For those who always look to future proofing: Do you actually follow through?

[magomago]

I've only done it once, and not with another type of chip...typically a faster version (4400+ to 6000+) of the same socket. It seems combo deals are so good that it doesn't matter if the motherboard is 'ready for the future'.

Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[Idontcare]

Since the very phrase "future proofing" conjures up uniquely differing perceptions in just about every person you ask you really ought to start the thread with some loose definition of what you mean by "future proofing".

You'll end up with less thread derail over semantics that way.

 

[sandorski]

Half the time I do. Bought a Asrock Dual SATA2 because it offered Socket 939/AM2(with riser card) and AGP/PCI-e. Never made the CPU change, but did go from AGP to PCI-e with it. Back in the SocketA and Super Socket7 days I upgraded CPU's on the same Mobo.

If my current Mobo will take an improved CPU 3-4 years from now, I just might do it.

 

[Idontcare]

FWIW my current mobo/cpu turned out to be "future proof" in that it lived way past its intended obsolescence date (in my plan).

I have a X38 mobo w/Q6600. Intended on replacing it with nehalem when it came out...then decided I'd wait for westmere...then decided I'd wait for Thuban/Gulftown...then decided to heck with it and spent my upgrade dollars on a G2 160GB SSD.

My system is so responsive and quick now thx to the SSD, and my compute-bound apps run overnight while I sleep anyways, that I can see myself running with this dated rig until Bulldozer and Ivy Bridge are out at this point.

 

[Rubycon]

The only way to be future proof is to live in the past.

 

[ShawnD1]

I don't try to plan for the future, but my current computer has lasted a lot longer than I expected. Intel E6600 system will be 4 years old in November. I don't have any plans to upgrade at this time.

 

[MagickMan]

Yup, with this build, actually. I started with a C2D and went to C2Q. I'm not upgrading again until S2011.

 

[nyker96]

I saw a few people around me try to buy the mb that would support future cpus only when the future comes what they want calls for different boards or even new ram. I don't think future proofing works. at least haven't seen it work for anyone else.

For me, every cpu upgrade means board and/or ram upgrade. however I did get lucky once for s775 (e2xxx -> e7xxx). but it wasn't planned ahead of the time. but that's rare. most of the time I always have to upgrade the whole setup to go for the cpu I like.

 

[konakona]

Well in case you meant drop-in replacement for the CPU only, never.

Could be my usage pattern, the only real intensive task I do on my machines is gaming, where thusfar CPU upgrade was needed only so often (by when you would be better off doing a system-wide overhaul anyway).

I neither actively seek out socket compatibility, nor take advantage of it when it is there anyway (no need).

The only time that I actually recycled something was when I had stocked up some DDR2 while it was cheap and DDR3 was a bit too pricey without much tangible benefits. Most other times it always seemed better to just live with worse performance (relegate the whole system as secondary and such), or donate/sell/trade for better parts when the whole platform is too antiquated for the task at hand.

 

[Lonyo]

When I bought my 939 setup I went with an SLI motherboard for future proofing purposes. That didn't go anywhere, since i did a single car upgrade (I did go from single to dual core processor, but that wasn't part of my future proofing plan).

When I upgraded from that (in January last year) I went for a then already dying socket 775 based on the fact I could upgrade to a quad if I needed, and it was cheap.
Future proofing is a waste unless you spend enough and buy at the start of a cycle.

 

[Herald85]

I have almost always futureproofed since I started building my own pc's.

I bought a 939 A64 , that was upgraded to a A 64 x2. A Geforce 4mx (what was I thinking!) became a Radeon 9700PRO. 1GB ram became 2GB ram.

After that, a s775 E6750 that became a Q9550. A 8800 320MB became a HD 4870 1GB. 2GB ram became 4GB ram.

Right now I'm running the system in my sig. Let's see if I'll upgrade this in the future

 

[Bl0cks]

I made the initial investment when I built my current rig (Q6600, 8800gt) over 2 years ago with future proofing in mind. I had a SLI motherboard at the time in another pc and thought I would pick up another 8800gt down the road. I never got another 8800gt and ended up selling the SLI mobo.

So far my current rig has stayed the same (minus the addition of a 1tb hard drive), and it does everything I need. I kept telling myself I would upgrade my video card back in March, but once March rolled around, I was still happy with the 8800gt.

You need a pretty big budget to future proof, roughly around $1000-$1250), I cannot see myself doing it with less than $500. If I had a small budget, I would have to upgrade parts 8-12 months just to be satisfied.

 

[darkewaffle]

I like the thought of future proofing, but I think that with the rate of change in hardware characteristics you just cant account for (new sockets, moving from agp to pcie, ddr2 to ddr3, etc) it's certainly difficult to do effectively beyond more than one or two generations. My last system from a few years ago, AMD s754, I ended up just parting out before I cba with attempting to modernize it.

