This is the longest I've gone without upgrading.

It's about a year now, I have a GTX280 and a Q6600. I think it's great that I can pick up any game and not bother looking at requirements. I don't want it to stay at this level, with console ports, but it's nice to have a breather don't you think?couly

[QUOTE="couly"]It's about a year now, I have a GTX280 and a Q6600. I think it's great that I can pick up any game and not bother looking at requirements. I don't want it to stay at this level, with console ports, but it's nice to have a breather don't you think?Nibroc420

It's about a year now, I have a GTX280 and a Q6600. I think it's great that I can pick up any game and not bother looking at requirements. I don't want it to stay at this level, with console ports, but it's nice to have a breather don't you think?couly

How's good has the quad been to you? I am about to sell my dual core for a quad. Figure I could get a q8300 or something like that and overclock it.

been almost a year since i built my rig i7 920,3G ddr 3 ram and i bought my graphics card a 4870 1G back in nov 2008 and i don't expect to upgrade it till 2012-2013 so it will last me a good 3-4 years. and the rest of the pc i proabably won't have to upgrade for another 5-6 years. Pc gaming has become alot cheaper but graphics advancement has pretty much stopped makes you wonder why they keep making even more powerful cards just more of an excuse not to optimize games instead of actually taking advantage of all that power.

[QUOTE="couly"]It's about a year now, I have a GTX280 and a Q6600. I think it's great that I can pick up any game and not bother looking at requirements. I don't want it to stay at this level, with console ports, but it's nice to have a breather don't you think?davaniius

How's good has the quad been to you? I am about to sell my dual core for a quad. Figure I could get a q8300 or something like that and overclock it.

[QUOTE="couly"]It's about a year now, I have a GTX280 and a Q6600. I think it's great that I can pick up any game and not bother looking at requirements. I don't want it to stay at this level, with console ports, but it's nice to have a breather don't you think?davaniius

How's good has the quad been to you? I am about to sell my dual core for a quad. Figure I could get a q8300 or something like that and overclock it.

been almost a year since i built my rig i7 920,3G ddr 3 ram and i bought my graphics card a 4870 1G back in nov 2008 and i don't expect to upgrade it till 2012-2013 so it will last me a good 3-4 years. and the rest of the pc i proabably won't have to upgrade for another 5-6 years. Pc gaming has become alot cheaper but graphics advancement has pretty much stopped makes you wonder why they keep making even more powerful cards just more of an excuse not to optimize games instead of actually taking advantage of all that power.

DJ_Headshot

My cpu is e8400 overclocked to 3.6. I considered the upgrade because I have alot of new games that I think would benefit with the extra cores. The upgrade would be very cheap as the e8400 still sells used at a good price and the quad is cheap here in the uk.

well all iam looking to upgrade within the next 2 years is my graphics card and monitor.

My cpu is e8400 overclocked to 3.6. I considered the upgrade because I have alot of new games that I think would benefit with the extra cores. The upgrade would be very cheap as the e8400 still sells used at a good price and the quad is cheap here in the uk.

davaniius

I'm in pretty much the same boat as you (E8400@ 3.8ghz). Unless you're a hardcore RTS or GTA IV player, I would recommend you hold off upgrading until you can afford to get an i7 or better. The LGA775 quads aren't going to give you much of a boost in current games. You will actually lose performance in most games, since most still don't use more than 2 cores.

Well I can squeeze some more juice from my CPU by OC'ing it, I do need a new case and graphics card though. Maybe a modular PSU and another hard drive by thats not really for performance, just personal taste.

[QUOTE="davaniius"]

My cpu is e8400 overclocked to 3.6. I considered the upgrade because I have alot of new games that I think would benefit with the extra cores. The upgrade would be very cheap as the e8400 still sells used at a good price and the quad is cheap here in the uk.

hartsickdiscipl

I'm in pretty much the same boat as you (E8400@ 3.8ghz). Unless you're a hardcore RTS or GTA IV player, I would recommend you hold off upgrading until you can afford to get an i7 or better. The LGA775 quads aren't going to give you much of a boost in current games. You will actually lose performance in most games, since most still don't use more than 2 cores.

You are most likely right. I am waiting till the end of this month anyway so I will think about it until then.

Edit: I notice you have a 5870 so with your cpu, is it a good match?

