Opinion: Future Proofing is a Thing (But Barely)

[Deadpool2onBlu-Ray]

There is a lovely discussion occurring on the BuildaPC subreddit about the idea of future proofing being a fallacy. The OP is particularly upset and biased because he purchased a 3700x shortly before ryzen 5000 launch due to people telling him it would be more "future proof" than the 3600. Although I agree with a lot of his arguments, I feel like he just got particularly unlucky. Ryzen 5000 completely decimated anything before it overnight. That is not very typical and I think the OP misses the mark there. But anyways, I feel like this needs a good discussion here because I see a lot of people giving poor advice base on the fallacy of "future proofing". Me personally, I think it is sort of a thing, but on a situational basis. I think the advice of "buying what you can afford" is completely outdated in our current climate. For the longest time before Ryzen was a thing, the general advice was to purchase the i7 if you had the money for it and it would likely last you a couple more years. That advice actually was very good! Take Sandy Bridge for an example. Those with 2700k's with 4 cores and 8 threads are probably still having a decent gaming experience a full 10 years later. Those with 2500k's..... The same cannot be said. I mean they are competent, but they bottleneck the heck out of any modern gpu. I think the next 10 years will paint a very different picture. Let's say, for example, builder A goes ahead and purchases a 6 core 12 thread 12400f and a cheap b660 motherboard. Let's say, for example, builder B has a little bit more disposable income and purchases a 16 core, 24 thread 12900k, a top of the line z690 board, and 64gigs of top shelf DDR5. In the year 2032, both of these systems will be the exact same amount obsolete. At our current advancement pace in tech, 10 years down the line we will be in the Angstrom Era of chips. By then, instead of the 7nm 12th gen intel and 5000 series Ryzen, we will have likely 8a-9a systems. Or over 10 times smaller process. There is no way, that either of those cpus I just mentioned are going to be viable in 10 years. The I9 chip by then will probably be like 40something cores, boost up to 6000-7000 GHZ, all on top of the obvious uptick in IPC, memory OC support, PCIE advancements, etc. It's just not worth the money to spend more. Nobody needs anything more than the 12600k/5800x. They are just SO GOOD right now, and they likely will be for years to come. Even the 12400f/5600x will likely be good for years to come. Back to my original point though, future proofing is in fact a thing, the key is, only to a certain extent. It all boils down to opportunity cost and the value of the parts. Let's say, for example, you are looking at a 12600k $280 bill or 12700k $380 bill. You might be tempted to grab the 12700k. But think. Wouldn't that money be better spent, let's say, 3-4 years down the line? Or if you wanted to spend it then and there, on a 2tb ssd instead of 1tb or something along those lines? Wouldn't that make a bigger difference? That could be the difference between getting a bottom basement motherboard with no features or a midrange one for your next build. There is opportunity cost on the other end of the spectrum though. Let's say you are considering the ~$200 12400f or a ~$280 12600k. That $80 is a lot, but it could be an opportunity to delay building your next rig by a year or two. Those two chips are extremely different with the 12600k having 10 cores (even though some are small). The relatively minor $80 isn't really costing you anything in the long run like the difference between a i5/i7 would. Or ESPECIALY an i7/i9. The secret to future proofing is to not hold on to your build for too long, or for too little. For example. those rocking ryzen 5000 series and alder lake chips absolutely should not upgrade this fall. Your systems are still so good. On the other hand though, you don't want to wait 10 years, even if you bought a 5950x. It's financially not in your best interest either. You want to upgrade either every 3-4 years with the i5/ryzen 7 chip (the 12600k is more like a ryzen 7 equivalent these days), or 4-5 years with the i7/ryzen 9. If you are itching for an upgrade, you could always upgrade earlier, but any later, and your hardware becomes largely worthless. It's the same reason I upgrade my cell phone every 3 years. It does everything I need it to, but if I wait too long my old device becomes worth next to nothing. Everything is about opportunity cost. I think the people who go "hehehe I am getting a 5950x/3090 build to last me for 12 years" are naïve, stupid, and living in 2005 when that advice would work. You want to buy the mainstream i5/ryzen 7 these days. 

