When do you plan to get your next PC? And what will it be like?

[cst1992]

I built my current PC in February 2016. I put an i5-4690K in it, alongwith an SLI-compatible motherboard, 2x8GB of DDR3 RAM, a GTX 970, and a Seasonic 650W Gold PSU.
Also, I chose my motherboard because it had a few features:
* SLI support if I wanted to add another 970
* M.2 socket support for fast NVMe SSDs(I have a Samsung 970 Evo Plus in it, however running at quarter speed)
* ATX form factor, for expandability
* Good VRMs and all, for peace of mind when overclocking(It's an Asus Z97-A)

Plus, my case has:
* dedicated space in the top for a 2-fan 240mm radiator
* cutouts for watercooling(no plans for that though)
* modular design, to make hardware upgrades easy

This PC is 5 years old now, but still no problems with it, apart from maintenance. However, in a couple years, it'll again be time to get a new PC built.

In my next PC, I'd like to have the following:

* A 7nm Intel CPU with at least 8 cores - 4 cores in my 4690k are not enough in today's world, and Intel has better single-core performance than AMD
* DDR5 RAM support - the Haswell architecture was the last to support DDR3. As a result, I'm unable to get RAM to upgrade my system's memory capacity. I'd like to avoid this.
* A STIM(soldered TIM) processor like the i9-9900K - that'll eliminate the need to delid
* A few parts ported that I have currently running in my PC:

1. My Samsung 970 Evo Plus SSD. My motherboard only supports NVMe upto PCIe 2.0 x2, causing the drive to run at quarter speed.
2. My 3060Ti. Bottlenecked by the CPU.
3. A 1080p or 1440p monitor. I haven't felt the need to get a 4K monitor yet - when I built this PC I used my old 1440x900 monitor, and then a 1080p IPS monitor from Dell. Still running well, but in case it dies, I'd want to get a 1440p monitor, but at the moment, nothing bigger.
4. My Seasonic PSU. Today's hardware consumes more power than yesterday's, but a 650W PSU should still be enough.
5. Any 2.5" drives that I'm running.

What are you waiting for to see in your next PC? Because of wonky pricing, it's not an ideal time to source parts for your next PC, but still, I'm sure people must be planning

 

[Hyderz]

Ive set myself until 2025 before i do a complete upgrade... i might change my 500gb ssd to a 2tb before 2025 but thats about it

 

[Night]

Going to wait for AM5, would go for Intel but I don't feel like buying a new motherboard each time there's a new CPU refresh, Haswell i7 served me well, can't say.
So basically I'd want to wait for AM5 along with DDR5 support to make a real upgrade. Just hope overall prices will get somewhat normalized by the time there's AM5 socket. For GPU I might lean to nvidia this time around, was using ATI/AMD since ever, and I want to give nvidia a try to see what all the fuss is about. Would also probably go for 1440p 144 Hz monitor as well considering I would go for a higher end GPU. Also regarding the monitor size you mentioned, I heard that 27" is a sweet spot for 1440p resolution. Definitely going to install a good M.2 NVMe SSD as well.

 

[cst1992]

I don't feel like buying a new motherboard each time there's a new CPU refresh

You have a point there - how far does this logic extend? Are you able to install even the latest Ryzen processors in an old AM4 motherboard? AFAIR, even old processors like the FX-8350 used the AM4 socket. So technically, a person wanting to upgrade his 8350 should be able to get a Ryzen processor.

I want to give nvidia a try to see what all the fuss is about

The current generation Ampere cards are indeed nice and a great value, assuming you're able to get them at MSRP.
Obviously, that's not an option right now, but maybe in a few years when the Lovelace cards are in the market, the prices for the Ampere cards will drop.

I heard that 27" is a sweet spot for 1440p resolution

That's right - my cousin has a 27" 1440p monitor.
My current 21.5" 1080p monitor suits me well - a person wanting a 27" monitor should definitely go for 1440p over 1080p since the PPI is similar(105 and 108).