I was going to get a 5850 with the cpu, upgrading from a 4870 1gb. If I don't upgrade the cpu yet, I could afford the 5870 that's why I am waiting till things become abit more clearer.

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

[QUOTE="davaniius"]

My cpu is e8400 overclocked to 3.6. I considered the upgrade because I have alot of new games that I think would benefit with the extra cores. The upgrade would be very cheap as the e8400 still sells used at a good price and the quad is cheap here in the uk.

davaniius

I'm in pretty much the same boat as you (E8400@ 3.8ghz). Unless you're a hardcore RTS or GTA IV player, I would recommend you hold off upgrading until you can afford to get an i7 or better. The LGA775 quads aren't going to give you much of a boost in current games. You will actually lose performance in most games, since most still don't use more than 2 cores.

You are most likely right. I am waiting till the end of this month anyway so I will think about it until then.

Edit: I notice you have a 5870 so with your cpu, is it a good match?

I was going to get a 5850 with the cpu, upgrading from a 4870 1gb. If I don't upgrade the cpu yet, I could afford the 5870 that's why I am waiting till things become abit more clearer.

The 5870 works beautifully with an overclocked E8400. No CPU bottleneck in the games that I play (I don't play many games that really like quads), and no game that I've played that it doesn't tear through at any setting I want. Your 4870 1GB is still pretty strong though, no? I guess if you are definitely going to upgrade from that GPU, go all the way and get the 5870.. or wait till Fermi comes out to see the prices drop. I bought my 5870 when they first came out, and my old GPU was alot weaker than your current one.. so I felt I needed the upgrade. For me, I felt it was the right move/time to upgrade. For you.. well you have to decide.

[QUOTE="davaniius"]

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

I'm in pretty much the same boat as you (E8400@ 3.8ghz). Unless you're a hardcore RTS or GTA IV player, I would recommend you hold off upgrading until you can afford to get an i7 or better. The LGA775 quads aren't going to give you much of a boost in current games. You will actually lose performance in most games, since most still don't use more than 2 cores.

hartsickdiscipl

You are most likely right. I am waiting till the end of this month anyway so I will think about it until then.

Edit: I notice you have a 5870 so with your cpu, is it a good match?

I was going to get a 5850 with the cpu, upgrading from a 4870 1gb. If I don't upgrade the cpu yet, I could afford the 5870 that's why I am waiting till things become abit more clearer.

The 5870 works beautifully with an overclocked E8400. No CPU bottleneck in the games that I play (I don't play many games that really like quads), and no game that I've played that it doesn't tear through at any setting I want. Your 4870 1GB is still pretty strong though, no? I guess if you are definitely going to upgrade from that GPU, go all the way and get the 5870.. or wait till Fermi comes out to see the prices drop. I bought my 5870 when they first came out, and my old GPU was alot weaker than your current one.. so I felt I needed the upgrade. For me, I felt it was the right move/time to upgrade. For you.. well you have to decide.

Thanks for the advise. You have been a great help. I will go ahead a get the 5870 then seeing how my cpu should be fine. Thanks again.

I don't upgrade my computers, I build new ones when they get old, no reason to upgrade outdated crap :). Been ~5 years since I've built a computer though, Thinking about finally building a new one. Inconsistancy

well all iam looking to upgrade within the next 2 years is my graphics card and monitor.

Daytona_178

[QUOTE="Inconsistancy"]I don't upgrade my computers, I build new ones when they get old, no reason to upgrade outdated crap :). Been ~5 years since I've built a computer though, Thinking about finally building a new one. polarwrath11

Had my GPU for almost a year now, rest of PC a year and a half.

CPU's getting outdated and is hindering my GPU's performance in some cases, thus I'm opting for a PII x4 925 upgrade very soon. I'd also pick up some new 4GB RAM along the way.

I don't plan and I don't think I'd really need a GPU upgrade until 2~3 years from now. As others have said, graphics improvement have gone progressively slower due to developers sticking to the age old 360 and PS3. As of now, nearly every PC game is a offspring of its console version, except a notch or two better in graphics.

When the next gen consoles come out is when I'd probably need a GPU upgrade. By then, which I estimate to be about 2-3 years, I'd just upgrade to the 5850, or something similar, which would be about $100-200 by then. I won't even have to upgrade my PSU, heh.

