Can I complain about how fast PCs are today? I want to upgrade, but 0 reason to:

[DaveSimmons]

I'd like to upgrade the i5-2500 in my gaming PC but a new i7-6700K would only be about 20% faster. It's not worth the effort and $600 or so for that little gain when the i5 still lets me play any game.

I did upgrade the GPU from GTX 680 to GTX 980ti last year though, since the 680 was struggling in some spots in Fallout 4.

 

[clamum]

You'd still need to upgrade (maybe not like it was 15 years ago, I'll grant you) if you wanted to play the latest video games at high resolution, framerate, and quality settings. Usually you can get away with just a decent video card, though, for awhile anyway. Until just recently I was still running a i5 750 and Radeon 7870 and could play new games (Fallout 4, GTA), albeit not at ultra quality and FPS.

 

[Humpy]

I just upgraded a month ago from a Pentium E6300 with HD4550 to a Pentium G4500 using the on board Intel HD530 for graphics.

The old system was struggling with basic flash video and OTA TV.

I'm having fun playing Metal Gear Solid V. I'm a gamer now.

 

[BudAshes]

I think the only reason to really upgrade now is to keep up with multiple ultra HD displays.

 

[Carson Dyle]

You'll get ZERO complaints from me along those lines. It was nearly inevitable that we'd reach a point where hardware performance would outrun even the stupidest of programming and web design trends. I expect I'll have my current desktop system for 6-10 years.

It's probably a big reason why Microsoft is trying to cram its latest Windows upgrade down everyone's throats. Because there's now a longer and longer period of time between necessary machine upgrades and OS purchases.

 

[dullard]

I've been wanting to upgrade mine, but only because I have trouble with Dominion (card game) working at the same time as Excel 2013. I can use one but not both. When the other player is purposely idle, I like to do something productive until the game ends.

I just looked at my order date: 11/30/2009. This thing is nearly 7 years old. I'll wait until desktop Kaby Lake is out. I won't get anything dramatically faster but it would be nice to get newer USB ports, better display ports, use half the power (so I can get a cheaper UPS since that too is on the fritz) and stop being a space heater replacement. Being faster in GIMP would be a plus, but not a need.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

My machine is a month short of 4 years now and it was dirt cheap even then because I was using older components. AMD A6 quad core, Biostar MB and 8GB RAM purchased as a package deal for something like $125 at the time. Reused power supply, case, keyboard, boot drive, speakers, etc, so they're even older. Only added a 3TB storage drive and that was cheap too. Want an SSD, but not going to get one until I have to go with a new machine and god knows when that will be. I'm not complaining at all, it's great to be off that treadmill of constantly upgrading parts to keep up with games and bloatware. Now anyone except gamers can build a cheap box and run it into the ground because the lowest end, cheapest machine is more powerful than 95% of users will ever need.

 

[Imp]

I haven't upgraded in so long that I still don't have any USB 3.x ports... And my case doesn't have 2.5" bays. When I got my SSD, I had to buy $20 2.5" to 3.5" converters.

It's been so long that I swapped out my CMOS battery last year afraid it was on its way out. And I'm also concerned the CPU/GPU fans may drop dead at any time so I run Hardware Monitor all the time to check they're spinning.

 

[ElFenix]

I'm certain you'll find people with a sympathetic ear in the General Hardware forum. It's loaded with people likely to talk someone down on an already extremely low end $250 PC build to $100. Very much the opposite of myself.

VirtualLarry is a national treasure

 

[GRIFFIN1]

Oculus Rift and porn might keep the PC going a little longer.

 

[disappoint]

Agreed. 75 is too much. I demand better support for my 74 tabs though

They say if you kick an iPhone down the stairs you get 72 tabs in the afterlife.

 

[renz20003]

Also, no one develops a browser for the people who run 75 tabs. Why the hell does anyone need 75 active tabs:?

Porn

 

[core2slow]

It's the magic of "synergy." What was that? SYNGERY!

What??

SYNNERRRGGYYY!!

 

[IronWing]

Porn

Does this work like a flipbook?