 

[Night]

You have a point there - how far does this logic extend? Are you able to install even the latest Ryzen processors in an old AM4 motherboard? AFAIR, even old processors like the FX-8350 used the AM4 socket. So technically, a person wanting to upgrade his 8350 should be able to get a Ryzen processor.

I think FX 8350 is on AM3+ socket which is not the same as AM4, but yes, friend of mine wanted a Zen 2 CPU as an upgrade on a B350 board, and I think you need to update to a beta BIOS that isn't all that stable and some features were lost due to BIOS size, then he opted for a 2700X which the motherboard supported with a newer but stable BIOS, so I installed that one instead.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

I'll probably wait for DDR 5 pciex 5 to be common place but GPU and storage are on a carousel , a very slow rotating one with a jammed feeder at the moment but still ,intel will be in GPU land soon hopefully and bitcoins past it's Christmas hype period, hopefully it'll start it's decent soon.
Not sure Brexit n price hikes haven't made it untenable yet though.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

I just upgraded last year

3930k to 10850k
ASUS X79 RIVBE to MSI Z490 Gaming Edge WIFI
16 GB DDR3 1600 to 16 gb DDR4 3200
ASUS Dual GTX 1070 to RTX 2070 FE
500 GB WD Blue SATA SSD to 500 GB Samsung 980 Pro M2 SSD

Aside from 1 or 2 GPU upgrades (I do want a 3070 when they do become openly available), I doubt I'll buy anything else for the next 5-6 years

 

[xrobwx71]

I spend about $4K every 6-7 years on a new system, with a GPU, SSD upgrade in between. I'm on year 2 with my current system so, it's hard to say component-wise what my next will be.

 

[80-watt Hamster]

That's hard to say, because for me it depends on when the current system stops being viable. I didn't move from Wolfdale until I discovered the hard way that it wouldn't effectively push an R9 380 ( ), at which point it was Skylake time. So presuming that timeline holds, sometime around 2024 or the next time I end up accidentally bottlenecking a graphics card.

What will it look like? Good question. It'll almost certainly live in the same case and presumably be DDR5-based. Drives are likely to carry over if they live that long. Unlocked processor is an open question for the next go-round, as it seems like there's less and less OC headroom left on the table each generation.

 

[GamerGuy]

My present rig is beefy enough to see me thru 2-3 more years, then IF I'm still keen on gaming, I'd look into what's good in that future timeframe. My present system was built last year, with the GPU being a very recent upgrade, so I should be happy enough with my present rig. My previous extreme build was the i7 3960X build back in 2011/2012, it was a beastly build then, and is still quite a capable gaming rig with the VEGA 64 Red Devil installed in it.

 

[yotano211]

I wont be upgrading my laptop in the "system specs" for 1-2 more years. The only thing I'll upgrade is more storage if I can find some good deals on 4tb or 8tb SSDs.

System Name	MSI GE75 Raider
Processor	i9 9880h
Cooling	2 laptop fans
Memory	32gb of 3000mhz DDR4
Video Card(s)	Nvidia 2080
Storage	x2 2tb Intel 660p SSD nvme, WD Red SA500 2.5in 4TB
Display(s)	17.3" IPS 1920x1080 144Hz
Power Supply	280w laptop power supply
Mouse	Logitech m705
Keyboard	laptop keyboard
Software	lots of movies and Windows 10 with win 7 shell
Benchmark Scores	Good enough for me

 

[Tomgang]

I am in the middle of a complete new system, to replace my aging X58 system. I'm trying to get a 2 in 1 system up and running. If I succeed or not, depending on cpu and gpu availability, how prices are going up or down and off cause this dam virus and how it will effect my job/economic situation. Many things are still unknown.

But goes everything as planned, my system will be like this, some off it is all ready arrived at my door.