 

As far as GPU's and future proofing, the two schools of thought are to stick to the mid range x60/70 sku, or grab the x80ti sku and keep it for longer. That advice was REALLY good up until a few gens ago. The 780ti was godly, the 1080ti is STILL a godly card all these years later. 2080ti- "eh", really good card, but way too expensive. And 3080ti- SCAM. Pretty much a 3080 for 500 more bucks. I think sound advice is to buy the performance you need. Typically I like to go with the "X70" sku. 

 

Thing's that ARE future proof:

 

A good case

A good monitor

A good mech keyboard

A good pair of headphones/mic/chair etc.

Noctua/phanteks/etc. fans (I am convinced Liquid polymer fans will last indefinitely)

A LARGE power supply (1000-1200w or greater from reputable company) 

A good heatsink 

Certain watercooling parts (fittings, rads, reservoir, etc). 

 

People need to start giving more responsible advice in my opinion. Gone are the days of a 10 year build being relevent. 10 years now isn't the same as it was 10 years ago. 10 years from now, cell phones might not even exist, it might be smart glasses, etc. I cannot even imagine how good desktop CPU's will be(Where people most often say to "future proof". Now that the AMD/Intel battle is raging on harder than ever, whew, we are in for a ride. 

[8tg]

Future proofing is dumb, I browse LTT on a Pentium 3 machine from 2001

[Deadpool2onBlu-Ray]

Just now, James Evens said:

Display tech has made huge leaps forward. 

I agree, but your 1440p/144hz monitor in 10 years is going to be more relevant than your Alder Lake I9 that has 1/25th the performance of the 22nd gen I3. 

[jaslion]

2 minutes ago, Ryan829 said:

A LARGE power supply (1000-1200w or greater from reputable company) 

That probably not anymore. With the new standard happening.

 

Stuff that will basically stay good forever has always been audio gear. That doesn't really change.

 

A heatsink is also more limited as it only lasts as long as they have mounting brackets which usually isn't too long after end of life of a heatsink.

 

Monitor ez decade

 

Case yeah ez decade

 

Watercooling yeah as long as you never did mixed metals and maintenance has been done. What will fail are rubber orings and stuff so if those go it's a big oof.

 

 

 

However in general for future proofing I just look at the current console generation. Is the pc better? Great it will last that gen. Is the pc worse? Yeah probs not gonna last that gen.

 

I also look at core count there NOT overall cpu performance for when people want long lasting builds. Then I look at how it can be budgeted. Often you can get away with a little lower thread count cpu and then upgrade with a cheap used one later anyway. But also a good look here are the 4core i5's and 6 core i5's (all without ht) those things become obsolete SUPER quickly because they were behind even current gen consoles and the moment we got more than 8 threads in even budget cpu's devs stopped optimizing hard for just 4 threads. It's why I will now recommend AT LEAST a 12t cpu and 16 later.

[bmx6454]

i see it more as if you are content with the performance down the road. i replaced my 6600k 2.5 years ago, i could still be using it, it still works, but would that be "future proofing"?

[IkeaGnome]

1 minute ago, Ryan829 said:

The OP is particularly upset and biased because he purchased a 3700x shortly before ryzen 5000 launch due to people telling him it would be more "future proof" than the 3600.

OP is upset because they want the newest and best. Not future proof. 5600x and 5800x don't make the 3700x lose performance. That OP still has a CPU that can last them many years. Even longer if they step up to 4k later on. 

 

3 minutes ago, Ryan829 said:

. Nobody needs anything more than the 12600k/5800x.

You're thinking way too narrow mindedly. Yes, there are people that more than the 12600k/5800x will speed up their day to day tasks ultimately making them more money. There are uses for more than those two CPUs. 

Assuming you mean only gaming, thanks to 1440p and 4k, look at how many people still get by on quad and hexa cores. You could semi realistically make a more than acceptable DDR3 build for 4k gaming. 

6 minutes ago, Ryan829 said:

I think sound advice is to buy the performance you need. Typically I like to go with the "X70" sku. 

