Here are my current system specs:
C2D E6300 (the really old one) OC'd to 3.2 Ghz
Asus P5Q-SE
8GB DDR2 800 OC'd to around 900mhz
Asus 4870 512mb OC'd
Xigmatek Dark Knight cooler
Now my main question is this: Should I upgrade to a Q9550 and OC now, or wait and save up for a good sandy bridge (such as the 2600) later (mid 2011). What complicates the question is that I am getting married in June 2012, and with the number crunching, my fiancee and I probably will not make enough to have a ton left over for an upgrade for a while. The fall after we get married, we will be starting our junior year of college at universities. Muy Expensivo. I will be going to DePaul majoring in IT; I'm not sure how much processing power I will need on my own computer for school stuff, but I definitely consider myself a power user. I game occasionally (less now than before), and I like experimenting with various OS's in VM's. I understand that the the 2600 may be a little overkill, but the main reason I am considering it is because of it's longevity.
The other thing I'm considering is buying a Q9505 now, then getting the 2600 later, and turning the c2q system into a esx server. I could do this too with the e6300 being replaced by the q9550, then buy a q9505 or used q6600 later for the server.
So i guess what I'm asking is this: will the extra $$ I spend on the extra components for the sandy now be worth it over the Q9550 in a few years?
C2D E6300 (the really old one) OC'd to 3.2 Ghz
Asus P5Q-SE
8GB DDR2 800 OC'd to around 900mhz
Asus 4870 512mb OC'd
Xigmatek Dark Knight cooler
Now my main question is this: Should I upgrade to a Q9550 and OC now, or wait and save up for a good sandy bridge (such as the 2600) later (mid 2011). What complicates the question is that I am getting married in June 2012, and with the number crunching, my fiancee and I probably will not make enough to have a ton left over for an upgrade for a while. The fall after we get married, we will be starting our junior year of college at universities. Muy Expensivo. I will be going to DePaul majoring in IT; I'm not sure how much processing power I will need on my own computer for school stuff, but I definitely consider myself a power user. I game occasionally (less now than before), and I like experimenting with various OS's in VM's. I understand that the the 2600 may be a little overkill, but the main reason I am considering it is because of it's longevity.
The other thing I'm considering is buying a Q9505 now, then getting the 2600 later, and turning the c2q system into a esx server. I could do this too with the e6300 being replaced by the q9550, then buy a q9505 or used q6600 later for the server.
So i guess what I'm asking is this: will the extra $$ I spend on the extra components for the sandy now be worth it over the Q9550 in a few years?