New rig or upgrade the old one?

[fj45Jeff]

Howdy; long time listener/first time poster....

I've got an old machine (purchased Oct 2009) and am dusting off my wallet as I consider either trying to upgrade it or suck it up and buy a new one.

My current rig is a Cyberpower Gamer Infinity 9800. It's been a great machine, zero issues really . But age has slowed it down considerably. I tried upgrading to Windows 10 the other day but after it did a system check told me the cpu wasn't compatible?

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229118&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

I believe this thing is maxed out with RAM already at 4gb. but am entertaining the idea of perhaps throwing a few hundred at it with a new GPU and perhaps a new hard drive.

I have used it mostly for WoW and doing some Autocad and 3D Inventor work. Still does that fine but WoW is really slow now and laggy as hell.

I suppose that a 7 year old gaming machine is pretty archaic, so perhaps I'm answering my own question; is this thing worth trying to upgrade?

I have my finger hovering over an MSI unit from Staples:
http://www.staples.ca/en/MSI-Gaming-Desktop-PC-MI2-050TW-Intel-Core-i5-6400-DDR4-8GB/product_2072859_2-CA_1_20001

If I do end up getting something new, this old one will go the kids for their Minecraft and Youtube stuff.

 

[okcnaline]

Dang, Q9500 and 9800GT?! Nice.

Microsoft did indeed make Windows 10 incompatible with CPUs older than Nehalem. So I think you should upgrade to stay secure. Better to start anew. There's so much new stuff rigow. And since you're doing AutoCAD, I think it'll be better if you actually built a workstation.

Also, don't go for prebuilts. That thing has a GTX 960 for $1299. You can get the same rig for $600-700.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($237.89 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master GeminII M4 58.4 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($37.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($110.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($34.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX200 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.59 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card ($269.99 @ B&H)
Case: Silverstone RVZ01B Mini ITX Desktop Case ($84.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Corsair SF 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($92.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $989.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-24 20:27 EDT-0400

 

[fj45Jeff]

Dang, Q9500 and 9800GT?! Nice.

Microsoft did indeed make Windows 10 incompatible with CPUs older than Nehalem. So I think you should upgrade to stay secure. Better to start anew. There's so much new stuff rigow. And since you're doing AutoCAD, I think it'll be better if you actually built a workstation.

Also, don't go for prebuilts. That thing has a GTX 960 for $1299. You can get the same rig for $600-700.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($237.89 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master GeminII M4 58.4 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($37.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($110.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($34.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX200 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.59 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card ($269.99 @ B&H)
Case: Silverstone RVZ01B Mini ITX Desktop Case ($84.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Corsair SF 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($92.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $989.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-24 20:27 EDT-0400

 

[fj45Jeff]

Thanks. I should have mentioned that I'm in Canada, where we get "royally" screwed on pricing. That same build as you suggested from the cheapest Canadian sites works out to $1353 Canadian.

And workstations for Autocad, or Inventor, is a waste of money. Sure Autodesk recommends them, but they changed up their programming years ago for Inventor to use Direct X. We had been buying $12k Dell workstations at my office and I talked them into trying a gaming rig to save money. Been using an Alienware A51 and it runs circles around the workstation units at a 3rd of the price.

 

[fj45Jeff]

Forgot to update this. I know you've all been on the edge of your seats...


Bought the MSI unit, works just fine.

Oh, and it's TINY and Quiet. And runs very cool .