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A new rule I follow when upgrading
- Thread starter Johnnytoxic
- Start date
Soldato
I upgrade when there is an actual benefit in doing so from a personal standpoint and I also take into account price/performance. However that never stops that annoying upgrade itch I seem to get all the time.
I agree, it depends on the individual, if you are the sort of person that is quite happy swapping out parts, and selling stuff secondhand, then it probably works out OK that way.
But personally I'd actually go almost full circle with this argument.... I'd argue that it's perhaps better to run something into the ground, than upgrade once it is obsolete. The difference in resale value between obsolete hardware, and super-obsolete hardware, is minimal. So although you will take a hit on depreciation when hardware is say 1-3 years old, once you get beyond 3 years you aren't really losing much at all by hanging on to it. Here's an example:
Year 0:
Buy a bundle (mobo+cpu+ram) for £400
Year 3:
Bundle has depreciated and is now only worth £100
Year 4:
Now worth £70
Year 5:
Now worth £50
My numbers may be crap, and I could probably have chosen a shorter timespan to make it more realistic for most people, but it's the principle I'm driving at. Holding onto that obsolete system for an extra 2 years only ended up losing '£50' of it's value.
Obviously, it depends on how fast a system you need. But in general terms the 'wheeler-dealing' that many practice isn't for everyone, personally my policy on upgrades used to involve resale but nowadays I just wait around until I see what I perceive as a bargain, e.g. the MSI P55 mobo launch promotion, or recent deals on Fermi GPUs. When will I next upgrade, who knows, SB looks too expensive at the moment to be worthwhile, If they can get something out where I can get a mobo and cpu for under £200 that is fairly sure to go over 5ghz on air (quadcore or higher, SB performance per clock... obviously lower clockspeed and better per-clock performance would be fine) then I might start taking an interest, but I suspect this is likely to be pushing well into 2012 at the earliest before that happens.
Moving back on topic, as mentioned superpi 1M isn't a great way to measure system performance anymore, I mean arguably you could say that your Q6600 was a bit on the slow side, 16s was being bettered by even the very early Core2 chips like overclocked E6300, but does that make them better performers than your Q6600, not really (aside from single-threaded apps of course). If all you wanted to was a low SuperPi time you would have been far better off getting a Wolfdale (E8400 or so) than a Q6600, when clocked you'd probably have been getting under 12s. Then you'd still have been waiting for an upgrade as that SB at 4.6ghz would have been way too slow at 8s, you'd be needing sub 6s for your 2x as quick target which I believe was only broken recently by an i5 at 7ghz.
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Man of Honour
I upgrade while my current stuff is still worth something. That way the upgrade cost is minimal. Take my current rig for example. I sold my Q9550, P5Q Pro Turbo and 4GB G.Skill PC2-8500 for £275 leaving me £25 to pay for my current cpu/mobo/ram.
+1
For a few years I've been spending more on disk speed (SSD, RAID etc) which other than the introduction of SSDs hasn't improved as fast as CPUs & GPU so it can take quite a time to get to 50% better in general use.
However it also depends on use - it takes me a very long time to reinstall all my software so I wouldn't want to upgrade as often as someone with a few games and apps.
Soldato
I used to chop and change all the time just because i like playing around with new kit but new job for less money means i will be keeping my current kit (might add a SSD when i can get a decent size one for £150).
GPUs are different i usually upgrade when a new gen comes out, i limit myself to 200-220 price tag and buy what ever is the best in that price range..sell my old card (usualy for about 120ish) this means i keep my GPU up to date for £80 a year.
GPUs are different i usually upgrade when a new gen comes out, i limit myself to 200-220 price tag and buy what ever is the best in that price range..sell my old card (usualy for about 120ish) this means i keep my GPU up to date for £80 a year.
Associate
- Joined
- 13 Feb 2011
- Posts
- 263
I agree with the above. Whilst my PC is very outdated by some of the tech thats available, it is only quite recently that I have felt the need to upgrade my rig. I can play any game out there at a 'reasonable' (for me) graphical setting, probably because of the impact consoles have had on gaming.
What if it's a bad port?
This argument makes quite a lot of sense to me. It does hinge on the premise that you can think of something to do with the obselete hardware though, I've got a 600mhz / 256mb ram laptop in a cupboard, it isn't worth selling it but I can't think of a use for it. So in the cupboard it'll sit, until eventually it's thrown out. That one was run into the ground though, I think the missus got around 8 years worth of use from it.
edit: Cost of hardware / number of hours spent using it is worth guessing at too. A grand on a computer that's used for three hours a week is a very different proposition to spending a grand on one which is busy for eight to sixteen hours a day.
