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How often do you upgrade your build?

977 views 28 replies 20 participants last post by  MNMadman 
#1 ·
I was thinking of getting a New GPU two generations from now, probably 2-3 years.

and the mobo/cpu in 3-4 years.

what is your plan?
 
#2 ·
When I originally built my PC back in 2008, I had a Q6600 and HD 4870. I immediately found a good deal on a Q9450 so I didn't keep the Q6600 very long. I picked a really bad time to build a PC because Nehalem came out November 2008. I wasn't as in tune with the industry as I am now so I didn't know any better. In 2010, I bought my next CPU, an i7-930 from Microcenter for about 39% off. I wasn't in a hurry to upgrade my rig so I just waited for more deals. July 2011, I bought my X58 Sabertooth open box from Newegg for $93, more than $100 off retail. About a year or so later, I bought an HD 5870 from a user on here, which was about twice as capable as the HD 4870. After saving all that money on my CPU, motherboard, and video card, I spent too much money on RAM. I wanted the lowest-latency DDR3 1600 RAM I could find. Mushkin made a 6-7-6-18 1600 kit and I eventually accumulated two of them and finally installed everything in 2013.

I felt the difference mainly because I went from 4C/4T to 4C/8T and more memory bandwidth. No CPU released since has intrigued me enough to consider an upgrade. Until Ryzen. I'm waiting for Coffee Lake to make a final decision. I thought Skylake-X might be my next platform, but Intel rushed things and things don't nearly as amazing as I thought they would. With Coffee Lake, I'll get the cores and threads I want with Skylake IPC, the primary reason I was waiting for Skylake-X.

If I go Ryzen, my next upgrade will depend on compatibility. If Zen 2 and/or 3 drops straight into current boards, I would consider going that path. If I go Coffee Lake, I won't be looking to upgrade for at least five or six years, possibly more. Depends on how much progress AMD and Intel make between now and then.
 
#3 ·
I upgrade both within a 3 year period. Sometimes a GPU upgrade comes sooner because of newer game titles that require more Vram/Gpu horsepower. I try and stick to a set time frame to upgrade the entire platform tho so I can benefit from the rewards for the next few years until the next total upgrade.
 
#5 ·
I usually upgrade my GPU when performance increase is atleast 50% compared to my current card.. Upgraded from GTX980 to 1080ti 4 months ago.. had my 980 since it was released.

As long as I'm not getting seriously bottlenecked by cpu, I won't be upgrading just to get the latest and greatest..
Just upgraded from 3930k to 7800x 2 months ago. Faster ram, m.2 ssd and cpu performance increase was worth it after about 5 years with 3930k.
Got some fps increase in gaming with new cpu/ram, so many well spend
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#7 ·
I upgrade when I need to. At 1080p my current systems Max everything and I have had them 5+ years.

I sometimes get the bug and buy stuff but I'm holding out with the builds in my sig
 
#8 ·
Well my first true gaming PC lasted longer than I plan on letting my current one last... especially the GPU.

In 2011 I bought a 2600k and two GTX580s. I didn't upgrade those 580s until 2016 when I bought the 1080 right when it came out. Didn't upgrade my 2600k until feb when I got a 7700k.

I think i'll upgrade my GPU every two generations from now on, so i'll buy the 1280 whenever it comes out. I think my CPU upgrade was at the right time, however. One of the big reasons wanting to upgrade my CPU wasnt even the CPU itself, it was to get much faster memory and m.2 support. I think i'll stick with my current CPU/mobo for the next five years, barring any substantial advances in technology. Maybe cheaper 6 and 8 core processors will prompt me to upgrade earlier, idk.
 
#9 ·
Thanks for the reply guys, made me reconsider my decision and upgrade when it makes sense.

no need to have the latest and greatest. For GPU i'm going with every two generations i.e. 780 to 1080

as for cpu and mobo i'm thinking maybe 4-5 years unless i get some serious bottle necking or crazy new tech comes out
 
#10 ·
I find it funny people upgrading for M.2 support because you don't really see the performance difference with NVMe SSDs. I won't be adopting that protocol until it becomes cheaper. AHCI SSDs offer enough performance.
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leethal View Post

Thanks for the reply guys, made me reconsider my decision and upgrade when it makes sense.

no need to have the latest and greatest. For GPU i'm going with every two generations i.e. 780 to 1080

as for cpu and mobo i'm thinking maybe 4-5 years unless i get some serious bottle necking or crazy new tech comes out
Waiting is always the cheaper option. Go with what you need rather then want. Unless of course you've got the luxury to buy whatever you want and you don't have to worry about the bills
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I tend to wait as long as i can and meanwhile keep a close eye on development. For Ex; upgrading a month before ryzen would drop would be a silly move. You have nothing to lose to wait and see what it will do. If it's 6 months away, then yeah who cares.

