Who's struggling to justify upgrading their CPU?

[SickBeast]

Just keep in mind that PSUs burn out over time and they are often the culprit of computer woes. Good luck with the new board! Hopefully the 3rd time is the charm!

 

[theprodigalrebel]

I have an i5 750 that I had clocked to 4GHz. At some point, I had updated my BIOS and forgot to dial in my OC again. I went several months at stock speeds without even realizing it. I think it's going to be a while before I find myself wondering out aloud, "I wonder if it's time for a new CPU?"

Now show me a nice 100-128GB current-generation SSD (SF-2000 series or equivalent) at maybe $1.50 per GB and I'm going to pounce on that. I can dream, can't I?

 

[SickBeast]

I have an i5 750 that I had clocked to 4GHz. At some point, I had updated my BIOS and forgot to dial in my OC again. I went several months at stock speeds without even realizing it. I think it's going to be a while before I find myself wondering out aloud, "I wonder if it's time for a new CPU?"

Now show me a nice 100-128GB current-generation SSD (SF-2000 series or equivalent) at maybe $1.50 per GB and I'm going to pounce on that. I can dream, can't I?

That's the thing. I'm wondering if I would even notice anything faster than my Phenom II at 3.75ghz.

 

[herkulease]

I have a Q9550. perfectly happy with it and I don't see a need to upgrade for 5 maybe six more years.

I'm very sure Diablo 3 will run perfectly fine on the system I have now. maybe not 60fps.

Maybe when bluray blanks and burners come down in price I might consider upgrading to do heavy editing of home movies from our HD camcorder.

Of course this assume it doesn't die for some reason.

most likely upgrade for me would be getting an SSD.

 

[SickBeast]

most likely upgrade for me would be getting an SSD.

Same here. The problem is that the new Intel X25-M drives cost exactly the same amount as the previous drives, and they will perform the same or worse in all likelihood.

The Micron C400 drives look very interesting, though. It looks like Intel is about to lose their crown in the SSD market big time.

 

[Zenoth]

I just bought my first new CPU since I got my C2D E8400 back in holidays 2007.

I'm going from (in current signature):

C2 Duo
4GB DDR2
X38 Mobo

To (2600K):

SB Quad
8GB DDR3
P67 Mobo

Then later on I'll upgrade my GTX 285 to a GTX 560 Ti, and once I get my new GPU I'll get the final upgrade, going from a CRT to a 1080p 120Hz LCD. I think that it was time for an upgrade, that's generally the amount of time I wait before upgrading the whole system (around three years). I've done it three times prior to the current system I have, and each time I had been waiting at least two years before doing anything major.

If I already had a Quad CPU with DDR3 however then yes it would have been more difficult to justify upgrading anything. But I do believe that I'm going to see some nice improvements overall with the upgrade I'm going to make, from what I currently have.

 

[toyota]

Zenoth, I would go with something faster than a gtx560. that's only about 30-35% faster than your gtx285.

 

[Zenoth]

Zenoth, I would go with something faster than a gtx560. that's only about 30-35% faster than your gtx285.

Sure, send me some money and I will.

 

[toyota]

Sure, send me some money and I will.

I was just pointing that out if were expecting a big performance jump.

 

[SickBeast]

You could get GTX 460 SLI for cheaper than a 560 and they would PWN the single card.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

The 6950 2GB going for ~$220AR is pretty sick as well, especially since you only need be a pre-school dropout to unlock it

 

[SickBeast]

The 6950 2GB going for ~$220AR is pretty sick as well, especially since you only need be a pre-school dropout to unlock it

Yes, and then you can cry to your mommy when the memory overheats, giving you an expensive paperweight that's not covered under warranty. D:

 

[Jules]

Thinking of picking up a i7-2600K with Shogun 2: Total War for $328.99. Not sure if its worth it over what i got now though.

 

[Redshirt 24]

I'm still content with my i7/950, but for a minute or two I was (and occasionally still am) tempted to snag a 2600K. Since anything from this point would require a full system do-over, though, I'm patiently waiting for numbers on Bulldozer before considering anything else.

 

[aldamon]

Yes, and then you can cry to your mommy when the memory overheats, giving you an expensive paperweight that's not covered under warranty. D:

You can unlock it without touching the memory.

