Incremental investments or platform overhaul?

[Asphodelus]

My almost 5 year old PC is starting to get a bit slow:

• CPU: i7 2600K
• RAM: 16GB DDR3-1333
• GPU: Radeon HD 6870
• Storage: 160GB Intel X25-M G2 + 2TB WD Caviar Green

The CPU and RAM are still sufficient, but the GPU and SSD are terribly outdated. Thus, I'm wondering if I should just get a new GPU and PCIe SSD despite both being limited to PCIe 2.0, or if I should just bite the bullet, upgrade to Skylake, and enjoy the benefits of PCIe 3.0 and NVMe.

 

[VirtualLarry]

A new GPU is a given. PCI-E 2.0 x16 won't hold it back any noticeable amount.

For the SSD, unless you are doing something that would be considered to be a "heavy workload", then it won't be much faster, in real-world usage (as opposed to benchmarks) than a decent quality fast SATA6G SSD. Consider getting a 1TB Samsung 850 EVO.

Is the 2600K overclocked at all? Consider getting a CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO heatpipe heatsink cooler for it, and overclocking it to 4.0-4.4Ghz. That should put some spring back in its step.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

It really all depends on how much you're willing to spend on it.

If you're referring to gaming, drop a newer graphics card (GTX960/R9-380) in there and you should be good to go until Kaby Lake arrives. You might also want to consider a newer SSD. The X25M is only SATA2.

Or if you're looking for an "excuse" to scratch the upgrade itch, go for it. The Skylake platform brings some worthwhile improvements compared to Sandy/Ivy Bridge.

 

[Asphodelus]

A new GPU is a given. PCI-E 2.0 x16 won't hold it back any noticeable amount.

For sure. But at the same time I can't help but feel like paying full price for a year-old (or more, in AMD's case) GPU is a ripoff, when 16nm is "just around the corner".

For the SSD, unless you are doing something that would be considered to be a "heavy workload", then it won't be much faster, in real-world usage (as opposed to benchmarks) than a decent quality fast SATA6G SSD. Consider getting a 1TB Samsung 850 EVO.

I find myself doing a lot more copying and pasting of medium to large (5-50GB) quantities of data a lot more than I did 5 years ago as my needs have changed, and having an SSD with slower sequential transfer speeds than a modern HDD makes that kinda painful. Still, given that I can always go do something else for 15 minutes, this is nowhere near as much of a priority as a new GPU.

Is the 2600K overclocked at all? Consider getting a CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO heatpipe heatsink cooler for it, and overclocking it to 4.0-4.4Ghz. That should put some spring back in its step.

It's overclocked to 4.6 Ghz. When it was new it could go up to 4.8, but the voltage required was insane and after about 6 months I started getting BSODs, so I pared back the OC a bit. Also, I have the older Hyper 212 Plus already, and from what I've read the EVO is a rather small upgrade from that.

If you're referring to gaming, drop a newer graphics card (GTX960/R9-380) in there and you should be good to go until Kaby Lake arrives.

If I were to pick up a new GPU today, I'd probably go for the GTX980. Still, it's no cheaper than it was at launch a year ago, so I'm hesitant to say the least.

You might also want to consider a newer SSD. The X25M is only SATA2.

Indeed. The leading candidate is currently the Kingston HyperX Predator.

Or if you're looking for an "excuse" to scratch the upgrade itch, go for it. The Skylake platform brings some worthwhile improvements compared to Sandy/Ivy Bridge.

The "upgrade itch" actually comes in the form of ditching this desktop and switching over to a laptop - between the stagnation of desktop CPU performance and Thunderbolt 3 officially supporting external GPUs, laptop performance has pretty much caught up to desktops, and a laptop with an i7-6xxxHQ is a lot more couch surfing friendly than any desktop is.

On the other hand, I could bring this desktop back up to near top-of-the-line performance for far less $$$, and at the current (single digit percentage) rate of performance improvements with each generation, that could be enough to last me until the end of this decade...

