A question on system life

[jcole4lsu]

I built a computer loosely based on the $625 budget gaming build from a couple of months ago and ended up using this mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128345&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-
It doesnt support i7 cpus, but does support Quads. My question is, how long (approx) will this mobo still be useful? I use the computer mostly for web browsing, watching movies, and some light to moderate gaming.
I am thinking that I Quads drop in price due to the emergence of i7 etc as the standard, I could upgrade the processor from the core 2 duo e7400 I currently have. Im just looking for an estimation of how long that might be.
Also, I would be open to using this mobo for a HTPC build some time in the future.
Thanks in advance

 

[aevm]

The GA-EP45-DS3L will accept a Q9650, with a BIOS update.
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=2844

If you wait a year or so, that CPU will cost around $200 I guess. It's a major improvement over E7400. After that upgrade, I'd say you might be OK for a very long time. It depends on what you do, of course.

I think that's the best CPU that will ever work on it, except for the "extreme" QX9650 and QX9770 which will cost ober $1000 until they stop making them.

 

[gkay09]

^+1 The p45 chipset is great...and the mobo u have will do a grt job...
And as for ur requirements and usage, this mobo shuld easily last u for 2 or more years( Mayb after upgrading to Q9550 or Q9650 later sure the prices will drop for these quads...)like aevm said...

 

[MRFS]

What we've been doing at our office is to demote older machines
to "backup" roles via our Gigabit LAN. With proper cooling and
quality input power via APC UPS units, we have Western Digital
hard drives that are now pushing 7 years of age, and they're
still error-free. Copying files across that LAN is not much work
for XP Pro, and we just turn those older machines OFF
when the backups are done -- further prolonging their useful lives.

Also, having 2 workstations at my desk is enormously useful
for lots of reasons: I can be doing routine maintenance with one
while browsing the Internet, answering email etc. with the other.
Also, if I should forget a given setting, I refer to my other machine
for those technical details. Some XP tasks just run better when
they have the whole machine to themselves.

Moral of this story: keep your older machines for redundancy,
don't disassemble them. Hardware is so cheap now, comparatively
speaking, it's wiser in the long run to assemble new systems
with completely new components.

CONSTANT CHANGE IS HERE TO STAY!


p.s. One last thing: when a machine gets "too old" e.g. PGA-478 socket,
no PCI-Express bus, DDR RAM, I just donate it to a friend or neighbor
who doesn't need a barn burner for email and word processing.


MRFS

 

[dirtmountain]

^ +1 to aevm. By choosing the P45 mobo you have kept a sensible and economic upgrade path open for the future.