I didn't say upgrading computers isn't beneficial.. I said upgrading outdated crap is useless.. like 'upgrading' an AMD Opty 170.. it only goes upto 185 till the socket 939 was discontinued.. So I'd have to buy a new mobo and memory anyway just to actually upgrade my cpu. The only thing that would be worth upgrading is my video card a 7800gtx.. But, I was pleasantly surprised by mass effect 2 recently... getting a fairly steady 30fps at 720... sure my computer dies at it's native 1080.. but It looks good and is playable :). And I really like the surprise going from terrible computer to.. 'holy damn that's fast' computer. Rather than the steady underwhelming upgrading path. Also it's a hell of a lot cheaper to let the computer rot for 5 years at a time, rather than keeping it up to date, it still can run any program.. just a bit slower.Inconsistancy

Of course it's cheaper - you're limiting yourself to underwhelming graphics for a good few years. TBH, your computer became obsolete way back in 2006, when games like Oblivion and Company of Heroes came out.

IMO, it's wisest to upgrade whenever your computer struggles to run games high settings (not max), 30 fps avg, at native resolution in modern games. It's only about $100-$200 every 2-3 years if you know what to buy.

wow, just checked and my PC is already 2 years old,,,hoping to get another two years out of it :)

Of course it's cheaper - you're limiting yourself to underwhelming graphics for a good few years. TBH, your computer became obsolete way back in 2006, when games like Oblivion and Company of Heroes came out.

IMO, it's wisest to upgrade whenever your computer struggles to run games high settings (not max), 30 fps avg, at native resolution in modern games. It's only about $100-$200 every 2-3 years if you know what to buy.

kaitanuvax

I don't play games 24/7 anyway or that many.. WoW (quit in December.. finally) was my main thing for that whole time. Even if I did, I ran doom3 at pretty much everything maxed at 10-16fps average before I got this computer.. so I don't mind if it crawls, as long as it looks pretty, even played Mirror's Edge on this computer with that kinda fps that was pretty hard though, that fps + timing jumps.. ahh that was bad.

And since I quit WoW, my interest in new games has risen, so a new computer is on the horizon, still not gonna just buy a new video card.. Whole new thing, and a new case, since this computer's case is HORRIBLE, can't wait. Only salveging my Hdd (and getting a couple more...;)) and dvd drive (I lost my floppy drive... suppose I could look for it, if I really wanted to....)

So much better than, yay... upgrades.. going strait to.. YESS!!! New computer! :lol:

[QUOTE="kaitanuvax"]

Of course it's cheaper - you're limiting yourself to underwhelming graphics for a good few years. TBH, your computer became obsolete way back in 2006, when games like Oblivion and Company of Heroes came out.

IMO, it's wisest to upgrade whenever your computer struggles to run games high settings (not max), 30 fps avg, at native resolution in modern games. It's only about $100-$200 every 2-3 years if you know what to buy.

Inconsistancy

I don't play games 24/7 anyway or that many.. WoW (quit in December.. finally) was my main thing for that whole time. Even if I did, I ran doom3 at pretty much everything maxed at 10-16fps average before I got this computer.. so I don't mind if it crawls, as long as it looks pretty, even played Mirror's Edge on this computer with that kinda fps that was pretty hard though, that fps + timing jumps.. ahh that was bad.

And since I quit WoW, my interest in new games has risen, so a new computer is on the horizon, still not gonna just buy a new video card.. Whole new thing, and a new case, since this computer's case is HORRIBLE, can't wait. Only salveging my Hdd (and getting a couple more...;)) and dvd drive (I lost my floppy drive... suppose I could look for it, if I really wanted to....)

So much better than, yay... upgrades.. going strait to.. YESS!!! New computer! :lol:

[QUOTE="kaitanuvax"]

Of course it's cheaper - you're limiting yourself to underwhelming graphics for a good few years. TBH, your computer became obsolete way back in 2006, when games like Oblivion and Company of Heroes came out.

IMO, it's wisest to upgrade whenever your computer struggles to run games high settings (not max), 30 fps avg, at native resolution in modern games. It's only about $100-$200 every 2-3 years if you know what to buy.

Inconsistancy

I don't play games 24/7 anyway or that many.. WoW (quit in December.. finally) was my main thing for that whole time. Even if I did, I ran doom3 at pretty much everything maxed at 10-16fps average before I got this computer.. so I don't mind if it crawls, as long as it looks pretty, even played Mirror's Edge on this computer with that kinda fps that was pretty hard though, that fps + timing jumps.. ahh that was bad.

