What's your CPU upgrade cycle?

[jinxpad]

In my younger days I used to always want the latest and greatest as long as I could afford it but. But these days I'm tending to stick with my cpu hardware for longer and so do a lot of people that I know. With amd making this much easier to do given the easier upgrade path available with AM4/5, I was just wondering what the general upgrade cycle for some of you guys is for your cpu needs.

I guess the reason was I was just watching this video and it got me thinking about my future upgrade plans:

AMD IS KILLING INTEL WITH THIS DECISION!!!

AMD wants to stay on AM5 for as long as they can and they are currently sticking by their 2025+ statement. The platform is expected to receive a major update...

www.youtube.com

And by the end of the video, I'd reached the conclusion that I'm probably going to just go for the last iteration in each platform before the switch to a new one, as I'm thinking this is probably going to be a three to 4 year cycle which most cpus at least for my usage which is primarily gaming and a little bit of light photo/video editing should see me quite comfortably in terms of performance.

So are you a latest and greatest kind of person or one who likes to hold on and get the most out of their hardware for as long as they can resist the upgrade urge?

 

[FredFlint]

I used to upgrade every gen but now every other gen but will probably keep what I have now for 2-4 generations. Looks like the only thing that going to be added to the CPU is an AI block, but I have no interest is that.

 

[mattyfez]

I typically build upper mid range / low high end gaming systems and expect to get seven years + out of it before games start to really become an issue in dialling down the settings too much.

So in my case, it doesnt really matter as it's a new platform each time.

 

[Doughnut007]

I tend to stay untill it starts to cause an issue.
Then I will keep an eye out for second hand upgrades. Could be just a CPU or even a platform change.
Even so it's only mb and cpu. That is untill I have to go ddr5. By that point though there should be some bargains around.

 

[ED209]

I upgrade when I have too or something fails and forces me to do so.

Intel P4 > AMD Athlon 6400+ > Intel I7 950 and now sitting with an I7 9700K which is 4 years old.

I only went for the 9700K System as I was repeatedly getting intermittent BSOD on the I7 950 system and could not narrow down the fault so took the time to replace mobo\cpu\ram

 

[mattyfez]

My last 3 PCs have been Q6600 > 6600k > 13600k

Im still using the 6600k as a secondary pc.

 

[Smoogels]

I was an impulsive upgrader, the itch came out of nowhere and before I know it the latest and greatest PC component is on the way.

My 12700K is still going well though. There isn't really a need to upgrade CPUs often and these days I get more enjoyment out of keeping them for longer than replacing parts everytime something new comes out.

 

[chaparral]

The last PC cpu's i can remember

Amd Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (Think this was another time when AMD was ahead of intel)
Intel i7-2600k (Also got an i5-2500k somewhere that was being used in my HTPC at the time)
Intel i7-4770k (Still using this to run the family/kids PC)
Intel i7-8700k (still using this in my Main PC)

​

 

[jinxpad]

Yeah it seems to be as long as you go for at least a mid-tier CPU, they tend to last and perform very well for the most part.

I'll probably upgrade when the last iteration of AM5 is released and then upgrade again when the last iteration of AM6 or whatever Intel has at the time. It is interesting to see people's habits though

 

[chaparral]

In my younger days I used to always want the latest and greatest as long as I could afford it but. But these days I'm tending to stick with my cpu hardware for longer and so do a lot of people that I know.

It different these days as back in the day you had to upgrade almost every year to keep up with the games

 

[jinxpad]

It different these days as back in the day you had to upgrade almost every year to keep up with the games

Lol the days before hardware T&L!!

I think the first PC I ever built for myself was with a Celeron 300A...

Now, that was a cracking CPU!!

 

[throwaway4372]

pentium something -> core 2 duo e6300 (2006) -> i7 920 (2009) -> i7 6700k (2016)

I try to hold on until there's a need to upgrade and something good to upgrade to. I do whole PCs, not interested in upgrading individual parts.

 

[paradigm]

Pentium III/Athlon/Athlon XP era, I upgraded many times a year, trying different boards, CPUs and platforms to overclock as high as possible. We were still mainly CPU bound.

Pentium 4 into Athlon 64 era, I upgraded yearly, ish. Maybe 18 months outside edge.

As soon as Core 2 Quad hit, I pretty much stuck with a platform for 18-24 months, going from X38 to X58 to X79, X99 and finally X299X.

I’ve not upgraded yet from my 10980XE, though just about getting the urge to now, maybe.

HEDT is now monumentally stupid in its pricing so I’ve very little desire to go HEDT from either Intel or AMD.

 

[jinxpad]

Pentium III/Athlon/Athlon XP era, I upgraded many times a year, trying different boards, CPUs and platforms to overclock as high as possible. We were still mainly CPU bound.

Pentium 4 into Athlon 64 era, I upgraded yearly, ish. Maybe 18 months outside edge.

As soon as Core 2 Quad hit, I pretty much stuck with a platform for 18-24 months, going from X38 to X58 to X79, X99 and finally X299X.

I’ve not upgraded yet from my 10980XE, though just about getting the urge to now, maybe.

HEDT is now monumentally stupid in its pricing so I’ve very little desire to go HEDT from either Intel or AMD.

Agreed, which is why I admire what AMD have done with AM4 and 5 in terms of their upgrade road map where you just need to drop in a new CPU if you want a nice performance jump which could even be generational.

X99 5820K was my last CPU before moving to my current setup and it was a really nice boost but definitely the last time I would be going with HEDT platforms.

 

[chaparral]

Lol the days before hardware T&L!!

I think the first PC I ever built for myself was with a Celeron 300A...

Now, that was a cracking CPU!!

The days when you were struggling to keep games from dropping below the magic 30fps or the game would be stuttering/jerky

My first pc was a cryrix 200, but very quickly changed it to an intel 200mmx (OC to 233mhz)

 

[matt1]

Used to upgrade all the time, more for the kicks of new kit and fun of overclocking. Sadly don’t have much free time now to do this sort of thing so only upgrade when I actually need it… so not often these days!
Oh to be young again.

 

[Meddling-Monk]

Back in the late 90's and early 00's when upgrades were actual noticeable upgrades, it used to be every generation or two was an upgrade. So I went from Original Pentium (96/97), to an in socket upgrade (around 99), to a PII, PIII (00/01), P4 (03/04), Athlon MP (02/03), Opteron (05/06), Intel i7 (09), Intel i7 (12), Intel i5 (13 - secondary system), Intel i7 (15), then most recently Ryzen 9 (22).

Since around 2012, it was no longer necessary to upgrade every gen, even if speed was not close to newest releases and tech was at a point where software was not stretching it beyond its limits every generation or so. Indeed, had my 4930k rig not died, I would still be on that one and not the Ryzen 9. But, it and the monitor died, and thus an entire refresh happened.

 

[Removed User 345456]

386, 486
Pentium 1 133mhz oc'ed to 266mhz with motherboard jumpers haha!
Athlon XP 3200, Athlon 2500XP-M OC beast that fitted in a desktop socket, and a 1.2ghz Duron that I did the pencil mod for the unlocked multiplyers (3 builds at once)
Q66 first gen quad core, what a beast 2.4ghz stock and did 3.8ghz on air easily!
C2D-P8600
I5-3210M
3500X then 3600 and a 5700X (2 builds at once)

 

[bakes0310]

Used to upgrade quite a bit:
2500k, 4790k, 6700k. Then I bought a house and got married and just managed a new build in October with a 7800x3d. Massive upgrade and a genuine difference that can be noticed. It makes me think I should upgrade when I feel I need too as it's been fantastic seeing such a huge difference in games now. Having said that if the last AM5 CPU is worth getting I will jump in that, plus it's only a CPU upgrade.

 

[TrojanWhore]

Used to not upgrade hugely often, but mainly as I didn't want to upgrade the whole platform (Q6600/P35 > 2500k/P67).
After that I got a Ryzen 7 R1700, then because it didn't require a MoBo/RAM upgrade I moved on to a 3700x and now 5950x, I've just now bought a new (2nd hand) MoBo and RAM but wouldn't have moved on as quick if it wasn't for the ongoing motherboard support!

Will probably wait until next gen (88xx) to go AM5 and eventually drop in an end-game AM5 chip down the line