Your "future proof" wouldn't line up with mine then. I just went through and did a future proof build for what I need. This is what it looks like.

Spoiler

2 Quadro m400s, 2 E5-2699 V4s, 128gb 2133 DDR4.

What works makes me "happiest" in a computer won't be your "happiest" or the next persons. 

[Deadpool2onBlu-Ray]

2 minutes ago, jaslion said:

That probably not anymore. With the new standard happening.

 

Stuff that will basically stay good forever has always been audio gear. That doesn't really change.

 

A heatsink is also more limited as it only lasts as long as they have mounting brackets which usually isn't too long after end of life of a heatsink.

 

Monitor ez decade

 

Case yeah ez decade

 

Watercooling yeah as long as you never did mixed metals and maintenance has been done. What will fail are rubber orings and stuff so if those go it's a big oof.

 

 

 

However in general for future proofing I just look at the current console generation. Is the pc better? Great it will last that gen. Is the pc worse? Yeah probs not gonna last that gen.

 

I also look at core count there NOT overall cpu performance for when people want long lasting builds. Then I look at how it can be budgeted. Often you can get away with a little lower thread count cpu and then upgrade with a cheap used one later anyway. But also a good look here are the 4core i5's and 6 core i5's (all without ht) those things become obsolete SUPER quickly because they were behind even current gen consoles and the moment we got more than 8 threads in even budget cpu's devs stopped optimizing hard for just 4 threads. It's why I will now recommend AT LEAST a 12t cpu and 16 later.

Even with the new standard though, they will still be useable with adapters, just not ideal. 

[Deadpool2onBlu-Ray]

2 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

OP is upset because they want the newest and best. Not future proof. 5600x and 5800x don't make the 3700x lose performance. That OP still has a CPU that can last them many years. Even longer if they step up to 4k later on. 

 

You're thinking way too narrow mindedly. Yes, there are people that more than the 12600k/5800x will speed up their day to day tasks ultimately making them more money. There are uses for more than those two CPUs. 

Assuming you mean only gaming, thanks to 1440p and 4k, look at how many people still get by on quad and hexa cores. You could semi realistically make a more than acceptable DDR3 build for 4k gaming. 

Your "future proof" wouldn't line up with mine then. I just went through and did a future proof build for what I need. This is what it looks like.

  Reveal hidden contents

2 Quadro m400s, 2 E5-2699 V4s, 128gb 2133 DDR4.

What works makes me "happiest" in a computer won't be your "happiest" or the next persons. 

Of course, there are different chips for different tasks. For some, the 12900k/5950x actually makes them money and saves them time. I was just talking for a mid range long lasting gaming rig as a generalization. I think opportunity cost is too high for the vast majority of people getting anything higher than an i5/ryzen 7 and a x70 sku gpu. It's just less money you can use next time. You can't cheap out but there gets to be a point of diminishing returns very quickly above that point 

[Helpful Tech Witch]

I still disagree with you, but you are closer to being right. depending on your goals future proofing is 100% a thing. Sure, if your goal is to be on the bleeding edge for multiple years, you need to upgrade every year, you cant.

But you can easily hve the goal of having performance thats reasonable for a while. 

Get a mid-high end cpu (ryzen 7/i7 area), mid high end gpu (thats like 6700xt-6800xt, 3070-3080), maybe a ram capacity class one above your current one (like if you have 16 now, get 32gb), and more storage than you need now. 
Thats gonna be gaming for 5 years easily. 
A system with a 7700k, a gtx1080, 16gb of ram, and 2tb of storage is still very usable, would get 1080p mid-high on brand new games still.

[Deadpool2onBlu-Ray]

1 minute ago, Helpful Tech Wiard said:

I still disagree with you, but you are closer to being right. depending on your goals future proofing is 100% a thing. Sure, if your goal is to be on the bleeding edge for multiple years, you need to upgrade every year, you cant.

But you can easily hve the goal of having performance thats reasonable for a while. 

