Question To upgrade PC? or not? (i7-3770 -> current?)

[scubaguy2020]

Budget Range: 700-900 CDN$
System Usage from Most to Least Important: working at home, office work, internet, mail etc. ; some photo / vid editing (adobe)
Are you buying a monitor: No (already have)
Parts to Upgrade: from a complete Acer desktop PC to an ?????????????
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: either big box, or manufacturer site (i.e. Acer, HP , Lenovo)
Location: Canada
Parts Preferences: Acer desktop to one of Acer, HP , Lenovo (Intel CPU)

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading:
So, scenario is that I currently have an Acer M3970 (I believe EB15). It's circa 2012! BUT... I bought it with a i7-3770 (fastest at the time) and through the years I doubled the ram (ie 8-16G) and I also added an SSD for the OS and programs. I maintain a HD for files. It still works - well, and pretty much does everything, including video editing. I'm surprised actually.

So, why upgrade? At ~11 years I know it's not going to last forever, due to:
- potential failure - ie lifespan- PS or mobo
- win10 is running out of support in a year (thk you MS and TPM)

So upgrade because:
- enjoy the speed of current
- Win 11 support
- new means early on the MTBF cycle
- possibly still get a few bucks for my current one on resale
- can shop for a sale without the urgency of the moment

In one hand I'm kind of 'use it til it dies... why not, stretch lifespan. On the other hand, I'm kind of thinking be proactive.
For me it will be big box... ie Acer or Lenovo or HP. I just have no need to get into the custom spec'd system and COTS offered bank for the buck.
I'm not thinking about i9 or something crazy, but good price wise. So thinking about possibly i5-13400 (up from my i7-3770). The i5-13400 seems a lot more than my current
one without the need to move into i7/i9 price point. I think i5-13400 based would be the sweet spot. Still 16G of ram and SSD.

Questions for the crowd:
1 - should i upgrade now or use the old one til dead?
2 - would an i5-13400 give me an appreciable difference to make spending $$ worthwhile?
3 - should i wait a year or two? (moreover, is the i5-14xxx or later coming with any major change vs. just speed to make it worth waiting?)

Thanks in advance to all!

 

[Lafong]

I'm pretty much in your situation re "use it till it drops or upgrade" and understand both sides. I'm on 7 plus year old hardware and have restrained my upgrade impulses for 3 or 4 years.

13400 would be "major" upgrade...probably double the 3770 on a single thread benchmark, but you'd rarely notice it when at or near idling...which in your case might be 90 plus percent of the time??

How often do you stand on the throttle and how much would you be impressed by finishing a task in 50 seconds rather than 90? 3 seconds rather than 6?

Weighing against that is the longevity issue on current parts.

I doubt if 14xxx or 15xxx would or should alter your opinion.

Maybe you can't live with yourself re the anxiety over parts failure on current hardware? If so, jump for new hardware no doubt about it.

Leaving aside the notion that your new parts might fail in 6 months.

So....it's somewhere near a coin flip, which you've apparently surmised. "If it ain't broke".......versus "but what if I'm wrong".

I wouldn't agonize over it and would support whichever choice you make.

 

[Rokinamerica]

I usually start shopping when I know my pc is getting up there in age (for me it is about 6 years) but I keep my old one as a backup. I can't afford to take off even a part of a day to start looking if my pc died.

 

[scubaguy2020]

I usually start shopping when I know my pc is getting up there in age (for me it is about 6 years) but I keep my old one as a backup. I can't afford to take off even a part of a day to start looking if my pc died.

backup. not a bad idea...

 

[scubaguy2020]

I'm pretty much in your situation re "use it till it drops or upgrade" and understand both sides. I'm on 7 plus year old hardware and have restrained my upgrade impulses for 3 or 4 years.

13400 would be "major" upgrade...probably double the 3770 on a single thread benchmark, but you'd rarely notice it when at or near idling...which in your case might be 90 plus percent of the time??

How often do you stand on the throttle and how much would you be impressed by finishing a task in 50 seconds rather than 90? 3 seconds rather than 6?

Weighing against that is the longevity issue on current parts.

I doubt if 14xxx or 15xxx would or should alter your opinion.

Maybe you can't live with yourself re the anxiety over parts failure on current hardware? If so, jump for new hardware no doubt about it.

Leaving aside the notion that your new parts might fail in 6 months.

So....it's somewhere near a coin flip, which you've apparently surmised. "If it ain't broke".......versus "but what if I'm wrong".

I wouldn't agonize over it and would support whichever choice you make.

hey thanks for the thoughts. if anything, i'm at 11 years, not 7, so ... win11... ie.. - win10 being unprotected soon. maybe that's an argument. i agree with you, not like the cost of an electric car, so not to agonize over. and, i found a deal.. 25% off a PC... loaded... 13400, but also 16G, SSD, mem card reader, CD ( for those of use that like to rip CDs still for high audio quality). 25% off is pretty sweet for current stuff.

and yeah.. 6 months... 10 years... i'm an electrical guy so i get it! ... once you're past the first 6....

 

[Flayed]

Sod's law says if something is going to die it will happen at the most inconvenient time. It is better to plan a replacement and pick the time yourself.