Who's struggling to justify upgrading their CPU?

[Dice144]

Well I told myself I would upgrade when I beat DragonAge:Origins. Now I am making myself beat the expansion and all DLC first! Sadly do not think Bull Dozer will be out in time for another AMD CPU (only if it's faster).

 

[bigboxes]

Not until Z68. My current machine does all I need.

 

[Kingkazma]

well for gaming wise i wouldn't upgrade right now (e7400)

but recently started doing graphics video and rendering stuff like that so now im considering seriously.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Well, I just got fed up with my computer crashing at random times and spent $2,600 on a new one. I probably made some mistakes in there, but it was a long overdue upgrade. (see signature for current computer)

This is what I bought:
HAF-X Case
Seasonic X760 PSU
Intel i7-2600K CPU
ASROCK P67 Extreme4 MB
Crucial C300 128GB SSD
Western Digital Black 2GB HD
12X LG BluRay burner
HIS HD6970 Video Card
Corsair H60 CPU Heatsink
HP ZR24w 24" Monitor
SAITEK Cyborg V5 Keyboard
16GB (4x4GB) G.Skill 1600 DDR3 RAM (1.5V, CAS 9)
Windows 7 Home Premium (64bit)
Trendnet TEW-623PI Wireless N PCI adapter
Trendnet TEW-652BRP Wireless N Router

You had a 2600K and you use a 4200+ now? Eek!!

And I like the 2GB HDD. Circa 1996

 

[Martimus]

You had a 2600K and you use a 4200+ now? Eek!!

And I like the 2GB HDD. Circa 1996

Thanks, I didn't notice the Typo. Obviously I meant TB, not GB.

Yeah, I currently use a 90nm Manchester 4200+ X2. I bought it in 2007 I think, to upgrade my old 3500+ on my S939 platform. This should be quite the upgrade going from that to a 2600K, and also going from the 3850 to the 6970. I will get the last of the parts on Tuesday, and hopefully will have the system up and running then.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Yeah, I currently use a 90nm Manchester 4200+ X2. I bought it in 2007 I think, to upgrade my old 3500+ on my S939 platform. This should be quite the upgrade going from that to a 2600K, and also going from the 3850 to the 6970. I will get the last of the parts on Tuesday, and hopefully will have the system up and running then.

Sweet...pls post some benchmarks once you upgrade, curious to see the performace differences with such a huge upgrade :thumbsup:

 

[Martimus]

Sweet...pls post some benchmarks once you upgrade, curious to see the performace differences with such a huge upgrade :thumbsup:

I think I have Crysis installed, so that will be a good benchmark I can use on both. I'll look into downloading superpi or some such CPU benchmark as well to compare.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

cool, tks :thumbsup:

 

[john3850]

With a recent x58 build I have no intension of new build till I see the L3
cache double in size and then a years wait for price to stable again.
These are lowest intel build price's I have seen in years.
Right now at mc i5 $179 + 150mb total of $400 with ram
When C2D first came out it cost me $550. for a e6600 and mb.
With x58 the mb were a furtune.

 

[KentState]

Not until Z68. My current machine does all I need.

Pretty much the same type of setup as you and I haven't seen anything yet that blows it away. Maybe a new video card when Skyrim is released at the end of the year. Is there even a current Intel chipset that can handle 24GB of ram and a 6-core processor?

 

[Meph3961]

Pretty much the same type of setup as you and I haven't seen anything yet that blows it away. Maybe a new video card when Skyrim is released at the end of the year. Is there even a current Intel chipset that can handle 24GB of ram and a 6-core processor?

X58 can do a 6 core and 24GB of ram

 

[btx]

Yeah, I'm in this boat too. I need to upgrade a relative's PC -- an old AMD 64. It's become more of a pain for me to maintain it than it's worth. So, I am trying to decide if I go buy them a prebuilt Athlon2 X4 635 (or something of the like - I can get something suitable for around 400-450) or spend about three to four hundred more, upgrade my current machine and build a new one for my relatives out of the pieces.

I have a Q6600 (stock), 4GB Ram, 2 500 GB HDs, GTX260, Antec 900 case, Corsair 520W PSU

and would end up going to (* parts are new)
2500K*, MSI P67A-G45*, GTX 260, Corsair 650TX PSU*, some 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM kit*, 500GB Sata6 HD*, old slower 500 GB HD

and for my relatives
Q6600 on a Gigabyte GA-p35 mobo, 4gigs o' ram, 500GB HD, 520W corsair PSU (~3 years old), some low end video board*, some decent case -- maybe an Antec 300* and a Win 7 license*.

I've kinda got the upgrade bug, but I doubt it is going to benefit me much. Fortunately, it won't strain my budget either way, but I want to get good value for my money. As a gamer (not too hardcore) and a software engineer, the horsepower may come in useful down the line -- I've just been going back and forth and back and forth on this one...can't make up my mind.

Most important thing is to get my relatives into something that will be a good general box for 3-5 years, maybe longer.

:hmm:

 

[jackstar7]

As BF2 provoked me to upgrade years ago, I am hoping that BF3 will push me into a tower and get me to consider Xfire to power my monitors.

C'mon DICE!

 

[Cerb]

Most important thing is to get my relatives into something that will be a good general box for 3-5 years, maybe longer.