 

[Insert_Nickname]

If I were to pick up a new GPU today, I'd probably go for the GTX980. Still, it's no cheaper than it was at launch a year ago, so I'm hesitant to say the least.

Yeah, its a pretty though decision right now. Do you buy a 980 today, or wait for 16nm chips? Difficult.

Indeed. The leading candidate is currently the Kingston HyperX Predator.

I'm running one of those (240GB) myself. So far with no problems. Even does a bit better then specified. ~1450MB/s read, ~610MB/s write.

The "upgrade itch" actually comes in the form of ditching this desktop and switching over to a laptop - between the stagnation of desktop CPU performance and Thunderbolt 3 officially supporting external GPUs, laptop performance has pretty much caught up to desktops, and a laptop with an i7-6xxxHQ is a lot more couch surfing friendly than any desktop is.

On the other hand, I could bring this desktop back up to near top-of-the-line performance for far less $$$, and at the current (single digit percentage) rate of performance improvements with each generation, that could be enough to last me until the end of this decade...

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you want couch surfing, a tablet is the way to go. Something like the ASUS T100, MS Surface and the like is perfect for this. Besides, external GPUs have been talked about for 10+ years. No product has yet materialized.

Laptops, in particular those featuring powerful high-TDP CPUs, are meant to stand on a table or at least a flat surface. They are not meant to be used in couches or bed as a lot of people, unfortunately, do. If used that way, there is a fairly serious risk of overheating components, which reduces the life expectancy of the laptop. This is also why "gaming" laptops have very short lives. Laptop chassis and cooling simply cannot cope with the heat output.

 

[RaistlinZ]

How about a used 290X? That would save you a good amount of money and still be a substantial upgrade. A 250GB SSD can be had for not much money as well and would be worth the upgrade.

 

[Asphodelus]

I'm running one of those (240GB) myself. So far with no problems. Even does a bit better then specified. ~1450MB/s read, ~610MB/s write.

Good to know. Real world experiences from actual users are so much more reliable than reviews

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you want couch surfing, a tablet is the way to go. Something like the ASUS T100, MS Surface and the like is perfect for this. Besides, external GPUs have been talked about for 10+ years. No product has yet materialized.

Laptops, in particular those featuring powerful high-TDP CPUs, are meant to stand on a table or at least a flat surface. They are not meant to be used in couches or bed as a lot of people, unfortunately, do. If used that way, there is a fairly serious risk of overheating components, which reduces the life expectancy of the laptop. This is also why "gaming" laptops have very short lives. Laptop chassis and cooling simply cannot cope with the heat output.

I know, and hence I'm wavering - my logical side is telling me that I'd be better off upgrading my desktop, my emotional side wants new

How about a used 290X? That would save you a good amount of money and still be a substantial upgrade. A 250GB SSD can be had for not much money as well and would be worth the upgrade.

I was under the impression that the supply of retired BTC mining cards had dried up a long time ago? A quick search on eBay indicates most people want $250-$350 with the lowest listings hovering around $200, which is ridiculous for a used card.

 

[Charlie98]

If I were to pick up a new GPU today, I'd probably go for the GTX980. Still, it's no cheaper than it was at launch a year ago, so I'm hesitant to say the least...

The GTX980 is just as good a GPU as it was when it came out, and you are looking, what... 6 months down the pike for the newer GPUs? It's an enthusiast card with an enthusiast price.

Black Friday is just around the corner... with the 980Ti out, maybe they will discount or rebate the 980 to clear the shelves.

I find myself doing a lot more copying and pasting of medium to large (5-50GB) quantities of data a lot more than I did 5 years ago as my needs have changed, and having an SSD with slower sequential transfer speeds than a modern HDD makes that kinda painful.

If you are moving that kind of data around, I'd be looking at a 500GB+ SSD, and retire (or relegate to OS duty) that older Intel.