When to upgrade?

[silk186]

I'm running the setup in my rig. I'm not feeling anything is slow, but after building 3 ITX builds for family and friends I'm thinking that my rig is unnecessarily big and would like to do either an mATX or ITX rig to replace it.

I would like an i5 K series with decent OC on stock voltage, one mid-range GPU, SSD + 2 x 3.5" HDD (3-4tb each) with 2x8GB memory and a modular power supply, maybe and H80 for cooling.

The problem is that I keep reading on here that the performance increase would not really be noticeable outside of benchmarks. The question is, how long before it is worth upgrading an i5-2500k @4.3? When will we have a 6 or 8 core i5?

I miss upgrading before 386sx -> P4 -> i5
the upgrades were so noticeable.

Is it expected the because of next gen that games will start utilizing for than 4 cores within the next year or so? or are the others supposed to be fore OS?

 

[Deleted member 126051]

Honestly. If you're not feeling anything is slow in your current build, hold off.
Save your cash. Add to the pot when/if you get the chance.

When you start noticing a lack of performance, THEN spring a splefty new rig.

In the meantime:

• Prices will have fallen (meaning more bang for the buck)
• Newer offerings will possibly emerge (giving you better choices)
• Your budget will be larger (meaning fewer tradeoffs for desirable component choices).

 

[FelixRussia]

If you can't fight the itch, just get a mini-ITX board and case that can support most of what you're running already. You can run your current setup (minus the motherboard obviously) inside of a Prodigy. It's not a complete upgrade, but at least it would be a smaller package.

 

[silk186]

i was also considering this idea.

 

[dandragonrage]

I know that a smaller computer seems like a neat idea, but will you actually utilize that extra space? If not, it's probably a waste of money to switch just for that reason and would be better done next time you upgrade (when you actually feel you could use an upgrade).

 

[Dangman]

The question is, how long before it is worth upgrading an i5-2500k @4.3? When will we have a 6 or 8 core i5?

Depends on the usage scenarios and what those future games will do. There are some cases already where people do actually need to upgrade from a Core i5 2500K @ 4.3 if they made the unfortunate choice of starting out like that. But generally, if you can get a 25% performance increase with a newer platform in the application, games, or usage scenarios you're doing, that's when you should start looking at upgrades. Though the general advice of "Upgrade when the system no longer meets your needs" is still pretty applicable.

Is it expected the because of next gen that games will start utilizing for than 4 cores within the next year or so? or are the others supposed to be fore OS?

It probably would be longer than that. Think about how long it took for games to come out that took full advantage of the PS3's or 360's capabilities

 

[dandragonrage]

But generally, if you can get a 25% performance increase with a newer platform in the application, games, or usage scenarios you're doing, that's when you should start looking at upgrades. Though the general advice of "Upgrade when the system no longer meets your needs" is still pretty applicable.

"Upgrade when the system no longer meets your needs" is the ONLY reason (aside, perhaps, from having too much money) to upgrade. Upgrading just because you feel like it, or to get performance you won't notice, is irresponsible and a waste of money and harms the environment. Not that I'm saying you should go to jail for upgrading when you shouldn't, but being somewhat responsible is a good thing.

 

[tran1981]

If you have lots of money to burn then upgrade otherwise save money not to get the greatest and latest stuff.