SSD and Wireless Adapter recommendations

[sp51]

I just bought an HP Elite 8100 Tower PC Intel i5-650 Dual Core 3.1Ghz 8GB 250GB DVD-Rom Windows 10 Home 64 Bit

I am NOT very knowledgable about computers but I have been told that a refurbished pc with an SSD will be sufficient for my needs (Adobe Creative Cloud programs like DreamWeaver for website content maintenance and Photoshop)  I plan to replace the hard drive with an SSD  (450 to 500 GB) and add a wireless adapter (USB or internal card - whichever will give me best performance).  

I can also add a graphics card if you think that would be necessary. (Graphics/Video Controller: Integrated Intel HD VGA Graphics - VGA Port)

My wireless setup at home provides approx. 24 mbps download speed and operates at 2.4 and 5.0 frequency.

would like recomendations for the SSD and wireless solution that will pair best with this machine.

Thanks!

[iomare]

Hi,

First the SSD:

The samsung 850 evo and pro have been voted the best prize/performance SSDs by many large international PC magazines. So I would go with one of these which will increase the speed of your system. You will need to install the Operating system again either with HP recovery disks, migrating an image to SSD or clean install of Windows 10 (downloaded from Microsoft). It will automatically be activated once installed.

For Wifi:

You have a PCIe x1 slot where you can insert an internal Wifi card. I would go with an AC card which will use the two bands (2.4 and 5 Ghz) and will have high speed transfer rates. There are many cards available (I personally like the Asus cards).

Example:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=pcie+wifi+ac&rh=i%3A...

For graphics:

I would definetly install a graphics card as photoshop and other adobe programs will use hardware acceleration (the graphics card) to speed up rendering of the work you perform in these programs thereby greatly improving the speed.

You will need a small form factor Graphics card which does not need external power and does not draw too much power as the power supply in your system does not have 6pin pcie cable and has max power of 320W. You can find some by searching with the above parameters.

Here is an example of a powerfull graphics card which would work:

https://www.asus.com/Graphics-Cards/MINI-GTX950-2G/overview/

You will find cheaper Gtx 750 cards which will still be good.

Let me know if you need any further help,

David

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[sp51]

David,

Thank you so much for the detailed response!

Bearing in mind that I know just enough about computers to really screw one up, I do have some follow up quesitons:

Another user was having problems (here) that are my concern in terms of pairing components with the HP 8100 I just purchased .  It seems that some components, like the three I wish to install, pair better with certain computers I suppose based on a number of factors (manufacturer, chip type, etc.).

SSD:

The Samsung 850 Evo SSD you recommended is on my short list and fits into my budget at about $150-160 (online).  My other three options are:

SanDisk Ultra II 480GB Internal SSD - 2.5" - SATA 6Gb/s

SanDisk 480 GB Internal SSD - 2.5" - PLUS - SATA 6Gb/s

Crucial 525 GB Internal SSD - 2.5" - MX300 - SATA 6Gb/s

my plan was to get an adapter for the SSD, copy the OS from the existing machine onto the SSD and then install it (more accurately have it installed.)  Do you forsee pairing issues with any of these?

Graphics Card:

The card  you recommended is unfortunately out of my price range so I looked into the Gtx 750 cards you mentioned.  What is your opinion of the following or something in this performance range:

Asus Radeon R5 230 1GB 64-Bit DDR3 Graphics Card

Asus GeForce® GT710 2GB Silent 2GB 64-bit DDR3 Graphic Card

EVGA GeForce GT 710 2GB 64-Bit DDR3 Single Slot, Dual DVI Graphics Card

Any issues here or is it even worth the upgrade?  Thank you again for the valuable information!  I hope it's helpful to other non-tech folks.