Upgrade or not to upgrade, that is the quesiton

[Sethiol]

I am currently rocking a Sandy Bridge i5-2500k w/ 8GB RAM, 120GB and 256 GB SSD, backed by 960 GTX. The system has been rock solid for several years. I have gone through a few GPUs, but who hasnt. The 2500k is an awesome performer and I get good framerates. The 256 GB SSD is an OLD enterprise SSD that I picked up in my travels. Its not stolen, just salvaged from an older server.

So now the question, should I just upgrade the GPU and add some RAM? GPU, larger/ newer main SSD? Replace the whole system, and what do you suggest? I will have a budget of $1000 come November. Im just looking for suggestions.

Frisbeerocker asked a very good question that I am not sure why I didnt address to begin with.

What do I do on my PC? Game. What else, #pcmasterrace

Games I currently play:
World of Warships
BF4
War Thunder
Star Citizen, but my cat ate my joystick cord so I should probably get a new one. He is lucky to still be alive, but he is so damned cute and during gaming he sits next to me so there was never any real danger to his health.

 

[Frisbeerocker]

This is basically the same system I have. A few months ago I upgraded to a 970 (from a R6950 wow such upgrade) and added another 250 gig SSD to the mix. So now I have a 120 gb SSD for my OS and apps, the 250 gb SSD for a few games that use texture streaming, and a 1 tb HDD for everything else.

Still rocking the factory clocked i5-2500k and 8 gigs of ram. I have yet to find anything this system CAN'T run. I have zero problems and more than enough power to go around.

Ram is pretty cheap, so I've been thinking about adding another 8 gigs because hey, why not. But other than that, this system is a beast.

Upgrade? No, I'd think you don't need to, but that totally depends on what you're doing with it. For the gaming and photo editing I do, this works perfect. The only thing I can think of really is the old SSD you have. What are the read/write speeds on it? That may be the only real influencing factor in it's performance.

 

[Montoya]

Sounds like RAM, a bigger SSD and a new GPU will keep you going strong for another 5yrs.

 

[honcho12]

I get good framerates

Why upgrade now? I usually wait until I get bad framerates before upgrading...

The GPU and SSD could follow you to a new build if you upgrade from the 2500k, so that would be a good place to start.

 

[Montoya]

A good point there.

If you can still play the game with no serious problems, stretch this out as long as possible.

All new GPU architecture coming out next year, lots of VR stuff, it may be worth the wait.

 

[Sethiol]

A good point there.

If you can still play the game with no serious problems, stretch this out as long as possible.

All new GPU architecture coming out next year, lots of VR stuff, it may be worth the wait.

Go on?

 

[Montoya]

Something about 14nm stuff vs the current 28nm stuff.

Magic and pixie dust.

 

[Space Monkey]

I would wait. Adding RAM wouldn't be a bad idea but if you are not doing video editing or your games are performing well enough, there is no need. Since I assume you are using DDR3, you might want to wait on that because by the time SC comes out, you might opt for a system using DDR4 RAM.
Since SC will most likely need a stronger PC to play at higher res, you can do a new build closer to the PU. You will have new components available to you or components available now for much much cheaper.

 

[Miguelese]

Something about 14nm stuff vs the current 28nm stuff.

More money for less stuffs? ....SOLD!

 

[NKato]

You're gonna have to upgrade beyond Sandy Bridge if you want to take full advantage of Windows 10 and DirectX 12. I heard that Sandy Bridge isn't compatible.

 

[Sethiol]

You're gonna have to upgrade beyond Sandy Bridge if you want to take full advantage of Windows 10 and DirectX 12. I heard that Sandy Bridge isn't compatible.

Thats funny, wrote this post from Windows 10. Almost one month and no issues. Well, very little issues. Update some drivers, you know, the normal stuff.

I hate the waiting game. Seems as soon as you're ready to pull the trigger on some hardware, new hardware is just around the corner. Will more than likely upgrade the GPU to 970, and get a Saitek X55.

 

[NKato]

Thats funny, wrote this post from Windows 10. Almost one month and no issues. Well, very little issues. Update some drivers, you know, the normal stuff.

I hate the waiting game. Seems as soon as you're ready to pull the trigger on some hardware, new hardware is just around the corner. Will more than likely upgrade the GPU to 970, and get a Saitek X55.

OK, then you're golden. :D

 

[Jhonon1]

Seconding that i5-2500K movement! My system, the first one I can truly call my own and the first one I built, is still going strong more than 4 years later. Slapped a 780Ti in at one point an called it a day.

Although 4 and 1/2 years later, and one massively expanded Steam library, I find yee glorious 1TB Seagate is finally topped out. Another big SC patch and I'll have to begin the Triage process... Or just grab another HD i guess. The Endeavour sale seems to be coming up, so not sure what my wallet can handle

 

[honcho12]

Although 4 and 1/2 years later, and one massively expanded Steam library, I find yee glorious 1TB Seagate is finally topped out. Another big SC patch and I'll have to begin the Triage process... Or just grab another HD i guess. The Endeavour sale seems to be coming up, so not sure what my wallet can handle

See if anyone's got a dead laptop or an old desktop they're junking, free storage is free!