NEW PC/MAC

You could just upgrade your CPU, add more RAM, and upgrade windows. A lot cheaper than a whole new computer.

You said you don't want to spend a lot on new software (understandable), but do you have a hardware budget? That's obviously a major factor in potential choices/suggestions. Desktop or laptop?

If laptop, the *only* reason I'd even consider looking Apple's way given what you said is that they have an announcement next week that's likely MacBook centric, and seems likely to include models using the next gen M1 chip with higher performance. The 1st gen M1 has gotten rave reviews for price/performance.

Otherwise, we're just over a month out from Black Friday deals so I'd hold on for deals from the usual suspects then.

I would rather not get a laptop but if the deal is right then I won't pass it up for sure.
I am currently using a laptop which is fine but it is old. One day it will go out, probably soon.

Budget is probably between $800-$1200 for just the desktop. I really don't know where to start now. Like I said it's been a long time since I've looking into computers.

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use my PC for AutoCAD

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My understanding is that the Apple version of this is limited compared to the Windows version. You may want to read a bit about that before even considering anything they make- if an essential feature you need is missing, it will be out altogether. If you can get by with it, for desktops, the Mac Mini is a decent enough value.

As said below, there is a new event upcoming just next week. They typically don’t slash prices on products they don’t update but very rarely do at these. The looming upgrade is an “m1x” chip with “double the graphics performance” from what I gather. Which devices it will be put into is anyone’s guess, but their lineup is essentially unified performance across devices with an m1 chip (there is basically no performance difference between the two desktops or two laptops. You’re buying the form you want it in). The newer chip, if that’s what is being announced, could possibly help depending on which GPU you actually have, but you’ll have to deal with the somewhat crippled CAD software.



The main reason I am watching so hard is I want to see what the new Mac Pro (which probably won’t be announced until next year. And they probably will release one more line of intel Mac Pros from what I’m reading. And it looks like they’ll “refresh” the innards of the current cheese-grater tower. This really isn’t a device you want unless you have money to throw away or have a mission-critical Apple-only ecosystem and use it professionally) looks like and if/how it will allow discreet GPU.


On the PC side (and both sides, really), I’ll admit I’m pretty dumb to the CAD requirements. But a 5y old i7? You may do just as well updating the GPU and ssd (you said hard drive. 5y ago was the turning point. Is it an HDD or an SSD?) and leaving the rest alone. And if you have an HDD, I’d drop an SSD in there and call it a day on the upgrade.

Dang! Right to the point! Thanks!

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Maybe a video card

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Well there goes the budget.

Looks like AutoDesk recommendations for AutoCAD include a 4GB video card now; this isn't particularly big these days but as alluded to, video cards are a crazy market right now so that can make an upgrade of the existing PC less attractive than normal vs buying a new one. I would look for Black Friday deals on systems in the next few weeks and then sell existing PC.