Does everyone really upgrade their builds?

jammir

jammir

jammir

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I'm curious, in the last 25 years of me building my own PC's I cant really recall a time that I upgraded a cpu, ram or gpu in any of my builds, if anything survives my "upgrades" its only really the psu and storage. I've built over 30 rigs in my time and usually have minimum of two PC's at one time usually three and I dont even reuse the case. Am I just in the minority of PC enthusiast that overhall their whole rig every 12-18 months just to try out new hardware and new esthetic ideas? Most build I do are unnecessary and overkill I know, but thats what I enjoy most about the hobby and journey.

I've never factored upgrade path or buying into a dead platform into my buying decision. I may seem like a Intel fan as im doing the 285K blasphemy build right now (as 80% of my builds have been Intel), but I buy not only what performs well but largely also the esthetics of the parts in the build. I just want to see if anyone else shares my approach to PC's or am I just a weirdo?

So I guess my question is does everyone buy based on spec's/performance and longevity in mind, do you buy what you need at the time and leave space to grow upgrade in the future as your needs change, build something that also looks pleasing to you or dont care how it looks as long as it does the job?
 
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Not as frequently as I used, but having done this since the mid-late 90's I've upgraded every single PC I've ever owned to varying degrees.

Usually a storage upgrade and 2-3 GPU upgrades, RAM occasionally, soundcards back when I still used them prior to moving to higher end external solutions 12-14 or so years ago.

AM4 has been a godsend, 1600AF > 3700X > 5800X3D as well as switching from a 16gb to a 32gb RAM set. It's one of the biggest selling points of AM5 for me, although I'm hoping the 5800X3D will tide me over until AM6 as it's still a very competitive gaming CPU. I was sick to death of Intel with their artificial socket limitations forcing me to spend more on a motherboard whenever I needed more CPU performance, I'm hoping it's something they'll change in the future but I'm not holding my breath.

Cases and PSU's are probably the components I'm least likely to switch out over the years, followed by motherboards as I reserve them for full platform updates.

I'm pretty brand agnostic, I've had as many Intel systems over the years as AMD, I'll go to whichever offers the best performance and platform for my needs.
 
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Yeah I upgrade and appreciate a platform that has longevity.

I'm on AM4 and went 1700X to 3800XT, and will eventually go 5800X3D when I feel I need to. Also went from 16 to 32 GB of RAM. SSD's and GPU's have undergone iterative replacements and improvements.

Power supply and case only get touched if absolutely needed.

I want it to look nice but it's definitely not a priority for me.
 
yes and no

i couldn't back when intel was doing their tick-tock 2 generations per socket and i was using a 3770k back then

now with amd:
AM4 3700x -> 5900x -> 5800x3d
AM5 7600 -> 7800x3d
 
I've been building systems since the 90s and never upgraded a CPU on my main system without changing the motherboard at the same time. I've always felt that's kind of a 'waste' because then you end up with an old cpu and no mobo, I'd rather keep it together and use in a secondary system or sell it as a pairing. I came close with AM4 but ended up getting a cheap mobo upgrade as there were come features missing on B350. I think that's sometimes a bit overlooked, a socket may have a long lifespan but that doesn't mean the old chipsets will support all the latest features so you are kinda crippled putting a modern CPU in an old mobo.

I've done loads of GPU and RAM upgrades. They are the most straightforward thing to upgrade because they are just slots in the motherboard, you don't need to faff about with cpu coolers and stuff.

I'm writing this post on my main PC which is still housed in a case I bought in 2002, literally everything inside including the PSU and case fans is different now.
 
jammir said:
So I guess my question is does everyone buy based on spec's/performance and longevity in mind, do you buy what you need at the time and leave space to grow upgrade in the future as your needs change
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If I'm buying a daily-driver, I'd leave some space for upgrades, especially RAM and storage. I usually buy a lower-end CPU (like i3) so the CPU upgrade is taken care of anyway.

For games, I find that the CPU's gen makes a bigger difference than anything really, so the whole PC is obsolete by the time it can't play games anymore.

Most common upgrade I do is RAM, it is always the RAM. I stopped buying cheapo 2 stick boards because they're annoying.

jammir said:
build something that also looks pleasing to you or dont care how it looks as long as it does the job?
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Depends on my mood, but if it has bling, it needs to be something that I can turn off.
 
Absolutely. The whole point of a PC is that it’s upgradeable after all! You’re a bit screwed if you’ve gone Intel but AMD is another matter. I started with a 2700 CPU paired to 16Gb memory and 512Gb SSD with a Nvidia 1070Ti. I now have a 5700 CPU, 32Gb memory, 2Tb SSD and a AMD 6800XT GPU. It’s a bit like Trigger’s Broom, but the case, PSU and motherboard are all original.
 
