[SOLVED] Suggestion on whether to upgrade my old i5 4690 or not

[andikzz]

Hello guys, can help me decide, I am currently in dilemma on whether to upgrade my computer now.
I managed to find good deal on intel set: i5 10400 + Asrock B460M pro4 + 16GB DDR4 2666Mhz Ram for usd $280 and bought already impulsively.

I currently have old i5 4690 + 16GB Ram and mostly using computer for multi-tasking and work (Coding and lots of tab) with very little of video rendering/editing. No gaming so I don't have dGPU, only using iGPU.

I don't have issue with my computer right now and mostly fine for my use case but I just wondering whether now is the best time to upgrade my computer and whether having only 4 c/4t will hinder my work for the next 2 or 3 years.

I currently have 2 options:

1. Upgrade now, my next upgrade will be around 5 to 6 years later.
2. Sell 10400 combo to my friend for usd $350 and upgrade my system 2 or 3 years later when ddr5 is out and price stable.

Any opinions on which one should I choose? thank you guys

 

[InvalidError]

The best time for upgrading is when you actually need it.

I upgraded from an i5-3470 to an i5-11400 a few weeks ago, makes almost no difference to my day-to-day use. Upgraded mainly because all projections point toward PC components getting even more expensive over the next year or so and I was starting to get a bit nervous about my nearly nine years old build dying in the peak of a pricing bubble without a usable spare.

 

[punkncat]

Couple of thoughts....brb

Edit- Had to get to a keyboard.

My main rig a while back was an i5 4690. Used it for all my general use and gaming. It is still in the house and operational. When Ryzen first came out I purchased the R3 1200 which IMO was nearly a match for the 4690. I liked it well enough to upgrade to the 1700, and on from there.

For (most of) my work computers I prefer and utilize Intel. The main office machine being used is an 8400 which is a 6c/6t CPU. It absolutely runs circles around the 4690 in so much as multi tab, multi app type use. There is an aspect of that in which memory accounts (16 vs 32), but all in all the experience is much snappier on the 8th gen.

The motherboard with the (newer) parts you purchased isn't a "bad" motherboard, per se but it would give me second thoughts thinking to upgrade it to an i7/9 of the 10th or particularly 11th gen. It's power delivery is not something I would load that hard.
I feel like the newer package is going to give you a far better experience, but certainly may limit upgrade path to some degree. You are currently on a complete dead end as far as that concern now, so.....

Personally would consider some good NVME storage for OS on the impulse buy and go with it.

 

[andikzz]

The best time for upgrading is when you actually need it.

I upgraded from an i5-3470 to an i5-11400 a few weeks ago, makes almost no difference to my day-to-day use. Upgraded mainly because all projections point toward PC components getting even more expensive over the next year or so and I was starting to get a bit nervous about my nearly nine years old build dying in the peak of a pricing bubble without a usable spare.

Thank you @InvalidError , yeah this is one of my concern as well, global chip crisis.
almost all pc parts in my country has becoming more and more expensive in recent months and I don't think the price going to come down anytime soon.
i5 10400/11400 priced at $220/$250 right now up from $150/$190 months ago.

The thought of upgrading only comes because I found a good deal.
Else, this year even next year is really not worth to upgrade for me given the case that my current computer works just fine.
This year, chip crisis, next year 2022 what? DDR5 Ram price skyrocket due to early adoption / low supply.
But I was thinking if 4c/4t will not be enough soon and miss this opportunity to upgrade earlier.

Couple of thoughts....brb

Edit- Had to get to a keyboard.

My main rig a while back was an i5 4690. Used it for all my general use and gaming. It is still in the house and operational. When Ryzen first came out I purchased the R3 1200 which IMO was nearly a match for the 4690. I liked it well enough to upgrade to the 1700, and on from there.

For (most of) my work computers I prefer and utilize Intel. The main office machine being used is an 8400 which is a 6c/6t CPU. It absolutely runs circles around the 4690 in so much as multi tab, multi app type use. There is an aspect of that in which memory accounts (16 vs 32), but all in all the experience is much snappier on the 8th gen.

The motherboard with the (newer) parts you purchased isn't a "bad" motherboard, per se but it would give me second thoughts thinking to upgrade it to an i7/9 of the 10th or particularly 11th gen. It's power delivery is not something I would load that hard.
I feel like the newer package is going to give you a far better experience, but certainly may limit upgrade path to some degree. You are currently on a complete dead end as far as that concern now, so.....

Personally would consider some good NVME storage for OS on the impulse buy and go with it.

Thank you @punkncat , you gave me one more point to consider on this thought.
B460M + i5 10th gen is basically dead end. The only possible option to upgrade for me is to 10700.
11th gen intel not supported on b460m as well as memory overclocking, locked at 2666/2933 mhz.

This is actually very similar situation with my current system,
i5 4690 is also dead end, I can only upgrade to i7 4790, no more than that.

But considering that I upgrade from 4th to 10th gen, I think the jump in performance 4c/4t to 6c/12t, DDR3 to DDR4, able to use NVME as well as platform / mobo features(usb - C) will enough to be called "Big upgrade" and feel the difference in day to day. Plus I manage to get it for cheap (considering the price now). If I go with this route, my plan is to just upgrade whole system later on when needed.

 

[Karadjgne]

For an office use pc, the question is what are the software requirements. That's going to determine if an upgrade is warranted or not. Some programs use high clock speeds, high IPC and low thread count, some use high thread count and high ram amounts.

So depending on exactly what's necessary, you may or may not see any real performance uplift, but that's only applicable to current software. Adobe just changed with the new version, and has far better scaling past 8 threads, a huge boost to Ryzen performance as well as the hyper threaded Intels.

Stuck with a 4c/4t cpu, moving to 6c/12t and new Adobe will be noticeable, staying with an older version, not really changes much.

3 years is a long time to use the same software versions.

 

[InvalidError]

This is actually very similar situation with my current system,
i5 4690 is also dead end, I can only upgrade to i7 4790, no more than that.

But considering that I upgrade from 4th to 10th gen, I think the jump in performance 4c/4t to 6c/12t, DDR3 to DDR4, able to use NVME as well as platform / mobo features(usb - C) will enough to be called "Big upgrade" and feel the difference in day to day. Plus I manage to get it for cheap (considering the price now). If I go with this route, my plan is to just upgrade whole system later on when needed.

For people like you and me who upgrade only once every 4+ years, worrying about "dead-end platform" is largely an exercise in futility since basically everything in the original system will likely be ripe for replacement anyway, doubly so if your current system still does everything you need it well enough that your upgrade is more about refreshing your hardware to (hopefully) reduce the likelihood of it dying on you than gaining performance.

Depending on what your day-to-day use is, the upgrade may not be that noticeable. I spend most of my computer time between PDFs, browser tabs and text editors, can't say I have noticed any real difference there. With only a GTX1050, game performance is so heavily GPU-limited that improvements are few and far between there too for what few games I have access to until I refresh Steam links to my friends' accounts.

As for NVMe, keep in mind that 10th-gen CPUs don't have the x4 interface for the slot closest to the CPU. That is one of the reasons why I spent $30 extra for the 11400, didn't want my primary NVMe drive hogging almost all of the chipset's uplink bandwidth. The other reason being that I will likely get an RTX3050(Ti) when those become available for a reasonable price and those will almost certainly require 4.0x16 to be viable.