Get a mid-high end cpu (ryzen 7/i7 area), mid high end gpu (thats like 6700xt-6800xt, 3070-3080), maybe a ram capacity class one above your current one (like if you have 16 now, get 32gb), and more storage than you need now. 
Thats gonna be gaming for 5 years easily. 
A system with a 7700k, a gtx1080, 16gb of ram, and 2tb of storage is still very usable, would get 1080p mid-high on brand new games still.

That's sort of what I was saying. 5 years is reasonable. Someone with a 5800x/3070 will be sitting pretty 5 years down the line. But 10..... That's a whole other ballgame. The 5800x will be eclipsed x10 probably even by the next console by then. But you nailed it. Mid-high end cpu, mid-high end gpu, don't wait too long to upgrade. Also, don't cheap out. Those getting 12100f/3050 are going to be having a rough time sooner rather than later. 

[AnonymousGuy]

Ultimately a lot of stuff is limited by the human.  How many pixels do you need when your eyes already can't see them individually?  How much CPU do you need to watch Youtube?  How fast do you need your phone to be to open an app?  TBH computers haven't practically felt faster to me in years.

 

Technology is going to keep moving forward and I'm sure we're going to hit some sort of brute force computational scenario (let's rebrand that as "machine learning") that can suck as much resources as you can throw at it.  But ultimately for home electronics?  Seems to be a plateau.

 

But I'm also not a technologist.  I can also imagine we hit a plateau and then another mountain comes up where instead of a 16K TV we're making some neural link thing to do the same.

[Sauron]

23 minutes ago, Ryan829 said:

A good case

no more than any cheap standard ATX case

23 minutes ago, Ryan829 said:

A good monitor

good monitors from 5 years ago are incomparable to equally priced monitors today

24 minutes ago, Ryan829 said:

A good mech keyboard

the idea of "future proofing" is that you spend a bit more to get something that will meet future requirements better. a keyboard is just a keyboard, it may make you more comfortable but its utility will stay exactly the same throughout its lifespan no matter which one you buy.

26 minutes ago, Ryan829 said:

A good pair of headphones/mic/chair etc.

Same as above, nothing will really require a higher end chair to run in the future.

27 minutes ago, Ryan829 said:

Noctua/phanteks/etc. fans (I am convinced Liquid polymer fans will last indefinitely)

Again, fan "requirements" don't really increase in time.

28 minutes ago, Ryan829 said:

A LARGE power supply (1000-1200w or greater from reputable company) 

Pretty useless today as it was 10 years ago unless you're running multiple graphics cards, which is less common now than it ever was. Plus there are new connector standards arising that might make your recent PSU relatively obsolete pretty soon.

30 minutes ago, Ryan829 said:

10 years from now, cell phones might not even exist, it might be smart glasses

We had "smart glasses" 10 years ago, they flopped pretty hard because they were a bad idea.

 

Just throwing more money at a system won't automatically make it "last" longer, this is true of pretty much all its parts. Sometimes it's beneficial to spend a bit more for something you don't need right now but you should have a clear idea of what you're getting it for. If you know you won't be upgrading for a while and you can see a specific use case coming in a relatively short time then yeah, it makes sense to spend a bit more; if you're just doing it on the off chance that it becomes relevant in the future you're kind of wasting money.

[Deadpool2onBlu-Ray]

7 minutes ago, AnonymousGuy said:

Ultimately a lot of stuff is limited by the human.  How many pixels do you need when your eyes already can't see them individually?  How much CPU do you need to watch Youtube?  How fast do you need your phone to be to open an app?  TBH computers haven't practically felt faster to me in years.

 

Technology is going to keep moving forward and I'm sure we're going to hit some sort of brute force computational scenario (let's rebrand that as "machine learning") that can suck as much resources as you can throw at it.  But ultimately for home electronics?  Seems to be a plateau.

 

But I'm also not a technologist.  I can also imagine we hit a plateau and then another mountain comes up where instead of a 16K TV we're making some neural link thing to do the same.

That is kind of true. Any machine with a quad core cpu with high single thread speed and an SSD just loads instantly, so it doesn't make a huge difference for the day to day.

