"Futureproofing" our pc's, what have you done that "futureproofs' your pc?

[Otto_iii]

I personally think best futureproof is a budget mid-range option meant to last 2-3 years, as high end parts always devalue the hardest, not worth it if you aren't making $ with your system, where time rendering, compiling etc is money.  Spending 800-1000$ on a competent system and upgrading every 2-3 years makes more sense then trying to spend 2000-3000$ on system to last 5 years imo.  In both cases, a 800-1000$ system now will resell for about 400-500$ in 2-3 years, with 2000$ 5 year old system likely you'll get same 500$ back selling it, so its a lot of money wasted and more years spent being out-of-date, even if first year is great, 2nd and 3rd are okay, the 4th and 5th will likely be crappy.


-Decent budget b450m Pro4 motherboard that can atleast handle high end ryzen 3000 if stock, if not overclock for 3900x etc, i plan to go to 8 core with Ryzen 4000 when i upgrade from 3600, so should still be fine for me. 
-cheapest modern 256bit GPU i could find new, powercolor 5700 duel fan.
-budget-ish viewsonic XG2401 144hz 1080p monitor thats not the best high refresh monitor, but easy on my eyes unlike previous ones i tried. 
-nicest cheap case i liked look of that had good airflow, Thermaltake H18...pwm rgb fans i have now are a bit noisy for RPM they are at, but that can be swapped eventually.  I'd love to go ITX but just wanted a working system and was my first build, ITX would of costed about 300$ more all in, will save that upgrade for when or if i swap motherboards. I'd like to wait for NVME that require pcie 4.0 to go down in price first before jumping to x570 etc
-650W PSU because it still gives me overhead, but since SLI/Crossfire is dead i can't imagine needing more. 
-Zowie S2 mouse because im sensitive and can cramp with big, or poorly designed mouse shapes. 

 

[Just Monika]

Bought a GTX 1080 shortly after its release in 2016 to replace my R9 280X, luckily before GPU prices got jacked up from coin mining. The 1080 was the top non-Titan card and a Ti version wasn't on the horizon at the time so I decided to go "big" on an x80 card so I wouldn't have to upgrade again next generation.

 

Turned out to be a great decision since the 20 series didn't get released until 2 years later, where it's equivalent to something between the RTX 2060 and 2070. When the 30 series comes around in 2020 (as it's rumored for release), where my 1080 will be equivalent to a 3050 to 3060, is when I'm going to retire it for a 3080 (or Ti) or whatever it will be called. The ~$780 CAD I paid for the 1080 seems great for 3+ solid years of 1440p gaming at 60-144fps.

 

The only problem was my CPU at the time, a 4690S became more of a bottleneck over time, even at 1440p. So for my 2019 build, I chose to go for a Ryzen 3900X despite the common opinion that a 3700X is all you need for gaming. I learned from my previous build when an i5 4460 was "all you needed for gaming" and that quickly became false when more threads became beneficial to straight up required.

 

My general rule of thumb for PC builds is take whatever the commonly-recommended "all you need for gaming" specs are and multiply it by it by 1.5 or 2 if you intend to keep the system long-term. 16GB RAM when 8GB was recommended, 1080 when a 1070 was recommended, and now a 3900X when a 3700X is recommended.

 

[Otto_iii]

13 minutes ago, Kongou said:

My general rule of thumb for PC builds is take whatever the commonly-recommended "all you need for gaming" specs are and multiply it by it by 1.5 or 2 if you intend to keep the system long-term. 16GB RAM when 8GB was recommended, 1080 when a 1070 was recommended, and now a 3900X when a 3700X is recommended.

ye

Lucky you and that 1080, thats one of the few components which still really looks good 5 years later.  Wish i had a genie that could tell me when something like that is going to be launched, but its exceedingly rare.  Suppose maybe GPUs have stagnated a bit, but still. 

[Giganthrax]

"Obsolete" is a big word, and one that definitely doesn't apply to today's PC hardware.

 

Right now, I'm typing this from a FX-8150 system with 8GB RAM, GTX 580, and 120GB SSD. It works great for Google Suite work, it easily runs games like CS:GO, Heroes of the Storm, and Destiny 2 in 60+ fps at low to medium settings, and it overall feels perfectly fine to work with. I know from experience that if I added a more capable GPU in here, it would be able to smoothly run modern AAA titles at okay settings as well. 

 

Until the day comes when a Windows installation takes more than 120gb, I can't see 120gb SSDs becoming obsolete either. 

 

As for my main machine, I have a Ryzen 1600x, 16 GB RAM at 2933MHz, and GTX 1070. Runs almost every game in high-to-ultra settings on 1080p. The AM4 slot ensures that I'll be able to upgrade the CPU in a few years, and ofc upgrading the GPU is always an option. 

 

I'd say that's pretty future proof, tbh. 

[Guest]

I got a 2950X to run my games fast for the next 10 years.

[For Science!]

3 minutes ago, Den-Fi said:

I got a 2950X to run my games fast for the next 10 years.

bruh you missed by a 1000. How about that 3950X?

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, For Science! said:

bruh you missed by a 1000. How about that 3950X?

Shhhh I was memeing lol.

[jiyeon]

Using an air cooler, I guess.

[Bombastinator]

15 hours ago, aaradorn said:

I don't think anyone can truly futureproof their pc, with all the advancements these days in hardware it's going to be obsolete within a few years anyway. What have you done in the past or going to do to future proof your system?

 

I remember buying a 120gb SSD because it would futureproof my pc, 2 years later the entire thing was obsolete.

