• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

How often do you upgrade your CPU and Motherboard

My X370 mobo served me well for the last 7 years was just replaced by AM5.
Similar ... bought B350 mobo (ASUS Strix gaming) + Ryzen 1600 7 years ago. Since then moved to 3700x and now 5800x3d + upped RAM from 26GB 3200 to 32GB 3600. Considering whether to move to AM5 now ... but not sure it's really worth it so may hang around until AM6.
 
Ahh. So many it's impossible to remember them all. Back in the olden days of dx266 and so on it felt like very new chip was a huge leap.

These, however, are the onyl oens I can really recall.

Some kind of Thunderbird
some others
then
Q6600
2500k
6700k
14900k.
Given how long my cycle has become I expect to need a new machine some time in 2035 just in time for my 50th.
 
2 year cycle for CPU generally unless there's little to no improvement - Intel 1st -7th gen I didn't bother as much as they were in their anti consumer phase with poor improvements per generation, was probably every 3-4 years then.
 
So far my cadence has been motherboard every 10 years, CPU every 5 roughly.

* 2009 = X58 & i7-920
* 2015 = X5650 (used)
* 2019 = AM4 X470 & 3700X
* 2023 = 5800X3D

Works well for me. My GPU upgrades have been probably every 5 years too usually.

* 2016/7 = RX 480 (used)
* 2018 = Vega 56 (RX 480 given to other half)
* 2023 = RX 6800 XT
 
I used to upgrade roughly every 2 years. However when I got a 3570k I kept that for maybe 5 years. Since then I guess every 3 years.

I pretty much always upgrade CPU and Mobo together. I don't think I've ever done a cpu upgrade on the same mobo apart from like cheap secondary systems using 2nd hand cpu.
 
Used to update very frequently - until the i5 750. Then sat on that waaaay too long until going to a 3600, which I'm still on. So, about 10 years? Oops.

Edit: Ryzen 5 3600 that is. Just realised my old laptop is still in my sig which had an Intel 3630QM in it. Laptops don't count tho :D
 
Last edited:
Q6600
4770K
TBC - 9800X3D?
Plan is to upgrade early next year, however stock of AM5 X3D is not amazing i am a little worried about availability.
 
Historically every couple of years at least, nowadays I always want to but rarely need. I can see my year old B550/5800X3D lasting a couple more years at least but we always get the itch; I must stop reading the 9800X3D threads!
I remember the 80/90/00s where every new generation gave noticeable speed benefits, not only to productivity but also to game playability and enjoyment (not just aesthetics). For enthusiasts it was almost a necessity to upgrade both CPU and GPU each time.
 
Depends on the platform. I've had a 2600, 3700x and then a 5700x all on the same AM4 platform, so I was able to carry over a lot of the accompanying tech. Being able to drop in a new CPU into the same socket (whilst selling off the older CPU) always seemed like an easy decision to make as it was never a huge financial commitment (nor did it involve much physical labour). My next upgrade probably won't be for a while. Maybe AM6!
 
20 years ago it was almost every other year. Since SSD's were a feature less so.
I've 2 PC's. One is a daily drive (5600G) had that a couple of years now. I run a Linux/W11 dual boot on that, Linux is the main one I use. CPU usage it barely twitches, Not looking to upgrade that anytime soon.

The backup has only ever had AM4 in it (3600, then a 5700x) barely used these days unless I want to encode on it or the odd bit of video editing. I do want to game on it at some point though as Robocop rogue city is calling out to me :D

There's no GFX card in it right now, I'm umming and ahhing about what to put in there. Thought about putting a Intel B580 in it, what I want is a card that will run on a 550W PSU and 8 pin PCI-E power only, I think a 4070 would do it, but I've never spent 500 notes on a GFX card before, Cant justify paying that just to play one game for a few hours!
 
I’m pretty new to PC building in the grand scheme of things, and have upgraded pretty regularly after realising how much I adore high refresh rate gaming.

I began with a 5900X/B550 build which was great. In hindsight the 5900X choice wasn’t needed, but the £90 difference at launch over the 5800X persuaded me. I then got a 4090 and upgraded to AM5 with the 7800X3D.

Even now i am still CPU bottlenecked, and so I recently made the irrational decision to upgrade to the 9800X3D. Clearly not a big upgrade, but every little helps. I imagine my next upgrade will be Zen 6 X3D, assuming it remains on the AM5 platform.
 
I am pretty terrible TBH.
Since Intel i-Processors

2700K
4790K
7700K
9900K
10900K
11900K
12900K
13900K
14900K
Ryzen 9950X - Forced upgrade though due to 14900K kept crashing and even underclocked just stopped working.

Processor has been upgraded pretty much year on year..
But my motherboard changes when there is a new socket or the Rain Forest do one of their usual price **** ups.
 
I probably didn't need an upgrade but just got a 9800, save a little bit with a B650E-F board.

Currently on 11700k from 2021 which after looking almost managed to convince me to not upgrade.
Previous to that was a 7700k which was a great chip but did run stupid hot all the time.
I've forgotten what i had before that... apart from my Athlon Axia back in 2000 (ish)
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom