Should I upgrade now, or wait?

A

alex2112

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Been a long time since I've posted here. I built my current main rig in Dec 2007 and at the time, I dropped quite a bit of money on it. This proved to be worth it since I'm still using it for general computing and pretty heavy gaming. My question is, it's almost been 4 years now, and I feel like I should do a major upgrade, even though I can't seem to really justify it. My current rig still does everything I want, it's just that I've realized I can upgrade my cpu/ram/mobo for a couple hundred bucks and have a i5 2500k based setup. Here are my current specs:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 OC'd @ 3.6GHz (450Mhz FSB)
DFI LP-UT-P35 T2R Motherboard
4GB (2x2GB) OCZ Platinum DDR2 800 OC'd @ 900
EVGA GTX 570 Vid Card (Upgraded recently)

So again, it's old but it still plays any game I throw at it, albeit not at high/ultra settings anymore. I really think that the CPU and RAM are now what's bottlenecking me in that regard. I noticed this recently with Skyrim and BF3. My gaming performance in those games lags behind a couple friends' systems that have newer Core i5/i7's but with similar vid cards to mine. Also, DDR2 is dead, and I'm stuck at 4gb.

Should I spend the couple hundred now and get a Sandy Bridge setup, or wait a little longer until something better comes down the pipe?
 
At least for desktops, there isn't anything major coming till 2013. Ivy Bridge is more interesting for laptops than it is for desktops, and there is little evidence for anybody to claim that AMD's Trinity is going to be a major leap for gamers.

Trinity and Ivy Bridge are going to *hopefully* bring major improvements in the iGPU department, but that doesn't matter much to people using a discrete GPU.

If you really want to upgrade it seems like a good time to do it. However, if your system does what you need...
 
obug said:
At least for desktops, there isn't anything major coming till 2013. Ivy Bridge is more interesting for laptops than it is for desktops, and there is little evidence for anybody to claim that AMD's Trinity is going to be a major leap for gamers.

Trinity and Ivy Bridge are going to *hopefully* bring major improvements in the iGPU department, but that doesn't matter much to people using a discrete GPU.

If you really want to upgrade it seems like a good time to do it. However, if your system does what you need...
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Interesting. I'm in a similar situation as the OP, but what annoys me is how the 2500k was almost $50 LESS a year ago than what it sells for now ($220). It seems to me it's not a good time to upgrade if you're on the fence.
 
If you don't care about having the VERY LATEST technology, and you're not trying to run the latest most demanding games at 1080p with everything on ultra, then honestly you don't really need to upgrade yet.

Remember, if you want to upgrade your cpu/ram, you'll have to get a new motherboard, and that essentially means you'll be building a whole new computer. Also remember to check that your video monitor can actually display high enough graphics to match your video card (AKA not trying to run a GTX580 on a 720p monitor).

If you DO decide to upgrade, to an Intel i5 system, chances are you'll at LEAST need the following:

New Motherboard
New Processor
New Ram set

This will run you approximately $350 - $500, depending on what ram, processor, and MoBo you go with

Also, how is your power supply? Make sure it has a sufficient Wattage, AND that it has a strong 12V rail, and is running without any glitches.

Your 570 should still be able to game fine if you just upgrade your MoBo/RAM/Processor, so that's not a prob.

overall, if you really want those extra framerates and performance boost for $400ish, there's no better time really to do it. Otherwise, you can wait another year or so, and just build a completely new rig.
 
Thanks for the feedback. That's really my primary concern, whether this is a good time or not. Since my current system still can do what I want, I can definitely hold off if something very appealing is coming soon. I haven't been able to find anything other than Ivy Bridge really, and the new bulldozer chips from AMD don't look too good...

As far as what I already have, then yeah it would be just a CPU/Mobo/RAM upgrade. I have the 570 running dual 1920x1080 LCDs, and my PSU is an Antec Truepower Quattro850.
 
Bulldozer failed. 2 Year old i7s beat the top line 8-Core bulldozer in all real world applications.

If you're not looking to switch graphics cards, might as well upgrade now then.
 
If you aren't really hurting, it is probably worth waiting a couple of months and see what Ivy Bridge brings in the first half of next year. At the very least, they'll run cooler and use less power. As an interim step, you could look at picking up a used Q9550 to drop in your current board, but I think they are still pretty expensive.
 
an update to my last post, microcenter has the 2500k for only $180. not sure why neweggs priced are inflated.
 
Newegg has traditionally followed the MSRP provided by manufacturers, and prices offered by other major retailers. Typically you'll find that prices of Newegg, Amazon, BestBuy, Target, etc are all within 2-3% of each other. Personally I prefer Newegg to other smaller retailers due to larger selection, no tax, fast shipping, and overall better customer service.
 
js09 said:
an update to my last post, microcenter has the 2500k for only $180. not sure why neweggs priced are inflated.
Click to expand...

