With computer hardware getting more and more expensive, a common question we get is what is the best avenue towards future proofing your PC? Ideally, if you're clever, you can spend wisely now so that you don't have to keep spending into the future. Here are a few tips to achieve this:
Go with the most up to date CPU and motherboard: Something in the most current CPU and motherboard generation is a good start. Windows 11 only operates at a certain threshold for computer hardware. This is currently an 8th generation Intel chip at the least. It's likely that Windows will abandon all updates to Windows 10 in a couple of years leaving your computer at risk of security issues and incompatibility past this point. If you go with something lower than an 8th gen, it's likely you'll have to upgrade in a couple of years anyway. We've also recently transitioned into DDR5 which is only compatible with 12th gen and above. Software such as games and demanding work applications like to take advantage of the newest hardware so, if you're not up to date, you're going to have to put up with a slow and less efficient experience.
Choose the right sized case for your setup: Determining your chassis size is also something to consider. When the newest generation of graphics cards came out, people were shocked by the ridiculous size of them, and rightly so. A lot of people found that they had to change the size of their case just to accommodate them. These cases weren't cheap either which meant more money down the drain. Other components such as CPU air coolers like to take up a lot of space in order to maximise cooling. Smaller coolers can be bought, but it comes at a cost.
Use more compact sticks of RAM: RAM that's paired such as 2x8GB are popular for dual channel operation. However, if you're looking to upgrade you may have already taken up as much space as your motherboard will allow. This will then force you to spend more money than you had to if you had just chosen one 16GB stick.
Go with a power supply that is capable of more juice than you actually need: Rather than having to shell out even more money for a power supply every time you want to upgrade, consider buying a power supply with extra power in the first place. This will save you more money in the long term, especially as power demands tend to go up with each generation of hardware.
Buy a motherboard with extra slots: Buying a motherboard with more slots than you need will future proof your setup. M.2 slots and RAM slots are especially important for an easy volatile and non-volatile memory upgrade.
Do your best to choose components that won't bottleneck: Bottlenecking occurs when two components don't complement each other. Most commonly this occurs between the CPU and the GPU. Say you have the latest graphics card paired with an old CPU. The GPU will perform worse than it should do because the CPU has to catch up. Often times you're better off pairing older components well rather than upgrading one component to the best available.
Extra tips:
Consider buying the oldest CPU for a particular socket: This is a favourite tactic of mine. To do this in the current generation of Intel, you would buy a 12th generation CPU rather than a 13th. When you feel like you're lagging behind, you can upgrade to a 13th gen without having to buy a brand new motherboard. This works especially well if you go with AMD, as one of their selling points is to support one socket for 4 generations.
Go with the latest generation of RAM: Currently we have DDR5 which is only compatible with the latest version of motherboards. If you buy a motherboard that only supports DDR4, you're going to have trouble upgrading as you'll need a new board.
In our personal opinion the best option for future proofing would be a motherboard with an AM5 socket for future support, a motherboard that supports a healthy amount of expansion slots, a motherboard that supports DDR5, compact memory, a large case, a beefy power supply and the oldest CPU available for the most current slot.
Future proofing is a hard concept to achieve with constant technological advancement. It also depends on your use case. A gamer will have less of an incentive to upgrade RAM than a video editor as 16GB has been the standard for games for some time now but the more RAM you have for rendering video, the better.
Looking for something that fits your budget now that will last far into the future but don't know where to start? Give us an email and we'll hook you up with the best hardware available. We build, clean and repair computers so you don't have to. Covering the Andover area, we'll cut through all of the tech jargon and marketing nonsense so that you have the best hardware possible for your budget and use case that will last far into the future.
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