And since I quit WoW, my interest in new games has risen, so a new computer is on the horizon, still not gonna just buy a new video card.. Whole new thing, and a new case, since this computer's case is HORRIBLE, can't wait. Only salveging my Hdd (and getting a couple more...;)) and dvd drive (I lost my floppy drive... suppose I could look for it, if I really wanted to....)

So much better than, yay... upgrades.. going strait to.. YESS!!! New computer! :lol:

. Looking back, '06/'07 was a great time for PC gaming. Studios were consistently pushing the envelope, and then...... stagnation. Maybe the DirectX refresh will liven things up a bit.cybrcatter

Graphically speaking, I think the lack-of-improvement from DX9 to DX10 should be blamed more than consoles now that I think about it.

"Innovation, classic-like" speaking...alas, it happens with everything. Over time, great ideas just become more and more rare, it's just how things are. That's not to say great games are still made - they still are, just most, if not all, of them are now being multi-platformed because money-wise, consoles are where its at.

However, where PC gaming really loses big is when developers make console exclusives that could easily be translated into the PC platform...

well all iam looking to upgrade within the next 2 years is my graphics card and monitor.

Daytona_178

[QUOTE="Inconsistancy"]

[QUOTE="kaitanuvax"]

Of course it's cheaper - you're limiting yourself to underwhelming graphics for a good few years. TBH, your computer became obsolete way back in 2006, when games like Oblivion and Company of Heroes came out.

IMO, it's wisest to upgrade whenever your computer struggles to run games high settings (not max), 30 fps avg, at native resolution in modern games. It's only about $100-$200 every 2-3 years if you know what to buy.

millerlight89

I don't play games 24/7 anyway or that many.. WoW (quit in December.. finally) was my main thing for that whole time. Even if I did, I ran doom3 at pretty much everything maxed at 10-16fps average before I got this computer.. so I don't mind if it crawls, as long as it looks pretty, even played Mirror's Edge on this computer with that kinda fps that was pretty hard though, that fps + timing jumps.. ahh that was bad.

And since I quit WoW, my interest in new games has risen, so a new computer is on the horizon, still not gonna just buy a new video card.. Whole new thing, and a new case, since this computer's case is HORRIBLE, can't wait. Only salveging my Hdd (and getting a couple more...;)) and dvd drive (I lost my floppy drive... suppose I could look for it, if I really wanted to....)

So much better than, yay... upgrades.. going strait to.. YESS!!! New computer! :lol:

I've had my 4870 1GB and Phenom X3 720 for nearly nine months and I don't see any reason to upgrade yet. The only "problem" I've had is only being able to play Dragon Age Origins at 1680x1050 with max quality and 2xAA (Damn those pixels!). I'm going to wait and see if Fermi is ****, then decide if I want to upgrade or not.

I went un-upgraded since 2008 (4 gb form 2) and the last big upgrade was 2007 (x600 > x1950 xt, 512 mb> 2 gb, 500w PSU), until I assembled this VVV monster in December.It is soooo nice buying a game without even looking at the system reqs.

Got my PC over 2 years ago, and haven't upgraded a thing, and still there is no game out there that comes even close to challenging it. Crysis I guess, but it was unoptimized. At this rate, I'll never need another computer ever again.

[QUOTE="DJ_Headshot"]

been almost a year since i built my rig i7 920,3G ddr 3 ram and i bought my graphics card a 4870 1G back in nov 2008 and i don't expect to upgrade it till 2012-2013 so it will last me a good 3-4 years. and the rest of the pc i proabably won't have to upgrade for another 5-6 years. Pc gaming has become alot cheaper but graphics advancement has pretty much stopped makes you wonder why they keep making even more powerful cards just more of an excuse not to optimize games instead of actually taking advantage of all that power.

couly

This is my 3rd complete rig overhaull so far. And I got my first PC about 5 years ago. First & second upgrades were after a 2 years of exploatation and this one is a bit over 1 year. Well, 7-8 months if you count my GPU upgrade from MSI 7900 GTO to Gainward GTX 280... :D

So, it seem's I'm picking up the pace... lol!

Got my PC over 2 years ago, and haven't upgraded a thing, and still there is no game out there that comes even close to challenging it. Crysis I guess, but it was unoptimized. At this rate, I'll never need another computer ever again.