 

Also, yeah, phones have kind of peaked. My 3 year old Iphone 11 pro max loads instantly. Idk what else people want lol 

[Helpful Tech Witch]

19 minutes ago, Sauron said:

no more than any cheap standard ATX case

good monitors from 5 years ago are incomparable to equally priced monitors today

the idea of "future proofing" is that you spend a bit more to get something that will meet future requirements better. a keyboard is just a keyboard, it may make you more comfortable but its utility will stay exactly the same throughout its lifespan no matter which one you buy.

Same as above, nothing will really require a higher end chair to run in the future.

Again, fan "requirements" don't really increase in time.

Pretty useless today as it was 10 years ago unless you're running multiple graphics cards, which is less common now than it ever was. Plus there are new connector standards arising that might make your recent PSU relatively obsolete pretty soon.

We had "smart glasses" 10 years ago, they flopped pretty hard because they were a bad idea.

 

Just throwing more money at a system won't automatically make it "last" longer, this is true of pretty much all its parts. Sometimes it's beneficial to spend a bit more for something you don't need right now but you should have a clear idea of what you're getting it for. If you know you won't be upgrading for a while and you can see a specific use case coming in a relatively short time then yeah, it makes sense to spend a bit more; if you're just doing it on the off chance that it becomes relevant in the future you're kind of wasting money.

more expensive things will usually last longer in the pc space. a better fan, case, keyboard, chair, etc will be less likely to break and thus wont need to be replaced as often/at al.

 

16 minutes ago, Ryan829 said:

That is kind of true. Any machine with a quad core cpu with high single thread speed and an SSD just loads instantly, so it doesn't make a huge difference for the day to day.

 

Also, yeah, phones have kind of peaked. My 3 year old Iphone 11 pro max loads instantly. Idk what else people want lol 

better phone screens like oled will just look better color wise, or high refreshrates will be better to use. newer phone chips are faster per watt and in peek performance so things like mobile gaming are better, but under normal use, you need to use less power to get the same performance, a better chip on the same battery would probably imporve battery life.

[Blademaster91]

1 hour ago, Ryan829 said:

A good case

A good monitor

A good mech keyboard

A good pair of headphones/mic/chair etc.

Noctua/phanteks/etc. fans (I am convinced Liquid polymer fans will last indefinitely)

A LARGE power supply (1000-1200w or greater from reputable company) 

A good heatsink 

Certain watercooling parts (fittings, rads, reservoir, etc). 

 

People need to start giving more responsible advice in my opinion. Gone are the days of a 10 year build being relevent. 10 years now isn't the same as it was 10 years ago. 10 years from now, cell phones might not even exist, it might be smart glasses, etc. I cannot even imagine how good desktop CPU's will be(Where people most often say to "future proof". Now that the AMD/Intel battle is raging on harder than ever, whew, we are in for a ride. 

- A case is something which can last, although there have been improvements in cases in the last 10 years, more space for larger graphics cards, and less space for 3.5" drives as a few SSD's are enough for most people.

- Keyboards are something which can last a long time, it doesn't even have to be a mechanical keyboard.

- Monitors have significantly improved in the last 5 years, a 1440p Gsync or Freesync monitor is relatively affordable.

- A pair of headphones, mic, and chair can last, though depending on how much you use those they may wear out after a few years.

- I think fans can be used for at least 5 years, but this varies as well depending on use, and how dusty the environment they are used in.

- And a 1000w power supply may become the minimum with anything more than a mid-range graphics card, because of the rumored 4000 series cards needing more power and a new connector.

- Noctua heatsinks can last as they update the mounting brackets for new sockets, though this doesn't apply to all good heatsinks, power requirements can change and a good heatsink may not be enough anymore.

- I would disagree with water cooling parts, you might be able to reuse a radiator and reservoir but I wouldn't recommend reusing fittings, not worth the chance of leaks ruining a whole PC.

- I also disagree with phones, the form factor is important and I would assume most people are used to having a cell phone.

