Is it worth adding RAM and SSD to an i7 960?

[Vinay Kumar]

Hi Guys,

Long time lurker, first time poster here!

 

My current configuration is Intel i7 960, 6 GB RAM, Nvidia GTX 460, and a standard non SSD hard drive, circa 2010.

Was used for a couple of Freelance projects in the past, but from now on, most likely for learning and personal portfolio work only.

Runs fine most of the time but bogs down when handling large scenes. Also, there's heavy page file shifting going on sometimes, with the hard drive churning for minutes.

A couple of questions...

 

How many of you have upgraded from an Intel i7 9xx series to something more current? Like the present day i7 processor? Was the difference night and day, or can the old one hold its own?

 

And how many of you have added RAM to your current i7 9xx rig to keep it going?

The reason I'm asking is that I have the opportunity to up my RAM from the current 6 GB to the maximum allowed 24 GB on my motherboard. And maybe an SSD.

Will this add a couple of years longevity to my pc, or should I just let this machine work away just the way it is, and then maybe buy a new one?

New workstation won't happen for atleast a year so wondering if it's worth spending 200 odd dollars on RAM and SSD.

Renders are usually started when I am not at my desk, i.e overnight while sleeping or when I leave for work. So CPU power is not a priority, but handling heavy scenes is important.

Sorry if it sounds like a silly question, I dont have the opportunity to try out a current high end PC, and I cant gauge if my current PC will be able to handle the Softwares of the future.

The money saved by NOT buying a new PC could go a long way in funding my future camera purchase.

 

Does it make sense to prop up a 5 year old PC? Or let it die a natural death?

 

Thank you.

[Nikolaos M]

The processor is still good, if you don't have the budget to upgrade. You could try to overclock it a bit, if you have an efficient cooler on it, in order to give it a little boost both in single- and multi-threaded tasks. Your system bogs down probably due to small RAM amount (so this is the first thing you should upgrade), but I suspect also the gpu. THe 460 is a bit old and only has 1gb of vram, so it seams natural to me that it can't handle large scenes in viewports.

 

In any case, an ssd is absolutely essential for any system today. And if you choose a good one, you can certainly keep it for your next upgrade too. The same goes for the gpu, but probably not for the ddr3 RAM you are planning to buy. In 1-2 years ddr4 will be firmly in place, so if you decide to upgrade at that time, you'll most likely have to change your RAM type.

[Vinay Kumar]

Thank you for your reply, Nikolaos!

Very useful post.

[Vinay Kumar]

Thank you for your reply, Nikolaos!

Its unlikely that I'll overclock the processor, because its very hot around here and Air conditioning is used occasionally.

But the rest of the post is something I'll definitely keep in mind.