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What's your CPU upgrade cycle?

Back in the day I'd upgrade almost if not yearly - then spent 10 years on the Socket 2011 platform - which still holds its own today to be fair - albeit I swapped the CPU out for a higher spec Xeon about 2/3rds of the way along. Though I also built several other systems alongside that.

I tend to upgrade based on need mostly - currently my main systems are a Xeon 1650 V2 (Windows 7 as some productivity stuff I do Windows 10/11 is just a joke), 14700K gaming PC and 10870H (laptop) and the Lenovo Legion Go with the Ryzen Z1 Extreme has actually replaced one of my other supplementary systems as the CPU does surprisingly strongly when used in a desktop role and the device with controllers removed, USB C dock, and kickstand out is actually pretty useful - though shame they didn't do a 32GB version as the GPU taking a chunk of the 16GB RAM reduces its potential a little.
 
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My upgrade cycle has fluctuated in length of time over the years. I've gone from every 3 years at the beginning (30 years ago) to every other year in the early mid 00's to as long as 4 years in the last decade. Some upgrades have been forced upon me by family 'upgrades' so I get the pick of what I want and the family get the 'handmedowns'. Much less of that now. since 2019 I've gone down the AM4 route, I'm on 5*** now so it may be a while before I upgrade again.
 
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I've always kept the CPU quite a long time, in fact, probably longer than I should,
as somewhere in the cycle, the GPU becomes hamstrung too often/much by the older CPU.

I'm currently running a 3900X, and although I can only go by various bottleneck calculators on the web,
I do reckon that adding in something newer, e.g. the 7800XT, would leave me wanting where the processor is concerned — and quite a bit in some instances.

Most likely, my priority should be the CPU/storage and then the GPU.
 
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I upgrade when I feel the performance jump is worthwhile vs the price.

I mainly game and run either 4k or 1440p so I don’t feel a cpu every generation or even every other generation is worthwhile or value for money.
 
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run until I have issues

about every 3-5 years the i5-6600 system lasted me 5 nearly 6 years

had the i5-10400f since feb 2001 tempted to upgrade next year but seems a bit pointless for my needs atm

but the i5-13400/600 are very tempting
 
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SquirrelMadness said:
The biggest hurdle was always MB and RAM... it takes effort. I stuck with my 2014 PC for 10 years... now on AM5 I will be upgrading every gen by simply popping a new CPU in.
Click to expand...
even then I cant be bothered in the past ;) chuck in some extra ram or hd but hate changing cpus
 
6ish years in main PC, Q9550 (2008) -> 4790k (2014) -> 5950x (2020)

The 4790k overclocked was still a solid performer even when I upgraded to the 5950x.
 
PaulM said:
The 4790k overclocked was still a solid performer even when I upgraded to the 5950x.
Click to expand...

I'm still using some systems with CPUs of that era - they hold up incredibly well unless you are trying to push a nVidia 4000 series graphics card for gaming or something.

The laptop in my sig (Samsung 700G7C) I'm still using as a private City of Heroes server (hence the 32GB RAM) and for occasional streaming (OBS) where it still stands up to encoding duties fine, despite the CPU performing approximately like a i7-2700K from 2011.
 
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When I need to really.

Q6600 (2007)
2700k (2011)
4790k (2014)
3900X (2019, Back to AMD)

Dont see myself needing to change from the 3900X in the next 3 to 5 years.
 
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P3 500 > Tbird 850 > Axia Y 1200 > Athlon 4600 > (long break from PC gaming) > i5 2500K > i7 6700K > i7 9700K

The first 3 upgrades from P3 to Tbird 850 to Axia Y were all in about 18 months. I kept the 2500K for a long time and if it wasn't for the fact that I bricked the motherboard for my 6700K I would probably still have it, but I tried to Bios update it for Win 10, then screwed it, tried to resest bios but then caused carnage and then rage quit and ordered a slew of new parts from OCUK about a week before Christams back in 2018.

I thnk my next upgrade will be Ryzen 9 probably either the 7800X3D or the 7900X3D.
 
I always try get most out of my CPUS as I CBA swapping to a new platform.. had a i5-750 in till 2014 which was clocked at 4.2ghz.. was a beast back in the day, 4690k > 4790k > 8700k > 9900k but I’ve sold my 4k60 monitor and got a 1440p 165 which I actually prefer though I think I’ll look at the new AMD CPUs next year as I’ll likely be keeping to AMD Gpu this time around
 
I'm hoping that AMD continue the trend with supporting multiple generations of CPU on a single platform as they have over the past few years it really adds a whole new value aspect to going with them especially considering how good their performance is generally speaking.
 
I've had a mixture of Intel and AMD in the past. I'm currently using an AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Bought when it first came out) with a GTX 1080. Planning on upgrading to a Ryzen 7 5800X3D and probably an RX 7800 XT. Those 2 upgrades alone will make a huge difference, and I don't need to worry about getting a new motherboard with DDR5 RAM. This should keep me going for a few more years before doing a complete new build (I game at 1440p).
 
Every 3-5 years, depending on what advancements there have been.

I’ll go for what ever the best desktop CPU is available at the time (I do prefer Intel but if AMD at the time of purchase was simply much better for all my uses I'd get an AMD CPU), and call it a day. Typically coinciding with every other GPU purchase.

Motherboard, Ram, psu, case, ssds and cooling upgraded when it’s needed.

i7 950
4790k
Laptop with a 8750h in here since I was abroad 3/6 months a year for quite a few years.
9900k
13900k
 
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