MONITOR: ASUS TUF VG27AQL1A 27" 1440P 170 Hz when overclocked
PSU: Phanteks Revolt X 1200 watt 80 gold platinum rated.
Case: phanteks enthoo 719
Case fans: Lian Li uni fan SL120
Multicontroller: 2 x Aquacomputer aquaero 6 XT

Main pc
Ryzen 9 5950X cooled by Noctua NH-D15 Chromax.black using Noctua Industrial 3000 RPM 140 MM fans and Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut extreme paste
ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII DARK HERO X570 ATX motherboard
EVGA or ASUS RTX 3080 Ti (i know is still a rumor, but so far i think this is real)
Samsung 980 PRO SSD 1 TB SSD for OS
Samsung 970 EVO SSD M.2 2280 2 TB SSD for games.
WD Gold Enterprise-Class Hard Drive 18 TB HDD

Secondary PC
Ryzen 5 5600X or maybe if a 8 core 65 watt part comes out like 5700X. Cooled by Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 CPU and replace that ugly stock fan with a chromax.black fan. yes i´m not a fan of Noctua brow fans, but there Chromax.black fans i totally are in for.
ASUS ROG STRIX B550-I GAMING motherboard MINI-ITX
EVGA or Asus RTX 3060 Ti
Samsung 970 EVO SSD M.2 2280 - 1TB for OS.
maybe a WD Gold Enterprise-Class Hard Drive Harddisk 14 TB if my econemy allows it.

That is what's planned, but as said something can still force me to change setup line the virus cost me my job again or gpu/cpu is still hard to get even as we coming closer to spring or the vaccines are rendered useless because of a new mutation. New hardware comes out, that might better fits my wallet and wishes. Cause I am well aware of that the planned hardware is fairly expensive and that's also why I just don't go and buy it all now. I need to think and order carefully as something can quickly change my plans or economic ruins my plans.
Keyboard: Logitech 910 spectrum
Mouse: Logitech g903 lightspeed
Speakers: still using my trusty old Logitech Z-5500.

 

[Toothless]

Cpu and gpu switch if prices ever come down. I really want a 5900x and 6800XT or similar but gotta get some stuff figured out first.

 

[bobbybluz]

Considering I have 8 fully functional PC's at the moment I'm done building anything new for the foreseeable future. I do upgrades as used parts come along at good to great prices though. My latest refresh is now rocking a 16c 32t Xeon 2683 V4 with 128GB of RAM. Along with my other Xeon rigs and a X99 5960X box I'm good for the moment.

 

[yotano211]

I am in the middle of a complete new system, to replace my aging X58 system. I'm trying to get a 2 in 1 system up and running. If I succeed or not, depending on cpu and gpu availability, how prices are going up or down and off cause this dam virus and how it will effect my job/economic situation. Many things are still unknown.

But goes everything as planned, my system will be like this, some off it is all ready arrived at my door.

MONITOR: ASUS TUF VG27AQL1A 27" 1440P 170 Hz when overclocked
PSU: Phanteks Revolt X 1200 watt 80 gold platinum rated.
Case: phanteks enthoo 719
Case fans: Lian Li uni fan SL120
Multicontroller: 2 x Aquacomputer aquaero 6 XT

Main pc
Ryzen 9 5950X cooled by Noctua NH-D15 Chromax.black using Noctua Industrial 3000 RPM 140 MM fans and Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut extreme paste
ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII DARK HERO X570 ATX motherboard
EVGA or ASUS RTX 3080 Ti (i know is still a rumor, but so far i think this is real)
Samsung 980 PRO SSD 1 TB SSD for OS
Samsung 970 EVO SSD M.2 2280 2 TB SSD for games.
WD Gold Enterprise-Class Hard Drive 18 TB HDD

Secondary PC
Ryzen 5 5600X or maybe if a 8 core 65 watt part comes out like 5700X. Cooled by Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 CPU and replace that ugly stock fan with a chromax.black fan. yes i´m not a fan of Noctua brow fans, but there Chromax.black fans i totally are in for.
ASUS ROG STRIX B550-I GAMING motherboard MINI-ITX
EVGA or Asus RTX 3060 Ti
Samsung 970 EVO SSD M.2 2280 - 1TB for OS.
maybe a WD Gold Enterprise-Class Hard Drive Harddisk 14 TB if my econemy allows it.

