How do you justify a CPU upgrade?

[Tatty_Two]

When I first came here 14 years ago TPU was a smaller community and most active members at that time were enthusiasts, not hardcore but quite competitive in a constructive way, so I literally for my first 8 years here upgraded both CPU and GPU around 3 or even 4 times a year for each. Now I am a little less passionate and also just focused on my particular "needs" so I like to see at least around a 25 - 30% performance improvement from a similarly priced segment that matches my needs, to be honest I am at that point now with 3rd gen Ryzen and Coffee lake (I have Skylake) so I am looking to overhaul in the spring.

 

[Bill_Bright]

My biggest reason for upgrading would be electricity usage and encode time

I would not worry much about electricity usage unless you run your CPU with very high loads nearly 24/7. If users connected to a good UPS that had an LCD screen, or a kill-o-watt meter, I think most would be surprised how little their computer pull most of the time.

o I literally for my first 8 years here upgraded both CPU and GPU around 3 or even 4 times a year

3 or 4 times a year! Wow. I thought I was being aggressive at once a year.

 

[c2DDragon]

3 or 4 times a year! Wow. I thought I was being aggressive at once a year.

I think you are very aggressive at it or passionate would be a better word I guess.
Edit : Or else you stopped to be excessive too I don't know

 

[Bill_Bright]

LOL - no I just found it hard to justify in my head upgrading more than that when I felt it likely the only improvement I would see (at least in my budget range) would be on paper and benchmarks, or in my imagination.

 

[windwhirl]

How do I justify a CPU upgrade?

If I feel that my current processor is not fast enough (granted, at this point I already explored if there were any optimizations I could apply before buying new hardware) and a good upgrade is not too expensive, I pull the trigger. If I'm satisfied with what I have, I don't even bother thinking about it. That's about it.

 

[cucker tarlson]

You can have separate profiles in Ryzen Master. My MSI board allows me to save profiles in CMOS or on a flash drive.

Nothing is single click though.

RyzenMaster looks like a lot of fun to play with on the fly.
ability to OC the core,mem,disable SMT and see the actual performance impact in game.

 

[Aquinus]

I thought I was being aggressive at once a year.

This used to be about how often that I would, maybe a couple times in a year, but not a full rebuild if that were the case. That all changed when I started this thing called a family though.

Honestly, the last time I did a full build was before my daughter was born.

 

[killster1]

I would not worry much about electricity usage unless you run your CPU with very high loads nearly 24/7. If users connected to a good UPS that had an LCD screen, or a kill-o-watt meter, I think most would be surprised how little their computer pull most of the time.
3 or 4 times a year! Wow. I thought I was being aggressive at once a year.

we already have had electricity debates together i guess you dont remmeber HAAAAAAAA obviously im not going to take your advice, a hotter cpu means a hotter house which means more AC usage etc. i do have a ups with lcd screen and kilowatt meter. you think a 3930k will render a video using the same amount of heat as a new ryzen chip? (dont answer the question its rhetorical)

 

[Toothless]

Can it keep up with my daily needs and wants? Can I afford it and the bills at the same time? I love my 4790k but man does it suck in some games and it doesn't keep up in some of my day to day stuff.

 

[Durvelle27]

Everyone be

It's simple. Upgrade every other month.

 

[Devon68]

That is my problem. I just cant justify it. I would need a complete overhaul of my system, but if my only argument is that I will use it mainly for gaming just wont cut it. Maybe if I would buy the new system, start a youtube channel or some other way to make the PC pay for it self I could justify buying a new rig.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

RyzenMaster looks like a lot of fun to play with on the fly.
ability to OC the core,mem,disable SMT and see the actual performance impact in game.

Often requires a reboot, might be different on 5xx board's, make's it awkward.

 

[Zach_01]

you think a 3930k will render a video using the same amount of heat as a new ryzen chip? (dont answer the question its rhetorical)

Well here is a rhetorical answer...
I dont think, I know that 3930k will dissipate more heat at all core load base frequency of 3.2GHz than any ZEN2 CPU at max all core frequency of 4+GHz...

 

[candle_86]

When needed or if you require new features. Your 8core cpu will be fine for next gen as well as the new consoles are all 8core chips, it's under 8 cores that might get dicey going forward.

 

[AlienIsGOD]

i upgraded as i had the means to 3570K was alright for a few years, but the last 2 have been hard on the poor boi and he's now in the kids gaming rig. My 2700 is beyond impressive and i cant wait for a 3700/3800X upgrade in the fall 3900X is out of reach as my board isnt up to snuff for a 12 or 16 core cpu.

 

[8BitZ80]

My upgrades usually occur when a component is a) broken, or b) woefully inadequate.
As a result I've only used four different CPUs since 2006, compared to other users who enjoy changing CPU every 1-2 years just to stay on the latest architecture.