35 minutes ago, Ryan829 said:

Also, yeah, phones have kind of peaked. My 3 year old Iphone 11 pro max loads instantly. Idk what else people want lol 

I want a headphone jack and a battery that can last a week without charging, a headphone jack because I think removing features for the sake of overpriced wireless headphones that are e-waste after a few years is dumb.

[Sauron]

13 minutes ago, Helpful Tech Wiard said:

more expensive things will usually last longer in the pc space. a better fan, case, keyboard, chair, etc will be less likely to break and thus wont need to be replaced as often/at al.

Not really, even relatively cheap ones can last you well over a decade.

[Luke_Shystalker]

Im not too worried about future proofing, Im not a gamer as much. I buy what I feel is the best for my uses and keep it for as long as it doesnt come to a crawl later on. If it does after a fresh install then I buy again. I mainly use a laptop so if I can get 3-4  years out of it then im happy.

[Deadpool2onBlu-Ray]

3 minutes ago, Luke_Shystalker said:

Im not too worried about future proofing, Im not a gamer as much. I buy what I feel is the best for my uses and keep it for as long as it doesnt come to a crawl later on. If it does after a fresh install then I buy again. I mainly use a laptop so if I can get 3-4  years out of it then im happy.

 

 

Laptop 

[Luke_Shystalker]

2 minutes ago, Ryan829 said:

 

 

Laptop 

I get it, desktops are better but Im on the move alot and feel like a laptop is better for my case.

[Deadpool2onBlu-Ray]

1 minute ago, Luke_Shystalker said:

I get it, desktops are better but Im on the move alot and feel like a laptop is better for my case.

Yeah different strokes for different folks.

 

PS. You work at intel? Tell them to lower the price of their gosh darn motherboards

[Luke_Shystalker]

1 minute ago, Ryan829 said:

Yeah different strokes for different folks.

 

PS. You work at intel? Tell them to lower the price of their gosh darn motherboards

Yeah, sure ill tell Pat

[jones177]

I don't think Future proofing is a thing. 

I used an i7 2600k from 2011 to 2018 but when I bought it I did not think it would last since I bought new CPUs in 2006, 7, 8, 9 and 2010. It just turned out that way.

1 hour ago, Ryan829 said:

the 1080ti is STILL a godly card all these years later. 2080ti- "eh", really good card, but way too expensive. And 3080ti- SCAM. Pretty much a 3080 for 500 more bucks. 

I thought going from a GTX 1080 ti to a RTX 2080 ti and then a 3080 ti were good upgrades.  

SOTTR is a good example at 1440p. All with a i7 8086k. 

                             1440p

GTX 1080 ti   =     84fps

RTX 2080 ti   =   119fps  35 more frames

RTX 3080 ti   =   147fps  28 more frames

 

Even better with a modern CPU like the 5900x

5900x 

RTX 3080 ti  =   175fps

1 hour ago, Ryan829 said:

People need to start giving more responsible advice in my opinion. 

I think a lot of the advice given is short on practical experience so I file it under opinion.  

 

I try to stick with what I have had experience with. 

So I may comment on a 3080 or 5800x post since I have owned them but have never used a 3060 or 3600x so I usually don't comment. 

That allows me to avoid foot-in-mouth disease most of the time.                       

[Deadpool2onBlu-Ray]

4 minutes ago, jones177 said:

I don't think Future proofing is a thing. 

I used an i7 2600k from 2011 to 2018 but when I bought it I did not think it would last since I bought new CPUs in 2006, 7, 8, 9 and 2010. It just turned out that way.

I thought going from a GTX 1080 ti to a RTX 2080 ti and then a 3080 ti were good upgrades.  

SOTTR is a good example at 1440p. All with a i7 8086k. 

                             1440p

GTX 1080 ti   =     84fps

RTX 2080 ti   =   119fps  35 more frames

RTX 3080 ti   =   147fps  28 more frames

 

Even better with a modern CPU like the 5900x

5900x 

RTX 3080 ti  =   175fps

I think a lot of the advice given is short on practical experience so I file it under opinion.  

 

I try to stick with what I have had experience with. 

So I may comment on a 3080 or 5800x post since I have owned them but have never used a 3060 or 3600x so I usually don't comment. 

