Upgrading system... Should I?

[HSSDamian]

I just recently (like a week ago) purchased a new rig, it's a little... several generations behind but still fairly powerful.
Specifications:

OS: Windows 7 x64 Pro
Ram: 16GB DDR3 1333
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500k (Stock clocked)
GPU: Gainward GTX 570 Phantom
HDD: 1x 64GB SSD Boot Drive / 1x 2TB HDD

I was just wondering if it would be worth (right now) swapping it's mobo for a LGA2011 socket, swapping the 2500k for a 3930k and changing the gtx 570 for a 680?

Considering that I use this rig for video editing and gaming (1920x1080) ... would it be worth the money right now?
Oh and, would anyone be able to recommend a nice Sound card? Thanks.

[kitamesume]

why? that i5 is already fairly powerful, and no its not a few generations behind, its just one generation behind.

i suggest you just purchase an aftermarket cooler and overclock it to 4-5Ghz, 4.5Ghz should be the main target, this'll make it more powerful.

as for the GPU... stick with your current one as of now.

TL:DR - no, its not worth the money to swap such a rig.

[rostheferret]

Personally I wouldn't bother. Switch when you're system becomes unable to perform as you want it to, and certainly that processor will survive any game thrown at it for at least a couple of years. And even then, I've read the i5's overclock quite nicely to 4GHz+, even with stock cooling. Video editing, I'm not sure how well most software handles 6 cores right now, so really only the graphics card might be needed if it doesn't perform when gaming as you'd like (graphics cards do next to nothing when video editing, it's all about the processor), but by the time your processor becomes a bottleneck technology would have probably moved on anyway. Alternatively, it might be better to just SLI another 570 to your system; cheaper and probably similar performance, assuming your rig can handle a second card.

Sound cards: Creative's Titanium HD (gaming), or for music it might be worthwhile investing in a decent external sound set up. A single card can't replicate a proper Amp and DAC, not by a long shot.

[Clannad_92]

i smell richboy...

man, if i were you, i wont bother to upgrade it...
it will be relevant for some more year~

[vuzedome]

(click to show/hide)

After spending sometime using a ASUS Xonar Essence STX, I wouldn't really recommend it to other people any more.
A Creative Soundblaster X-FI Titanium(Standard, Champion, Pro) or even the HD will do.
Going all out with a Auzen X-Meridian 7.1 2g is also considerable.

Your current setup is more than capable of lasting another 2 years.
Hell, I plan to keep my i5-750 for another year before upgrading.

[rostheferret]

(click to show/hide)

After spending sometime using a ASUS Xonar Essence STX, I wouldn't really recommend it to other people any more.
A Creative Soundblaster X-FI Titanium(Standard, Champion, Pro) or even the HD will do.
Going all out with a Auzen X-Meridian 7.1 2g is also considerable.

From what I heard the ASUS was good for audiophiles rather than gaming. Then again, audiophiles shouldn't be using gaming audio equipment at all.

[vuzedome]

It's quality is top notch, but I don't think most people will enjoy it in stock.
Most "audiophiles" using it will probably or have already replace the stock opamps with their preferred ones.
I have 2 sound cards installed in my system anyway, Creative X-FI Titanium and ASUS Xonar Essence STX.

Creative's new Recon3D line up is somewhat interesting, but I'm waiting for reviewers who know what they're actually trying to do to test it and show some results before considering.

[rostheferret]

It's quality is top notch, but I don't think most people will enjoy it in stock.
Most "audiophiles" using it will probably or have already replace the stock opamps with their preferred ones.
I have 2 sound cards installed in my system anyway, Creative X-FI Titanium and ASUS Xonar Essence STX.

Creative's new Recon3D line up is somewhat interesting, but I'm waiting for reviewers who know what they're actually trying to do to test it and show some results before considering.

Being an audiophile is expensive When I can afford to finish my setup it'll have cost me more than my PC, and I was trying to go on a budget. Some audiophiles spend 100K+ on their systems. Nutters, the lot of 'em.

