question New Computer

[LunarMist]

What is the best CPU/mainboard that I can get in 2017 that will still work with Windows 7 or maybe 8.1? It should be significantly faster than the old 5930K @4.4GHz, especially on a single thread.
My goal is to have the main computer (and NADS) normally disconnected from the internet. After installation and any software activation I would not be using any subscription-based programs.
What do you think?

 

[sdbardwick]

What is the best CPU/mainboard that I can get in 2017 that will still work with Windows 7 or maybe 8.1? It should be significantly faster than the old 5930K @4.4GHz, especially on a single thread.

No current equipment meets your requirements.

 

[LunarMist]

Please elaborate. Is it the MS requiring 10?

 

[sdbardwick]

Ironically, your problem is that you already have a very fast system. Intel's focus has been on power efficiency and increasing core count for the same power envelope rather than single thread (or even per-core) performance. Your Haswell-E system might be marginally slower than a Broadwell-E, but not significantly. The newer processors offer little in instruction-per-clock gains. (Plus, if your applications happen to be memory bandwidth limited, the Haswell-E and Broadwell-E on 4 channel DDR4 wipe the floor with any newer, but dual channel, consumer processors.)

If your applications are able to use the additional cores of the newer processors, then you might find gains. But single-threaded performance is not significantly better on newer processors in my view (I think significant means more than 25% improvement).

 

[ddrueding]

Indeed. Your current machine is close to current top-of-the-line machines. There is little for you to gain by upgrading your CPU. It might be best to focus on improving the storage subsystem, graphics card, or memory.

 

[LunarMist]

Thanks. So in 2017 there is less than 25% improvement over 2014? That rather sucks. When is the next 6-core CPU/chipset due?
I'm already questioning the need for 6 cores as they were only being marginally better than 4and harder to O/C. I'm not interested in 8 cores going forward.
Mainly the X99 platform had more PCIe lanes (good for M.2, 10GbE, RAID cards, etc.) and memory support at the time. Realistically I found no improvement with the 64GB over 32, but I would always want the higher bandwidth board and greater memory support.

 

[LunarMist]

Indeed. Your current machine is close to current top-of-the-line machines. There is little for you to gain by upgrading your CPU. It might be best to focus on improving the storage subsystem, graphics card, or memory.

I see you still have a 5930K as Work 1. Are the Home 1 and Home 2 no faster, or only due to the O/C? I'm not into the liquid coolers due to potential leakage concerns.

 

[ddrueding]

Yup. Processors simply aren't a thing that is moving significantly at the moment. Hopefully AMD will put up enough of a fight for Intel to step it up a notch. In general you are interested in the high-end desktop CPUs that are based on the server CPUs, rather than the mid-range desktop CPUs. Intel has not yet released their high-end, server-derived desktop CPUs for the current generation. I suspect you'll want the desktop version of the Intel Xeon E3-1280v6. Which hasn't even been announced yet. If you needed a CPU right now, it would be the i7-7700k.

And seriously consider moving to Windows 10. Right now running Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 is a lot like living in a rent-controlled apartment when the landlord wants you gone. Sure you can tough it out through increasingly difficult circumstances and occasionally shout "I know my rights!", but you have no rights, and your life will be better once you move on.

 

[LunarMist]

I just received the new laptop and don't like the W10 at all, but it might be improved with Classic Shell or other tools.
The Officer 365 has become abominable and I'd probably use Open Office or something.
For now I suppose it is best to just keep going with the current system and focus on the monitor and NAS in 2017.
Perhaps there will be a better CPU in 2018.

 

[CougTek]

The Officer 365 has become abominable and I'd probably use Open Office or something.

You'll forget about OpenOffice and opt for LibreOffice. However, you'll skip version 5.3.2 as it is slow as shit. Version 5.3.1 in 64 bit currently is the version of choice.

