Have you sped up your upgrade cycle, slowed it down, or neither?

[Magic Carpet]

Just a follow-up. Since 2014, I've done two major desktop upgrades. Bought a pair of G3258 CPUs in a combo with a Gigabyte H81 board that allowed overclocking OOTB. But then Skylake was released in late 2015, and I bought some Z170 Pro4S boards from ASRock, and a pair of G4400 CPUs, and overclocked them. Those are my current machines, but I still have the Q9300 CPUs, and for that matter, the 1045T Thubans as well. Too many machines, really. I should sell some of this stuff while it's still worth using.

Actually, those ancient Thubans are still quite competent, especially, if you use Chrome and do anything video related (quite a lot people do actually). I've seen 6 cores pegged quite regularly during simple web browsing. I believe, in these scenarios it would slaughter anything 2C/2T based these days pretty easily. That would include your otherwise awesome Pentium/Celeron collection. How much money did you spend on them, total? Would that justify the power-savings you have made so far by not using your Thuban rig?

I've just done playing with one 1035T based rig. Works great w/ Windows 10 x64 Pro (and it properly turbo boosts, unlike with Win 7). Been unvervolted for a while now (5 years?), max power ~90w AC load using wPrime 1.55 w/ HD 4200 graphics / ~35W idle power (1 SSD + 1 HDD 2.5"). On a stock cooler, fixed spinning at ~1300 RPMs (which is pretty quiet), with the max temps around ~45C winter / ~55C summer.

And Larry, Chrome is superior to Firefox. When you upgrade, lmao.

 

[coercitiv]

And Larry, Chrome is superior to Firefox. When you upgrade, lmao.

Browser is also a subjective experience, and in my view the way Firefox renders and scrolls the page is superior. I do agree it is the slower browser though.

PS: i've been on FF Developer edition for quite a while now, and the addition of multi threading support might have made sticking with FF worthwhile.

 

[jimbob200521]

Ever since I built my current main rig, I haven't built/bought anything new. The i7 920 OC'd that I have has served me very, very well over the last couple years. The only upgrades I have done would be up my memory from 6gb to 12gb and upgrade my main drive to a Samsung 850 EVO SSD. Other than that, nothing. I have had my C2Q Q6600 running with 4gb of DDR2 for quite a while with no issues. Sure, I've bought a few cheap used Mac's to piddle around with (Macbook, iMac, Mac Mini, etc) but none would be considered anything special.

Until something groundbreaking comes out, I see no reason to upgrade. My performance is great (I don't do any heavy video work, no heavy gaming, etc). I'm an occasional PC gamer, love my Chrome with many tabs open, steam a lot of media and a few odds and ends. Maybe a video card if I get a good deal on one but I don't play enough games to warrant it.

 

[gsilver]

Looking at CPU history, I've upgraded about every 5 years.

It used to be because I couldn't afford it, and with my current CPU (a 2500K) it's because the speed increases haven't been worth it.

I bought the 2500k about a year after its release, so if I were to keep with the pattern, I'd upgrade next year. Which fits in with Cannonlake, which I'm hoping will be a big enough improvement for it to be worth it.


So about the same.

 

[maddogmcgee]

Changed, instead of upgrading the CPU/mobo I have upgraded everything around it. Since buying my mobo I have bought, 2 graphics cards, a sound card, 2 new monitors, new headphones, a few new hard drives and 2 new ssd's, ram, plus a modem that doesn't overheat.

 

[Vortex6700]

Last purchase was 9590 so no reason to upgrade the graphics cards until zen is able to push past the ones I have (fingers crossed).

I know the odds, but I am so excited to spend my money on shiny new hardware I might build 2 and give the lower performing one as a gift!

I've had usb3.0 & 3x 1080 since bulldozer and bought ssd's when they were stupid high $, so no other upgrades either.

Man, I can't wait.

 

[master_shake_]

i used to upgrade to the latest 115x platform.

and i used to buy new gpus in pairs.

now with the dollar as bad as it is i don't even bother.

this 4790k and sli 980's will have to do.

sucks cause i really like new stuff.

