Acer Aspire XC-885 series, how to upgrade?want to replace 256gb of the hardware storage with ssd

Cramborine

Hi

I am a beginner at building a pc. I bought this pc in 2018. I have a 27inch hp monitor with 60fps max. So recently the pc has become really slow. I want to replace 256gb of the hardware storage with ssd. Add another 8gb of ram and get a better gpu. It already has i5 intel core. Would I need a new motherboard case and power? Sorry for the dumb question. 

I would like to use the pc for gaming, e.g apex legends. I am also studying statistics, data science and machine learning at university but only the theoretical aspects first. One day I would probably get to coding ml/AI programs. 

Thanks for any responses

[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

Larryodie

You probably can clean it with CCleaner or others to get rid of garbage, Do a MSCONFIG then see what is booting ? Probably much spam and unwanted virus stuff. A SSD will help greatly but cleaning will vastly help. A clean Windows install would be nice but back of your data first. my opinion is clean it up , add SSD and use it as spare untill WIN10 obsoletes it but buy or build you a gaming system . 

Cramborine

Larryodie said:

You probably can clean it with CCleaner or others to get rid of garbage, Do a MSCONFIG then see what is booting ? Probably much spam and unwanted virus stuff. A SSD will help greatly but cleaning will vastly help. A clean Windows install would be nice but back of your data first. my opinion is clean it up , add SSD and use it as spare untill WIN10 obsoletes it but buy or build you a gaming system . 

What is the best way to back it up, I have at least 30GB of files in there. Would I have to transfer to google drive or something?

Larryodie

Both to a external Hard Drive and Google Drive , but if you have store bought programs or APPS, you'll need the original DVD to re-install.
If you do a SHIFT while restarting OR ALT -F10  when booting you'll see the options. My preferred way is to let it format and install as it was from the factory but I only have pictures which I pay for 200GB at Google Drive and Amazon photo. 

ttttt

@Cramborine

If you are into gaming, do expect to pay the price of your original XC-885 for this designed general purpose PC. You may need a powerful graphics card and upgrading the power supply too.

There are different ways to backup your system, using third party cloning software or just use Windows 10 method.
I prefer external USB HDD drive for backing up, because of the good value and that external drive can be placed somewhere else far from the PC, and I do not trust Cloud at all, having other people controlling my data.

Win 10 Method (everybody should have it without the need of third party software):

Have the external USB HDD connected.
In Win 10 Task Bar search field, type system backup or go to Control Panel>Backup and Restore(Windows 7).
At the left pane select Create System Image. Be patience, it will take quite a while.

To use this image later:
When bootup, hold down ALT key and keep tapping F10 key until you see the Restore Menu
Troubleshoot>Advanced Options>System Image Recovery
Then find the image stored. Again, it will take quite a while.

StevenGen

Cramborine said:

Hi

I am a beginner at building a pc. I bought this pc in 2018. I have a 27inch hp monitor with 60fps max. So recently the pc has become really slow. I want to replace 256gb of the hardware storage with ssd. Add another 8gb of ram and get a better gpu. It already has i5 intel core. Would I need a new motherboard case and power? Sorry for the dumb question. 

I would like to use the pc for gaming, e.g apex legends. I am also studying statistics, data science and machine learning at university but only the theoretical aspects first. One day I would probably get to coding ml/AI programs. 

Thanks for any responses

With your XC-885 you can upgrade allot of components to make this desktop perform better with its Intel B360 Chipset proprietary mobo as you can do the following:

1. Upgrade the i5 cpu that you to the top of the line i7 8700 which Acer also fits this cpu to the upper spec XC-885"s and will give you added performance, this cpu is best 8th Gen Intel cpu for your desktop,
2. Upgrade the ram to the max of 32GB at either DDR4 2666MHz/2400MHZ 288-pin DIMM's into its 2x slots (for max performance fit 2x 16GB DR4-2666MHz modules) also Acer quotes that ram can run at at "Dual channel should be enabled automatically when plugging in the 2 same memory size DDR4 memory module" as dual channel is the best configuration for this desktops ram to run with games and editing etc but, its best if you do a Crucial System Scan as this scan will give you all the upgrades for ram with todays modern ram construction and the max ram (that could be more?) for your desktop.
3. With the hard drives the XC-885 can take 2.5" SATA3-6GB/sec mechanical or SSD drives and 1x M.2 SSD drive that its slot is a PCI Express 3.0 and Acer lists only the "Intel Optane 16GB M.2 type drive" Acer part #: KN.16G0N.002 (see caption below) this slot specs are; Random Read at 4KB 190000 IOPS and at Random Write at 4KB 35000 IOPS, so see if you can fit an M.2 PCIe 3.0x2 as it should work. 
4. With the gpu it could be a problem unless you upgrade to an ATX12V for the more modern cards, as Acer uses its own proprietary psu which is only a 220W ATX12V type with 24 pins and 1x 4 pin out for the gpu, power which you can't run the 16 series Nvidia cards on and you can only run the AMD Radeon R7 gpu cards on this mobos OEM psu! Also Acer's top gpu that it fits to the XC-885 is the "RADEON R7 430.2GB GDDR5 (Acer part#: DA.43011.002)",

The best gpu's to run on your 220W psu powered XC-885 are the likes of the following gpu's:

• GTX 1050 TI 4GT LP 4GB
• Radeon R7 250 2GB
• GT 710 2GB
• GeForce GTX 1650 LP 4GB

Good luck and hope this helps you out 

All upgradeable Acer parts for your XC-885

billsey

Just be aware of which upgrades give the best change in performance for your money. By far the upgrade from a HDD to a SSD you already plan is the biggest boost. If under your heaviest usage you are getting above 75% memory utilization the memory upgrade is second. If you are running games or graphic editors (either image editors or video editors) the a GPU is next in line (though be aware that many GPU upgrades also require PSU upgrades). A CPU upgrade is pretty far down the list, with only a very minimal speed increase.

sLee7i

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1128128#Comment_1128128

hi

i have XC-885 and i buyed a gtx 1650 lp but i want to upgrade my cpu, is the i7 8700 good or what ? my cpu right now is i3 8100

( if u know how to upgrade my psu tell me pls)

ty

billsey

Yes, the i7-8700 should drop right in as a replacement for the i3-8100. The XC-885 uses a Flex style PSU and third parties make them larger than the stock 220W.

sLee7i

well i just want to say ty

i bought the i7 8700 so now my pc run very good

now i want to upgrade my ssd

I have 128gb ssd

I want to buy the samsung 980 M.2 PCIe 3.0 so can i just buy it ? if yes

how can i switch or transfer the windows to the new ssd ?

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1295200#Comment_1295200

With all Samsung M.2 SSD drives and 2.5" SATA 3 SSD drives install the Samsung Magician software that has a cloning section called Data Migration (see caption below) and with a desktop like the Aspire XC-885 it has on its front facia panel a USB 3.1 Type C Port that you can use to plug a USB-C to M.2 adapter so that you can clone the old Win OS onto this new Samsung 980 M.2 SSD drive. Its a very easy operation and shouldn't take too long. Good luck and hope all this helps you out👍

Samsung Magician with the Data Migration section

If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍

billsey

Yes, your XC-885 supports an M.2 SSD with either SATA or NVMe interface. It's PCIe 3.0 and supports x4, so that Samsung will work perfectly. As suggested you should pick up an external NVMe case to do the cloning, though you are not limited to the Samsung Magician software. Get the drive and case, clone the existing drive to the new one, take the old drive out and put the new drive in and it should boot and run fine, except with a lot more space available for your system partition. :)