Obsolete.

[Joe11221]

So, I was just thinking. Will my i5-6500 become as obsolete as a Pentium 4 in 8 years, or do you guys believe that it will still have a use? Do you think simple things will get more demanding and browsing the internet will become a pain on this processor in the next eight years? Will I still be able to run the latest version of word and will it still be able to do the regular workload? Just a question, not a problem.

[SLAYR]

Probabbly it would be more like an lga 775 p4 then a pga p4 The pentium p4s were produced for 8 years. Really even a lga 775 p4 is good enough for web browsing today, the pata drives and ram limits on bord with 2 dimms are what make it painfully slow.

[Kiol]

Your guess is as good as anybody else's. Nobody knows for sure what the standard will be 8 years into the future. For today's applications, an i5-6500 is fine and if you decide to use the same applications and play the same games of today 8 years down the line, then yes, it will still be useful.

[SageOfSpice]

I doubt it. The theory exists, but in practice, new technology is restricted by past/current technology. Just because a way exists doesn't mean that it can be actualized, you know? I think that software is going to start getting in the way of hardware soon. So, given that the older generation i processors are still relevant, and even C2D/C2Q, I think you're safe for a while.