Upgrade or Build new?

[Kdar]

Lately I been thinking of putting some money into my main desktop computer by either upgrading it a bit or just by building a brand new and use the old one for something else, a server maybe, or HTPC for old TV.

Currently this is what I have (from 2008 ):
2GB of DDR2 800
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
GeForce 210 (had better video card before, but it broke. So I bought something cheat from local store just to make computer functional)
This barebone
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856101066

For one, I been thinking to get a bit better video card, possibly to mess around with CUDA and such, but I guess better gaming option could nice too (at least native-linux or wine games).
I could probably use a bit more ram.

However, should I upgrade motherboard and CPU as well? and go to sandybreadth?
What do you all think?

[Paqman]

No point in buying a whole new case, and if your peripherals like optical drives, hard drives, etc are fine then keep those too. Upgrade the graphics card and if you find that perfromance is still not what you'd like then get a motherboard bundle that has CPU & RAM included. If you can keep the power consumption down enough you should be able to keep your current power supply. In many cases a newer CPU will actually require less power, the new Ivy Bridge chips look amazing for energy saving.

[mips]

I would not upgrade the existing PC, you never know what might break next and you will just keep on spending money on a old system. Keep that PC, sell it or donate it if you want.

Buy a new Ivy Bridge system with a GeForce GTX 680 GPU if you enjoy playing the latest games ;)

[mamamia88]

Lately I been thinking of putting some money into my main desktop computer by either upgrading it a bit or just by building a brand new and use the old one for something else, a server maybe, or HTPC for old TV.

Currently this is what I have (from 2008 ):
2GB of DDR2 800
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
GeForce 210 (had better video card before, but it broke. So I bought something cheat from local store just to make computer functional)
This barebone
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856101066

For one, I been thinking to get a bit better video card, possibly to mess around with CUDA and such, but I guess better gaming option could nice too (at least native-linux or wine games).
I could probably use a bit more ram.

However, should I upgrade motherboard and CPU as well? and go to sandybreadth?
What do you all think? What is the use of your computer right now? If it's just basic stuff like web browsing, watching videos, and open office and you are only using linux i say maybe add 2 more gb ram and you should be fine. I'm running a netbook right now with only 2gb ram and debian xfce and it is more than capable of doing everything I need. But if your sole purpose is gaming then definitely build a new one. Ivy Bridge came out so it's a good time to do it. Trust me I get the wanting the latest and greatest but there is no point using something that is overkill.

[Kdar]

I using desktop for general stuff. Nothing very specific. Word-processing/hacking/some programming.

But occupationally I play some games. Also want to try learning CUDA, I guess it would be nice to have a better graphic card for that.

I am running virtualbox from time to time. That were I see the most slowdown for my current system. Would more RAM help in this area?

[mamamia88]

I using desktop for general stuff. Nothing very specific. Word-processing/hacking/some programming.

But occupationally I play some games. Also want to try learning CUDA, I guess it would be nice to have a better graphic card for that.

I am running virtualbox from time to time. That were I see the most slowdown for my current system. Would more RAM help in this area?

definitely. when running virtualbox you have to dedicate a specific amount of ram to the guest os. and if you are using all the ram on the computer it will slow down signicantly. i say put as much as you can afford and your motherboard can support

[mips]

I am running virtualbox from time to time. That were I see the most slowdown for my current system. Would more RAM help in this area?

Yes, more ram would help a lot. I'm also running a Q6600 with 4GB ram, my motherboard however would not allow me to add more ram as it's limited to 4GB (Intel G31 chipset).

[Paqman]

i say put as much as you can afford and your motherboard can support

Depends on the VM's requirements though. I find 4GB is plenty to run desktop apps in a Windows VM. Going to 8GB would be a waste of money for me.

[CharlesA]

No point in buying a whole new case, and if your peripherals like optical drives, hard drives, etc are fine then keep those too. Upgrade the graphics card and if you find that perfromance is still not what you'd like then get a motherboard bundle that has CPU & RAM included. If you can keep the power consumption down enough you should be able to keep your current power supply. In many cases a newer CPU will actually require less power, the new Ivy Bridge chips look amazing for energy saving.
This pretty much.

The only thing I replaced on my server was the "guts" - mobo, memory, cpu and case (and the case was only needed cuz I wanted one with air filters on it and one without a ton of lights). The drives are the same as the old one and it's running fine.

Saves a bit on the cost too. ;)

[Kdar]

Upgrading motherboard for DDR3 is not worth it?

[CharlesA]

Upgrading motherboard for DDR3 is not worth it?
The only difference I notice is the speed. I went from a dual core to a quad core and 8GB of DDR2 800 to 8GB of DDR3 1600 (which runs at 1333, cuz I don't feel like overclocking it).

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

I don't do anything that requires more that a basic graphics card.

I do a lot of virtualization. More RAM would help, 4 to 8 GB would be what I would want with a quad core.

[Kdar]

Well, I might just upgrade RAM for now then. I still have 2 extra slots.

Did anyone ever use SSD for their main OS files?

[Kdar]

Well. I moved from 2GB to 8GB of memory and I think it helped a lot. I might hold-on on building new for now.

However, I am still thinking about SSD.

[chugtairizwan]

I advice you to buy a new one.:guitar: