My 2010 mid-range build is still going strong to this day, I only upgrades two components: The graphics card and RAM (4 gigs to 8 gigs of RAM, and GTS 450 => GTX 580 NVidia card)

I think what you ought to do is wait for new tech to be released, and last year's tech ought to have dropped in price some, then you can build a lasting system for less money.

i'm still running a gts 250. I had pondered just upgrading but I'm finding am3+ isn't that pricey, i'd end up with 4 times the power i have now for only £300. my hard drive, ram and such are all compatible with an am3= system.

But I'm just gonna wait till this house sells and I've moved anyway, still alot of junk i have to get rid of

Might just need a new GPU. I'm still running a Quad core Core2 build (9550), which has been by a LONG shot the longest run CPU of my life. I used to replace the things once every 18 months or less until I got that thing. What I have replaced has been the GPU. Current build is running Radeon 7870. Only reason I've not upgraded yet is just that there's been no need - it runs all the games I have with ease. The need to upgrade will soon come from the memory more than anything else; it's got 8 gigs, and taking it higher on the older DDR2 RAM is insanely expensive and not worth it. At that time I'll get updated to something more modern.

That said, what sort of build do you have? Is it possible to upgrade, or are ya in the replace category?

well that's my thing really. I've never done more then add ram to this machine in it's 6 years of life. the cpu is only 2.6 and Photoshop maxes it out easily these days. gpu definitely needs replacing cpu is too slow.. network card.. psu would need replacing anyway... it's just at that stage where I may as well build a new pc and get into the am3+ generation probably to last me another 6 years.

*nodsnods* Yeah, I agree then - at 6 years old, you're not going to be able to do much more with it. That's about the same age as mine. My CPU is a 2.83Ghz Quad core Q9550 - there's not many more CPUs of that era that are more powerful, and those that are only give a teeeeeny boost, so you're probably in the same category. I use Photoshop CS2 through WINE in Linux, which seems to be able to present the Quad cores as one big CPU that Photoshop understands and uses, but compared to my i7 quad core laptop, it's definitely not as fast.

Don't worry so much about the GHz speed - CPUs have not really changed much in raw GHz in the last 6 years, it's the efficiency of every cycle that has increased. Today, a measly i3-2140 can better my Quad Core for performance. So yeah... definitely sounds like a new system is your best bet. I asked just 'cause I've seen some folks on here with systems that are only like 2 years old thinking they need one ones. XD

I bought up new just before Christmas, $2500AU worth :U Porn, PC's and pizza. That's where all my paycheck goes!~

If you were aussie based, I could trade you parts for something nice P: I have a spare GTX640 card, and a complete laptop with GTX280 onboard graphics that only needs some TLC by someone competent. (It has a nasty heating issue, which prompted the upgrade, but you could easily pop a waterblock inside it's so bulky).

But how about a 'fund raiser' none-the-less? Parts are cheap nowadays, life is good :U

it's cool. even a basic am3+ system would give me more power then I responsibly require. get that for £3-400 easily enough.

i feel your pain, i recently lost my pc due to age and cheap parts... i put 650$ on new parts (mobo, cpu, cooler, windows 8.1 and artic silver thermal compound) and got it set up

if i make a sujestion, don't go cheap! it just gets expansive after a few months

I never go cheap. mid range tried and tested devices will give me more then i really need.