PC Upgrading Questions

[corbet31]

I have several questions and i figured it would be easier to ask them all in one thread then to make several.

1. How long would a typical new Home-built PC last until I would need another upgrade as far as running the newest games well? And what would most likely be the first component to need upgrading? I know there won't be an exact answer at all but I'm just looking for a rough estimate...

2. I already have my own home built PC that my cousin made for me. So I know somewhat about PC hardware but I haven't technically built my own. Would I be better off building a whole new rig or slowly upgrading as needed? It would probably be easier to sell a whole PC then just the parts I'm replacing and if I were to upgrade one part that tends to mean upgrading several (new graphics card possibly means new power supply etc.).

3. How much do different components play into the actual gaming aspect of things? I've heard your CPU doesn't have a whole lot to do with that side of things.

4. I know this type of question may pop up quite about on these types of forums but if I were to upgrade some things what would you suggest I get first? What is "holding" my computer back? (Computer info listed below)

Computer Info:
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T
RAM: 16 GB
GRAPHICS: 1023MB GeForce GTX 460
MOTHERBOARD: Asus M4A88TD-M/USB3
POWER SUPPLY: OCZ 700W ModXstream Pro

If you need any more info about my system just ask!

 

[manofchalk]

1. Depends entirely on the specs and if your willing to lower settings as it gets older. As for whether it will run games, 5yr old systems will run games just fine, but not to the standard you probably want.

2. Again, depends on the specs of the machine you have. But generally speaking, if the rig is 3yrs+ old, you pretty much need an entirely new rig to get a decent performance upgrade.

3. GPU is far and away the biggest decider in gaming performance, but that doesn't mean cheap out on the CPU to get a bigger graphics card. Once the CPU gets beyond a certain point of performance (roughly between a Core i3 and i5), more CPU performance just doesn't matter in games.

4. The rig is fairly balanced, but I would say the GPU is holding it back. If you throw something like a 7850 on it I would expect a nice boost to performance.

 

[gussrtk]

1. If you are not bothered by running games on mid settings then 3-4 years it will do, the only thing to upgrade really that would be worth is after 3 years get a gpu (like 100dollar) and to overclock the cpu, just to keep up better with the newer gpu. But that's with a 2thousand dollar maybe a 1>5k will last like that too

2. Your psu is sufficient unless sli/xfire

3. Very much. Cpu and gpu is most important, then ram, and mothrerboard more for stability. That's basic

4. I assume cpu more than anything, did you try overclocking your cpu/gpu





What is ur budget, location

 

[JamesSneed]

1. You normally will get 4-5 years of gaming on the typical home built PC with maybe one upgrade in that time frame.

2. Slowly upgrade, your PC inst that old now or that bad either to replace.

3. For gaming the GPU is most important, CPU is second, and having a minimum amount of memory is third.

4. Replace the GTX 460 GPU with a GTX 660 TI or GTX 670. This will get you big bang for the buck. I would then start saving to do a motherboard/cpu replacement next year. Your CPU will only reduce your FPS in games today by a small margin.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/542?vs=598


Toms did a review of CPU's and game performance. Your 1090T still held its own pretty damn well. Also if BF3 is your thing it is just as fast as any CPU out there.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-fx-pentium-apu-benchmark,3120-10.html

 

[corbet31]

Best answer selected by corbet31.

 

[corbet31]

I have several questions and i figured it would be easier to ask them all in one thread then to make several.

1. How long would a typical new Home-built PC last until I would need another upgrade as far as running the newest games well? And what would most likely be the first component to need upgrading? I know there won't be an exact answer at all but I'm just looking for a rough estimate...

2. I already have my own home built PC that my cousin made for me. So I know somewhat about PC hardware but I haven't technically built my own. Would I be better off building a whole new rig or slowly upgrading as needed? It would probably be easier to sell a whole PC then just the parts I'm replacing and if I were to upgrade one part that tends to mean upgrading several (new graphics card possibly means new power supply etc.).

3. How much do different components play into the actual gaming aspect of things? I've heard your CPU doesn't have a whole lot to do with that side of things.

4. I know this type of question may pop up quite about on these types of forums but if I were to upgrade some things what would you suggest I get first? What is "holding" my computer back? (Computer info listed below)

Computer Info:
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T
RAM: 16 GB
GRAPHICS: 1023MB GeForce GTX 460
MOTHERBOARD: Asus M4A88TD-M/USB3
POWER SUPPLY: OCZ 700W ModXstream Pro

If you need any more info about my system just ask!

Edit: Thanks for all of the replies!! Your feedback really helped!