[datora]

.

I just recently (like a week ago) purchased a new rig, it's a little... several generations behind but still fairly powerful.
Specifications:

OS: Windows 7 x64 Pro
Ram: 16GB DDR3 1333
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500k (Stock clocked)
GPU: Gainward GTX 570 Phantom
HDD: 1x 64GB SSD Boot Drive / 1x 2TB HDD

I was just wondering if it would be worth (right now) swapping it's mobo for a LGA2011 socket, swapping the 2500k for a 3930k and changing the gtx 570 for a 680?

Considering that I use this rig for video editing and gaming (1920x1080) ... would it be worth the money right now?

I'd say go ahead and do it.  You can never have too much power.

And, I'm such a nice guy, I'll take care of all those extra parts off your hands, no charge.  Just ship the mobo+CPU+GPU combo to me & I'll handle it from there. 

The RAM is pretty ancient, so don't let that bottleneck your performance.  Upgrade that to 4x 8GB sticks of 2133 for 32 GB total.  Make sure your mobo can tweak & overclock that and you should be able to run it at 2300 or better with CAS down to 11 or so.

In fact, you know what?  That looks like a pretty small boot drive.  Only 64 GB, I expect you're going to run out of room for games and video data.  That can barely contain the OS.

Probably consider taking that up to a 180 GB or 256 GB SSD.  Make sure you get a SATA III to take full advantage of the speed.  Consider getting two of them and putting them in a RAID 0 config.  I've seen where some people do that and get around 1000 MB/s throughput.  That will really boost your system performance, especially with that new mobo you're looking at.

If you have no other use for that RAM and the old SSD, just throw them into the shipping box with the other junk.  No extra charge.


Seriously, the system you want to upgrade is more powerful than my best three systems.  Combined.  If you really want to upgrade, I will take all your leftover parts.  Just PM me.  No joke: I'm desperate to upgrade at this point.

As far as performance boost goes, the other suggestions made so far are all worthy.  Upgrading your SSD to a pair of modern SATA III 120 GB or 128 GB drives in a RAID 0 will cost you less than your proposed upgrades and grant you all the performance boost you should need.

You would have to be doing a lot of video rendering to make an upgrade worth the time you would save, and you would have to be playing intense, cutting edge games at extreme resolutions on triple monitors at tournament levels to really need an upgrade at this point.

As much as I want all your spare parts, learn and use this system to its capacity for a full year, including the overclock suggestion.  Then look at the available gear for upgrade/replacement in April 2013.  it will make all your current options look anemic.

[AceHigh]

Being an audiophile is being borderline religious. You wouldn't believe half the bullshit they are buying that simply doesn't work differently from cheaper equivalent or simply has no effect whatsoever. The most delicious way to fuck their ego over is to put them to the blind test of the bullshit equipment and see them fail.

[rostheferret]

Being an audiophile is being borderline religious. You wouldn't believe half the bullshit they are buying that simply doesn't work differently from cheaper equivalent or simply has no effect whatsoever. The most delicious way to fuck their ego over is to put them to the blind test of the bullshit equipment and see them fail.

Yeah, luckily I'm not that obsessive. I found this awesome 'whathifi' article where they sat half dozen audio equipment experts and told them to review each setup blind. What they were actually doing was taking a £300,000 set up and replacing each component one by one with a decent one that cost like, £300. Nobody agreed on what they preferred (a lesson right there) but nobody thought the control was the best answer.

[Tatsujin]

I just recently (like a week ago) purchased a new rig, it's a little... several generations behind but still fairly powerful.
Specifications:

OS: Windows 7 x64 Pro
Ram: 16GB DDR3 1333
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500k (Stock clocked)
GPU: Gainward GTX 570 Phantom
HDD: 1x 64GB SSD Boot Drive / 1x 2TB HDD

I was just wondering if it would be worth (right now) swapping it's mobo for a LGA2011 socket, swapping the 2500k for a 3930k and changing the gtx 570 for a 680?