Microcenter also currently has a combo package where you get $60 off the price of a Z68 motherboard when you buy a 2500K, so if you live near a Microcenter it totally changes the upgrade equation.
 
Forceman said:
Microcenter also currently has a combo package where you get $60 off the price of a Z68 motherboard when you buy a 2500K, so if you live near a Microcenter it totally changes the upgrade equation.
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i know! just found this out today. I am planning on stopping there tonight to get a 2500K and z68 mobo. i actually made this thread before knowing anything about microcenters prices.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1652548
 
js09 said:
an update to my last post, microcenter has the 2500k for only $180. not sure why neweggs priced are inflated.
Click to expand...
Well because Newegg is charging MSRP for the CPUs as Tsuyoi noted. In addition, the 2500K is a loss-leader item for Microcenter meant to increase sales/profit of their other items. That strategy must be working out very well for Microcenter because they've been using the same sales tactic since 2007 with the Q6600 CPU.
 
I'm in a similar boat and I am for sure waiting. So I'd say wait till that CPU explodes which will be never.
 
My advice is if everything is playing fine now, then keep what you have. You could try increasing the RAM for your system, but it sounds like you are currently limited, so any upgrade will end up being a major upgrade. You already upgraded the GPU, which is normally the only thing I would suggest. Right now I would just wait another year or so until something comes out that your system struggles with.
 
That's another thing that's making this tough for me. I DO live near a Microcenter. I can get a 2500K and a Gigabyte GA-Z68-UD3H-B3 together for $297.48 after tax. Throw in another $40-$50 for some RAM from newegg and I've got an upgrade for $337.48. That's before the $10 MIR on the motherboard too. I could even go cheaper by getting a P67 motherboard instead (don't need onboard gfx and I don't have an SSD). It's a pretty cheap upgrade considering I don't need a PSU, case, vid card, or even a cooler (I have a corsair h60).
 
alex2112 said:
That's another thing that's making this tough for me. I DO live near a Microcenter. I can get a 2500K and a Gigabyte GA-Z68-UD3H-B3 together for $297.48 after tax. Throw in another $40-$50 for some RAM from newegg and I've got an upgrade for $337.48. That's before the $10 MIR on the motherboard too. I could even go cheaper by getting a P67 motherboard instead (don't need onboard gfx and I don't have an SSD). It's a pretty cheap upgrade considering I don't need a PSU, case, vid card, or even a cooler (I have a corsair h60).
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Microcenter factor changes the equation. A 2500K, overclocked to 4.5 or so, is a very formidable chip that should last you quite a while. The next real upgrade is Ivy Bridge in a couple of months, and besides power reductions (and probably corresponding overclocking headroom) and possibly some IPC improvements, it doesn't really bring a whole lot extra to the table.
 
Same boat about 2 weeks ago. Took the plunge and am finalizing my install this weekend. Jumping into the SSD bandwagon and everything. All started with my fiance's computer.

My suggestion is, if you think you need the upgrade and you have the funds, do it. There's always going to be newer and faster tech just around the corner. If you keep on waiting you'll just end up waiting forever.
 
alex2112 said:
That's another thing that's making this tough for me. I DO live near a Microcenter. I can get a 2500K and a Gigabyte GA-Z68-UD3H-B3 together for $297.48 after tax. Throw in another $40-$50 for some RAM from newegg and I've got an upgrade for $337.48. That's before the $10 MIR on the motherboard too. I could even go cheaper by getting a P67 motherboard instead (don't need onboard gfx and I don't have an SSD). It's a pretty cheap upgrade considering I don't need a PSU, case, vid card, or even a cooler (I have a corsair h60).
Click to expand...

If you can afford the upgrade, then by all means go for it. But really, I am not sure you 'need' the upgrade. If you can live with your current setup, you take that $500 and leave it in the bank to get interest for the next year, then do an upgrade.

BTW, the z68 doesn't make your SSD better, it allows you to use an SSD cache which isn't the same thing at all. I also purchased a P67 because I didn't find the Z68 features that much better for my use.
 
Chelica said:
Same boat about 2 weeks ago. Took the plunge and am finalizing my install this weekend. Jumping into the SSD bandwagon and everything. All started with my fiance's computer.

My suggestion is, if you think you need the upgrade and you have the funds, do it. There's always going to be newer and faster tech just around the corner. If you keep on waiting you'll just end up waiting forever.
Click to expand...

Congrats on the SSD move. For me the difference has been night and day and this is coming from a guy who had a VelociRaptor RAID setup prior. My single SSD was faster and more responsive than my Tri Raptor striped RAID.
 
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