Hellsing2o2

You have a nice rig, but I can think of several games that would bring your PC to it's knees, provided you're not running at 1024x768.

I don't plan on upgrading at least for another 2-3 years

[QUOTE="Nibroc420"][QUOTE="couly"]It's about a year now, I have a GTX280 and a Q6600. I think it's great that I can pick up any game and not bother looking at requirements. I don't want it to stay at this level, with console ports, but it's nice to have a breather don't you think?couly

[QUOTE="couly"]It's about a year now, I have a GTX280 and a Q6600. I think it's great that I can pick up any game and not bother looking at requirements. I don't want it to stay at this level, with console ports, but it's nice to have a breather don't you think?davaniius

How's good has the quad been to you? I am about to sell my dual core for a quad. Figure I could get a q8300 or something like that and overclock it.

Man you guys would hate my old rig lol. I did a complete overhaul this past summer, but I had a P4 2.8ghz, 1.5gb ram, for 5 years and a Radeon X800 XT Platinum AGP card for about 3 years. I could barely play anything on that computer anymore lol.

[QUOTE="davaniius"]

[QUOTE="couly"]It's about a year now, I have a GTX280 and a Q6600. I think it's great that I can pick up any game and not bother looking at requirements. I don't want it to stay at this level, with console ports, but it's nice to have a breather don't you think?DJ_Headshot

How's good has the quad been to you? I am about to sell my dual core for a quad. Figure I could get a q8300 or something like that and overclock it.

Had my GPU for almost a year now, rest of PC a year and a half.

CPU's getting outdated and is hindering my GPU's performance in some cases, thus I'm opting for a PII x4 925 upgrade very soon. I'd also pick up some new 4GB RAM along the way.

I don't plan and I don't think I'd really need a GPU upgrade until 2~3 years from now. As others have said, graphics improvement have gone progressively slower due to developers sticking to the age old 360 and PS3. As of now, nearly every PC game is a offspring of its console version, except a notch or two better in graphics.

When the next gen consoles come out is when I'd probably need a GPU upgrade. By then, which I estimate to be about 2-3 years, I'd just upgrade to the 5850, or something similar, which would be about $100-200 by then. I won't even have to upgrade my PSU, heh.

[QUOTE="Inconsistancy"] I didn't say upgrading computers isn't beneficial.. I said upgrading outdated crap is useless.. like 'upgrading' an AMD Opty 170.. it only goes upto 185 till the socket 939 was discontinued.. So I'd have to buy a new mobo and memory anyway just to actually upgrade my cpu. The only thing that would be worth upgrading is my video card a 7800gtx.. But, I was pleasantly surprised by mass effect 2 recently... getting a fairly steady 30fps at 720... sure my computer dies at it's native 1080.. but It looks good and is playable :). And I really like the surprise going from terrible computer to.. 'holy damn that's fast' computer. Rather than the steady underwhelming upgrading path. Also it's a hell of a lot cheaper to let the computer rot for 5 years at a time, rather than keeping it up to date, it still can run any program.. just a bit slower.kaitanuvax

Of course it's cheaper - you're limiting yourself to underwhelming graphics for a good few years. TBH, your computer became obsolete way back in 2006, when games like Oblivion and Company of Heroes came out.

IMO, it's wisest to upgrade whenever your computer struggles to run games high settings (not max), 30 fps avg, at native resolution in modern games. It's only about $100-$200 every 2-3 years if you know what to buy.

My cpu is e8400 overclocked to 3.6. I considered the upgrade because I have alot of new games that I think would benefit with the extra cores. The upgrade would be very cheap as the e8400 still sells used at a good price and the quad is cheap here in the uk.

davaniius

You're considering dumping your e8400 for a Q8300 :|, Insanity -Walks off, mumbling-

[QUOTE="couly"][QUOTE="Nibroc420"] Been over 2 years for me now. q6600 and 8800gts512. While i agree that it's nice to have a breather, i haven't seen much improvement in games recently. Not from graphics, Gameplay, or story. It's been rather stale IMO Good in the sense that we dont have crysis level graphics pushing us to upgrade every 4-6 months, Yet bad because there's nothing new/exciting.hofuldig

How did he manage that? I tried 24XAA with ME1 and it became a slideshow using a HD4850. :cry: