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Upgrade questions

N

nitefallz

2[H]4U
Joined
Nov 15, 2000
Messages
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I'll admit up front that I'm not nearly as educated with the latest technology as I have been in the past. That being said I've been tossing around the idea of upgrading my system that's almost 2 years old, however I'm not sure if I really need to, or not.

I just upgraded my video card from a 4670 to a 6850, but the rest of the system hasn't changed.

Phenom II X4 955 oc'd to 3.6
8gb Crucial Ram DDR2
ASUS m3a78 mATX board

I was looking at getting an i7 processor, 8gb DDR3 and a new board for everything until I saw some of the pricing for the i7 processors. If I were to get an i7 I think I'd go for i7-2600. Then I saw the pricing for the i5-2500 which is almost $100 less. I realize one of the main differences is the lack of hyperthreading on the i5 series.

I do everything on my computer from gaming to programming, web design, video/image manipulation/editing to casual web browsing.

Budget could be up to $500 or more, but I'd rather not spend so much, based on the perceived value of the upgrade.

Overclocking is nice but not crucial.

Bottom line, is it worth $350 - $470 to upgrade the system at this point? If so, is the new performance going to be that noticeable? Lastly, i5 or i7?


thanks!
 
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Are you near a MicroCenter? If so, it's probably worth getting the i7 and motherboard there since the after combo price is so good. You may also still be able to get that i7 2600k coupon, not sure though. It was on MC's facebook page. Ram, just get whatever 1.5v rated ddr3 is the cheapest. Depending on what you actually do, the performance increase will be very noticeable.

The only reason to hold out on upgrading would be if you want to wait for Ivy Bridge CPUs, which come out later this year.
 
K1tty said:
Are you near a MicroCenter? If so, it's probably worth getting the i7 and motherboard there since the after combo price is so good. You may also still be able to get that i7 2600k coupon, not sure though. It was on MC's facebook page. Ram, just get whatever 1.5v rated ddr3 is the cheapest. Depending on what you actually do, the performance increase will be very noticeable.

The only reason to hold out on upgrading would be if you want to wait for Ivy Bridge CPUs, which come out later this year.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately no, about a 60 mile trip to the closest one. I briefly looked into the coupon but it looks like it's expired now.

I know this is a retarded question, but DDR3 boards are NOT backwards compatible with DDR2 ram, right?
 
It all depends on how you value your computing experience and if you are satisified with your current computer's performance.

I.E., poor bloke who lives at poverty level hates slow computers, but he can barely afford to make rent. $400 is a TON of money to poor bloke. So, poor bloke values $400 over a faster computer.

Not poor bloke (median income) name is Dave.
Dave likes fast computers and Dave is a schmuck who overpaid in taxes and is getting a $2k refund.
$400 to Dave is well worth upgrading his computer.

Realist is not necessarily poor bloke, but isn't as dumb as Dave who gave IRS too much cash. Realist understands that he doesn't need to play all games on Ultra settings. Realist plays a lot of games, but they aren't that demanding (League of Legends, Starcraft 2, etc). Realist wants to play Skyrim though.
Realist can still play Skyrim with your system on medium details. Realist would rather use $400 to pay off debts (morgage, car, etc.).

How do you value money?
What games do you play?
Can you settle for medium details on new games to get reasonable performance (30-40 fps)?
Are you impatient with your computer? Do you get frustrated with waiting for it to respond?

Phenom II 955 isn't a slouch and can still do alright for many games. It may be 3 years old, and there are faster processors, but you're not hurting.
I use much slower processors for guest computers and they do just fine. (Athlon II x3 440, Phenom II 550, Athlon 64 3800+)
Yeah, I upgraded from my old Phenom II x3 720 to a 2500k, but my wife needed a decent comp and I didn't have the other systems at the time.
 
Good philosophical insight. It comes down to need/wants and this is certainly a want over a need.
 
Comes down to these four questions:
J Macker said:
How do you value money?
What games do you play?
Can you settle for medium details on new games to get reasonable performance (30-40 fps)?
Are you impatient with your computer? Do you get frustrated with waiting for it to respond?
Click to expand...
 
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