Someone let me know if this isn't the right place to post this please.
I first built my computer in 2009, and I'm still using the same processor, RAM, and mobo.
As my machine slowly becomes even more outdated I'm getting more interested in upgrading.
However my question is when should that upgrade happen? I am mostly interested in skipping DDR3 entirely and want to go to DDR4 when the prices and options become opportune. Also I would like to know what people think will be the processor landscape (brands and speeds compared to what I have) at that time.
So right now I'm running the computer that's in my bio.
Its a:
Phenom II x4 running at 3.7
Gigabyte Mobo
HIS Radeon 7850 clocked at a 7870.
and 4 Gigs of OCZ Gold Edition DDR2....
Cooler Master HAF 922 case
775 watt power supply.
120 Gig SSD main with (2) 1 Tb secondary HDs.
At the moment it plays pretty much all the games I play at 45 to 60 (capped) fps. (always keep a clean install)
Thoughts anyone?
Fun saying:
Things that do you no good in aviation:
Fuel in the truck.
Runway behind you.
Altitude above you.
Airspeed you don't have.
yupp the phenom is probably holding you back at this point. skylake is nice platform. I would try to sell your motherboard and cpu as a combo, oh and also the ram. that way you just have to buy three new things.
Just overclock your CPU and you should be set to hold out until zen/kaby lake launch, if you're mostly just gaming it shouldn't bottleneck too much once OC'd.
The Phenom II is still a fairly stalwart CPU. Getting 3.7 isn't bad - 4.0ghz was a common ceiling, and anything beyond was generally a godsend.
That said, the X4 variety is still suited towards entry level and mainstream gaming. GPUs that are in the Radeon HD 7870 class are a pretty good pairing for it. When you get up to an R9 280X, R9 380, or GTX 960, you start to hit bottlenecking/diminishing returns territory. If you ask me, your RAM may be holding you back just as much as your CPU, but, I could be wrong.
How much money are you looking to spend on a new rig? What all do you expect to be doing?
Not even DDR2 really mattered for gaming
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This is what I am hoping to pull off.
You could always try to find a phenom x6 on the super cheap.
Yeah the 3.7 was just so it wasnt too much of a increase. I tested it at 4.1 once and it ran perfectly in benchmarks and games, but also ran hotter than I wanted, so i backed to a lower overclock.
As for budget I am aiming to concentrate on getting just a new cpu, ram, and mobo. Oh and also a new dvd or bluray cause the new mobo wont have a IDE ribbon connection.... and thats what my dvd uses lol.
On a side note i find it funny that my computer started on windows xp and ddr2, and has a ribbon in it, and now its going from xp to win7 to win 10 and is still gaming.... not bad for a first build.
You still use DVDs? I'd advise just getting like an external USB powered reader, then you can just move it from device to device as needed.
I do have a usb dvd drive around. But we like to rent redbox and we also still have a movie rental store, so being able to just pop in dvds is a nice deal. The computer is hooked up to the tv we use.
That is true, and i used to consider it. But i figure I might as well hold off and put that to a new core setup.
As long as you are not exceeding voltage and temperatures limits, by all means, push it to the maximum.
Is your budget around $300, or more towards $600-800?
Sorry for the late reply, I likely wont set a definit budget. It will likely depend on what the options are and when i decide to do the upgrade.
As for pushing it further than what i have currently set, I dont see to much point, both the video card and processor are bumped up a bit and complement each other well enough. If I wasnt faster I likely will decide to upgrade at that point.
But the value of those core unlockable dual core phenoms were awesome. like $90 for what could be a high frequency and cache loaded quad core back in 09 😆
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upgrade should happen when
a) you (not anyone else) are not happy with the performance of the pc, if the games you play still run fine at decent enough settings it could be argued that an upgrade now would be a bit of a waste.
b) you can afford to do a strong upgrade, ie new socket, powerful gpu, nice psu.
Do you think a modular 775 watt Toughpower is sufficient?
I agree with your thoughts, and that is why I am comfortable with waiting till I can upgrade to a good quality DDR4 Core setup. I was kinda wondering when people think the price to value becomes decent in that area.