[SOLVED] Do I buy a new CPU or do I wait?

[JonatasA]

Specs:

OS: Windows 8.1 Pro
CPU: I5 4440 Haswell.
Stock cooler.
Motherboard: Asrock H81M-VG4 R2.0
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8) DDR3 1600Mhz, CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9
Power Supply: EVGA 600W 80 Plus Bronze - Semi Modular - 110-BQ-0600-K
(May be K1)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA EVGA GEFORCE GTX 1060 6GB SC ACX 2.0 DDR5 06G-P4-6163-KR
(used in 1080p)
HDD: Seagate SATA 3,5´ BarraCuda 2TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6Gb/s - ST2000DM006


I would like to know if it would be worth more to wait years from now to replace everything or to get a 4th gen Intel processor for my motherboard and if it would be able to handle the processor.


I may need to buy a single heatsink 120mm cooler, but I don't know how relavant it would be in today's CPU age, so I might as well just buy a processor with a stock cooler instead. I just don't know if a 4th generation would be worth it if at all, even more without OC.
I know the 4440 is painfully not enough, but it's what I have.

 

[falcon291]

You can buy a Haswell i7 CPU. It would be the cheapest solution that would give you an uplift. At the same time buying an SSD would help. Even a 250 GB SSD would help.

Then you will wait as you wrote if you don't have a budget at least you will wait with a better system.

 

[boju]

i7 4790 second hand would be an upgrade, 4/8 threads. Hyper 212 evo be good enough to cool it properly exceeding lackluster stock cooler if case fits 16.2cm tower cooler.

If were to overhaul, cpu mobo ram, what would be your budget and preferred market? Pricing psu in budget is recommended and OS too if want to keep your original system as is. OS can be transferrable if have an Ms account but that means no longer activation on old system.

Agreed on ssd.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I know the 4440 is painfully not enough, but it's what I have.

What exactly is the issue with your system? Why do you feel, that upgrade is necessary?

First thing to upgrade there is SSD. Get that first, then start thinking about the rest.

For CPU - i7-4770, i7-4790 would be an upgrade.
Not a huge one, but still ok (depending on price, of course).

 

[JonatasA]

I really don't understand the necessity for an SSD. I know it is faster but beyond that is there any performance gain? Even with 16GB of RAM?
With the investment on an SSD and the eternal schism between putting something on an HDD or the SSD I could just add the money to the investment on the CPU.

I have used a green HDD, I know what slow is and even that didn't bother me. I still use the USB 2.0 ports instead of the 3.0 on the MB for example. It won't be a need unless I use it.

What exactly is the issue with your system? Why do you feel, that upgrade is necessary?

The CPU is slow. I don't use it for editing but it is below the minimum requirements for new game releases. Otherwise I am perfectly fine with it.

The only reason I am thinking about getting a new CPU is because I already have to buy a cooler and because the tech requirements have advanced, otherwise I'd be perfectly fine with it.

Hyper 212 evo be good enough to cool it properly

This was my second question. The 212 would work but will it work on a newer generation CPU or will I have to replace it?

I know it is too broad of a question, but I don't want to buy a cooler that will only serve the processor I get now.

For CPU - i7-4770, i7-4790 would be an upgrade.
Not a huge one, but still ok (depending on price, of course).

I had not given much thought into that.
I'll have to check the prices because had I upgraded back then I'd have gotten an I3 8100 from a friend that recieved it as a gift from overseas, until I could save to replace it. At least I believe that was the one.

Pricing psu in budget is recommended

Would I need a new PSU?
Last time I bought a 750 Watts it failed so it was just a waste of money. This one has just some 3 years of use give or take.

On a related note, is it known how long will it take for DDR4 RAM?
Because every time I upgrade I end up one cycle behind.

OS too if want to keep your original system as is.

OS wouldn't be an issue. I have 10 whitin the MB, I just don't use it. I know nothing about 11 yet.

OS can be transferrable if have an Ms account but that means no longer activation on old system.

Well, I have switched the registration to this motherboard from the previous one.
Windows also detected the new specs back then so the transition happened without any issues.

If were to overhaul, cpu mobo ram, what would be your budget and preferred market?

Market would be national. I struggle with both buying and selling second hand so I'd need to do a thorough search and I have to rely on whatever's available and at a competitive price.

I have a terrible memory for names, otherwise I'd state the specs I had before but it was mostly the same

This build came out of necessity and what was available. The GC died and I replaced the PSU before I bought a new one. One RAM stick started acting weird, I swapped their places, then the other one started and I'd either have to buy everything new or buy a new board and RAM.

I didn't have a budget when I assembled these specs, I just needed something to replace the dead stick of RAM, so instead of doing an upgrade I bought the MB I have now and 2 sticks of 8 to replace my 2 of 4. So now I am more or less with them for the foreseeable future.

SSD would help

Agreed on ssd

First thing to upgrade there is SSD.

I am honest about my question about SSDs.

The SSD for me is like 4k or even 2k. I just don't see the appeal. I am fine with 1080p and I think the cons would far outweigh the pros.

Besides I have noticed that some have an SSD but don't even use it, they only place the OS in it and use the HDD for everything else, defeating the purpose of one.

 

[USAFRet]

I really don't understand the necessity for an SSD. I know it is faster but beyond that is there any performance gain? Even with 16GB of RAM?

If you've never used one, the difference is like night and day.
The whole system is faster.

Besides I have noticed that some have an SSD but don't even use it, they only place the OS in it and use the HDD for everything else, defeating the purpose of one.