However, with that in mind this time around I tried to 'future proof' other components instead. A case I can keep for years to come (god forbid something replaces atx, lol), fans that will perform and last well, a powerful, quality modular PSU (Most changes to PSU tech can be accounted for with some simple adapters, at least as far as I recall), and good hard drives and disc drive.

Trying to future proof your GPU/CPU/RAM/Mobo is just tough. I did go with an AM3 board in hopes of going Bulldozer in the future; but on that same note I'll be kind of surprised if I consider a CPU upgrade worthwhile before they decide to push a new socket. And by that time, if you need a new motherboard you'll probably also be looking at new ram and a new HSF and a new CPU at the very least.

 

[soccerballtux]

Since the very phrase "future proofing" conjures up uniquely differing perceptions in just about every person you ask you really ought to start the thread with some loose definition of what you mean by "future proofing".

You'll end up with less thread derail over semantics that way.

a Quad core today _is_ future proofing IMO.
It's unlikely we're never going to need more than a dual core for basic computer usage + all the extras. None of my games use more than 2 cores (only UT3 can fill up 3, but it ran fine on my old 3.4Ghz e2180 already so I guess you can say it only needed 2).

So, I'd say I'm "futureproofed" for a quite a while. I'll just upgrade graphics card when needed.

 

[VashHT]

I've done it a couple times, went from a athlon 64 3500 to a athlon X2 4800. I usually don't upgrade my cpu that often though, I go through a lot more video cards on the same CPU usually, I try to save some money by using the same CPU for a few years. Also it's kind of hard to predict how good the upgrade paths are going to be, so I usually don't worry about it and just go for the best present option.

 

[biostud]

no, when the CPU is outdated, so is the socket.

 

[kalrith]

Well in case you meant drop-in replacement for the CPU only, never.

Same here. A CPU upgrade has always meant a mobo and RAM upgrade as well.

Now, if you mean buying more than you need at the time in hopes of not having to upgrade in the near future, then I'm doing that right now. My Q6600 at 3.2GHz and 4GB of RAM were all purchased in January 2008. I have no plans of upgrading any time in the near future. My 2900 Pro was also purchased at that time, and its replacement (4870) should be arriving today.

I'll probably upgrade to a 6770 (or whatever the next-gen $150 card is) and SSD before even thinking about upgrading my Q6600. It's just been a rock-solid performer for me, and I've got nothing but good things to say about it.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

s775, c2d to c2q.
s1366, 930 to hex core TBD.

 

[Supersonic64]

I am in the process of building an i7 LGA 1336 rig and I expect it to handle games for up to 2 to 3 years in the future with a healthy 3.6GHz+ overclock.

Just look at i7, even by today's standards an overclocked i7 is a monstrous performer and it's been out for two years. Games have even only started to really use multiple cores this year as well (Bad Company 2).

 

[khon]

I've never found it worthwhile. If you plan an upgrading the processor within 1-2 years then maybe, but I only do so every 3-4 years. Upgrades within the same generation of CPUs just don't seem worthwhile to me.

My current E6400 will last me just fine until I can get my hands on a sandy bridge, and there's no way I could possibly make such a jump while using the same motherboard.

 

[Martimus]

You can look at my signature to see that I have upgraded my S939 computer incrementally. I want to purchase a new system soon though, I am just too cheap to actually drop the money on it so far.

 

[Maximilian]

Meh its either:

A - Buy early on and probably get screwed by being an early adopter.

or

B - Buy later when the platform is much more mature but will be replaced by something newer pretty soon.

Six and half a dozen imo, buy what you need when you need thats the best idea Any upgrades you can snag to make your rig last are bonuses

 

[faxon]

i never try to "future proof" my systems unless i know exactly what im gonna do with them when upgrade wise. take my second comp for instance, i bought a board which cost twice as much as the CPU (EP45-UD3P) when the board in it died, because it would have been cheaper than replacing everything on it that failed. i wasnt sure when, but i knew eventually i was probably gonna drop a quad into it at the very least. now it has 2 5870s and water cooling, and its doing 400,000 PPD in milkyway@home for me. i didnt implicitly plan it that way, it just sort of happened, but i knew that there was a possibility, so instead of saving money and getting a cheap board i went the extra, and it was definitely worth it . as for now, both my systems are completely maxed out. even if they were "future proof" in some sense, theres is literally nothing i can do to make them any faster than they already are (besides overclocking my q9550, which im gonna do next time milkyway@home is down)

 

[aggressor]

I tried to future proof with USB3 and SATA3.0 ports but the implementation on the motherboard I bought is less than ideal.

 

[lifeblood]

Yes. My CPU and video card has been replaced once, and memory was doubled I went fro 1x2Gb, to 2x2Gb, with room for 4x2Gb).
No, I bought an X-Fire board but only use one video card.

In short, it depends. My method generally works because I upgrade individual components often enough. For those who go 4 years between upgrades, future-proofing is impossible.