Also, spending $700 now or holding out another year and spending $700 then is gonna get you more performance for the same amount of money.
 
#12 ·
I'm thinking of upgrading my GPU every Ti generation. i feel like that would be the best bet to stay current at 4k 60fps.

So my next upgrade would be a GTX 2080Ti and i'm thinking a cpu/mobo upgrade in 2019/20 which would be Tigerlake(10nm) and the new 400 Chipset mobos.

All my other parts should still be fine, maybe add another 2tb HDD.

what do you guys think?
 
#13 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leethal View Post

I'm thinking of upgrading my GPU every Ti generation. i feel like that would be the best bet to stay current at 4k 60fps.

So my next upgrade would be a GTX 2080Ti and i'm thinking a cpu/mobo upgrade in 2019/20 which would be Tigerlake(10nm) and the new 400 Chipset mobos.

All my other parts should still be fine, maybe add another 2tb HDD.

what do you guys think?[/quote
I went 5 years with my 3570K/ Z77 system,,started with a gtx 570,then gtx 670/then gtx 970
upgraded to 7700K/Z270 in febuary,,now I'm going 1080 or 1080TI,,black Friday or maybe later on
this was an expensive year cause I upgraded CPU/Motherboard
but I like to kinda keep it around a thousand$ a year on average
really watch the new releases,GPUs are always cheaper the first month or so
I picked up my 970 for 379$ plus warrenty and tax,,it was 429$ a month or so later
 
#14 ·
I upgrade when my rig no longer performs satisfactory for my needs, so far about every 4-5 years. I don't do side upgrades like 6700K to 7700K or GTX 1060 to GTX 1080, etc. I usually do system overhauls when I upgrade. Only my HAF-X, 1250W Sparkle PSU, Samsung monitor has survived 2 system builds. The HAF-X & 1250W Sparkle PSU have been retired for my current CaseLabs THW10 & Seasonic 750W Prime Titanium. Current monitor will be retired in Q4 when the monitor I'm eyeing gets released. I don't resell my old systems, I donate them or give it away to relatives & friends.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leethal View Post

I'm thinking of upgrading my GPU every Ti generation. i feel like that would be the best bet to stay current at 4k 60fps.

So my next upgrade would be a GTX 2080Ti and i'm thinking a cpu/mobo upgrade in 2019/20 which would be Tigerlake(10nm) and the new 400 Chipset mobos.

All my other parts should still be fine, maybe add another 2tb HDD.

what do you guys think?
In 2020 the GTX 2080Ti will likely be able to hit 60-90fps@4K for games released in 2018-2020. Likely will hit 120fps+@4K with current games and earlier. There's a high chance you'll be fine if your needs still stay at 60fps@4K when you upgrade to the 2080Ti or whatever it will be called.
 
#15 ·
I have been upgrading when a new SKU comes out just for the fun of it.
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#18 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leethal View Post

Any sense in selling my 7600k for a 7700k?
You should be able to overclock 300MHz more.
biggrin.gif
 
#20 ·
I would only swap CPUs if your current one limits you. For what it's worth, you can typically clock an i5 higher than an i7 because you have more thermal headroom.
 
#21 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leethal View Post

Any sense in selling my 7600k for a 7700k?
well I upgraded from a 3570k to the 7700k ..TBH the only diiference I see in games is GTA5 runs smoother,my 3570k worked awesome but I had a few hicupps during gameplay,,nothing serious just noticable
I guess overall would be better for the future also
 
#23 ·
I just upgraded my monitor!
Going to do a new rig soon but for now, we're gonna see what my old Keplar and Bloomfield are made of
biggrin.gif
.
 
#24 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by amstech View Post

I just upgraded my monitor!
Going to do a new rig soon but for now, we're gonna see what my old Keplar and Bloomfield are made of
biggrin.gif
.
Hi,
A new monitor might be my next item
My asus VG248 seems to be going out looses power
Have to unplug and reconnect to the power source and it wakes up :/
Very weird
confused.gif
 
#25 ·
I upgrade a lot. I think I have a problem (probably the same as many on here). I do try to recoup some of the costs by selling old hardware.
 
#26 ·
There's nothing wrong with upgrading frequently. If you're selling the parts from which you are upgrading, you'll get more money back than a less frequent upgrade cadence. I think this makes the most sense with video cards as it's easier to sell a more recent video card, like a GTX 980, than an older video card, like an 8800 GTX.
 
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