In support of computer upgrades

A few days ago I was going back and forth trying to decide if I should drop several thousand a new top of the line computer, buy a cheap little thing to bide my time a bit, or spend a bit of money on upgrades.

I went the upgrade route for a few reasons:

1. I have the skills
2. I had multiple computers which would benefit
3. It would be on par with the cheap computer solution ($725 vs $699 for the cheapy PC)

Though, I was concerned that I would have buyers remorse over the upgrade path regardless of the cost.

#1 is pretty simple. I've been building computers for a long time. I know I can do it. While I don't think that the physical part of most computer upgrades is all that challenging. If you're not comfortable with it, it may still be best to buy a new one, or pay/find someone to do the upgrading for you.

The next point is also particularly relevant in this case. I have a little home server, an older gaming desktop and a new gaming desktop. My biggest objective was to update my server. It had a dinky little Ryzen 3200G in it and it was fine when it was JUST a file server. But, I got Docker on it and got carried away and now it is my file server, smart home, email server, reverse proxy, source control system and plex box. And while none of this should have been too taxing on the system, the response was slow and the temps on the box were creeping up. I don't mind it doing more than one thing, but the file server is the most important function. So, stressing the machine is off the table.

My old gaming desktop also had a Ryzen 1700X and a 3GB 1060. The video card is a bit low on the memory side of things, but is actually not a half bad card. And anything on the market with a better card is quite expensive at the moment. Not to mention that the cards themselves are quite expensive when you can even get one.

The newer gaming desktop really only had one major flaw. A single stick of RAM.

The plan with the upgrade route was to buy a newer Ryzen chip compatible with my motherboard to keep my OEM license of Windows running. Up the RAM to 32GB. Then buy some fans for the newer gaming PC, freeing up an extra one in the process for the server. Lastly, the RAM from the older gaming rig would go into the server so both would have 32GB and the extra fan from that box would go to the newer gaming rig. Because more fans is always good.

Basically, upgrade the newer computers and use the spare parts to upgrade the server. 

It didn't quite work as planned. Firstly, the one absolute positive; the CPU went on sale before I picked it up and saved almost $100, making the upgrades even cheaper than the cheap computer option. 

And ultimately even the mistakes ended up working out better. You see, I had forgotten that my server motherboard only had 2 RAM slots and the fans I bought wouldn't fit in the newer gaming rig. So, I couldn't put the 32GB in the server which I had wanted and I couldn't put the fans where I had planned either. Also, I almost didn't have the mounting hardware for the new CPU.

The CPU was the first thing I tried to tackle. I guess the mounting hardware would have been with the MOBO, but this was a prebuilt and I guess I didn't keep the extra hardware from my custom build. As luck would have it though, I had upgraded the newer gaming desktop to a liquid cooler a few months back. That cooler used the same mounting as my new one, but the liquid cooler did not. so I had the mounts I needed kicking around in with that hardware. Got that in with the new 32GB of RAM and fired it up.

On paper, the upgrades shouldn't have made much difference. The 16GB I had in there before was more than enough for the OS and gaming and the newer RAM wasn't anything special. I was already running dual channel as well. And the CPU was literally just a newer version of the exact same one. But, I can tell it is different even just in a browser. Things are instant in a way I hadn't noticed that they weren't in the past. Feeling OK at this point. But, most of my server upgrades look like they are flying out the window. 

So, I move onto the server and put my 1700X in it. Lament the RAM mistake and just fire it up. With the new processor, the load is lower and the fan was better so it is quieter and cooler and HOLY SH** IT GOT FAST. It is running OMV which is pretty bare bones and the system has no video card, but I measure performance based on how fast it loads the web sites I'm running from there. And it is VERY noticeable. I'm starting to think "OK, this really was worth it just to get a better CPU in there". 

The remorse is pretty much gone by this point. Even though I had a pair of extra RAM sticks and seemingly orphaned fans I'm already feeling like it was worthwhile. I mean, I wasn't even sure I needed 32GB, though I had wanted to migrate my SQL DB and some other services on to that box and figured that would push the RAM usage closer than I'd like. But, it would probably still be fine. 

However, while I was in there I noticed a few things. I had originally mounted the PSU upside down and it was venting into the case rather than out. Another thing I could change for free which should improve temperatures and life of the system. I also noticed that I had an extra SATA power cable which is what I needed to power the controller for the new fans. And the 120mm fans were what both mount points in that case used.

Around the same time I had another idea. This is a headless server. It needs volume of RAM more than speed. So, I could mix the 16GB from the newer gaming computer with 1of the slower sticks I have and let the BIOS choose a safe speed and then take the 2 faster sticks and put them in the newer gaming PC. The RAM would now be slower (3200 vs 3000)... but now it should be able to run dual channel, and so, paradoxically, the slower RAM should actually be faster.

Have I mentioned that I hate how OEMs love to put a single stick of RAM in systems? 

Presto! The server is up to 24GB of RAM. Not quite the 32GB I had envisioned. But, for my modest home server needs, 24GB should be a comfortable amount for the foreseeable future.

To top it all off, my main PC, the one with the new 3700X, has space and power for the fan that came out of the server. I'll never shun more cooling. And now I've made use of all of the new parts. And all three computers are better off. And the two which needed the upgrades are pleasantly faster. AND, I have a 3200G and 8GB of RAM. Sometime down the road, I could cobble together a cheapy machine for under $200 if I still find a need one.

Now, some of this is just fortuitous dumb luck. Especially that the newer gaming PC worked at all with the RAM I dropped in there without any research using the XMP settings. As I said though, I was honestly happy with everything once I saw the performance gains on the server and the older desktop. I knew I would find a way to get the fans working in there as well. So, all of the new components would have gotten used. It is just a bonus that I was able to somewhat salvage my RAM increase plans AND upgrade the newer PC at the same time.

I think this is also in support of custom builds over OEM builds. And Linux. Really, the biggest problem aside from AMD motherboards and their sketchy RAM support was that I needed to make sure none of my upgrades would invalidate my Windows licenses. Had I custom built and bought a consumer Windows license I would have ways around this. And OS licensing would be a non-issue with Linux.