spec be suitable/sufficient for what I do or could you recommend a different/better spec . Budget around £500


Also....the programmes I have at the moment...an I just re-install them on a new pc or do I have to buy them again ?

Apologies for the length of this post but buying a new pc is quite scary when I don't really know what I'm doing

thanks in advance for any help you can give

Cheers
Lynne

 

[Neilc28]

Lynne, judging by what you do I wouldn't condemn your PC just yet, maybe restore it back to factory and see how it performs. Advice from PC World with their support should be taken with a pinch of salt unfortunately bit like apple "Geniuses". Maybe one of the guys or gals on here is local and may be able to assist?

 

[Flightphoto]

As Neil has said, judging by your use I wouldn't really think about an upgrade unless you fancy it. Judging by the AMD error that will be your GPU playing about, possibly running too hot and if your pc hasn't had a fresh install since you bought it then I would advise to do so. Take a look inside the case and see if anything's clogged with dust which will cause your PC to overheat etc. Again, take PCWorld's advice with a pinch of salt, I've heard some hilarious things stated in the past, checkout my currys Knowhow thread with regards to their intelligence

 

[blondie606]

@Neilc28 thanks for that....but it leads to yet more questions.....

@Flightphoto cheers for the info but as above...has created more questions....

If I restore it to factory settings do I
A) need to do some sort of back up for the programmes I have on it currently ?

B) if the answer to A is Yes....how do I do that ?

c) What is a fresh install ?

Did I mention I know nothing about computer's? I'll have a look at taking the case off....which could of course go horribly wrong :-(

& I'll ignore PC world unless it all goes totally pete tong then they can have it back & sort under the insurance policy

 

[Flightphoto]

If you're anywhere near hampshire ill fix it for free

Basically what I'm trying to say is imagine driving your car over 100,000 miles, with the same oil since it left the factory, over time it will degrade and alter the performance of the car.....

If you restore it to factory settings (providing that there is a recovery installer) then yes, windows will remove all of your software which I hope you have on disc?

 

[blondie606]

Thanks kindly for the offer Dave but I'm in South Yorkshire......

Get what you're saying , I think Elements & Office are both downloaded straight from the relevant websites , had the disc's originally but when I renewed it was just done on line . The other programmes I use are also downloads I think....Neat Image , photomatix etc...the only one that could prove problematic is CS6.....no prizes for guessing why

I think I've seen something somewhere on the puter that says to restore factory settings......I'll look again & see what I can find...if you don;t hear from me again you know it's gone pear shaped

 

[Flightphoto]

Don't worry, although some believe it, you can't break a computer through software* (the reason I put an asterisk is because if you're capable of doing a software overclock etc then that is possible) but yes, just look out for the software that is available online, backup anything important and source an install disc for CS6 if possible, failing that, there is eBay etc!

 

[posiview]

Just buy a new one

Mine sounds like it's got a herd of horses inside, makes a right racket.

I've had a Apple MacBook Pro in my vertical basket every night for the last week. Just can't press the buy button, though, as there might be a new in out soon

Cheers and hope you get it fixed.