 

This year I bought a new monitor (I think this will still hold up in a few years), a 3440x1440 Gsync 120hz monitor. My pc has issues pushing games at that resolution but I think it will be useful when I eventually upgrade it.

 

 

What have you guys done/ will do?

I would have agreed with you 10 years ago.  My moldy old 4770k system kept going and going and isn’t out of the pack yet, though it’s kind of at the rear these days and the wolves are starting to look hungrily at my ankles.

 

my plan is to buy as little as I can until I find out what the new upcoming consoles are going to have for hardware.  They update much more slowly (or perhaps in much larger jumps) than PC hardware and they define I think how games are written.  A controversial opinion.  My goal is to have hardware equal to or better than their spec when or soon after they come out.  Then I can coast on that hardware “futureproofed” until the next console revision at which point I may be too old to play video games anyway.  They seem to like 5 year bumps so that would be an attempt to make a 5 year PC.  My current has been a 10 year PC which I think was an anomaly.  I was expecting it to be a 2 year PC.

[amdorintel]

20 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

until the next console revision at which point I may be too old to play video games anyway.

sounds like you are on the fence whether to go desktop/laptop gaming or console gaming.

 

right now prices are great for computers, but i agree in keeping a close eye on changes in the marketplace

you could easily fall into the category of "you will always be waiting" but you are too on the fence for something like that to happen.

 

console gaming has never been my thing, though I buy each one everytime it comes out, plus the games, and i buy two of everything because the ex

 

 

 

 

[Antistatic12]

In terms of future proofing the one component that probably gets the closet to really get that title would be a high end PSU.
I have a Corsair AX1200i in my current rig and that is more than enough for now and the future, the high end PSU's often have 10 year warranty's as well.
So I guess if you buy a high end PSU with a 10 year warranty and more wattage than needed you could in fact future proof your PC for at least 10 years. Although 10 years in tech is an eternity, just look at mobile phones from 10 years ago compared to now, wow.

[amdorintel]

Just now, Antistatic12 said:

Corsair AX1200i

how many of that are you actually using?

[Bombastinator]

1 minute ago, amdorintel said:

sounds like you are on the fence whether to go desktop/laptop gaming or console gaming.

 

right now prices are great for computers, but i agree in keeping a close eye on changes in the marketplace

you could easily fall into the category of "you will always be waiting" but you are too on the fence for something like that to happen.

 

console gaming has never been my thing, though I buy each one everytime it comes out, plus the games, and i buy two of everything because the ex

 

 

 

 

Nah.  I got no use for laptops.  I don’t move around enough.  I have one but it’s been unused for so long the battery is probably dead.

 

always be waiting I don’t know.  I’ll be waiting until I find out more about console navi21 anyway. Then I’ll move.   ATM  I’m considering not waiting, abandoning windows as a front line OS, and going hackintosh though.  Get me a Vega64 system and dual boot.  Then if it turns out the vega64 won’t cut it for gaming I can still use it for Mac stuff and play Mac compatible steam games.

[Antistatic12]

Just now, amdorintel said:

how many of that are you actually using?

Ive never really tested.

[amdorintel]

1 minute ago, Antistatic12 said:

Ive never really tested.

i bet you are only using 1/3 of it, otherwise its a niche use for that kinda power in a psu

[Flying Sausages]

32GB DDR4

 

AM4 motherboard because I probably will get 3900x in a year or two. Waiting price to drop down to $400 or ~$400 for the 12c/24t.

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

spare mouse

[amdorintel]

3 minutes ago, OlympicAssEater said:

32GB DDR4

 

AM4 motherboard because I probably will get 3900x in a year or two. Waiting price to drop down to $400 or ~$400 for the 12c/24t.

do you plan to oc it? and are you looking for v-die as apposed to cgr?

3900X is how much these days? $700 which is a tad expensive, so yeah $400 would be great, but how long until that happens?

 

also need a good mobo for the 3900x cpus

[Flying Sausages]

1 minute ago, amdorintel said:

do you plan to oc it? and are you looking for v-die as apposed to cgr?

3900X is how much these days? $700 which is a tad expensive, so yeah $400 would be great, but how long until that happens?

 

also need a good mobo for the 3900x cpus

Idk yet but my board can handle 3900x fine. I have X470F mobo. 3900x msrp is $500 but due to short supply, the price skyrocket to $700.

[Bombastinator]

6 hours ago, D.U.F.F. said:

Why make sure your computer is future-proof. What if in the future we live in a "Stone Age". Then the computer is just expensive and oversized paperweight.

 

My health is too delicate. If society collapses I will soon follow and my hardware doesn’t matter if I’m dead.

[amdorintel]

54 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

my hardware doesn’t matter

it shouldnt matter

 

wasnt long ago computers werent a day to day thang

 

so tech trapped these days arent we

[Bombastinator]

Just now, amdorintel said:

it shouldnt matter

 

wasnt long ago computers werent a day to day thang

 

so tech trapped these days arent we

I always was.  If I had a smartphone PIM in college things would have gone very differently for me.  I find it freeing in its own way.  I take your point though.  It’s a hard and painful thing to put down.  For me it would be fatal.

[amdorintel]

with rotary dial tele's the kids these days wouldnt know what to do

[Bombastinator]

9 minutes ago, amdorintel said:

with rotary dial tele's the kids these days wouldnt know what to do

They’d figure it out.  Might take a bit.  Those things were kinda nonintuitive

[amdorintel]

you give them too much credit @Bombastinator

 

 

 

speaking of "future proofing"

 

 

too young you say