[Don_S]

I just ordered a new office mini computer.  Intel i3 chip in a computer about 7"x7"x1.3".  It comes with W7-Pro installed and a license for W10-Pro. 

I was reluctant to upgrade my existing W7 computer because I was afraid of problems and lost data.  Starting with a clean computer it is a different situation.  I would update to W10-Pro before I loaded my documents and photographs onto the new computer.

Pros and cons of upgrading? Any issues transferring W7 computer files to the W10?  I would use an external drive to make the transfer.

 I can't think of anything W7 won't do that I need but somewhere along the line I assume I will have to go W10. My monitor is not touch screen and I doubt I would go that way.  My arms are much too short.

I am asking because that is how I learn.  Maybe I am missing something important. 

Any comments on the i3 CPU?  I really wanted to go to an i5 but the 50% off deal on WOOT was just too good to pass up. I only surf and do word processing.  No gaming or heavy streaming. But I do like to use IE, Firefox and Fidelity Active Trader Pro simultaneously.  Will an i3 handle that?  My current computer has an Intel i7 CPU.

Thanks for any help.

[FullRangeMan]

Data lost not a prob if do a external backup before the migration, now my fear is software lost or left behind.

[srb]

Pros and cons of upgrading?

The problems I've encountered mostly have to do with automatically installed Windows 10 drivers not working properly or limiting some functionality.  Most were associated with Display Adapters and Network Adapters (wired and wireless).  Go into Device Manager and make some screen prints of those driver versions.  Check the manufacturer's website for your model and see if you can download any Windows 10 drivers for these devices to a USB flash drive.

With a properly working display and network connection, you can download any other manufacture specific drivers if you need them after upgrading.

Windows Media Center will be removed during the upgrade.

Any issues transferring W7 computer files to the W10?

No.

I only surf and do word processing.  No gaming or heavy streaming. But I do like to use IE, Firefox and Fidelity Active Trader Pro simultaneously.  Will an i3 handle that?

There are so many processor models, and there is overlap in performance.  There are some i3 models that have better performance than some i5 models (and vice versa, some i5 models that are poorer performing than some i3 models).  For what you want to do, you'll probably be fine.  Although some processors perform better at certain types of tasks, for overall general performance comparisons you can look up your processors on PassMark CPU Benchmarks.

For running multiple applications system memory is often more important than CPU speed.

Steve

[Don_S]

Thanks Steve,

I looked up my CPU but don't really know how to interpret the numbers and translate them into performance for the tasks I need.  I just realized- my existing computer is a quad-core 3.4GHz i7-3770.  Quite a bit different from the new computer.

Here is the beast I ordered for $299.99.

HP ProDesk 600-G1 Mini Desktop, Intel Core i3-4160T Dual-Core 3.1GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB SATA, 802.11n, Win7Pro  3MB Cache  4GB memory – supports up to 16GB (2 slots)

[Doublej]

Looks like a big step backwards in processing power according to the Passmark data on each. If I were a trader I would not go cheap on the computer.


I'd go W10. Why start out with a 7 year old OS? I believe Microsoft has a data migration tool that will move your data from one machine to another. I had no issues with data migration from W7 to W10 but always make a backup to be safe.

[srb]

Here is a comparison between the i3-4160T and the i7-3770:
http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/509/Intel_Core_i3_i3-4160T_vs_Intel_Core_i7_i7-3770.html#benchN

More cores usually translates into better multiple application performance and more software is able to or will be able to take advantage of multithreading.  That combined with more than 2X on-chip cache and an ~ 25% higher operating frequency, there's no doubt your i7 is faster than that particular next gen i3.

But for real world performance with that particular combination of software, you'll have to see how close it can come.  Does the i7 computer have more RAM?  If you're able to compare to the i7 computer once you're up and running, I'm always interested in hearing comments.

Steve

[WGH]

Windows 10 pros - 5 GB free cloud storage with One Drive, perfect for off-site backup. Windows 10 is quicker, looks like a lot of code optimization happened in 7 years.

