Pattern of upgrading?

[Cirinde]

Just curious
What is your pattern for purchasing upgrades? (i.e. regularly buy the latest hardware for all components, only upgrade one or a few components every few months, squeeze all the juice out your current rig for a few years before starting fresh?)

 

[Matt2]

I usually upgrade my Video Card twice before geting a new MOBO/RAM/CPU and those three are always upgraded at the same time, unless I am in desperate need of more RAM.

 

[LED]

I usually set my eye on the latest and greatest and wait when the next best item in it's class comes out so the price drops...by then tricks and better revs are out on it as in the CPU's and such they usually OC better

 

[Jeff7]

I usually do it part by part according to my budget, and what will yield the most performance for what I want the system to do. My secondary computer, which is used as a video editing station, has 2 80GB drives in RAID 0, and a 30GB as additional storage; my main system has only a 60GB main drive and 40GB secondary. However, my main system has a Geforce 4 Ti4200 videocard; the video station has a Geforce2 Ti. I upgrade the systems according to what they will likely benefit from the most, and I usually do it piece-by-piece over time, rather than all new components all at once.

 

[majewski9]

I seem to go through mobo's and video cards like crazy. Hard drives, processors, and especially monitors is a different story altogehter. I have had the same monitor for 5 years! The same TBird for nearly two years! I even use a 3 gig HD to boot Linux off of!

 

[CallTheFBI]

I just play it by ear with regards to software. If games start running slow I know its time to upgrade something.

 

[bgeh]

i usually wait for a year after i buy my computer
then i do a minor upgrade and then repeat it untill it's time to build a new computer

 

[swanky]

Well, my tactic seems to be:

1) Buy near top-of-the-line
2) Wait
3) Wait
4) Wait
5) Bitch about why I didn't upgrade sooner
6) Get to terms with the fact that I will have to start all over
7) Buy near top-of-the-line

But this time I will actually try to upgrade in time. I will be getting a new mobo, CPU, RAM, HD and CPU.

Wait, that sounds like starting fresh again!

Oh well, here we go

swanky

 

[Cirinde]

Yes, piece by piece seems to be the most practical if your on a budget.

My current system is too archaic for entertainment purposes (umm, old slot 1 board w/ slocket convertor.. ) but I've been promising myself a new rig which will hopefully come to fruition before another year goes by :/
Well with my budget, I doubt I can start fresh with the all the latest goods at once.. what do you suppose is the way to go? I used to be a regular gamer (used someone else's comp, heh) and want to get back in on the action I've been missing Should I go for a high-end vid card now and get the mobo/cpu/ram later (perhaps summer) or vice versa? or maybe some combination of the 2..

 

[Jeff7]

What are your full system specs right now?
If you've got a slot 1 right now, a full system upgrade might be the way to go - depends of course on just how fast you want it to be, and what you'll be using it for.

 

[Cirinde]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
What are your full system specs right now?
If you've got a slot 1 right now, a full system upgrade might be the way to go - depends of course on just how fast you want it to be, and what you'll be using it for.

Let's see..
Asus P2B w/ slocket for a cel.900 o/ced to 1200
256mb sdram
Matrox MGA G200 (8mb)
60, 10 and 9 gb drives (sufficient for the moment)

I suppose I'm only looking at mobo/cpu/ram/vid upgrades. Fast enough to comfortably play your usual and upcoming fps games, and to last w/o another upgrade for some time of course would be nice hehe.
What do you think about this plan? Waiting for the price drop for a Radeon 9500 pro or 9700 non-pro when the gforce fx comes out (mid-feb?), using it until summer before upgrading the rest (mobo/cpu/ram). That way, I can play somewhat decently and satisfy my withdrawal from gaming , and also prices will likely be lower for the mobos/cpus/ram by then. More $ in my pocket to buy the old system another case for torturing the poor thing a little longer, yes?

 

[tbates757]

I'm always tempted to upgrade, but then I ask myself will I really even notice a difference and the conclusion I usually come to is "no". When I actually do upgrade, I think the most important thing to do is get the most futureproof motherboard possible, and then for everything else get the best components price/performance ratio wise with the most important factor being overclockability.