I tend to build on the assumption I'll use it for 5 years then get start fresh. But thinking about it I've done quite a few upgrades, mainly to extend lifespan when I hand down my old system to mum. Windows system requirements is messing up that routine ATM.
 
I rarely make singular upgrades (unless I need more storage), I always do overhauls every 3-5 years. My recent overhaul was from a 9900K/Z390/2080Ti to the specs in my sig below.
 
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I used to a very long time ago. Buy or build minimum spec then upgrade as parts fell in price. As my gaming decreased I switched to laptops which I would keep longer.

I'd also pick up cheap OEM system like Xeon work stations again these often come with minimum spec which I'd upgrade for cheap. Struggling these days to find one that takes a bluray drive and lots of storage. 5.25 bays are rare and lots of drive bays rare.
 
jammir said:
I'm curious, in the last 25 years of me building my own PC's I cant really recall a time that I upgraded a cpu, ram or gpu in any of my builds, if anything survives my "upgrades" its only really the psu and storage. I've built over 30 rigs in my time and usually have minimum of two PC's at one time usually three and I dont even reuse the case. Am I just in the minority of PC enthusiast that overhall their whole rig every 12-18 months just to try out new hardware and new esthetic ideas? Most build I do are unnecessary and overkill I know, but thats what I enjoy most about the hobby and journey.

I've never factored upgrade path or buying into a dead platform into my buying decision. I may seem like a Intel fan as im doing the 285K blasphemy build right now (as 80% of my builds have been Intel), but I buy not only what performs well but largely also the esthetics of the parts in the build. I just want to see if anyone else shares my approach to PC's or am I just a weirdo?

So I guess my question is does everyone buy based on spec's/performance and longevity in mind, do you buy what you need at the time and leave space to grow upgrade in the future as your needs change, build something that also looks pleasing to you or dont care how it looks as long as it does the job?
Click to expand...

I have done yeah, upgraded CPU from quad to hex, more RAM etc, going from dual core to quad core.

Can pickup some CPU bargains to extend life of a PC
 
As a poor student, all the time through incrementally upgrading everything using second hand parts and the MM. As an employed and busy adult, no. Just changed one failed GPU and recently built a new ITX rig (many parts from the MM still - some things don’t change) as the 2013 build was really showing its age!
 
Yes most people upgrade whenever possible

I have reused a phanteks p600s and Seasonic PSU several times and never sell or throw away storage.
 
I used to do it all the time back in AMD's Athlon64 days on sockets 754 and 939 and then when Intel launched Core2Duo on socket 775. Always kept the same motherboard and just upgraded the cpu. After socket 775 Intel's boards had a short lifespan with only one or two generations of cpu for them so when I upgraded the cpu the motherboard was replaced as well. Now I am back with AMD my next upgrade will be a drop in cpu again, most likely the 10800x3d or whatever they are going to call the next gen.

I have just upgraded my case from a home built quad 200mm fan modular case into a Lian Li 011 Dynamic Evo RGB with the motherboard inverted and the gpu on a riser in the side fan position so that isn't going to be replaced for a long long time. Likewise the psu. It's a 2021 Corsair RM850x which is a high quality psu and will see me through several upgrades.
 
I barely did anything to my setup for about 5 years. Now I've just gone and upgraded the monitor, PSU, GPU, CPU, cooler and nvme drive :D

Kept the AM4 platform though. Will jump AM5 and see what AM6 brings.
 
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Yes, last few builds have usually had at least 1 cpu upgrade, few storage changes.
Current system built almost 5 years ago AM4 board. Has had cpu change, memory upgraded x2, changed the wireless card couple times and storage.
 
Always it’s evolution of a build for me rather than revolution

Things get changed as required ie my current psu is currently somewhere around 10-12 rebuilds in now mobo maybe 4-5
 
jammir said:
So I guess my question is does everyone buy based on spec's/performance and longevity in mind, do you buy what you need at the time and leave space to grow upgrade in the future as your needs change, build something that also looks pleasing to you or dont care how it looks as long as it does the job?
Click to expand...

I think AMD users have benefited with multiple generations of upgrades where as look at the lifespan of recent Intel sockets. At the same time most modern platforms allow for expansion of storage, graphics and memory relatively easily.

Personally I always overspecced on the PSU (AX1600i currently) and I have used upgrades with generational performance increases - first with ssds and then again with m2/nvme and a 980Ti>1080Ti>3090.

My case is a Caselabs STH-10 but ironically I have outgrown it with a MORA3.
 
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