Looking to build future upgrade path?

[tvdang7]

Hey guys I am looking to build and not sure on AMD or Intel just yet.
But are any of the motherboards now going to be compatible with the next zen2 or coffee lake? Sort of how the sky lake chipsets were compatible with kaby lake?

 

[daveybrat]

AMD's AM4 should be compatible with Zen2 but Intel's current 1151 socket boards will not support CoffeeLake.

 

[DaveSimmons]

AMD's AM4 should be compatible with Zen2 but Intel's current 1151 socket boards will not support CoffeeLake.

Don't buy Ryzen and an AM4 motherboard just because of that though.
- Zen 2 might require AM4+
- If AM4 ends up being compatible an old AM4 board might or might not get the BIOS update it needs
- Zen 2 might or might not be a better CPU than whatever intel is offering at that time.

If Ryzen and Coffee Lake are roughly equal for your needs, then using AM4 possible future proofing makes sense as a tie-breaker.

My philosophy: Decide which CPU meets your needs now and for the next few years. Pick a decent motherboard for it. Use it for years. By the time I've upgraded in the past I've wanted a new motherboard for newer USB, SATA, faster DRAM etc. anyway.

 

[EXCellR8]

If you ask me you can't really go wrong with Ryzen right now... plus Intel keeps shooting themselves in the foot by constantly requiring new chipsets to be adopted by those looking to update.

 

[kirbyrj]

There's a better chance of getting updates on Ryzen boards than getting Intel to go more than 2 years without having to "upgrade" to a new chipset.

 

[RLGL]

Trying to future proof a build is like trying to pick the winning lotto numbers for any given week

 

[tvdang7]

Don't buy Ryzen and an AM4 motherboard just because of that though.
- Zen 2 might require AM4+
- If AM4 ends up being compatible an old AM4 board might or might not get the BIOS update it needs
- Zen 2 might or might not be a better CPU than whatever intel is offering at that time.

If Ryzen and Coffee Lake are roughly equal for your needs, then using AM4 possible future proofing makes sense as a tie-breaker.

My philosophy: Decide which CPU meets your needs now and for the next few years. Pick a decent motherboard for it. Use it for years. By the time I've upgraded in the past I've wanted a new motherboard for newer USB, SATA, faster DRAM etc. anyway.

If you ask me you can't really go wrong with Ryzen right now... plus Intel keeps shooting themselves in the foot by constantly requiring new chipsets to be adopted by those looking to update.

well it's a hard pick but since intel is off the board for upgradability then ryzen looks like the better choice. My only concern is that performance is not as fast as a 7700k gaming wise and if ryzen 2 can close that gap a few percentage points I can always upgrade to that with out much out of pocket expenses. Yes coffee lake is supposed to be a much bigger leap in performance but I do not think I can wait that long for it to drop. So this small upgrade path is swaying my decision.

 

[EXCellR8]

Ryzen is a bit more capable than Kaby though, especially if you're into content creation or plan to be in the future. The i7 is certainly faster in gaming but it's not like Ryzen is bad for it. There are also some really solid deals on Ryzen 5 and 7; the latter being marked down every week it seems.

 

[ScottAD]

well it's a hard pick but since intel is off the board for upgradability then ryzen looks like the better choice. My only concern is that performance is not as fast as a 7700k gaming wise and if ryzen 2 can close that gap a few percentage points I can always upgrade to that with out much out of pocket expenses. Yes coffee lake is supposed to be a much bigger leap in performance but I do not think I can wait that long for it to drop. So this small upgrade path is swaying my decision.

Unless you are super particular about gaming you aren't going to notice it. Do you plan on streaming and gaming at the same time? If so Ryzen is hands down the champ. Games don't use many threads because there was no market for it. Intel doesn't make high-thread low cost CPUs and that is what AMD capitalized on.

Game creators can make games use more cores/threads but when your market is mostly not using it, why bother? That has changed and while the 7700k has been the bees knees for gaming most folks will not notice the 10 or so FPS difference when they are runnign at 130+ FPS anyway. Ryzen is not a bad CPU for gaming, it is quite adept and has become moreso since developers have indeed been working on optimization for the CPU.

 

[Spjut]

I would play it safe and get one of the best Coffee Lake CPUs.

AM2 motherboards that got support for AM3 processors were awesome, but the people who had those that didn't must have felt bitter. AM3+ was useless. IMO it's always better to play safe and get the best alternative now instead of vague hopes for the future.