Thats a failing on their part.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Besides I have noticed that some have an SSD but don't even use it, they only place the OS in it and use the HDD for everything else, defeating the purpose of one.

This gives most benefit from having an SSD. And that's why people do that.
Whole system becomes more responsive. All disk i/o operations become much faster.

Windows defender (any antivirus) scans are faster, indexing is faster, windows updates, booting system is faster, basically everything.
How much time does it take on your mechanical HDD to install a major windows 10 update? 30min? an hour?
On SSD it would take ~10min.

Well - it doesn't make games run faster. If that's what you're hoping for.

Edit: Just noticed, you're still on windows 8.1. Then you haven't yet encountered windows 10 major release update process.
If you ever decide to upgrade to windows 10, then SSD is a must.

 

[JonatasA]

That's my point, I have no use for it.

If Windows 10 requires one that is all the more reason not to use it. It also is on "it's end of life cycle".

The money invested there could go into actually making the computer perform better.

I have no idea how I have ever lived with less than 16GB of memory for example. It was one thing I have felt the need for and quite honestly I am glad I chose to replace the memory instead of upgrading the system and keeping 8GB at the time.

It was the same thing when I went from 4GB to 8GB.

This gives most benefit from having an SSD. And that's why people do that.

Whole system becomes more responsive. All disk i/o operations become much faster.

I know but it still isn't fast enough.

It also makes it apparent you have both a hare and a turtle.
You have things happening fast and at the same time anything you have in the HDD will crawl and that is annoying.

major windows 10 update

I don't think Windows 8.1 receives major updates anymore and it is a dream.
I believe the last time I installed it took maybe 45 minutes to install all updates and I installed it from scratch.

Well - it doesn't make games run faster. If that's what you're hoping for.

It actually makes loading faster if you actually install the game in it (now you have to do Eeny, meeny, miny, moe to decide which games will be blessed).
I have to honestly thank God for it having nothing to do with a game's performance.

Thats a failing on their part.

Exactly. And they don't even know or notice it.
If they use their computer as a console it is even more painful because they're more or less using it only to power up the machine faster (with the exception as pointed up by SkyNetRising of the updates).

 

[USAFRet]

It's not "required" for Win 10.
But a solid state drive does make the whole system more responsive (as noted above).
Be it Win 7/8/8.1/10 or 11.

Application and game installs, virus scans, updates.
Application and game load times.
File opening.

10 seconds to open a large complex Excel file, vs 1 sec.

Its OK if you don't see the inherent benefit of an SSD vs HDD.
But it is there.
I certainly would never willingly go back to an HDD, for at least the OS drive. Not a chance.

All my house systems are SSD only.
The only spinning drives live in or are attached to my NAS. For things where it doesn't really matter.

 

[boju]

This was my second question. The 212 would work but will it work on a newer generation CPU or will I have to replace it?

I know it is too broad of a question, but I don't want to buy a cooler that will only serve the processor I get now.

That's up to you, there's better performing coolers out there.

Would I need a new PSU?
Last time I bought a 750 Watts it failed so it was just a waste of money. This one has just some 3 years of use give or take.

750w model wouldn't have been any good then if that happened. If you do upgrade to more powerful platform in future then i would change it.

Article - [psucultists] PSU tier list rev. 14.8 (Final Update Jul '21)

PSU Tier List 4.0 rev. 14.8 (outdated) Last Update: 12-07-2021 Legend : Gray - EoL/obsolete and/or otherwise not recommended for purchase. Green - small form-factor (gold and blue colors are disregarded due to scarcity of SFX PSUs) Gold - best units in the tier (includes requirements for blue...

forums.tomshardware.com

On a related note, is it known how long will it take for DDR4 RAM?
Because every time I upgrade I end up one cycle behind.

If you mean DDR5, end of this year with Intel's Alder lake. Im interested in this as well and keen for reviews. DDR5 speeds im suspecting wont be as fast as it could be first off though. Starting clocks around fastest DDR4 kits now im guessing, higher speeds of 6000+ might need to wait longer.

 

[JonatasA]

Thank you for answering my questions.

That's up to you, there's better performing coolers out there.

Chips are getting hotter. I didn't notice this because I thought it would follow the same pattern as graphics cards getting cooler with Nvidia's 10th generation (and drawing less power). So I believe I'll most likely need a better cooler for anything newer, that's why I worry.
I don't much mind it running hot since I have been using a stock cooler this whole time.

750w model wouldn't have been any good then if that happened. If you do upgrade to more powerful platform in future then i would change it.

I don't want to derail the thread and it has been a long time since I read about PSUs and I forget what I haven't read in a while, so I'll have to read about it again to get a better idea and to see what I should get.

Edit: Thanks for the information and the link.

If you mean DDR5

Yea, DDR5! I wanted to correct that but had completely forgotten about it. My mind still associates it with the memory used on Graphics cards.

DDR5 speeds im suspecting wont be as fast as it could be first off though.

The memory side isn't as much for speed as for the fact I would not need to "throw the memory sticks away" upon future upgrades.




I'll see if I find a second hand I7 4790 and wait for DDR5 (and hope for better prices until then).
Or just wait, because both my upgrade cycle and specs I get usually walk hand in hand with each Battlefield (and the minimum requirements is a I5 6600K).


Edit: Added a message to the PSU reply and removed the last paragraph because I don't know if it should be added.

 

[boju]

Noctua D15 is about the best air there is. Obviously it's big but can work with it.

There's often specials on Newegg for Super Flower Leadex iii psus, 550w onwards, all 10yr warranty.