That is what's planned, but as said something can still force me to change setup line the virus cost me my job again or gpu/cpu is still hard to get even as we coming closer to spring or the vaccines are rendered useless because of a new mutation. New hardware comes out, that might better fits my wallet and wishes. Cause I am well aware of that the planned hardware is fairly expensive and that's also why I just don't go and buy it all now. I need to think and order carefully as something can quickly change my plans or economic ruins my plans.
Keyboard: Logitech 910 spectrum
Mouse: Logitech g903 lightspeed
Speakers: still using my trusty old Logitech Z-5500.

Look into doing a 1 PC for 2 people, since the 1st PC is 16 cores, split it in 8cores for each. You can save lots of money if the 1st PC is split in 2. The PC will have to be near by for both people.
Linus techtips I think did 8 people 1PC some years ago.

 

[Tomgang]

Look into doing a 1 PC for 2 people, since the 1st PC is 16 cores, split it in 8cores for each. You can save lots of money if the 1st PC is split in 2. The PC will have to be near by for both people.
Linus techtips I think did 8 people 1PC some years ago.

No that would not work for me. 5950X is meant to be a combined gamer and home workstation. When I work from from home or doing some video editing/converting. And for that I need all 16 cores.

This machine is ment to be uses as a part time workstation and gamer. The second pc is to be use to stream and game on my TV instead of a console and for when friends comes by to do some Lan gaming. Also it will have the funktion of being a backup unit if my primary pc fails for some reason. So I can still get my work done on the little pc, it will take longer time but better than I can to anything because the main pc is dead or out of work.

 

[yotano211]

No that would not work for me. 5950X is meant to be a combined gamer and home workstation. When I work from from home or doing some video editing/converting. And for that I need all 16 cores.

This machine is ment to be uses as a part time workstation and gamer. The second pc is to be use to stream and game on my TV instead of a console and for when friends comes by to do some Lan gaming. Also it will have the funktion of being a backup unit if my primary pc fails for some reason. So I can still get my work done on the little pc, it will take longer time but better than I can to anything because the main pc is dead or out of work.

got ya...
wish i had 16cores for editing, I make do with 8cores on a laptop.

 

[Durvelle27]

I’m building my next one right now

 

[Sithaer]

Built my current system in 2018 may, bought the gpu a few months later. 'used my old GTX 950 till that point'

I rarely do completely new builds, at most I will get a new ~budget/mid range GPU whenever its possible and if its really needed drop in a used 3600 in my current B350 mobo.

Like others mentioned, I will also most likely build a new system when DDR 5 is a thing and affordable.

I only do casual gaming on my PC and not chasing high FPS so things can last me for a good while.

 

[cst1992]

I spend about $4K every 6-7 years on a new system, with a GPU, SSD upgrade in between. I'm on year 2 with my current system so, it's hard to say component-wise what my next will be.

Me too, although my upgrades are incremental. There's not enough cash to put in at once.
For the current system, my spend must be about $2200(equivalent in INR), although the system at build time cost only about 60% of that.

 

[lmille16]

My current system has lasted me 9 years with only upgrading the GPU and the RAM. I'm hoping to be able to do a new build this summer, finances willing. My wife and I had a tree fall on our house back in June and our insurance is being less than cooperative in helping us. The intention with the next system will be similar to the current one. Have it last a long time, while being able to complete a few upgrades to help make it last. An i5 or Ryzen 5, current 3000 series NVIdia GPU (if I can find one), 32 gigs or RAM and a PSU that will room for upgrades. Oh, a new 1440p monitor as well...

 

[cst1992]

It'll almost certainly live in the same case and presumably be DDR5-based

Maybe keep an eye out on the market in that case. If a lot of people get DDR5 boards, then your parts may not be worth much, since they won't be compatible with what's currently in the market.
I have the opposite problem. My motherboard still has 2 RAM slots free, and I have the cash to get sticks, but the market doesn't have the kits I want, because they're DDR3.
I don't exactly have a RAM bottleneck, but still - even if I wanted to upgrade to 32GB of RAM, I can't.