 

[freeagent]

Honestly, yeah it would be nice to run a modern setup.. but to me, this thing still rips. Yeah it doesn't post high number like newer rigs, but to me, its still fast. It still impresses me from time to time.. Yeah maybe the GPU could use a boost, but for the most part it still pretty good for 1080p/60. Heck even my X58 is still doing pretty good. IO is slow as **** but its actually pretty smooth overall.

Its just sad knowing I could finance a mid range Dell right now, and it would destroy this thing no matter how good I think it is.

I've though about it!

 

[windwhirl]

Often requires a reboot, might be different on 5xx board's, make's it awkward.

Nope. Asus Prime X570-P owner here. Ryzen Master still requires reboot on X570.

 

[rtwjunkie]

To justify a cpu upgrade it has to be at least several generations and know that it will provide a boost to GPU performance.

Those are the criteria i used to justify just upgrading to a z390 and an i7-8700k from the i7-4790k and Z97. In this case the decision was even easier because of the increased performance of a mature DDR4. I’ll likely stay with the 8700k for another 3 years (or more).

 

[A Computer Guy]

Back when I was on Intel I would upgrade maybe every two years or so. I always went with a K series i7 and a few years later I was always able to sell the CPU + Motherboard (and sometimes even RAM) at the same price I initially paid (or more).

This made upgrades easy, I'd sell the old parts then buy the new parts, not having to add any extra money to the equation.

I ended up buying a first gen Ryzen CPU about a year ago, 8-Cores for the low price of about $130. Zen 2 launched the middle of last year and the gains looked good, but from a pricing perspective for me it doesn't look quite as good.

Every time I think about upgrading I am hesitant by the fact that upgrading to 3rd Gen will cost me 2-3x what my current CPU is worth these days.

Looking at 3700x, an 8-Core like my current CPU, I might be able to get ~8% higher all core overclock and it is like 17% IPC gains, and I could maybe even have some PCIe 4 support if I update to a BIOS before they removed support, but I'd end up having to spend at least an extra $200 for it, which is even more than I paid for the first Gen CPU in the first place.

Feel like I might as well just stick with first gen Ryzen for the long haul...

I don't see why a 1st gen ryzen 8 core (16 thread) wouldn't still be viable for a few years yet but it comes down to 1) does it meet your needs and 2) are you happy with your daily user experience?

AM4 is pretty awesome in that there is even an upgrade path like we have today so you can theoretically get a pretty cheap upgrade down the road by getting a chip with increased core count.

Here is what I would do.
1) keep looking for a good deal as the prices seem to get ridiculous from time to time (I just snagged a new 2700 for $113 for example so I can upgrade my moms $99 2200g from last year)

Here is what I would not do.
1) don't get a new cpu if your not going to be happy with the core count (don't downgrade to less cores)
2) don't get a new cpu that gives you less than 30% increase in performance over what you have now
3) don't get a new cpu if affordability is an issue that prevents you from getting a particular cpu that you want (wait for a deal)

 

[Deleted member 185158]

Well here is a rhetorical answer...
I dont think, I know that 3930k will dissipate more heat at all core load base frequency of 3.2GHz than any ZEN2 CPU at max all core frequency of 4+GHz...

Yea I gotta agree here. 3930K is a freaking beast, major heat pump. Add voltage? bad idea lol. My brother has one.

 

[Aquinus]

Yea I gotta agree here. 3930K is a freaking beast, major heat pump. Add voltage? bad idea lol. My brother has one.

The 3930k actually isn't too bad at stock. It's when you start bumping the voltage and overclocking which is where power requirements start skyrocketing. For me to get north of 4.2Ghz, I needed to replace my cooler with a 240mm AIO and even then, full load gets me to about 70-75*C at 4.6Ghz... and I still probably won't break 60FPS encoding a 480p video from DVD format to H.264.

 

[Jetster]

When I want too

 

[phill]

I just tend to buy something as I'd like it really, it's not such for an upgrade or a reason I just tend to buy it regardless

But that said, some of my upgrades do have to do with the WCG project/group that TPU has, so I tend to use it two fold.. I've a few systems to build up soon one for WCG and then the other for the girls It'll be fun

 

[Vario]

In the current era its hard to justify a CPU upgrade any more frequently than every 5 years. At that interval, CPU performance increase is notable and the platforms come with new benefits, for example moving from 1155 to 1151, one gains DDR4, M2 NVMe, more cores and threads, a modest IPC increase, and a new board which ideally extends your PC's lifespan another 5 years and then some. Part of why I upgraded in 2017 from my 2012 machine was not just for the above reasons, but because my 3770K was really unstable. Another reason was I was looking at used prices and it seemed clear that the market was at its peak for second hand 1155 parts, and there was an opportunity cost of waiting to upgrade, as used quad cores and accompanying motherboards were about to plunge in value.