How long do you think this computer will last me for gaming purposes?

[Mike39]

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-960 quad-core [3.2GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache]
9GB DDR3-1066MHz
1GB DDR5 NVIDIA GeForce 460

Those are the 3 most important components - I've been out of PC gaming for awhile (my current desktop is from 2004), buying a new one soon as my desktop is having overheating issues and their are multiple pc games coming out this year that I want, starting with The Witcher 2. Looking at the recommended requirements for that game I exceed all of them, but going forward do you guys think this PC will last a few years to play new releases on medium to high settings?

 

[zerocool84]

It`s impossible to tell the future in anything so no one can say. You never said what resolution you game at either but even so we can never know.

 

[Mike39]

Resolution = 1280x1024 most of the time. I don't go too high. I was just looking for general answers, don't need a very detailed analysis. I do understand where you're coming from though when saying it's almost impossible to tell

 

[coldmeat]

Why are people still buying the i7s? Isn't the 2500k better? I haven't followed hardware in a while.

 

[blinblue]

I'm no expert, but at 1280x1024, you can expect that rig to last a good long while. At least as long as your 2004 did, so maybe until 2018.

 

[zerocool84]

Resolution = 1280x1024 most of the time. I don't go too high. I was just looking for general answers, don't need a very detailed analysis. I do understand where you're coming from though when saying it's almost impossible to tell

That's an insanely small rez so it should last you a while but we can truly never tell.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Why are people still buying the i7s? Isn't the 2500k better? I haven't followed hardware in a while.

judging from the specs it looks like he's buying prebuilt (9 GB = 3x2GB + 3x1GB and is uncommon for users to go that route on their own system builds), so it looks like he just found a listing for what happens to be a rig composed of parts that are on the way out and thus is relatively inexpensive

I'm curious at how much he's looking at spending, because you're correct, the SandyBridge based i5 2500K or i5 2600K would make much better CPUs for a longer haul.

And he could go for an inexpensive and cleaner 2 x 4GB (8GB total) memory setup and not have to worry about one of the six sticks and six slots going bad

1155 boards don't have to be expensive either

who knows, he could probably save some money or possibly use the savings to get a better video card. The GTX460 isn't bad, and its certainly paired well with a relatively low resolution like 1280x1024, but if we're looking to build a rig to last the GTX460 is definitely going to be the weak link.

 

[Texashiker]

I would say 2 - 3 years, depending how what your doing and what resolution your playing at.

I have an older amd 620 which runs at 2.6ghz, 6 gigs 800mhz ddr2, and an ATI 4850 with 512 megs of video memory, I get a steady 70 - 100 fps in left 4 dead 2. I am probably not going to upgrade for another year.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The intel 2500K CPU (socket 1155 / Sandy Bridge) CPU is the one you should be buying right now, with 8 GB RAM.

A GTX 460 is perfect for current games at your resolution. It won't need to be upgraded until after you replace your monitor. Even then it will still be a good card, it just probably won't play everything at 1920 x 1080p with max settings so you'll need to reduce the resolution to lower than the native resolution of the monitor (play at 16 x 9 instead)

Edit: the 2500K is $65 cheaper and 5%-10% faster in games at stock speed:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/100?vs=288

 

[KaOTiK]

easily over 9000 hours

 

[duragezic]

At least 4-5 years. Definitely go with the suggestion about the 2500K that was made though.

I have a AMD Opteron 165 @ 2.7ghz (roughly a AMD X2 5400+), 2GB DDR ram, and a ATI 4870 512mb. I still play all games at 1680x1050, usually mid details. The CPU and RAM is over 5 years old, and the videocard is 2.5 years old.

So it's always funny to hear that even these days you need some expensive rig to play games with good graphics.

 

[Barfo]

At that res, quite a while. At least 2 years if not much more.

 

[sandorski]

2 weeks. You'll knock over an open bottle of Gatorade onto it while leaving the room. Later you'll come back to sparks and smoke.

More likely though, a few years or until you need to replace the Monitor(even then it might still be good enough).

 

[MustangSVT]

as long as the computer runs you can run any games on it with reduced settings.

 

[Barfo]

as long as the computer runs you can run any games on it with reduced settings.

Can I run Crysis with reduced settings on my Pentium 2 machine that's in storage?

/ass

 

[JSt0rm]

Can I run Crysis with reduced settings on my Pentium 2 machine that's in storage?

/ass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDAlWmar6is&feature=related

 

[JSt0rm]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNP5f9m5eHU&feature=related

lol

 

[HybridSquirrel]

i bought a q6600 a few years back (at least 3 years ago).

it still lasts me, though I have upgraded the video card since then. I run bc2 at max @ 1680 1050 res.


youll be fine, itll last you several years. thanks to how fucked up the gaming industry is, it will last at least until the next consoles come out, because until them MOST games will have to downgrade their performance to match that of the consoles. isn't a 360 running on less than a q6600 and some shit ATI card?

DICE has already said their games are severally underperforming on PC becasue they also have to release the same versions on consoles, and consoles cant keep up now dyas.

 

[ShreddedWheat]

At that rez I would think 5+ years though you will probably need to increase the video card in 2-3 years. Many games now still don't take advantage of more than 2 cores.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

At that rez I would think 5+ years though you will probably need to increase the video card in 2-3 years. Many games now still don't take advantage of more than 2 cores.

again, mostly because of consoles

 

[B-Riz]

2 weeks. You'll knock over an open bottle of Gatorade onto it while leaving the room. Later you'll come back to sparks and smoke.

More likely though, a few years or until you need to replace the Monitor(even then it might still be good enough).

Lol, I would put money on a 2 liter of Mt. Dew Code Red.

 

[darkewaffle]

Quite a few years. Low res and a solid GPU + CPU means you're set for the better part of a decade. Just look at how long the 8800/9800/250 (first released in 06) has lasted, and aside from a few select titles I think graphics are accelerating more slowly than they were 5 years ago.

 

[LumbergTech]

I would snag a faster gpu just so that you dont feel the need to upgrade any time soon

 

[happy medium]

but going forward do you guys think this PC will last a few years to play new releases on medium to high settings?

Yes

 

[Arkaign]

Should be good for most games right now, though the first thing you'll have to deal with is a video card upgrade, probably in 9-18 months depending on what you're playing.

FWIW the advice to look for an i5-2500 or i7-2600 would be a good thing to consider if possible. Ram is always easy to add, so if you lower the ram to 4gb you can still play anything out right now with zero problems, and add more later if necessary. That might help balance the price.