:hmm:

Get a nice case, and throw a HD 5670. With the HW decoding and shader power of a lower-end gaming card (nVidia just doesn't have anything worthwhile under the 450, compared to what AMD offers), it will be quite some time before a Q6600 and 4GB of RAM is not enough for people that aren't power users. Overclock it a bit, and it will be every bit as good as the Athlon II X4 635 (I'd call 2.75GHz about even for non-gaming--the caches and superior IPC will help make up for where it lacks just as often as the Athlon II's higher speed and faster RAM access give it an edge).

OTOH, if they are really plain jane computer users, you could go for an Athlon II X2 or X3, with 785G or better IGP, and it'd be just fine, too. Back to the Core 2, though, if you are the computer's tech support, it's generally easier and better in the long run to use known parts and software to start with, v. a premade box, even if the premade box offers a better initial value.

 

[OCNewbie]

Been running a Q9550 @ 3.6 GHz at default, or slightly under default voltage, since late '08. I'm still very satisfied with my system, and don't currently have any desire/need to upgrade. I'm running a GTX260-216, 4 GB RAM, 64GB SSD for boot, on Win 7 - 64bit. I game a lot, but only @ 1024x768 (19" CRT, I likes it), so my current setup is more than enough at that res.

 

[SolMiester]

I was hoping to get a GTX460 to upgrade the graphics, however the Abit IP35 board up and died on me, so getting a SB upgrade I didnt think id get...too bad about the card, maybe the Q6600\RAM and current card sale will be enough to get a better GPU?

 

[jsedlak]

I've already posted here, but I figure now that I have a machine to compare to it is worth posting again.

I just got a SNB machine at work and it is definitely impressive. It has 2600, RAID0 and 16 giggabibbles of memory. Photoshop opens in about half the time compared to my 9650 and 500mb PSDs open absurdly quickly. Seeing 8 cores in task manager is sweet too.

But is it fast enough to warrant a replacement at home? Doubtful, though the extra 8gb of RAM provides a very nice and lofty overhead.

I am going to wait for LGA2011 (or whatever they call it) to upgrade at home.

 

[CTho9305]

I'm using an Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (2 x 2.3GHz) and I play StarCraft 2...and I'm still having trouble justifying an upgrade :$.

I ended up being forced to upgrade due to hardware trouble, so I picked up a Phenom II x6 1090T CPU and Radeon HD 6870 GPU; I don't know how much benefit I really got from it. Web surfing is a little bit faster (although I also switched to Firefox 4, so there's probably some benefit there), and Starcraft is marginally prettier and a little smoother, but over all I don't feel like I was missing much. I'm wondering if I should have gone with the other build I had spec'd out, which was a 45W CPU and low-profile GPU...

I will say that I'm liking Windows 7 (and Windows Media Center) much more than Ubuntu 10.10 (and MythTV) and Windows XP though.

 

[tweakboy]

Well Ill upgrade at 2017 when they have 1nm 16 core ..

Until then , no need for a upgrade Im doing fine.

 

[Idontcare]

I ended up being forced to upgrade due to hardware trouble, so I picked up a Phenom II x6 1090T CPU and Radeon HD 6870 GPU; I don't know how much benefit I really got from it. Web surfing is a little bit faster (although I also switched to Firefox 4, so there's probably some benefit there), and Starcraft is marginally prettier and a little smoother, but over all I don't feel like I was missing much. I'm wondering if I should have gone with the other build I had spec'd out, which was a 45W CPU and low-profile GPU...

I will say that I'm liking Windows 7 (and Windows Media Center) much more than Ubuntu 10.10 (and MythTV) and Windows XP though.

Still on a Q6600 here. I felt the upgrade itch to go with a 1075T when they first came out, opted instead for the SSD upgrade. My day-to-day compute experience improved so much that I haven't felt like upgrading the CPU ever since.

Definitely reaching the point of saturation. I'll upgrade to either a BD or a SB this fall, but there is no pressing urgent need. Not like when I had at Cyrix PR180 and was seriously looking to upgrade to that PII 450.

I am jealous of your 1090T though...my apps would so use those 6 cores. Plus I've missed having an AMD rig these past years. I do hope BD is awesome but I plan to get a Llano-based laptop no matter what.

 

[Deanodarlo]

The Q6600 is an amazing CPU. Perhaps the longest lived CPU ever created.

What is it, 4+ years old now? And still able to hold its own in almost all areas with a nice little overclock!!!

 

[Sephire]

Q6600 is still selling more than $100 on Ebay. Pretty much if you have Socket 775 and want a cheap quadcore this is the chip to get.

 

[poohbear]

if u dont play games or do video encoding, i can't imagine why u'd need more than a dual core CPU? If u bought a C2D and its running @ 3ghz, then that's gonna remain ure comp for the next 4 years. seriously PCs have plateaued. Unless u're a gamer, in which case yes u'll need to upgrade every year or 2 to keep up w/ the games.

 

[lol123]

if u dont play games or do video encoding, i can't imagine why u'd need more than a dual core CPU? If u bought a C2D and its running @ 3ghz, then that's gonna remain ure comp for the next 4 years. seriously PCs have plateaued. Unless u're a gamer, in which case yes u'll need to upgrade every year or 2 to keep up w/ the games.

There is hardly any reason for gamers to upgrade their CPUs today either, and things will probably remain so until developers and publishers start paying the PC market some attention again.

 

[AgentUnknown]

I went from a E2140 to an E8400. Big upgrade for me!