 

[NAC]

Looking at CPU history, I've upgraded about every 5 years.

It used to be because I couldn't afford it, and with my current CPU (a 2500K) it's because the speed increases haven't been worth it.

I bought the 2500k about a year after its release, so if I were to keep with the pattern, I'd upgrade next year. Which fits in with Cannonlake, which I'm hoping will be a big enough improvement for it to be worth it.


So about the same.

Interesting. I've also found that I upgrade every 5 years for the past 3 or 4 cycles. Prior to that it was more often. I have a 3570k and am due to upgrade next May. I don't upgrade until I get 4+ times the performance. I think this time I'll get a Broadwell-e 6 core, and will likely get it when it comes out this year - so ahead of schedule. I should get about 4 times the performance for rendering, and I don't think waiting will get me much more gains, so I've got the itch to upgrade now. But I'll be spending over twice as much for this upgrade as the last one.

I find that the best use of money is spent on monitors. For gaming or content creation - a big clear monitor can be more enjoyable and useful than a fractional increase in speed.

 

[2is]

Interesting. I've also found that I upgrade every 5 years for the past 3 or 4 cycles. Prior to that it was more often. I have a 3570k and am due to upgrade next May. I don't upgrade until I get 4+ times the performance. I think this time I'll get a Broadwell-e 6 core, and will likely get it when it comes out this year - so ahead of schedule. I should get about 4 times the performance for rendering, and I don't think waiting will get me much more gains, so I've got the itch to upgrade now. But I'll be spending over twice as much for this upgrade as the last one.

I find that the best use of money is spent on monitors. For gaming or content creation - a big clear monitor can be more enjoyable and useful than a fractional increase in speed.

If you don't upgrade until 4+ the performance, you won't be upgrading for at least the next 20 years if current trends are any indication.

 

[TeknoBug]

i used to upgrade to the latest 115x platform.

and i used to buy new gpus in pairs.

now with the dollar as bad as it is i don't even bother.

this 4790k and sli 980's will have to do.

sucks cause i really like new stuff.

Totally, prices are ridiculously out of sync on electronics. When I got the FX 8320E it was $170, I noticed now they're selling for $240, ugh. At least DDR4 ram is fairly resonably priced but that won't last long when fall season comes around.

 

[myocardia]

Last purchase was 9590 so no reason to upgrade the graphics cards until zen is able to push past the ones I have (fingers crossed).

Which ones do you have? And do you have multiple cards in one system, or multiple cards in multiple systems? Oh, and don't you run your 9590 @ ~5 Ghz?

 

[Vortex6700]

Which ones do you have? And do you have multiple cards in one system, or multiple cards in multiple systems? Oh, and don't you run your 9590 @ ~5 Ghz?

Two r9 290x in one box. I have other systems but nothing interesting. Yes, 5.1 right now.

 

[MrTeal]

I definitely upgrade more often than I used to. Really, if I pull apart my system and spend a few days planning things and a good day on the build, it doesn't make much sense to not upgrade at that point. We'll see when I do a major upgrade next. If the stars align (har har) we'll hopefully see SKL-E and Vega 10 or GP100 in early 2017, which would put me at ~18 months or so between upgrades.

 

[ed21x]

now let's see...

486 -> Pentium II -> Northwood -> Nahalem -> Skylake

it'll probably take another 6 years before the CPU evolves to a significant improvement.

 

[nismotigerwvu]

I've slowed dramatically. I'm currently running a Phenom II 955 BE and a 7950. The system was built in Spring 2009 and really all I've done is add an SSD, dropped in a bit more RAM and that 7950 to replace the 4850 I started with. Here we are 7 years later and it's now starting to show it's age. This machine replaced an Athlon X2 3800+ (early, socket 939 model) based build, which itself replaced an Athlon XP 2800+ (which itself replaced a 1.0ghz Athlon thunderbird and really I don't think we need to go back further than that here). I've basically gone from a new build every 3 years or so to well over twice that. I imagine I'll build something new in the next year or so, but I'll certainly hold off until Zen, Kaby Lake and the 14nm GPUs have come around just to get the most bang for my buck.

