Hello! My current setup consists of the old reliable Q6600 and 8800GT I bought almost 6 years ago. It served me right up untill a few months ago, where It started to underperform in games such as Far Cry 3, latest BF's, GW2 etc. I guess it's time to move for a new build now, a shame. I'm not rushing, and I have plenty of time, but when is it the right time to buy a whole new PC? I am very familiar with Tech news and realize that new tech comes again and again. But When will new components arrive, so the prices will be adjusted, which basically means I can get the best bang for the buck on the system I will choose? I am planning to get a new hardware, not worth more than ~600 +- euros. I don't want the best of everything, but I want a decent hardware that will serve me for another +-5 years at max, on a 22" (maybe 28 later) screen, playing most of the games on mid-high will suffice ( though I'm sure on my first years I will manage to max the upcoming games) If THIS is the current time to buy a new hardware...What do you recommend me to look at? A few months back I was offered the Intel i5 CPU's and the nvidia 600 series(I prefer going with nvidia and intel btw). Any changes? Are there new generations coming, making the old generation lose prices?
In a few months (hopefully no later than 3) Intel Haswell CPUs will be released. You've waited this long, you might as well wait for those. That's what I'm waiting for. Though I don't know if 600 Euros will be enough, that's less than $800, it will depend how prices are at your locations. Unfortunately there are no signs of any new GPUs to replace the year old models right now, unless you want to spend $1K for a GTX Titan.
Thanks for the fast respond. I don't want to buy the new CPU generation. I want the CPU generation will cut-price the old ones, allowing me to buy a cheaper component. The budget is dynamic, however I want to be specific that I have a budget limit, and it is not high. Having no generation in recent months to be released, then I shall start researching which GPU to grab. Which GPU will fit my circumstances? (average budget, powerful, bang for the buck, quite!!)
That depends on what your circumstances are, what do you want to run on the GPU and at what resolution? If you want something that's also quiet you'll likely have to spend a little extra for a video card with 3rd party heatsink/fan on it. Either way a good choice for bang for the buck is likely the Radeon HD 7950, though I personally don't like AMD cards due to bad experiences with their drivers.
Haswell might be hard to get though for a start according to recent info, as Intel are rectifying a chipset defect. They will also be (apparently) more expensive than Ivy Bridge, and the boards may be a few dollars more for an equivalent board too, depending on chipset etc costs. Considering you need a CPU, motherboard, 8GB of RAM, GPU, monitor (as you listed 22 inch, it suggests you have a rather small one now), a new HDD and preferably a SSD as well..., a new PSU, you might be pushing the budget just a tad. If you skimp on any of these you will be disadvantaged. 4GB of RAM --> disadvantaged, slowdowns due to paging etc low end motherboard --> no overclocking, or poor overclocking due to say, 4 phase power etc a non-K CPU --> no overclocking an i3 CPU --> literally half an i5, not really worth it a low end GPU --> not good for gaming reusing PSU --> may not support the required power for your new MB. Could blow up and ruin the computer cheap PSU --> same deal, hazardous! reusing HDD --> existing HDD is old. Potential for data errors, and of course, it will slow down load times. May also cause shuddering in games due to slower data transfers reuse monitor --> low resolution gameplay, or not being able to represent the finer details and colours as well. Defeats the purpose of setting the higher settings in game The only thing you can really skimp on getting for gaming is the SSD, although having one is advantageous even if you load the games off a mechanical drive. For a mechanical drive, you need a good, fast, reliable one, NOT a 'green' type drive.
Just to be clear. I don't need a screen. I already have one. Plus, I don't want the new generation componenents. I want the old cut-price generation. Have in mind that my setup STILL performs, so I think almost any build will be an improvement. Also, I'm not planning to do any overclocking. My PC cost 800 euros and it was the top of the ice cream back then, allowing me to maximize gaming for at least 4 years. Been sloppy for the last year sadly.
Prices for Old Tech, as you put it, won't drop in price much if at all due to the release of new tech. They just go EOL and will remain at a very similar price until the supply runs out. I can't see Haswell costing much more than an IVB, better to buy new tech than invest in aging tech. Just my two cents
You're in the same boat I was about a year ago. I was rocking my Athlon X2 4600+ system for about 6-7 years, when it just couldn't hack it anymore. The real deal breaker for me was when I was trying to play Sonic Generations. It just couldn't keep up! Literally, Sonic was too fast for it lol. Its definitely time for a new system man, the sign is when you can no longer comfortably play the games you want to play :infinity:
i am in the same situation as you (similar old system, wanting to upgrade and not planning to overclock) and have also made a thread about it in this forum. though i can't help you with the graphics card as i am not interested in getting a new one for about another six months to a year, however perhaps the mainboard+cpu combo i will be most likely getting might be something for you as well, intel too. ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Intel Xeon E3-1230V2
You could always get something like Dsparil has got. Sure, Intel are faster for gaming, but they are also more expensive. Get a Piledriver AMD cpu.
Can't...Get...AMD! Having Intel and nvidia is just too comfort for me. Maybe I'm willing to spend just a little extra for that. Seems like GPU won't change for the long run. What bang for the buck GPU would you suggest? I prefer nvidia!
Which ever way you decide to go, I would for sure do Solid State drive. This is my second SSD... Prior to my current Samsung Pro series Sata 3 I had a Kingston SSD. The Kingston was nice, But this Samsung pro is insane fast and it's just been rock solid. I still sit in awe of how fast my start up and boot times are. Plenty enough space to keep the OS on it and even a few games and programs I like for really fast start up. The rest of my space sucking things like Videos, Picks, music and work files all go on my second traditional and larger capacity Sata 3 HD. SSD just puts the icing on any new build You might even see an across the board price drop in SSD over the next couple months as more people adopt it. They do have these Hybrid SSD's that sound nice because they have better speed than a traditional HD with the benefit a lot of space, but i'm giving it time for them to improve. I think in a year or 2 we will see some really killer Hybrid SSD's, but not ready for prime time IMO.
If your budget is tight look at the AMD vishera 2.0 CPUs planned for June should coincide nicely with Haswell, then decide.
Bang for buck GPU, you really have to go AMD! What you don't want to do: - get an i3 - get an i5 and not at least overclock it slightly (for gaming) - get a cheap motherboard - get a lower end Nvidia due to budget, just because you don't want a better value for money AMD ...
Check out: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU12/400 Under 'Browse GPU12 Results' on the left, select say, Directx 11 (or whatever), and then in the drop down below it select the game and resolution. A chart appears with lots of different cards (single and multi GPU configs) showing the framerate. The GTX 650 Ti is a long way's down the bottom! This is expected since it is a low mid-end card.
Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I had recieved an advice which i like: To spend on a high end gaming card, such as the 670, and keep my current Q6600 cpu. Buying all new psu motherboard memory etc. I realize there will be a huge bottleneck, but wouldnt it still be an improvement enought for atleast a year, allowing me to play games on high settings(no need to max) on 1680x1050 and buy after a year-two a new cpu once i will need a boost in performance/prices will drop/new generation worthy of buying?