Why is there nothing worth upgrading to? :(

E

EuphoricRage470

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Apr 15, 2011
Messages
1,105
Anybody in my boat? I've been saving and saving (since all my "disposable" income goes to PC parts), and now I've got a pretty decent upgrade fund with NOTHING TO UPGRADE TO (that is reasonably priced and/or not about to be obsoleted.

I recently upgraded my GPU to a 580 from 2x470s for heat/noise reasons and I've been happy. But I want to upgrade my CPU/mobo! Bulldozer and SNB are both "better" than my chip, but I'm not convinced that they're "better enough" to warrant an upgrade.

My only path then would be SNB-E, but that will definitely be pretty steep cost wise...and from the THG preview it looks disappointing. Also, kind of hard to justify buying into SNB-E when it won't even be built on the latest transistor tech...

Ugh. Thoughts?
 
Why not be content with what you have? I know I would.

You've got a 1200W psu? Does your system actually use that much power?
 
I used to have 2x GTX 470s and planned on getting a third -- but then I ditched and just replaced 'em with a 580 (hence the 1200W PSU)

I can't get more RAM since this mobo only supports 16GB. Another GTX 580 might not be a bad idea at all...

Also @ leeleatherwood, maybe to you, but I really only have two main (commercial) hobbies in life: computer hardware & programming. So getting a quad bike or something would just be a total waste of my time and money.
 
A good case would be my first purchase(antec is trash), closely followed by a couple 128GB crucial HDD's. Other then that you don't need a single thing, maybe 3 monitor set up if you don't already have one ? or liquid cooling.My friend is the same as you Autocadd, PC parts and work is all he does.(guess who has to build all of his PC's :()
 
Get a pair of SSD's in Raid 0
Add another monitor for Surround Gaming, and in turn another video card.

Then, you'll need a faster CPU to power the SLI'd 580's, so pickup a 2500k and z68 mobo and water cooling (self contained or homebuilt/kit)
Move the 860 to the secondary rig, or resell it while it's got a good value in the used market.

BF3 will be out, you'll want more vram, so move the 580's to the backup rig and pickup the 3gb versions

Upgrade to SB-E and 32GB ram, make a Ramdrive and install games/apps to it for the fastest load times out there

Or just enjoy what ya got, it's a nice rig.
 
I'm guessing you're young. You should invest what you have so that it can start working for you. Buying PC parts for the hell of it isn't the wisest decision.
 
shoota said:
I'm guessing you're young. You should invest what you have so that it can start working for you. Buying PC parts for the hell of it isn't the wisest decision.
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I agree with this, I use to do this when I was younger. I remember during my college days I loved full towers, the best graphic cards, 8 TB's of hard drive space, and the best I can get for computer hardware. Now I only buy PC parts only if I need them.

I started selling all my PC stuff and went for simplicity and design. I still have the geek in me but when I look at my family picture next to my monitor, I then drop all wants and say family first. :D
 
ssd
another 580
get a third monitor

that should hold you oven until sb-e
 
shoota said:
I'm guessing you're young. You should invest what you have so that it can start working for you. Buying PC parts for the hell of it isn't the wisest decision.
Click to expand...

Could be young, or could be older, or they have teenagers, in which case buying them for the hell of it is fun. When your kids hit the teenage years, the photo goes away and a bottle of scotch takes it's place :D
 
shoota said:
I'm guessing you're young. You should invest what you have so that it can start working for you. Buying PC parts for the hell of it isn't the wisest decision.
Click to expand...

Uhhh..... dude, your on [H] where the topic is computer hardware. Not investment decisions. Why don't you add something computer related to the conversation and not be so judgmental? And before you call me young, I'm 42 and I'll put my bank account up against yours any day.

Now back to the topic. I feel your pain OP, however, I'm buying SB-E to replace my X58/920. I have the upgrade itch bad after almost three years. It's time to spend some money.
 
Sometimes it's just the change that makes me want too upgrade.I can't stick with any hardware very long.
 
i would have to agree i always have the upgrade bug and when my hardware becomes low to middle road it feels like i am screwing myself out of quality experience and gaming
 
EuphoricRage470 said:
Anybody in my boat? I've been saving and saving (since all my "disposable" income goes to PC parts), and now I've got a pretty decent upgrade fund with NOTHING TO UPGRADE TO (that is reasonably priced and/or not about to be obsoleted.

I recently upgraded my GPU to a 580 from 2x470s for heat/noise reasons and I've been happy. But I want to upgrade my CPU/mobo! Bulldozer and SNB are both "better" than my chip, but I'm not convinced that they're "better enough" to warrant an upgrade.

My only path then would be SNB-E, but that will definitely be pretty steep cost wise...and from the THG preview it looks disappointing. Also, kind of hard to justify buying into SNB-E when it won't even be built on the latest transistor tech...

Ugh. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I could 'rip' you a new one (in a good way) about upgrading ...

thats your rig below ... so we got these options

- dbl that gtx580
- go for a different monitor setup ... bigger more or what have you
- watercooling even simple stuff like corsairs line
- did he say ssd? ...

oh and in case you dont know this they are coming out with alot of cool new toys ...

