Futureproof?

[dannywilco]

Just seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place atm fellas. Aside from having upgrade-itus, i'd be as happy as a pig in s__t with my proposed i5 "upgrade" and being a student, i have (or will) the cash now whereas when the new tech comes out, i might be skint! I don't know, it just seems poor form to do anything when i have a deadline set. Having had my current pc for like 2 years now, it seems poor form to put a dapper new GPU in but it seems to be a lost cause even thinking of going i5.

 

[Big.Wayne]

Hey dannywilco

Just seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place atm fellas

You know you don't "need" this but yet you "want" it still . . . . knowing the difference between "want" and "need" is almost impossible to learn while you are young and you have a big piece of cake burning a hole in your pocket!

Aside from having upgrade-itus, i'd be as happy as a pig in s__t with my proposed i5 "upgrade"

There is no "Aside from having upgrade-itus" . . . you just have a chronic dose of "upgrade-itus" thats it . . . . you are not following the tradition of the OverClocker and OverClocking your chip . . .

OverClock your chip!

and being a student, i have (or will) the cash now whereas when the new tech comes out, i might be skint!

So you see a time in your future when you may not have any money so it makes sense to you now to spend every penny you have? . . . think about what you just said!

I don't know, it just seems poor form to do anything when i have a deadline set

I don't understand that sentence at all? . . .

Having had my current pc for like 2 years now, it seems poor form to put a dapper new GPU in but it seems to be a lost cause even thinking of going i5.

It doesn't matter if you had that PC for 5 years . . . as long as its more than fast enough to deal with "anything" you throw at it then is no good "reason" to upgrade . . . if your gaming is getting laggy or slow then deal with the specific piece of hardware that is causing the slowdowns . . . . your 9800GT graphics card hehe!

Why on earth don't you overClock that Intel® Core™2 Quad Q6600 up from stock 2.4GHz to 3.0GHz+ . . . . why? . . . what good "reason" have you got to not OverClock that chip?

i just like my money going a long way

 

[dannywilco]

So you see a time in your future when you may not have any money so it makes sense to you now to spend every penny you have? . . . think about what you just said!

I don't understand that sentence at all? . . .

I have 5 weeks to spend the grant and supply with proof its been spent on what i applied for.

 

[rush_syndrome]

I build a lot of systems for gamers and people that want media centers too. My old Q6700 with 3GB RAM and a 8800 Ultra, lasted me for well over 3 years until finally, the graphics card blew up. When I went over to the UD9 and i7 920, the difference in BF2142 was completely un-noticeable. In BFBC2 it was slightly noticeable but not justafiable for the £2k that was spent. The difference is that I too plan on getting another 3 years out of this system but want to be able to enjoy the performance during that time, and if I need more graphics power, I figured I could just add to my xfire by adding another card.

In any cutting edge industry, you will constantly be drip fed snippets of future technology to keep you salivating until the release date, but what you will find is generally a 5-10% percent imrpovement which unless you bench, you will not notice.

For me, the biggest notable upgrade has been upgrading from my raided 10,000rpm spinneys to an SSD - that change was Revolutionery. CPU/GPU's are way ahead of software at the moment, SSD's are the upgrade of choice

 

[Big.Wayne]

I have 5 weeks to spend the grant and supply with proof its been spent on what i applied for.

Why on earth don't you overClock that Intel® Core™2 Quad Q6600 up from stock 2.4GHz to 3.0GHz+ . . . . why? . . . what good "reason" have you got to not OverClock that chip?

Intel® Core™2 Quad Q6600 @ 3.2GHz approx "simulation"

I actually thought it was a good idea, but now i just feel like a dumbass

 

[Raves]

Having gone from a c2quad at 3.6 to and i5 750 at 3.8, I can say there is little difference between the 2 (games, win7 general experience... yes yes benches will be much higher with i5 750).

The 460 + SSD seems likely to bag you the most improvement for your $$$. Or just put it all into a GPU.

 

[Ravenger]

I was using the GTX 460 in my Q6600 PC originally, so the improvements I'm noticing are due to the new CPU, MB and memory, not due to the GPU.

I could have overclocked my CPU, but to do that I needed a new case (the old one was too cramped with no air-flow) and a new PSU, as it couldn't cope with the new graphics card and a blu-ray drive, and probably a new cooler. I already had a new graphics card, so I've already spent half the cost of a new PC just to overclock the old chip.

I've still got my old PC as a backup in case my main one goes wrong - my son uses it now. The new PC is quieter, runs cooler, and is more power efficient.

I agree that if you're on a budget then overclocking your CPU might be the best way to go though.

 

[Uther]

I love my 6600 O/C to 3.2.Best CPU I ever had,and will be keeping it for a good while yet.It does everything I want just now,so I see no reason to change it.

 

[1Day]

Future proof is such a difficult question at the best of times. But what I suggest to friends who ask me the same question is this.

Have a look at your current system and see if it does those things you want it to do. So if you are a gamer does it play the games you want to play? If it does and it at a level that is acceptable to you, then don't upgrade. But it your system does NOT do what you want it to do at an acceptable level then upgrade is something to think about.

The i7 platform has been an outstanding one. Those folks that got on the train when it first came out have been smiling all the way. Two nearly three years and it is still at the top of the tree. Not sure that the next gen is going to be as long lived. For me the i7 was as future-proof as it could possibly be at the time. Will the next CPU range be as long lived? No idea.

 

[krooton]

Upgradeitus is annoying, but it can be quashed.

I was running an E8500 @ 4ghz at the start of the year, I've had my Tpower and PSU for over 2 years, and after doing the maths, upgrading my cpu even though it was staying on the ancient 775 socket was actually my best move.

Q9550 @ 3.8Ghz is only slightly slower in some instances, and much better in others.

PCIE is standard for graphics, and motherboard still allows for crossfire at 8x/8x, so the gaming wall won't be an issue.

4GB RAM is enough for my needs, so the £70 I spent on my move to Quad 775 means I didn't have to change anything else.

My PSU will handle another 5850 should I need to beef up my gaming in a year's time, and the rest of my machine is still better than the newer mid-range pc I would have if I had moved to the i-series.

In fact, I think my machine will tide me over until even Sandy/Bulldozer become old hat, with the additional 5850 at some point, so I am pleased as punch.

 

[Orcish-Horde]

Q6600 @ Stock
4gb
ATI 4850 1 gb

That is what I have been running for a few years now, future proof it is not but am happy with it. If I had the money to spend I would wait till next year, see what the new AMD & Intel offerings are like then buy. Forgetting all about PC hardware for a few years.