New PC?... or not?

[Karnivore]

Back in 2011 I bought this machine from PCSpecialist, my second one overall with them:

Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2400 Quad Core (3.10GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H61-M LE/USB3 (NEW REV 3.0): M-ATX, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6770 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11
1st Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£19)
USB Options
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
IIYAMA E2271HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£139)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Miscellaneous
FREE Total War Shogun™ 2 with any AMD® Radeon™ Graphics card!
Quantity
1

To be quite frank, three and a half years on it's still running fine. I've since been forced to update the graphics card to a Radeon R9 270x (HDMI connector broke, needed a quick fix), new IPS monitor and i've got an SSD in there as my boot drive.

I don't play Games on it, do the odd bit of photo editing in PS, very heavy browser user, and i've started to watch alot of 4K stuff on my machine (many coming from my OnePlus One). My issue is mainly with the CPU. I love the Sandy Bridge models, but it lacks hyper-threading and i'm getting 100% usage when I watch certain 4K films, bit unbearable when using MadVR (MadVR is brilliant when it works).

So... should I upgrade the CPU or go all out and future proof myself with an X99? The way Intel and AMD are going I could probably buy myself a machine that lasts me the next decade, i'm a little hesitant at the moment though with Skylake around the corner, though i've a feeling Intel will ultimately disappoint. Thoughts?

 

[Karnor00]

When I first read the spec, I thought that it still looked pretty decent although the GPU could do with an upgrade. Then I read below that you had already upgraded the GPU!

The CPU is still pretty good, although if you are having an issue with it then you could upgrade to an i7 for increased performance with the video stuff.

I don't think a new machine would be particularly cost effective - most of a new machine would be no better than what you already have.

 

[Androcles]

It's a shame you don't game on It because I would have loved your input as to how much of an improvement the 270x is over the 6770. I have a 6770 myself, however the rest of the machine is better (limited funds made me go without a gfx card and use my old one when I got the new machine), the 6770 still runs many of the games I play at 60+ fps on high settings so it's not all bad, I'm just looking for a comparison on how much better a 270x would be for games now that I can afford to get a newer card and you're the only person I have come across that has upgraded between those two specific cards.

 

[Karnivore]

When I first read the spec, I thought that it still looked pretty decent although the GPU could do with an upgrade. Then I read below that you had already upgraded the GPU!

The CPU is still pretty good, although if you are having an issue with it then you could upgrade to an i7 for increased performance with the video stuff.

I don't think a new machine would be particularly cost effective - most of a new machine would be no better than what you already have.

I'm thinking more to the future. With the new SSD i'd like to be able to take advantage of SATA3, the RAM could do with upgrading and if i'm getting a new CPU I may as well upgrade the machine. I'm struggling to fully justify it at the moment though as it's still in a very usable condition, and perhaps that's my indicator to stick with what I got. On the other hand, i'd say a good 95% of people who buy a new machine are very much in the same situation i'm in, perhaps it's just a need for speed... I had that with my recent car upgrade!

It's a shame you don't game on It because I would have loved your input as to how much of an improvement the 270x is over the 6770. I have a 6770 myself, however the rest of the machine is better (limited funds made me go without a gfx card and use my old one when I got the new machine), the 6770 still runs many of the games I play at 60+ fps on high settings so it's not all bad, I'm just looking for a comparison on how much better a 270x would be for games now that I can afford to get a newer card and you're the only person I have come across that has upgraded between those two specific cards.

To be honest I can tell you even without gaming on both that there's a significance difference between the two. GPU boss gives a damning verdict actually:
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-270X-vs-Radeon-HD-6770

In terms of watching videos, the 270x provided a substantial upgrade for me over the 6770. I like to use various renders in PotPlayer and VMR9 was horrid on the old card, looked stunning on the 270x. I bought the Dual-X Radeon R9 270x OverClock edition from Amazon and i'm in no rush to upgrade.

If you're thinking of upgrading from a 6770 (and I certainly would if you're a PC gamer), the 270x would probably provide the best bang for buck on the market (a 4GB variant is available too for £20 more), but there are more powerful cards out there if you're willing to fork out an extra £80-£100 on top of the cost of a 270x.