 

[LunarMist]

You'll forget about OpenOffice and opt for LibreOffice. However, you'll skip version 5.3.2 as it is slow as shit. Version 5.3.1 in 64 bit currently is the version of choice.

The website doesn't seem to work. When I click on the Download for 5.3.1 it goes to another page for a fraction of a second and then to a 404 page.

 

[CougTek]

Also, you'll probably have to wait until 2019 for the next big thing in CPU architecture. For the remaining of the year and all of 2018, there will only be refinements of what currently exits for consumer CPU models. For servers, that's a completly different story with Skylake-EP and Naples.

 

[CougTek]

The website doesn't seem to work. When I click on the Download for 5.3.1 it goes to another page for a fraction of a second and then to a 404 page.

Sorry, they seem to have remove the link. Go for version 5.2.6 instead.

 

[LunarMist]

Thanks. I rejected the sever hardware years ago as they are costly and don't fit my single-user needs.

 

[LunarMist]

https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download/?type=win-x86_64&version=5.3.1&lang=en

it goes to a page http://donate.libreoffice.org/home/dl/win-x86_64/5.3.1/en-US/LibreOffice_5.3.1_Win_x64.msi and then a 404.

 

[CougTek]

LibreOffice 5.3.1 64-bit.

 

[LunarMist]

LibreOffice 5.3.1 64-bit.

Great. I'm in the midst of a horrific 8TB Seagate Archive drive sync, but will play with the LibreOffice after returning from the Midwest.

 

[LunarMist]

What is the feeling on an NUC? Maybe I could buy one and just use it for the internet.

 

[CougTek]

What is the feeling on an NUC?

It's quite soft and can be somewhat warm on the top after running for a few hours.

 

[LunarMist]

It's quite soft and can be somewhat warm on the top after running for a few hours.

I'm not planning to play video, but I figured why not pick the i7. For basic internet use does it really get that hot? Indoor temp never exceeds 25°C and is usually 22°C.

 

[LunarMist]

And seriously consider moving to Windows 10. Right now running Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 is a lot like living in a rent-controlled apartment when the landlord wants you gone. Sure you can tough it out through increasingly difficult circumstances and occasionally shout "I know my rights!", but you have no rights, and your life will be better once you move on.

Obviously new hardware will require W10, but there is no point in that until necessary when it is worth building the next hexacore system.
It is my understanding that 10 does not require internet after activation, so it is viable.

I seriously dislike the current Office and Adobe independently of the subscription issues, so it would be doubly stupid to subject the computer to the internet and also use such software. :lol:
The main thing is to go offline, regardless of the OS. I have scarcely 9 weeks left.

 

[time]

I have scarcely 9 weeks left.

... before the discount coupon expires.
... before the divorce settlement is due.
... before I leave my job.
... before I leave the country.
... before I leave Earth's gravitational field for a 6-month stint on the space station.
... before my bankruptcy hearing.
... before the arrest warrant is issued for non-payment of fines.
... before my sentencing hearing.
... before I have to leave the Ecuadorian embassy.
... before my brain surgery.
... before I donate my brain to Science.
... before I receive an upgrade to my cybernetic cranial implant.
... ???

 

[LunarMist]

... before the discount coupon expires.
... before the divorce settlement is due.
... before I leave my job.
... before I leave the country.
... before I leave Earth's gravitational field for a 6-month stint on the space station.
... before my bankruptcy hearing.
... before the arrest warrant is issued for non-payment of fines.
... before my sentencing hearing.
... before I have to leave the Ecuadorian embassy.
... before my brain surgery.
... before I donate my brain to Science.
... before I receive an upgrade to my cybernetic cranial implant.
... ???

It is the end of Q2, not to say that none of the others could apply.
The scans did not reveal anything abnormal about the brain.

 

[sechs]

The Officer 365 has become abominable and I'd probably use Open Office or something.

Still using Office 2007. For a single user, there have been no major improvements since then.

 

[LunarMist]

Still using Office 2007. For a single user, there have been no major improvements since then.