Considering that I use this rig for video editing and gaming (1920x1080) ... would it be worth the money right now?
Oh and, would anyone be able to recommend a nice Sound card? Thanks.

Wait for the Ivy model from Intel. It should be out in few months.

I also don't recommend upgrading (yet).

[vuzedome]

(click to show/hide)

Being an audiophile is being borderline religious. You wouldn't believe half the bullshit they are buying that simply doesn't work differently from cheaper equivalent or simply has no effect whatsoever. The most delicious way to fuck their ego over is to put them to the blind test of the bullshit equipment and see them fail.

Yeah, luckily I'm not that obsessive. I found this awesome 'whathifi' article where they sat half dozen audio equipment experts and told them to review each setup blind. What they were actually doing was taking a £300,000 set up and replacing each component one by one with a decent one that cost like, £300. Nobody agreed on what they preferred (a lesson right there) but nobody thought the control was the best answer.

I always find audiophile magazines to be amusing though, as the price goes higher, their vocabulary becomes more colourful.
There was one interesting article back in December from theabsolutesound about upsampling music, it made many audiophiles go nuts. The concept behind the idea did make sense but their scoring did not, same rules still apply, pricier equals to more praises.
Yeah these are one of the many audiophiles who are scared or outright deny the benefits of blind tests.

Ivy Bridge is definitely worth the wait, if it performs well(high expectations), well we all know which pathway we're going to upgrade to.

[HSSDamian]

Thanks everyone, I think I'll probably wait for Ivy Bridge and grab a Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD while I'm at it..

[Freedom Kira]

I would not suggest upgrading to 2011. There's little performance gain unless you're running a shitton of threads all the time. Quad channel RAM is pretty badass, yes, but it really isn't worth it most of the time, especially when it costs over $500 for the CPU alone.

[vuzedome]

The price will become sensible after a while, or at least we will see affordable mainstream versions popping up.

[severance]

First see if you can even put your current system under consistent 100% load.

[rarely_upset]

Listen to Datora, but don't get a SATA SSD; those are too slow. Get a PCI SSD, those have much more appropriate speeds.

[costi]

The price will become sensible after a while, or at least we will see affordable mainstream versions popping up.

s2011 will never be "affordable mainstream" - it's a platform for workstations and enthusiasts. s1155 is where "affordable mainstream" is.

As for Ivy Bridge - unless you use the integrated GPU, it's not worh upgrading. The performance difference is minimal and while it theoretically overclocks higher, it also is less tolerant to high temperatures, so in the end you end up with more-or-less the same clock speeds as Sandy Bridge.

Your current rig will last you quite a long time, at the very least until new consoles are released (and even then, IMHO it will be more than adequate). Hell, my Core2Duo setup (E8400@3.7GHz, 4GB RAM, overclocked GTX260) is enough to play everything with satisfying details (FullHD, High without AA).

Listen to Datora, but don't get a SATA SSD; those are too slow. Get a PCI SSD, those have much more appropriate speeds.

Negative. What you're looking at is burst speed, which is used rarely (unless you keep moving huge volumes of data back and forth). What counts most is IOPS and small file operations - and here even top-of-the-line SSDs achieve speeds that are far too low to saturate even SATA2.

[datora]

Listen to Datora, but don't get a SATA SSD; those are too slow. Get a PCI SSD, those have much more appropriate speeds.

Negative. What you're looking at is burst speed, which is used rarely (unless you keep moving huge volumes of data back and forth). What counts most is IOPS and small file operations - and here even top-of-the-line SSDs achieve speeds that are far too low to saturate even SATA2.

You might want to re-read the topic and see what the primary goals of the OP are.  Hint: they do involve moving (and editing) large amounts of data.

And, running SATA III SSDs on a SATA II connection will slow the drive down.  The advice to go with SATA III wasn't really all about performance, anyway.  It was mostly about using the newest and most stable versions of the specifications and speaking toward future-proofing any purchases.  The zero-bottleneck part of the equation is just an added bonus that will have legs for years instead of months.