- 2700k, ivy bridge, sb-e ya I know $
- Sound blaster is coming out with a whole new line soon
- 4+tb drives soon
- monitors always seem to get better
- let alone radeon 7000 series right around the corner

IMO sounds like you have alot to upgrade too ;)

(MAIN) Intel i7 860 @ 3.52 GHz | ASUS P7P55 Workstation SuperComputer | 16GB G.Skill DDR3-1333 | Zotac GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB @ 915/1830/2170 | Western Digital Caviar Black 1.5TB | Seagate 1.5TB 7200.11 | Seagate 1TB 7200.11 | LG Blu-ray Burner | Antec True Power Quattro 1200W | 2x Acer 23" 1080p LCD | Sennheiser HD-202 | Creative X-Fi Titanium | Antec Three Hundred
 
GreenGoose said:
Uhhh..... dude, your on [H] where the topic is computer hardware. Not investment decisions. Why don't you add something computer related to the conversation and not be so judgmental? And before you call me young, I'm 42 and I'll put my bank account up against yours any day.

Now back to the topic. I feel your pain OP, however, I'm buying SB-E to replace my X58/920. I have the upgrade itch bad after almost three years. It's time to spend some money.
Click to expand...

Typical [H] response.
 
shoota said:
Typical [H] response.
Click to expand...

Uhmmm, yeah? Thats were we are. And [H] doesn't have a sub-forum on how to NOT spend money on computer parts. Spending lots of money on hardware will never pencil out, get over it. This is an enthusiasts forum, not an investment forum.
 
Yep, OP... I'm in your boat. The damn X-58, i920 combo is so powerful, that there is not even point to go for 2600K for gaming mainly :) And the itch of system builder in me tells me to replace mobo and CPU as fast as I can :) I''m just tellin myself to wait for Ivy Bridge, as I'm skipping the SB-E, the entry price of CPU is way too high

Oh, and Dulak, what new line of SB card you are mentioning? SOmething newer then X-Fi Titanium HD?
 
Bootleg Usher said:
I haven't heard this, is it a new processing chip or what? The current top of the line one still seems pretty epic.
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ya was anounced hmmm month back~ maybe 2 ... ya I assume thats why you see the current cards on mega sale now

not sure when they are coming out and dont really understand the new tech they are going to do
 
I've really stopped buying sound cards, My receiver has HDMI and I just send the audio out through that. I can Bitstream audio out.
 
OP,

You are being a bit picky IMO. You began the post saying the problem is that you have a pile of money burning a hole in your bank vault but no worth while tech to spend it on. SB-E seems to be exactly catering to someone like you. It's a totally exorbitant (server-oriented) platform with quad channel memory and an extreme version 6 core (12 thread) CPU. How could this not be exactly what the doctor ordered for you?

you then say, yeah cool new tech is coming but it's expensive. I don't really get it.

Dulak said:
ya was anounced hmmm month back~ maybe 2 ... ya I assume thats why you see the current cards on mega sale now

not sure when they are coming out and dont really understand the new tech they are going to do
Click to expand...
link please. google failed. i'm about to upgrade from x-fi platinum to titanium hd so this is very relevent
 
You're kidding me right?

CPUs are incredibly complex and each new die shrink only buys you a pittance of what it used to. The pittance only results in a %15-20 boost because that's all you get from the die shrink.

I know CPU upgrades used to wow us every couple years, but now we're mostly tapped-out. You can throw more cores at the problem and get a larger jump, but as AMD discovered it's not necessarily the best approach.

You won't see big CPU upgrades anymore, so you'd better get used to it. Enjoy the fact that your CPU is fast-as-hell after 3 years, and go find another hobby :D
 
Its not that the new CPUs arent worth the upgrade compared to your current CPU, its because the applications are getting simpler and less CPU extensive.

The biggest bottlenecks are HDDs, get an SSD
 
In my opinion, a SSD is the single best upgrade you can do for any computer. I've enjoyed my machine more after I installed my first SSD than any cpu or gpu upgrade I can remember..

You'll wonder how you got along without one all of these years :D
 
wait for ivy bridge ...maybe take up sailing or golf in the meantime that will take up any extra disposable income you may have laying about ;)
 
larkin said:
OP,

You are being a bit picky IMO. You began the post saying the problem is that you have a pile of money burning a hole in your bank vault but no worth while tech to spend it on. SB-E seems to be exactly catering to someone like you. It's a totally exorbitant (server-oriented) platform with quad channel memory and an extreme version 6 core (12 thread) CPU. How could this not be exactly what the doctor ordered for you?

you then say, yeah cool new tech is coming but it's expensive. I don't really get it.


link please. google failed. i'm about to upgrade from x-fi platinum to titanium hd so this is very relevent
Click to expand...

looks like end of this year - begin next year
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multim...New_High_End_SoundBlaster_Cards_in_Years.html

dont know how these will be in games and audio stuff but its new ... Im still running a audigy 2
 
k dude a Core i7 you have, it's not that old geesh. Don't upgrade, it would be stupid. What I'd do, buy a 3rd monitor and do some Eyefinity or whatever Nvidia calls it. If you had cash left over then I'd get a second 580GTX. Hell you'd be like dancing around happy as hell with the performance and FPS. An SLI or Xfire setup gives you between 40-60% improvement. The only reason would get more cores is if you did some 3d modeling or video editing, serious stuff that needs that power.
 
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