It sure was better then. I wish I had purchased some 2007 or 2010 discs before the download model.

 

[CougTek]

The scans did not reveal anything abnormal about the brain.

Still, your brain is abnormal enough to warrant a scan. This isn't common.

 

[LunarMist]

Still, your brain is abnormal enough to warrant a scan. This isn't common.

Every scan has been normal. I don't think any more will be covered unless something happens.

 

[sechs]

It sure was better then. I wish I had purchased some 2007 or 2010 discs before the download model.

I don't have disks; just a key.

And, better yet, I still get updates from Microsoft, delivered right through Windows Update.

 

[LunarMist]

I don't have disks; just a key.

And, better yet, I still get updates from Microsoft, delivered right through Windows Update.

I see some older ones like that online, but am leery of any downloads.

 

[LunarMist]

It's quite soft and can be somewhat warm on the top after running for a few hours.

Well I have one on the way. I'm hoping to move my old 7 installation to it on Sundays.
If I like it I may buy another NUC for Windows 10 in July.
It looks like they all have DPP and HDMI of some sort.

 

[LunarMist]

Well I have one on the way. I'm hoping to move my old 7 installation to it on Sundays.
If I like it I may buy another NUC for Windows 10 in July.
It looks like they all have DPP and HDMI of some sort.

The NUC seems to work. There is some fan noise that becomes loud under load and I have not connected the NADS yet.
However, the main issue now is that I can't figure out an easy way to turn it on without the power button.
I expected to be able to set the power off resume state to ON and then power it up with remote AC control.
There is no video (only black) after it presumably boots.

 

[time]

IMO, an i7 is not suited to the NUC format if you're actually going to load the CPU rather than just type memos. The teeny tiny fan just isn't up to it and certainly isn't user-friendly.

A colleague had the misfortune of being issued with a Dell version. Every time he launched Visual Studio, it was like a banshee wailing. The stuttering made me wonder if there was aggressive thermal throttling happening.

 

[LunarMist]

IMO, an i7 is not suited to the NUC format if you're actually going to load the CPU rather than just type memos. The teeny tiny fan just isn't up to it and certainly isn't user-friendly.

A colleague had the misfortune of being issued with a Dell version. Every time he launched Visual Studio, it was like a banshee wailing. The stuttering made me wonder if there was aggressive thermal throttling happening.

The CPU operates at 45-48ºC on idle to low use and reaches up to 100°C under the burning load. It ranges from 80-85°C at 100% load on the more mundane tasks like file compression or backups.
In practice the fan is either medium or high speed. The noise over 65 is worse than I expected.

 

[Stereodude]

The CPU operates at 45-48ºC on idle to low use and reaches up to 100°C under the burning load. It ranges from 80-85°C at 100% load on the more mundane tasks like file compression or backups.
In practice the fan is either medium or high speed. The noise over 65 is worse than I expected.

Seems like you might be interested in this: http://www.pcmag.com/news/353469/akasa-will-silently-cool-a-core-i7-nuc-for-200

 

[LunarMist]

Seems like you might be interested in this: http://www.pcmag.com/news/353469/akasa-will-silently-cool-a-core-i7-nuc-for-200

That looks like it is for W10 versions, but I don't know the mechanical differences from the older NUC I bought.

 

[Stereodude]

That looks like it is for W10 versions, but I don't know the mechanical differences from the older NUC I bought.

Well, which i7 NUC did you buy?

 

[LunarMist]

5i7RYH.

 

[Stereodude]

I don't think you have any off the shelf passive options for a Broadwell i7 version. The i5 was as high as they supported.

 

[LunarMist]

Naturally I picked the odd one. :lol:
Power control works with the mini DP so I may be able to stack it in the corner.

 

[LunarMist]

I will order the P1000 this week depending on the Boston-Miami incident.
I would be able to use the video card for a couple of years in a different computer with updates, right?