Soon I will go to university to study computer science and I would like to ask if it is more worth upgrading my laptop or buying a new one.
I would like to use my laptop for 3 things. 1.) For studying (Word, Excel, etc.) 2.) For programming (i.e. Not very graphically complex things, no dedicated GPU) 3.) For music production (CPU intensive).
It is important to me that e.g. Windows Explorer is fast and generally the loading times are not long. Fast, but doesn't have to be the fastest.
My current laptop has an Intel i5-3230M CPU with 4GB Ram and 512GB HDD. No dedicated graphics card. The RAM can be upgraded to 8 GB and the hard drive (e.g. Replacement with an SSD).
Should I upgrade my laptop (8GB RAM and change to SSD) and set it up again, or should I rather invest the money in a new laptop (e.g. From HP). 900 euro are my absolute pain threshold.
I know that there's not such a large intersection of price and performance in my requirements. But maybe you would have a laptop suggestion if you think I should get a new one.
I would have an eye on the Lenovo IdeaPad C340 with i5 and 1TB SSD. Would that be a good alternative?
If you want to upgrade a laptop, then you can only change the memory. There's a possibility to make decent music with weak pcs, that means take an instrument and create a loop that you save as a wav file, then insert it again. So the whole tone generator process is bypassed. In answer to your question, you need to know that you get decent processors for 900, but if you don't mind that you have to save every second pattern as an audio file, you could stay with the old one. I would inquire about eBay classifieds, you might find a bargain. And always make sure that the processor is good if the single core performance is good, rather means prefer Intel processors. And don't get ripped off
Normally, you can actually upgrade the CPU (since the 3230 usually sits on a G2 socket) to one
i7-3840QM 4 cores 8 threads.
i7-3940XM 4 cores 8 threads.
Or on one
i5-3380m.
You have to know for yourself whether that's worth it.
Well, you can only upgrade a laptop with memory.
For 500 euro you get enough power, upgrading your mill doesn't bring you anything at all.
