"future proofing" a taboo?

[Scorpio 72472]

Hello guys.

 

I want to build a good rig that would last me a while. But almost every discussion i saw, alot of people treated the word "future proofing" like Voldemort's name.

 

This question has been in my mind for a while. I mean, doesn't getting more powerful parts mean i get good FPS for a longer time? In general sense?

[SenKa]

Future proofing is by and large a sham. But, it is true that buying like- an i9-7980XE, 128GB RAM, and quad Titan RTX's will hold up longer to raw compute workloads better than your run of the mill 6core, 16GB RAM, mid-tier GPU system.

 

Gaming is a very different story, but even then it would likely stand up longer, so long as the X86 instruction set doesnt die. And I don't think anybody thinks it will.

[SansVarnic]

Future-proofing doesn't exist. Its just a coined term to use for the most up-to-date tech, and its funny because tech always becomes outdated after 3-6 months.

 

 

Quote

ta·boo
[təˈbo͞o, taˈbo͞o]
NOUN
a social or religious custom prohibiting or forbidding discussion of a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing.
synonyms:
prohibition · proscription · veto · interdiction · interdict · ban · restriction · [more]
ADJECTIVE
prohibited or restricted by social custom.
"sex was a taboo subject"
synonyms:
forbidden · prohibited · banned · proscribed · vetoed · ruled out · [more]
VERB
place under prohibition.
"traditional societies taboo female handling of food during this period"

 

[.Apex.]

Future proofing is not a "sham", there's just a good balance between Cost and Performance that would last you longer than usual, you don't need to spend 10K for a system to be future proof.

For example I bought an R9 280 5 years ago, and believe it or not it still holds up pretty damn well at 1080P, while overclocked it's close to a stock GTX 1060 which is very impressive, and i barely spent much money on it.

 

now that's a good investment

[Gmoneyinthebank]

You're probably not going to save money in the long run.  "Future Proof" is a misleading way of saying 2-3 more years of high quality gaming before replacement.  Buy the best gear in your budget, but realize it's a small marginal longevity gain and not "Future Proof".

[LukeSavenije]

there's nothing wrong with building a strong system

 

but generally speaking it's better to spend 10000 dollars in 10 years on 5 systems than 10000 on a single one in 10 years for most workloads

[Scorpio 72472]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Actually you guys are right. It better to change gtx xx60 cards after every two generations rather than being stuck with a 780ti for 5 years

[justpoet]

I would suggest that none of this is "future proofing" the way that is used in other industries.

 

A better example would be saying that a current AM4 board from a reputable maker is more future proof because it can get firmware updates to make it compatible with newer CPUs as they become available, with AMD saying that socket will be around for a while.

 

Another example would be to get something about to come out with the upcoming PCI specs, so that when you want to upgrade graphics cards a few years from now, those cards won't be bottle necked by the old PCI.

 

A solid case with good airflow and build quality is also future proofing, since pretty much anything will go into it for a very long time, vs a flat front glass side that requires liquid cooling to work at all without overheating and is super flimsy.

 

In short, ACTUAL "future proofing" is just about being smart when you pick tech that has to be compatible with other tech.  Sometimes it is worth it (probably for the AM4 motherboards), and sometimes it isn't (buying the top end graphics card or cpu instead of the more bang for the buck one that still does everything you want right now).