Upgrade or Not

[kid4christ]

Here is a quick rundown of what I have

Asus P5B
4 gigs corsair ram
Intel 2.4 core 2 duo socket 775
radeon hd 4800 series

Its about 5 years old now. I use to use it for gaming but I don't anymore. Its mainly being used for internet and some sound editing. However im thinking of using a program called drumagog and getting into some more sound editing. Nothing like pro logic or anything. But would it be worth it to buy a new computer? or just upgrade to a quad core? Even know quad core is old. Its been some time since ive kept up with the computer world....

[jdeb]

Your current build will handle the software fine but I would not put any money into it. You would be better served putting money into a new build in my opinion. I would save up and check back with us when your ready. If you were to do it today, a Z68 Asus board, 8GB of Corsair Vengeance 1.5V ram, i5K series CPU would be more than adequate.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Agreed. I kinda find myself in a similar situation. An upgrade would require mobo/CPU/RAM and a reinstallation of Windows (most likely a new copy of the OS).

[kid4christ]

Okay...that does make sense...The only upgrade i can do it like a quad core and new egg only has one for socket 775 and its 300 bucks......not worth it in my opinion

Another question...do you really need to upgrade as frequently if your really only using the computer for internet vs keeping up to date with the gaming?

[Nuclear Krusader]

You only upgrade when a program you need is no longer run at optimal speeds by the computer or when there's a newer version of said program with features that you need. You need to determine whether your workflow will really benefit from the upgrade.

Take for instance my workflow: I use Lightroom 3 and it, for the most part, works fine. I do notice slow downs when I'm using brushes and I know that a faster processor would help. Question is: do I use brushes that much that I can justify buying a new mobo/CPU/RAM combo? So far, the answer is no, so I invest my money on stuff that I really need, like more hard drives, memory cards, etc.

Now, Lightroom 4 is in beta now and will be released soon. Same approach: I downloaded the beta to see if the new features will really be something I need. Turned out that no, they're not, some of them I don't even like. So, I stick with LR3 and don't upgrade.

[glc]

Socket 775 processor upgrades are not cost-effective at all. 300 bucks will darn near get you a socket 1155 mobo, CPU, and DDR3 ram, and it will outperform the 775.