Would you upgrade and why or why not?

[grant-barker]

Hi peeps.

To be honest, I don't feel a strong need to upgrade my PC. I'm 50 now, and I've built a fair few PC's over the years and I still totally love PCs! Having said that, I'm still using a Z77X-UP7 motherboard and an Intel i7-3770K (which isn't overclocked anymore). Cooling is a Noctua NH-D14 and the GPU is a Gigabyte GTX 970. (Case is a Silverstone Raven 4).

(I'm currently in Japan (on a budget) and expect to move back to the UK in the coming years (for family), where I would definitely build a new rig.)

I don't game much, although I did decide to buy Forza Horizon 4 (Standard edition) just yesterday for the PC. I used to play a lot of Battlefield 4 (but stopped a year or so ago to keep some of my hair). I also bought a Logitech F310 gamepad yesterday too. The first gamepad I've ever owned!(I've always been a PC gamer of sorts and so usually used a mouse and keyboard. (Many years ago I had a non-usb gaming steering wheel).

Anyway, would you upgrade personally for yourself? If so, could you please say why? Which parts would annoy you if any? If you'd like to know my other components, please ask. I've been visiting Tom's every day for many years, I'm new to the forum (with my real name), so I can't post my specs yet.

Cheers.

 

[COLGeek]

If your current rig is meeting your needs, then change nothing. Wait until you return to the UK.

 

[volkgren]

You've still got a solid mid-range gaming system. I'd hang on and not waste any money right now for the holidays.

 

[grant-barker]

Thanks COLGeek and volkgren. That's probably sensible. I'm curious what other people think, if anything, considering the age of the components. When I built this rig, it was already 18 months out of date when I put it together. I watched the parts pile up next to my desk as I bought them month by month. By the time I had them all, it was 18 months after the release date of the motherboard.

To be honest (and it could be my age) but I have rarely noticed a difference in day-to-day desktop activity from one new build to the next. Obviously gaming, video production, etc is a better reason to upgrade I suppose.

If I could easily afford it, I would upgrade every couple of years just for the fun of it. I'm still using 2 old Dell U2410 monitors.

The ideal build would have a separate Surface Studio monitor or something equally nice.

Thanks.

 

[volkgren]

The i7-3770K and GTX 970 both have aged well.

You could gain an additional 10-20% performance from an overclock to both CPU and GPU.

Yeah, a nice monitor really sets a high-end build apart IMO.

 

[R_1]

only upgrade I would suggest would be an SSD, for a nice boost in overall snappiness an SSD cant be beat as a cheap but noticeable upgrade

 

[grant-barker]

only upgrade I would suggest would be an SSD, for a nice boost in overall snappiness an SSD cant be beat as a cheap but noticeable upgrade

Thanks. It has 2 ADATA SSDs for the C (and D drives).
It also has a large regular HDD, and a small HDD taken from a laptop (where I replaced an SSD).