 

[Genx87]

I have the upgrade itch. Christ I hate when this comes around. I bought an Intel SSD last week and now feel like getting an i5 2500K setup going. Figure I can get in for about 450 bucks. Processor, MB, and Ram. But it will be more once I factor in wanting to keep my E8400 system together. Ill need a new case + PSU.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Yes, and then you can cry to your mommy when the memory overheats, giving you an expensive paperweight that's not covered under warranty. D:

Uhm WTF? Be a little conservative and flash an unlocked BIOS with 6950 speeds and timings, then OC manually using a utility - which is what I did.

Have two Sapphires running in Xfire this way with nary a problem.

 

[PascalT]

I realized this week that i've been on the Q9450 for 2-3 yrs now (whenever they came out). First time I don't upgrade on a yearly basis for a long time now.

I work on my computer everyday and play some SC2, but that's it. I agree with OP that the itch to upgrade just isn't there for me anymore. I'd rather extend the life of my initial money spent as much as possible..

Over time I guess you find to realize that there's always something new around the corner to look fwd to. If I skipped 2-3 gens that's fine, I'll get in on the next new thing.

 

[scbjmshpv]

I agree with OP that the itch to upgrade just isn't there for me anymore. I'd rather extend the life of my initial money spent as much as possible..

Over time I guess you find to realize that there's always something new around the corner to look fwd to. If I skipped 2-3 gens that's fine, I'll get in on the next new thing.

i can't agree with u you more. I had FX-62 since 2005 when they first came out for almost 5 years, at end of 2009 (yep december 31st i put in my order) i got good trade in value for AMD 955BE with almost 25% of total price i paid for entire upgrade than buying new system. my luck this year i got better deal and found someone to cell that system for good value and getting i5 system with that.

but if i hadn't gotten that deal i would have skipped this year as well as i was tempted to get i7 system but thought it was too soon, i might just wait for bulldozer and see if i can get good system for good price again. no desktop atm and thus no gaming for me for least a month.

 

[KevinH]

I have an E5200 chip that I have overclocked to 3.5 ghz. I jumped on an I7 950/Gigabyte combo and I sold it within a few weeks here on AT in fact.

In real world usage, there was literally ZERO difference.

Unless you're doing some seriously cpu intensive apps, modern cpu's SOOOOOOO far outweigh modern programs that it's ridiculous.

 

[judasmachine]

I love my e7200 @ 3.7GHz with 4GB RAM. The only thing I'm considering upgrading is my HD4850, but even then I'm not in any hurry. My Droid X gets more love than my PC these days. Weird as I was the last holdout of my friends to go mobile.

EDIT: I will be getting a 1 or 2 TB drive, and maaayyybbbbeee an SSD sometime this year.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Q6600 here and im debating right now if i should upgrade to a 2500k.

Right now the performance is acceptable, but I just bought a 3d monitor, so well see how it handles 3d games.

I have had this for over 3 years, and am probably up for a new cpu, but i think i wanna wait and see what bulldozer and the 2011 socket cpu's offer, then pull the trigger.

 

[jalaram]

I'm also on a Q6600. However, no OCing since it's an HP system (m8100y). The GPU is a 9600GT (I'm not a gamer).

Is it worth going to a i3-2100 and h67 mb? There's a coupon at Microcenter for $25 off (making the mb $65) and they have the i3 for $99. I think I can still sell my q6600 for $100 or such to help fund it. I know the power usage will drop, but is there a benchmark to compare those two procs?

Also, should I keep the 9600GT or move to onboard video?

[Edit] Or should I get something better than the i3?

 

[Cerb]

Well, what do you do with your computer? Give something CPU-intensive that might warrant an i3. Definitely keep the 9600GT.

 

[jalaram]

I don't do as much as I could. :$

I guess CD->mp3/flac and DVD/Bluray -> MKV/iPhone encoding are the most intensive, but they are occasional tasks. I also run 2 Virtual Box VMs (1 Win7 for company usage and 1 ubuntu for Transmission).

I'm hoping to do simple video editing on it (home movies to DVD or Bluray).

When I was using MCE on it to record off the HD Homerun and HD-PVR, there was a system level task that would convert those videos to mp4. That was a cpu intensive task that used all 4 cores. But, it too was occasional.

I do also have visual studio, 3ds max, blender, and messiah studio, but I just haven't had time to fully utilize them.