 

[mv2devnull]

It used to be because I couldn't afford it, and with my current CPU (a 2500K) it's because the speed increases haven't been worth it.

This shows two factors that are at play:
1. The advance rate of features of the hardware that can make upgrades "justified".
2. "Personal Life"TM that affects both ability and desire to invest.

I had a "younger age" spur of activity, then a long "this is enough" period mainly due to "other matters", and again an "upgrade spree".
Perhaps a bit slowing now again, but not much.

 

[skipsneeky2]

I am guessing something like PCI-E 5.0 or whatever slot demands a new platform in order to enjoy the next gpu that requires it.Pretty much what the Nvidia 8000 series did to AGP owners.

Made the move recently to 1440p, unless i buy the top end gpu every few years i see my i5 2500 no where near the limit that any mid range gpu ever could be.

 

[Markfw]

Slowed down. Not the need for as much speed. My E8400 dual core still works great for office stuff, and its 14 years old (I think)

 

[mv2devnull]

Slowed down. Not the need for as much speed. My E8400 dual core still works great for office stuff, and its 14 years old (I think)

http://ark.intel.com/products/33910/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-E8400-6M-Cache-3_00-GHz-1333-MHz-FSB
Says: E8400 launch Q1'08.

On the bright side, if last than ten years feels awfully long time, then you must still be young.

 

[Dice144]

I have money burning a hole in my pocket but nothing is a real upgrade. Come on AMD/Intel. Hoping Zen or Cannonlake is worth my hard earned cash!

 

[sm625]

Still using a HD7770. Wont upgrade until 14nm arrives, if it ever arrives. I would still be running a i5-750 if it werent for the microcenter G3258 combo.

 

[Face2Face]

I think my upgrades have been rather steady. I have multiple PCs in my house, so If I upgrade my main PC, it's internals float down to the next PC and so on. I have to say, i'm a bit sad, as I no longer have any AMD cpus in use. 5820K, 3570K, 3470s , 4130T, and M380. I'm hoping Zen is decent so I can throw one in my Media server for mass transcoding.

I just ordered A laptop with a i5-6200U in it, so I'm looking forward to playing with mobile Skylake.

 

[repoman0]

I've upgraded my old stuff to faster old stuff when it's been cheap or free. I bought a 16GB DDR31600 kit when it was $50 and sold my 8GB for 50 something. Bought a 2600k and 16GB ram for $210ish and sold my 2500k and resold that 16GB ram for more than that. Sold 280x, used integrated graphics for a while, bought 290 for a few bucks more. I haven't really noticed a performance difference for any of those upgrades, but it cost me nothing but time and I got some hardware to mess around with out of it.

I'd like to play with a new build, but I can't really justify it, aside from a possible upcoming server build which could keep me occupied. I have upgraded peripherals to a decent mechanical keyboard and new mouse, as well as a larger SSD and a pair of 4TB mirrored hard drives.

I probably won't upgrade from Z68 or this 290 until I need to drive a nice 4K/120Hz 30+ inch OLED like the new Dell (once they come down in price) (also unless another free or cheap minor upgrade presents itself)

 

[Myg0t]

Still running a AMD FX6350/MSI 970 Gaming mobo combo that I scored cheap couple of Black Friday's ago and see no reason to upgrade

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Not sure. I've always done infrequent platform upgrades and frequent accessory/parts upgrades.

My current build is on its third GPU and third SSD, but it inherited both (along with an optical drive) from the previous build, which had four GPUs and 3 different boot drives in ~5 years, and the motherboard/CPU were inherited from the _last_ build...

Overall, I suffer from a "this is my grandfather's axe" problem... My current build (in sig) is actually a descendant of the last prebuilt machine I bought completely outright - an eMachine in 2006. But they have no parts in common.