The Ultimate PC for 2022

[escrow4]

Both the ASRock Extreme 4:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-x99-haswell-e-overclocking,3934-16.html

And Extreme 3:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/asrock-x99-extreme3-lga2011v3-atx-motherboard,4115.html

were capable of overclocking Tom's i7 5960X sample to 4.4 Ghz.

And 4.0GHz @ 1.25v is horrific. So dud chip. Oh well.

 

[xthetenth]

5820K with X99 for now and overclock to 4.3Ghz+. Then in about 4-5 years, find a used top-of-the-line Broadwell-E drop in upgrade into the same system.

Alternatively, I would do as others suggested - upgrade more often. i7 6700K and in 3-4 years another new system and another in 3-4 years. But if you prefer to not upgrade for 7-8 years at a time, then go X99 as it has the most long-term potential as far as 6-8 core CPU upgrade path, and later upgrade drops for Xeons much like X58 users are enjoying their $100 6-core Xeons today.

Both suggestions are dead on. The part of the build that has always kept its value best is the leftover budget. If the computer market is still recognizable as such, it will keep its value best.

Next best is a motherboard with a socket that will support cheap as chips workstation/server Xeon pulls. Xeon prices fall hard, and they fall from high enough that there's some serious performance to be had there.

Don't worry about video cards, in five or six years your PCIe slots will nearly definitely be more valuable empty than full with whatever you put in them. I'd gun for price/performance, and I'd wait to see what's coming soon.

RAM is a tricky subject. I tend to feel the non-high end kits hold value well enough it's worth not skimping lest you have to replace sticks (especially if you're playing with four channel sets), but I'd defer to actual analysis.

The PSU will last. If you've got a good one, keep it. If you don't, buy a good one to last. Same for case. Your PSU is old enough that I think a new one might be worth a look, the newest crop is very good. The case is dated, but that's at least partly fashion.

Storage is interesting. I'd get a mix of SSD and platter to suit what you do, and check in on the market every once in a while to see if there's a major capability jump available. A good PCIe M.2 slot will help here, as well as NVMe boot capability, but that might be a wait and there's always something to wait for.

 

[Fox5]

Wait for Skylake (core i7 with hyperthreading) as it has architectural improvements and ISA additions that will be important in the long term. TSX has the potential to be a killer feature for multicore, and next gen AVX. Consider a Xeon if Intel limits features on the consumer models.
Load it up with 32GB of DDR4. Possibly 64GB later if you can do 16GB DIMMs.

Get an SLI/Crossfire capable motherboard so you're able to upgrade to either.
Get a large SSD as the boot / application drive.
Get a large hard drive for media/games.
Install a 64GB SSD into the M.2 slot for use as an Intel Rapid Storage drive to speed up access to the hard drive. If PCI-Express based M.2 drives are out by then, get one of those. (SATA Express is also acceptable).

Get a hold over graphics card.
Wait for HBM2 16/14nm PCI Express 4.0 enabled graphics cards in late 2016. Upgrade to one of those. Maybe two of those.

 

[escrow4]

I doubt devs will patch in extensions for new CPUs that most won't have. How many are still puffing along on primitive Core 2? Or an SNB classic? In 2022 it will be surprising if someone hasn't let off a few nukes nevermind some new CPUs.

 

[Fox5]

I doubt devs will patch in extensions for new CPUs that most won't have. How many are still puffing along on primitive Core 2? Or an SNB classic? In 2022 it will be surprising if someone hasn't let off a few nukes nevermind some new CPUs.

There are games and programs that use AVX now. So you're wrong.

 

[Idontcare]

2022?

Too far out IMO.

You could spend a ridiculous sum of money to have a rig today which won't be too silly sad come 2020, but 2022? Probably a couple years too far out.

However, the other angle to look at this is "are my compute requirements low enough such that I could get by in 2022 with hardware I can buy today?"...and that answer lies solely with the purchaser.

For my family (immediate and in-laws) the answer to that last question would be "yes" save for one younger brother who is still and avid gamer (3D setup and the whole 9 yards). But the 25+ people in the extended family unit could easily get by with 2015 hardware come 2022, and it wouldn't even need to be expensive top-end 2015 hardware.

So which end of the spectrum do you find yourself? If you are truly telling me that here in 2015 you are only just now finding your 2008 hardware to be getting long in the tooth then I know exactly where you are coming from.

I have 24 relatives in your same boots, and they will all tell you that just about anything 3-4GHz quad-core range in today's hardware will suit you just fine come 7 years from now, given your apparent demands of your hardware over these past 7 years.

 

[escrow4]

There are games and programs that use AVX now. So you're wrong.

AVX is one thing, more specialised things like TSX (bugs aside) I doubt it.