Dell Vostro 3750: Should I upgrade or buy a new computer?

I bought my Dell Vostro 3750 in 2011. Last year I upgraded RAM from 4GB to 8GB. I trying to figure out whether I should buy a new computer or further upgrade my current one. Here are some questions I have:

1) This is the CPU information. It says the max memory size is 16GB. I asked Dell last year. They said I can go up to 8GB. Can someone tell me if I can go up to 16GB or is 8GB the max?

2) I have been noticing the startup being a bit slow lately. I stopped all the unnecessary services from startup but still it takes somewhere between 2 to 4 mins to get everything loaded. Firefox takes almost 2 mins to load. I have 500GB 7200rpm drive. I am thinking of upgrading to SSD. Would it be better to upgrade to SSD or buy a new computer considering I purchased my laptop in 2011?

Other than this, I occasionally get BlueScreen issue. This usually happens if I start firing up applications when the window hasn't fully loaded all the background services.

 

1) Yes, it can go up to 16gb.
2) Yes, an SSD (even an inexpensive one) will make a big difference compared to an SSD.
3) For the BlueScreen issue, I suspect it's time to do a clean reinstall of Windows -- are you still running the original version from Dell, or have you done a reinstall since?

In terms of whether it's worth upgrading vs. replacing, which CPU is in there? Do you just run it for general use, or anything particularly demanding? If it's an i3 of that generation (or Pentium Dual core; can't remember if that model offered any below-i3 CPUs), it's probably pretty slow because of the lack of turbo; i5 or i7 should still be pretty decent still.

 

Given you have a quad core CPU I would suggest you get an SSD and do a clean installation of Windows (or load the factory image if you have one). Windows is likely to have collected a lot of excess baggage during 4 years of operation. The SSD can then be put into a new machine in a year or two should you decide to buy one.

However, a possible reason for buying a new machine is to get a better display. Displays with high viewing angles and high (1920 x 1080 or higher) resolution are now much more affordable and, if you currently have the 1600 x 900 panel reviewed here then the improvement in display quality would be very noticeable (provided you choose the right option).

John

 

Thanks for your replies.

Never thought of reinstalling. I will certainly consider doing this.

It is i7 quad-core with turbo boost up to 2.9 GHz. I think it's still pretty decent. I use applications such as Photoshop, run local development environment, IDEs and things like that. I use it mainly as a desktop replacement and this machine has served well for me most of the time.

Are there any compatibility issues with SSD for my Dell model that I need to be concerned about? Can you recommend some good SSDs?

Yes. It's 1600 x 900. I'm certainly feeling a need for a higher resolution. I might also consider getting a second monitor. I use it as a desktop replacement anyway.

 

1. You will need a 2.5" SATA SSD which will be a simple replacement for the 2.5" HDD. People tend to have strong opinions about the merits and demerits of various SSDs (see this sub-forum). I've got both Samsung and Crucial SSDs and people speak well of some of the Sandisk products. Just don't skimp on size and get a minimum of 500GB. Leave at least 10% unpartitioned to give the SSD more space for garbage management and wear levelling and it should be obsolete before it is worn out.

2. FHD IPS monitors are now reasonably priced. If you are thinking of even higher resolution then you will need to research the limits on the GPU and the video port.

John

 

Given the processor (missed your link, sorry!) I'd strongly recommend it. Odds are with a clean install of Windows and an SSD, it will feel like a new machine even if you don't upgrade the memory; going to 16GB can't hurt but I suspect the clean Windows install and SSD will make a much bigger difference.

Any 2.5" SATA drive should work, I don't think there are any SATA-II only drives left on the market, but your machine is new enough to have SATA-III ports, and honestly the speed difference was already mostly relevant to benchmarkers than in day to day use. At this point with current models all but the very worst models will be fast enough that you won't be able to tell the difference if not benchmarking.

As John Ratsey already said, there are plenty of religious debates about SSD models, and for the most part they are exactly that. I'd second his advice about not going cheap on size (although there are still some good 480GB drives, and I'd call that close enough to 500gb to consider the same size class), although I wouldn't bother with the unpartitioned space -- unused space within the partition is good enough, and even kept mostly full unless you have a workload that overwrites a substantial part of the drive every day, the wear leveling will keep the drive running well past obsolescence.

Keeping a good cushion of unused space (unpartitioned) IS valuable for performance consistency as otherwise heavy writes can get backed up, and performance suffers pretty badly when they do.

A better screen is one of the big reasons to upgrade, although there don't seem to be a lot of good, affordable 17" models around at least in the business space any longer.

 

I am trying to figure out the max resolution supported by my GPU. The GPU is Nvidia® Geforce™ GT 525M ,1GB. Through the Nvidia Control Panel and from Windows resolution settings in Control Panel, it shows only 1600 x 900 max. So if I buy a new monitor that supports 1920 x 1080, will it still adjust to 1600 x 900? If it does, then there seems no point going higher unless I am missing something here?

 

The graphics control panel on your computer will normally only show the resolutions supported by the connected display hardware. However, there should be a box to tick to show unsupported resolutions but that might show more than the GPU can actually support.

Notebookcheck's benchmark results for this GPU include some for 1920 x 1080 so that is definitely a usable resolution.

John

 

You have an HDMI 1.4a port so you should be able to connect to a 2560x1440 at 60 hz, 3440x1440 @ 50hz or 3840x2160 @ 30hz - your GPU will be fine at these resolutions for productivity/web apps. Since you have an i7 quad core, you will not see much of a cpu performance boost with a new system. Some reasons to upgrade:

1. Battery life
2. GPU performance
3. Smaller form factor/lighter (i.e. going to a 14" 15" etc)

You do have a sata 3 connection on your hard drive so you will greatly benefit from upgrading to an SSD: (your current system + SSD ) > (new system without SSD.....). 480 - 512 GB ssds can be found in the $100 - $130 range on sale. 240 - 256 GB in the $60 range.

 

With a new 512GB Samsung 850 Pro SSD, my laptop has been performing blazing fast as compared to the previous HDD.