 

[Red Squirrel]

I feel the same way, my only reason to build a new machine now days is if I need another machine for something else. My last build was a slightly lower end box to use as my daily driver (less power usage) so I can dedicate my i7 for gaming. That and no need to keep dual booting when I want to game. other than that I feel no need to upgrade. MAYBE graphics, if I was deeper into gaming.

The scary thing about this is if even enthusiasts are seeing less reason to upgrade, it means general users definitely don't, and it means companies like NCIX and individual component makers will start hurting and shut down. Heck, it already happened to Tigerdirect. It was one of few options here in Canada. My last build I also noticed how stuff is getting more expensive. Motherboards and CPUs especially.

I fear the day that everything goes thinclient / cloud based and that actual individual components becomes very hard to buy. I think it's basically what MS is pushing for, that windows is a service. Eventually they'll just sell a "Windows Client" box and it connects to your account. Will be super easy and convenient, but very scary from a technological/privacy/control point of view.

 

[Imp]

If I were to upgrade, I'd want a micro-ATX or ITX case... but I hate working in tight spaces. I got my si hueg P183 because it was huge with lots of space. But there's only one video card and 3 hard drives in there... what a waste of space. Awesome cooling though.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I actually went with rackmount for my two workstations, downside is the selection of cases suck compared to regular, but they're so much better to work in, even the cheaper ones. After working on lot of servers I just hated working in standard PC cases. Though I also moved my PCs to the server room so it made sense space wise. It's nice not having as much noise in my office. Though I still need to insulate the floor, server room is below and can still hear the servers faintly.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I used to love upgrading but I can't justify it now. The rig in my sig is fine and plays everything I throw at it. Money isn't the issue - I actually have banked enough credit card rewards to effectively upgrade for free, but it just isn't worth my time to build a new box. I would've never said that 10 years ago.

 

[OverVolt]

I buy for energy efficiency now. My Laptop was $300 uses 40 watts and can play old games just fine... just saying. Core i3.

I would totally put a laptop CPU into a desktop these days.

Computers are much nicer to be around when they are sucking down power, making a ton of noise and putting off a ton of heat.

 

[Kaido]

I'm in the same boat with my wife's circa-2011 Hackintosh. I'd like to upgrade it, but the only real problem is that it's out of space. The i5 & 10 gigs of RAM from 5 years ago is still humming along just great! Tucking away for a 10TB boot drive right now ($450!) because it's easier to manage Lightroom libraries & Backblaze backups on a single drive.

 

[renz20003]

I just built a new rig because my e-penis has been a bit flaccid lately.

 

[kalrith]

I'd like to upgrade the i5-2500 in my gaming PC but a new i7-6700K would only be about 20% faster. It's not worth the effort and $600 or so for that little gain when the i5 still lets me play any game.

I did upgrade the GPU from GTX 680 to GTX 980ti last year though, since the 680 was struggling in some spots in Fallout 4.

Same here. My i5-2500k is at 4.3GHz, and there's really no gaming advantage to upgrading the CPU. Any money spent on a CPU would be better spent on a nicer graphics card. I do plan on replacing my 7870 with a 480 in the near future. I plan to keep my i5-2500k another 4-5 years until there's maybe a 50% increase in gaming performance from a new cpu.

 

[Zeze]

I woke up with a good ol' nerd crave this morning and wanted to upgrade my PC to an i5, 16gigs RAM, and a decend midrange GPU.

So dumb. I have no reason to I barely game on my PC and most of my browsing is done on the smartphone. I kinda want to try Overwatch... and that's about it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I've always wanted to build a ridiculously high end gaming machine, like highest i7 processor, maxed ram, and whatever is the latest and greatest video card, 4 of those in SLI. Just go all out.

But I really have no reason to. I'd probably also need to upgrade my electrical panel because I only have 100 amp service.

 

[nerp]

Some upgrades are easy to justify, like a second monitor, better keyboard, etc. If your machine is going on 5-7 years old, why not get a new modular PSU? You can grab an EVGA Supernova G2 or P2 for $50 to $75 and you get peace of mind, modular cables, etc. Might not be necessary but it's practical and a way to satisfy that upgrade urge without needless performance upgrades you'll never really take advantage of.