 

[Jeff7]

I suppose I'm only looking at mobo/cpu/ram/vid upgrades

Yeah, that might do.
A Radeon 9700 might not work with the motherboard either - it draws a lot of juice, so much so that it has a supplemental power connector. You might need a better power supply too. Plus, the 440BX motherboard and its processor will likely limit the Radeon 9500/9700 considerably
What kind of total upgrade budget are you considering?

 

[Cirinde]

hmm, well the best card I've used in it was only a gforce2mx400 but you might be right :/ I have a 300W psu btw.
I understand the Radeons would be severly limited but it would only be a temporary upgrade until I get a suitable mobo/cpu/ram to match, which I wouldn't mind waiting a few months for if the system can actually handle some light gaming (guess the point is that I would rather not get an average card since it won't be very useful after I do the mobo/cpu/ram upgrade anyways).
Does it sound more practical to just do a full upgrade now? I am looking to spend around $400 between now and then..

 

[thorin]

Originally posted by: Cirinde
Just curious
What is your pattern for purchasing upgrades? (i.e. regularly buy the latest hardware for all components, only upgrade one or a few components every few months, squeeze all the juice out your current rig for a few years before starting fresh?)

Usually something like this:
1) Purchase a system (or upgrade) w/ low to mid CPU, RAM, and MOBO.
The Rational: Why pay $533 CDN for a 2700+ now when I could buy a 2100+ for $152 CDN (or a 2200+ at half the price of the 2700+ @ $252 CDN). I can save the other half (or more) of the $533 and upgrade to a Barton or Clawhammer earlier. RAM spec and MOBO features always change (getting better) with time so as long as I get something that better then my current system and has the features I want then I should always be happy. Example: Just upgraded from a C366@550 w/ 256MB PC133 on a BM6 to a 2100+ w/ 256MB PC2100 on a K7S5A (my United Devices rating went from 67 to 116). I've decided that for WinXP I need more memory so I'll be putting another 512MB in the box (with the money I didn't spend on a CPU). (Bringing my UD rating up to 148'ish). When the 2100+ just begins to feel slow (spring 2004 I'll replace it with a Barton or Clawhammer [whatever's low to mid at the time] and sell of the 2100+ as a used part).

2) On off years (the years I don't do CPU/RAM/MOBO) I do storage upgrade(s). So this year I'll likely pop in a 80GB (perhaps more...depending on the sweet spot when I purchase) 8MB cache. (This will replace my two aging independant 20GB drives).

3) Every few years I do Sound and/or Video upgrades. I usually don't mind playing games in 600x800 or 1024x768 with mid to highly quality settings so I'm usually never on the bleeding edge of Gfx (right now I have a Asus 7100 MX400....later in the spring depending on pricing etc I might grab a GF4).

Thorin

 

[dullard]

Whenever I feel my computer cannot handle a new program and a simple upgrade will be more expensive than a whole new computer, I'll get a new computer.

I buy what I consider the best price/performance spot. I never get the top of the line CPU and spend hundreds of dollars more for a 5% speed boost. I buy a whole system at a time - each component in that system had the best price/performance ratio. That new computer replaces my main computer. That sends every computer one spot down the line - my old comptuer goes to my wife, my wifes computer goes to my parents (or her parents), their old computer goes to their relatives, etc. That way a dozen people all get an upgrade. The very last computer in the line is taken apart and used as spare parts (some parts like a HD or memory goes immediately into any of the computers that can effectively use them).

I do the same thing at work. Anytime one person gets a new computer, his/her old computer gets moved down the line and everyone gets an upgrade. Everyone gets a larger monitor, everyone gets more HD space, more memory, a faster CPU, etc.

If I didn't buy whole systems at a time, and just bought one upgrade part, then usually only one person gets the upgrade. So only rarely will I'll buy an additional part for one computer - such as another stick of memory. But that only occurs when that computer meets a program it can't handle very well.