Soldato
I upgrade mobo/cpu/ram on a 3/4yr bases (on 2nd refresh after 1st custom build)
GPU is either when it dies of which 2 have, or when struggling in games such as last upgrade
GPU is either when it dies of which 2 have, or when struggling in games such as last upgrade
Soldato
i upgrade when money allows me to. i was without a desktop for nearly a year, using just my laptop and PS3, i then got lucky and a customer donated me ther old parts, so i had a base to build on. then little by little i have built a pc that im relativly happy with. but once i sell ps3 then i will upgrade a bit more.
like i have said many times, if amd keep to their current trend of making their new sockets atleast one generation backwards compatible i will try and stick with them, as i know my upgrades can be done in stages, without parts sitting in boxes for months until i can afford the next part.
like i have said many times, if amd keep to their current trend of making their new sockets atleast one generation backwards compatible i will try and stick with them, as i know my upgrades can be done in stages, without parts sitting in boxes for months until i can afford the next part.
As a general rule my path is CPU, GPU every 2 Years, MB and PSU every 4 years or when it dies. This year my GPU upgrade was via crossfire at half the original price I paid for the first card 2 years ago. I am currently mulling over whither to reach for a Bulldozer or wait to see if the 1100T goes cheap.
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Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-UD5P, 955 BE(C2)@ 3.92GHz 1.52V, Geil Value 4GB DDR3-1600,
ATI 5850 1GB, CM90 II Advanced, 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black, 4 HDDs, XFX 850W
Black Edition, Asus Xonar Essence STX, Pinnacle PCTV 3010iX Dual Analogue + DVB-T.
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Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-UD5P, 955 BE(C2)@ 3.92GHz 1.52V, Geil Value 4GB DDR3-1600,
ATI 5850 1GB, CM90 II Advanced, 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black, 4 HDDs, XFX 850W
Black Edition, Asus Xonar Essence STX, Pinnacle PCTV 3010iX Dual Analogue + DVB-T.
Yeah I've got a P3-650E / 384MB floating around somewhere, and I haven't booted it since got knows when, probably at least 7 years, should just throw it out :/
When I was talking about obsolete hardware though I was using the term rather loosely [incorrectly], as I'm talking obsolete relative to current hardware and based on the assumption that people could cope with using it for that long. For enthusiasts on this forum keeping hold of a PC for longer than 3 years is pretty alien but for many people it is fine, depends on what sort of things you want to run on it. My wife's laptop is over 3 years old and I can't see it being replaced anytime soon (C2D, 2GB RAM, 17", 9-cell battery)
Associate
- Joined
- 19 Dec 2008
- Posts
- 663
I have just upgraded from a Q6600 @ 3.2ghz to an i5 SB @ 4.6ghz.
The upgrade in most applications is 2x as quick as my Q6600. Pi used to be calculated in around 16 seconds and it is now 8.
The next time I will upgrade is when pi can be done in 4 seconds and most applications are benchmarked twice as quick as my i5. Probably in a couple of generations
Don't forget Amdahl's Law: tasks can only become parallel to a certain level until you are limited by a sequential task
You may want to alter to a non-linear scale for your rule-of-thumb
Soldato
I upgrade when i have spare cash, am bored and have too much time to browse the OCUK website, the performance benefit greatly outweighs the cost and time of upgrading....something shiny is out, a friend gets a better pc than me.
Generally it tends to be when I get bored and feel like I want something to tinker with, or my pc is struggling at some games I like.
@Jhonny Toxic: Is that work or personal? If its work then the hours saved per render would very quickly add up to more money than the upgrade cost, but if its personal, then im with you, as if something is going to take that long I will leave it in the background or overnight etc as I cba to sit there and wait.
Generally it tends to be when I get bored and feel like I want something to tinker with, or my pc is struggling at some games I like.
@Jhonny Toxic: Is that work or personal? If its work then the hours saved per render would very quickly add up to more money than the upgrade cost, but if its personal, then im with you, as if something is going to take that long I will leave it in the background or overnight etc as I cba to sit there and wait.
Associate
I upgrade when either a) my PC no longer performs what is required in a timely manner, or b) I get a bad case of upgradeitis
I will probably upgrade in the next 6 months or so. Although I am just about to buy a new laptop and I really wanted an Orange Five sometime this year so maybe it will have to wait even longer
I will probably upgrade in the next 6 months or so. Although I am just about to buy a new laptop and I really wanted an Orange Five sometime this year so maybe it will have to wait even longer
Soldato
If I only used my computer to calculate pi this might make a little sense...otherwise it makes absolutely none at all to me. 
I upgrade when either a) my PC no longer performs what is required in a timely manner, or b) I get a bad case of upgradeitis
I will probably upgrade in the next 6 months or so. Although I am just about to buy a new laptop and I really wanted an Orange Five sometime this year so maybe it will have to wait even longer
I have a bad case of upgradeitis at the moment... my current system plays everything I play perfectly fine. There is no reason to upgrade, but the urge is still there
lol.That's the rule I go buy when PC upgrading, even though it is very hard to keep too... and when it is upgrade time I'll only upgrade if I can make some money back by selling off old kit.
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