Windows 7 cons - even though W7 is perfectly serviceable, if the OS got so corrupted you need to do a clean install (it happens) you are looking at days and days of updates (7 years worth) until the OS is secure.

Wayne

[dflee]

I just recently had to go with W10 pro to support work software and while it has taken a while to get used to it, I'm ok with it.
Wish I knew more about this whole thing better though. Lot different than W7 but I do think it is better.

Don

[Don_S]

Thanks to everyone for the responses. Steve, thanks especially for the comparison information.  That is enlightening although, as you mentioned, real world performance is still a guess. 

What is a "thread"?  I noticed the two CPUs could each handle two threads/core. Would IE be one thread while Firefox operated on a second thread?

This $300 computer is somewhat of a trial balloon. I am trying to reduce the computer footprint in the office space I carved in my dining area but do it affordably.  I moved out of my bedroom office because it was too isolated and far from my music.  View outside is also much better in the new location. If the new computer does not work out I will purchase a more powerful one but wait a couple of years until my current desktop gets more dated. As you can see from the CPU comparisons it is a powerful computer. I can live with it in its current location.

My backup desktop and laptop are both ancient XPs and such slugs they are essentially useless. So the second part of my plan was to replace the backup desktop either with my current i7 computer or the new mini computer if it does not perform adequately as a main computer.

[srb]

A thread of execution is the smallest unit of instructions in a process.  Multiple threads are generally more efficient than multiple processes because threads share memory and processes do not.

But the software has to be written to take advantage of multi-threading.  I haven't kept up with technical programming of features with browsers, but for example Firefox implemented multi-threading for tabs while Chrome implemented multi-processes for tabs (don't know if that's still true), so Firefox was more efficient in memory usage when handling multiple tabs.

As mentioned, as software development progresses, multi-threading will become more prevalent.

BTW, i like the HP minis.  I was looking at a 600 G2 Mini with i5-6500T, 8GB and 256GB SSD for ~ $700.  They all have integrated graphics so they're not meant for video intensive applications, but other than that are beautiful little all-purpose machines.  I also like that they come with a Windows Pro license and 3-year onsite warranty.

They come with Windows 7, not because the hardware is old, but because business IT departments are still more likely to go with Windows 7 - for now.

Steve

[Don_S]

Steve,

Thanks for the education.  I like the concept of the minis and would have gone for an i5 CPU but they start at $600 and the value was not there for me considering the computer I already have. If my existing computer was closer to retirement and had not cost so much I would have gone i5.

[charmerci]

My backup desktop and laptop are both ancient XPs and such slugs they are essentially useless. So the second part of my plan was to replace the backup desktop either with my current i7 computer or the new mini computer if it does not perform adequately as a main computer.

It sounds like your XP machines are just filled with cookies, maybe too many virus checkers(?), software conflicts, data scattered all over the HD, etc.

The nice thing I just found out about W10 is that I don't need to run chkdsk, etc.

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/automatic-maintenance-windows-8

[Don_S]

I have Norton Security on both machines and they let me know when I need to run updates and cleaning.  Updating is not automatic but I never ignore the prompts.  My XP desktop won't even open Yahoo now.  It is 10 years old and dated for what it can run.  I have no desire to try to resurrect it.

[srb]

It sounds like your XP machines are just filled with cookies, maybe too many virus checkers(?), software conflicts, data scattered all over the HD, etc.

The fact that XP reached EOL and no security fixes were issued after April 8, 2014 is good enough reason to retire them.

While cookies, temporary files and malware can certainly bring computers to their knees, I also have come across XP machines with only 256MB or 512MB of RAM, that while they ran 'OK' with XP Service Packs 1 or 2, were rendered nearly useless (Hello Flashlight!) after Service Pack 3 was installed and then needed 1GB RAM to survive.

Steve

[Don_S]

I added RAM up to the max for both the desktop and laptop.  I don't remember what the max was but it was fairly pathetic compared to even the most basic new computer.