PC not upgradable in a few years' time?

[ztmj96]

Hey guys, during this week's WAN show with MKBHD on the show, Linus said something about PCs not upgradable in a few years' time. That puzzled me, because one of the reasons I started building my own PC was that I want to continue updating the hardware by my own which I thought would be more economical. Can someone explain to me why?

[Dravic]

Hey guys, during this week's WAN show with MKBHD on the show, Linus said something about PCs not upgradable in a few years' time. That puzzled me, because one of the reasons I started building my own PC was that I want to continue updating the hardware by my own which I thought would be more economical. Can someone explain to me why?

 

Bullshit, don't listen to that. Nobody knows what will happen in 2 minutes, save for tomorrow. How can somebody say PC is not going to be upgradable in few years? Get a PC and don't worry.

[Fetzie]

Hey guys, during this week's WAN show with MKBHD on the show, Linus said something about PCs not upgradable in a few years' time. That puzzled me, because one of the reasons I started building my own PC was that I want to continue updating the hardware by my own which I thought would be more economical. Can someone explain to me why?

What they were saying was that it is stupid to buy a computer thinking that you will be able to replace a single part in 2 years time to get better performance (other than a graphics card). Motherboard sockets change (LGA 775 lasted for 6 years, but a first gen 775 CPU won't go in a last gen 775 motherboard without going up in smoke), new hardware is released. It isn't that it will be impossible in 2 years time to upgrade your PC - it will simply be a financially unsound idea. For the money of buying a second graphics card to run SLI or CrossFire you'll likely be able to get a single new one that has equal or better performance without the numerous drawbacks both SLI and CrossFire have. You won't be able to buy just any Haswell CPU in 2 years' time because they're moving the VRM off the CPU die and back onto the motherboard for the next revision, making the old Haswell CPUs incompatible with the new LGA 1150 boards (and vice-versa).

[ciprian97pop]

Bullshit, don't listen to that. Nobody knows what will happen in 2 minutes, save for tomorrow. How can somebody say PC is not going to be upgradable in few years? Get a PC and don't worry.

There is some truth in his statement because think about it, how much percent of the population is able to build their own pc? 

Some of them can bud don't have the time or the money so it's more likely to go on BestBuy or NCIX and buy an already built pc

And if this thng continues to grow, we might see some changes made by the hardware companies

[chaozbandit]

What Linus was referring to was the opportunity cost (economically) of upgrading on what ever platform / hardware you have at the time versus building a new system. Performance wise, you may or may not be able to achieve the same performance between the two systems depending on what hardware you decide on replacing. If you wait a couple of years before evaluating whether or not you have to do this (usually after two generations of change), it may be better off just building from ground up. In the end it all comes down to what bang-for-the-buck hardware you can get. Of course, if you have the budget for a balls-to-the-walls system by all means upgrade at anytime you want. No one will force you into upgrading at any given time. If you absolutely love the platform you are currently on, feel free to stick with it.

[GoodBytes]

Here is the thing. Linus is right and wrong.

Some people upgrade their computer every 2-3 years... and by upgrade.. I mean change the CPU.. which changes the motherboard, which changes in many cases the RAM.

 

A gaming PC, doesn't need to have it's CPU updated every 2-3 years. Beside the performance increase between a newer gen, especial these days, is tiny... (~10% at best) why? Because, it's no longer about speed, it's about efficiency.

 

In reality, you can keep your CPU/Motherboard/RAM, assuming you go them to fit your needs well, on day 1, for 5 years.

You'll definitely change the GPU once, but that's about it (maybe an SSD, if you didn't get the funds to get one in the first place, or something). Games, aren't very CPU demanding, that is why the push for speed has slowed down.

 

Heck, PC software, are getting more and more fully GPU rendered, Microsoft being the big push for this, with: Modern UI app, Zune desktop app, Office 2013, for example. And many programs uses the GPU to accelerate things, like Adobe AfterEffects, PhotoShop, and many video conversion/encoding software.

 

Also when you upgrade, you don't need to:

 -> Buy another license of Windows, unless you want to get some newer version

 -> Buy another optical drive

 -> Buy a new monitor, if yours is perfectly fine

 -> Speaker/keyboard/mouse/etc.

 -> Dedicated sound card

 -> Case

 -> RAM (in some cases)

 -> HDD/SSD

 -> Power Supply

 -> Even GPU, if you upgraded it recently.

 

This is a lot of saving.

[Keystone Nyan Cat]

With DDR4 and soldered CPUs coming soon, its more like the PC will not be as upgradable as it used to be.

[Fetzie]

With DDR4 and soldered CPUs coming soon, its more like the PC will not be as upgradable as it used to be.

Soldered CPUs are still only for the mobile market. You can't fit a 5mm thick CPU socket in a 3mm thick tablet or laptop base. Intel said they're still going to do socketed CPUs for the desktop market.

And the change to DDR4 will go like the change from DDR2 to DDR3. We won't be getting desktop RAM soldered to the motherboard either.

[ttam]

It would never happen. This would essentially cripple a company.

[Yoinkerman]

He was right in that you may not be able to upgrade a single part like a CPU with the new sockets being introduced all the time, but things like hard drives (how long has sata been around?) especially graphics cards, sound cards, and even RAM (ram has a life of many years now) are all very easily upgraded a couple of years after you buy a system.  If you buy a system with the latest tech anyway.

 

Did I mention graphics cards are super easy to upgrade?

[TheRetiredSlave]

The way I heard it was this: If you get a top of the line system today, you'll probably want a top of the line system two years from now. Yes, you can slap a newer GPU into it and get better graphics performance, but you'll still be stuck with your old CPU, motherboard, and RAM (not that mobo and RAM make a big difference).. If you're using your computer for things other than just gaming, your two-year old CPU could be holding you back..

 

Upgrading your CPU, with the news about Broadwell, won't be possible without a motherboard and RAM upgrade as well (and possibly a PSU upgrade too?).. Once you've upgraded your CPU, GPU, motherboard, RAM, and PSU, you've pretty much just built a new system..

 

Of course, CPU performance increase on the consumer side has been getting small between generations, so you probably don't need to upgrade it as often as GPUs, but it still will hold you back a few years from now if you want top-level graphics..

I couldn't find the video, but I seem to remember Linus had a video a while ago comparing a bunch of different CPUs when paired with high-end GPUs (Titans?). One of the CPUs included in the tests was a first gen i7, and it definitely showed it's age when compared to a 3770k.. So, if you want to upgrade to top level graphics a few years from now, and older CPU can hold back the performance a bit.

 

I'd like to hear Linus weigh in on this topic in a bit more detail, but this is what I got from it.

[mkessler9]

Hey guys, during this week's WAN show with MKBHD on the show, Linus said something about PCs not upgradable in a few years' time. That puzzled me, because one of the reasons I started building my own PC was that I want to continue updating the hardware by my own which I thought would be more economical. Can someone explain to me why?

They where talking about the phone bloks I think that after a point the phone wouldn't be upgradable

[Langdon]

It still saves money in my opinion.

Say you spent $1000 on your first computer, you want a CPU upgrade.

Even with a new motherboard and CPU and CPU cooler, it'll be under $500 depending on what you want. Plus a graphics card, it'd still be less than what you originally spent unless you get a really baller one.

HDDs,SSDs, PSUs, cases, and fans are still reusable. PSUs to a lesser extent. 

[ztmj96]

Alright, thanks for the replies guys! I think I've gotten a better idea of it