When is the right time to upgrade?

[bruxism]

Hi guys

 

I'm currently running an old computer (core 2 duo e6600, 6gb ram, gts250, win7 64bit). At the moment, my need for upgrading hasn't been that high as I'm still only just learning the basics of modeling, rendering etc. and for what I use it for at the moment (CAD, photoshop, sketchup mostly) it doesn't seem to have too much trouble.

 

When will I notice my system slowing down a lot? When should I consider upgrading?

 

Thanks

Pierre

[kippu]

whenever you start serious rendering and the first work you get money for , get an upgrade

[bruxism]

thats a fair way off.. should i invest in something basic in the meantime?

[tecton3d]

Hi guys

 

I'm currently running an old computer (core 2 duo e6600, 6gb ram, gts250, win7 64bit). At the moment, my need for upgrading hasn't been that high as I'm still only just learning the basics of modeling, rendering etc. and for what I use it for at the moment (CAD, photoshop, sketchup mostly) it doesn't seem to have too much trouble.

 

When will I notice my system slowing down a lot? When should I consider upgrading?

 

Thanks

Pierre

 

that's a perfectly adequate machine for the software you're currently using. I would perhaps upgrade the video card to a fermi-based piece when you start getting very annoyed with 3d framerates in CAD (Autocad?) and SketchUp.

[bruxism]

Yeah, at the time i bought it, it was the best machine money could buy (for gaming).. originally had 4gb ram and a 7950gx2 card but upgraded those.

 

Would it really be worth upgrading just the graphics card? I've only got a ga-p35-dq6 motherboard at the moment will that limit what graphics card i can use? and yes Autocad

[tecton3d]

only if you were noticing slow viewport performance with your software. You can get any current graphics card, PCI-E and it will plug into any future system you will build and work fine.

[Slinger]

that's a perfectly adequate machine for the software you're currently using. I would perhaps upgrade the video card to a fermi-based piece when you start getting very annoyed with 3d framerates in CAD (Autocad?) and SketchUp.

Actually i disagree. The first thing I would do is upgrade the processor. If your motherboard supports 45nM processors, go get you a Q9550. You find them for a good rate at this time. Trust me, the 4 cores will make a huge difference when doing sketchup and rendering.

[tecton3d]

Actually i disagree. The first thing I would do is upgrade the processor. If your motherboard supports 45nM processors, go get you a Q9550. You find them for a good rate at this time. Trust me, the 4 cores will make a huge difference when doing sketchup and rendering.

 

sketchup doesn't make use of more than one core no matter what you're doing, so that would be a waste, and unless he's doing a lot of rendering, in which he already said he's just learning the basics, again... the extra cores won't be fully utilized.

[bruxism]

to be honest, at the moment sketchup seems to be running ok although i have been noticing some lower framerates in autocad. for the rest of the year i will be doing more work for my course on autocad and next year will be focused nearly entirely on autocad and revit rather than manual drawing. would it be smart to wait until the start of next year, would you guys recommend an upgrade of gfx card and/or cpu, or wait until i can afford to build a brand new machine. obviously i am trying to save wherever possible.

 

thanks

[bruxism]

Actually i disagree. The first thing I would do is upgrade the processor. If your motherboard supports 45nM processors, go get you a Q9550. You find them for a good rate at this time. Trust me, the 4 cores will make a huge difference when doing sketchup and rendering.

 

yeah i had a look at the q9550, it's the best processor my board can support. i can buy one brand new under 300 aud.

[AJLynn]

What would the upgrade be for? What you're doing now isn't very hardware intensive, and it's not hardware that benefits from a lot of cores - save your money and buy new hardware if you start doing intensive rendering in software that multithreads well. It doesn't make sense to me to buy generation old hardware now to use on work you'll do in the indeterminate future, and the marginal value of a Core 2 Quad over a Duo doesn't seem to be worth that kind of money for what you're running.

[bruxism]

What would the upgrade be for? What you're doing now isn't very hardware intensive, and it's not hardware that benefits from a lot of cores - save your money and buy new hardware if you start doing intensive rendering in software that multithreads well. It doesn't make sense to me to buy generation old hardware now to use on work you'll do in the indeterminate future, and the marginal value of a Core 2 Quad over a Duo doesn't seem to be worth that kind of money for what you're running.

 

alright sure, i'll save my money for now but is there anything i can do to improve framerates in autocad? would that be more of a graphics card/driver issue or something else?