That allows me to avoid foot-in-mouth disease most of the time.                       

That is definitely a good philosophy !

[cmndr]

1. "build what you can afford" is bad advice. Build what you can justify. I would still have a positive net worth if I dropped $200k on computer stuff. I'm NOT doing that.
2. Know what you need in terms of performance, reliability and features; target that and not much more. This actually means being able to say "I want 1% lows of 60+FPS in [title 1, title 2, title 3] using medium or high settings at X resolution"
3. Now proof with a bit of headroom for the short to mid-term (this might mean overshooting by 5-30%). If adding an upgrade path is inexpensive it's worth a few percent of your budget but no more.
4. NEVER MAXIMIZE. That means don't obsess over having "the best" - the best won't be the best in a year or two. You can literally spend 2-10x as much, have 0 appreciable benefit and then... have yesterday's gear that's not really any better. This PARTICULARLY applies to motherboard + RAM.

5. Consider used goods, especially server pulls.
 

At some level PCs are NOT an investment, they're a toy. If it's not making you money then there's no point.

 

In the case of the guy who got a 3700... yeah, a $150ish 3600 is a better choice. It really was the sweet spot when they could be had at at that price. It's still mostly fine today. That budget could have been rolled over to a 5600/5700... but even then if you SELL the 3700 you're probably only out $20 or so extra vs where you'd be at flipping the 3600.

 

Quote

"hehehe I am getting a 5950x/3090 build to last me for 12 years" are naïve, stupid, and living in 2005 when that advice would work. You want to buy the mainstream i5/ryzen 7 these days. 

That advice did NOT work in 2005.

"the BEST" CPUs in 2005 were the Athlon FX 60 and the Pentium Xtreme Edition 3.73GHz. The next year Core 2 duos came out and were notably better. The Slowest C2D on launch day was on par with the PXE. This slowest C2D could also overclock 100% on a budget 965p board. Literally 2x the performance for 1/5th the price

In 2008 the best CPUs were the Core i7 970x. This had 2x the cores and about 1.5-3x the per-core performance of the FX60 depending on the task and if you overclocked. That was just 3 years. The 6 core version came out 1.3 years later.

 

The only time you could buy a CPU and really have it last would've been the i7 980 (or Xeon equivalent), 2600k and the 3930k. This was a one off fluke in part because both AMD and Intel stagnated.

[thrasher_565]

7 hours ago, jaslion said:

Watercooling yeah as long as you never did mixed metals and maintenance has been done. What will fail are rubber orings and stuff so if those go it's a big oof.even budget cpu's devs stopped optimizing hard for just 4 threads. It's why I will now recommend AT LEAST a 12t cpu and 16 later.

hard line wc  parts that contact the water and crode making it not seal so...

7 hours ago, AnonymousGuy said:

Ultimately a lot of stuff is limited by the human.  How many pixels do you need when your eyes already can't see them individually?  How much CPU do you need to watch Youtube?  How fast do you need your phone to be to open an app?  TBH computers haven't practically felt faster to me in years.

 

Technology is going to keep moving forward and I'm sure we're going to hit some sort of brute force computational scenario (let's rebrand that as "machine learning") that can suck as much resources as you can throw at it.  But ultimately for home electronics?  Seems to be a plateau.

 

But I'm also not a technologist.  I can also imagine we hit a plateau and then another mountain comes up where instead of a 16K TV we're making some neural link thing to do the same.

well it is a thing when you try something faster you cant go back its weird probly has a name but i dont no what they call it.

 

funny seem we come full circal pics loaded slow back then and with like 8k pics load slow today...

 

 

imo most gamers are e sports and use lower power pcs steam is a good metric for that something like the average use a gtx 1070.

 

if the aaa games are not shit then people probably would care more. my self induced. there plenty of older games that are fun to play.  could be just me thow i watch alot of yt players paly games then me play them...i was poor at the time so. $20 a moth internet cant do nothing with... 

 

most people do an up grade here and there between the 10 years but they will most lieky keep the cpu, ram, mb for that 10 thow.