Also, I can't sell my old system on the used PC market, because it's an Allendale based system with only 2GB of RAM. No practical utility at all. It was already 8 years old(that's when it was bought - release wise it must have been 10+ years old) when I built my new system in 2016. Now it's 13 years old.
At this rate, only 37 years to go before I can officially declare it an antique item

I wont be upgrading my laptop in the "system specs" for 1-2 more years. The only thing I'll upgrade is more storage if I can find some good deals on 4tb or 8tb SSDs.

Definitely. That laptop should last you a while. It must have cost a lot of money too.

Secondary PC
Ryzen 5 5600X or maybe if a 8 core 65 watt part comes out like 5700X. Cooled by Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 CPU and replace that ugly stock fan with a chromax.black fan. yes I´m not a fan of Noctua brown fans, but there Chromax.black fans I totally are in for.
ASUS ROG STRIX B550-I GAMING motherboard MINI-ITX
EVGA or Asus RTX 3060 Ti
Samsung 970 EVO SSD M.2 2280 - 1TB for OS.
maybe a WD Gold Enterprise-Class Hard Drive Harddisk 14 TB if my economy allows it.

Mini ITX! Even I am thinking of building my next PC as Mini ITX - my current case, although very beautiful - is bulky and large.
Modern Mini-ITX cases are quite compact and are capable of housing full-size graphics cards.

If you can, go for a Founder's Edition 3060Ti. I personally own one, and I must say I'm pretty impressed with it.
It occupies exactly two slots; it's shorter than my old 970 and its fans are very powerful. They can cool a 200W load without going above 50% speed, which is quiet. Plus they have fan-stop which NVIDIA have integrated for the first time. Also, it's gorgeous
It's a power limited card, but still has 10% power headroom. If you're satisfied with the performance you're getting, there's really no need to get an aftermarket 3060Ti.

 

[Tomgang]

got ya...
wish i had 16cores for editing, I make do with 8cores on a laptop.

Well that's for sure better than my current I7 980x I have now. There can still go something wrong so I don't even get my 16 core cpu. Lost job, virus mutation. My country is unfortunately one of the unlucky ones to get the new British mutated virus, so that can definitely bring something up that ruin my plans.

 

[cst1992]

8 fully functional PC's

 

[Tomgang]

Maybe keep an eye out on the market in that case. If a lot of people get DDR5 boards, then your parts may not be worth much, since they won't be compatible with what's currently in the market.
I have the opposite problem. My motherboard still has 2 RAM slots free, and I have the cash to get sticks, but the market doesn't have the kits I want, because they're DDR3.
I don't exactly have a RAM bottleneck, but still - even if I wanted to upgrade to 32GB of RAM, I can't.

Also, I can't sell my old system on the used PC market, because it's an Allendale based system with only 2GB of RAM. No practical utility at all. It was already 8 years old(that's when it was bought - release wise it must have been 10+ years old) when I built my new system in 2016. Now it's 13 years old.
At this rate, only 37 years to go before I can officially declare it an antique item


Definitely. That laptop should last you a while. It must have cost a lot of money too.


Mini ITX! Even I am thinking of building my next PC as Mini ITX - my current case, although very beautiful - is bulky and large.
Modern Mini-ITX cases are quite compact and are capable of housing full-size graphics cards.

If you can, go for a Founder's Edition 3060Ti. I personally own one, and I must say I'm pretty impressed with it.
It occupies exactly two slots; it's shorter than my old 970 and its fans are very powerful. They can cool a 200W load without going above 50% speed, which is quiet. Plus they have fan-stop which NVIDIA have integrated for the first time. Also, it's gorgeous
It's a power limited card, but still has 10% power headroom. If you're satisfied with the performance you're getting, there's really no need to get an aftermarket 3060Ti.

I am aiming for asus tuf version, with evga as an alternative. No plans to change that yet.