CPU to Last for 10 Years Without Uppgrades

[Isa Santos]

If you had to make a new build RIGHT NOW, to last you 10 years without uppgrading the CPU, which one would you get: the i7-4770k or the i7-4930k? Or would you go for another CPU?

EDIT: And when I say "last", I'm refering to still be able to run some art programs in reasonable "not too laggy" way till reaching that 10th year. Sorry for the misunderstood.


Please give my your thoughts and opinions on the matter, I really would like to know the reason(s) behind your choice(s) cuz it might help me decide with my own dillema about it.

 

[lp231]

CPU rarely dies, it's usually the motherboard. By the time the board is gone, it will be obsolete and thus forcing to buy a new CPU.
So to answer your question, a CPU that last 10 years without upgrade, depends on how long your motherboard will last.
And I would go with the i7-4930K for its 6 cores + HT.

 

[Nefos]

Sadly that wont work out, 10 years just too much time regarding computing.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/benchmark-marathon,590-25.html
An awesome (P4-3 ghz) worth only a couple pounds these days and it was $218 dollar back in 2013
of course, 4930k would be better, but I am quite sure it will be beaten by a £100 pound (maybe less) cpu in 10 years
Why do you want a pc for 10 years?

Edit: maybe I approached from the wrong direction.
You want a computer just to work for 10 years, or you want to use it for "new" stuff in 10 years?

 

[MKBL]

If you are asking for a spec that can still perform par with the latest products in the market 10 years later, that's kind of absurd question. First of all, who knows what kind of breakthrough will we have 10 year later? If you had built the most powerful computer 10 years ago with components available to general consumers, enthusiast or not, I doubt that computer is still relevant, even if still in operation.

 

[Isa Santos]

CPU rarely dies, it's usually the motherboard. By the time the board is gone, it will be obsolete and thus forcing to buy a new CPU.
So to answer your question, a CPU that last 10 years without upgrade, depends on how long your motherboard will last.

Oh, no no! I didn't mean that type of "lasting". D: My appolagies, I'll explain myself better.

What I mean is, a CPU that will be able to handle Games, Photoshop and other Art Programs in those 10 years to come without lagging. Sort of "future proof".

I heard that Haswell-E will have 8 cores, so it got me wondering if I should buy a 6 core processor now, to be already prevented for those 10 years, who knows if not even more years...
I would fix and keep my old pc, problem is that the pc is from 2004 and has only 2 RAM slots, 512Mb each, so working photoshop in there is not "very" possible anymore if you know what I mean. :lol:

 

[enemy1g]

It is nearly impossible to future proof your PC for the next 10 years. Yeah if you get an i7 4930k you'll be far better off than say having an i3 2100. Technology changes, at a very rapid pace. By the time year 4-5 comes around, your processor might be obsolete and considered slow. Obviously with the i7 4930k it's hard to fathom that, as it fairs better as a CPU than most, and will probably out last those of us with lesser CPUs, but I have no problem replacing my CPU in 3 year as I'm not trying to "future proof" my PC. My advice is to just buy something for the now, and enjoy it. When your PC becomes sluggish, just upgrade it.

 

[MKBL]

Just 6 years ago, the most powerful consumer CPU was probably QX9650. If you have a PC with that CPU, you can't use the latest GPU, since it doen't support PCI-E 2.0 or over, which all the latest GPU require. And without the latest GPU, you can't run the latest game, unless you want to play only casual games.

 

[kulmnar]

CPU rarely dies, it's usually the motherboard. By the time the board is gone, it will be obsolete and thus forcing to buy a new CPU.
So to answer your question, a CPU that last 10 years without upgrade, depends on how long your motherboard will last.

Oh, no no! I didn't mean that type of "lasting". D: My appolagies, I'll explain myself better.

What I mean is, a CPU that will be able to handle Games, Photoshop and other Art Programs in those 10 years to come without lagging. Sort of "future proof".

I heard that Haswell-E will have 8 cores, so it got me wondering if I should buy a 6 core processor now, to be already prevented for those 10 years, who knows if not even more years...
I would fix and keep my old pc, problem is that the pc is from 2004 and has only 2 RAM slots, 512Mb each, so working photoshop in there is not "very" possible anymore if you know what I mean. :lol:

I don't think a modern CPU nowadays will be fine for 10 years for gaming. The reason is that eventually newer CPUs will use different types of motherboards with different video card slot types. Since video cards have to be updated, you may not be able to update the video card if you hang on to a 4930K (for example) for a decade. Therefore, on the big picture of things, no, a CPU today is not enough to game on for 10 years.


Now go out there and get a single core celeron, with an HD6670 card to game on because you will have to upgrade anyways </sarcasm>

 

[lp231]

CPU rarely dies, it's usually the motherboard. By the time the board is gone, it will be obsolete and thus forcing to buy a new CPU.
So to answer your question, a CPU that last 10 years without upgrade, depends on how long your motherboard will last.

Oh, no no! I didn't mean that type of "lasting". D: My appolagies, I'll explain myself better.

What I mean is, a CPU that will be able to handle Games, Photoshop and other Art Programs in those 10 years to come without lagging. Sort of "future proof".

I heard that Haswell-E will have 8 cores, so it got me wondering if I should buy a 6 core processor now, to be already prevented for those 10 years, who knows if not even more years...
I would fix and keep my old pc, problem is that the pc is from 2004 and has only 2 RAM slots, 512Mb each, so working photoshop in there is not "very" possible anymore if you know what I mean. :lol:

I understand exactly what you mean, between the 2 CPUs, which ones will we pick, that's better suited for future proof, for the next 10 years. The answer still comes down to how long a motherboard will last.
Let's say you got the i7 4930K with a X79 board and used it for 5 years. During these 5 years newer technologies came out and one day your motherboard has gone bye bye. Your CPU is still good, because it's been 5 years since you got this, newer stuffs has comes out rendering your current board obsolete.
Now it's time to get a new board and which also force the purchase of a new CPU.
Also 8 cores is already out, there are even 12 cores, with up to dual socket for Xeon E5 and quad socket boards for Xeon E7.

 

[Isa Santos]

Sadly that wont work out, 10 years just too much time regarding computing.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/benchmark-marathon,590-25.html
An awesome (P4-3 ghz) worth only a couple pounds these days and it was $218 dollar back in 2013
of course, 4930k would be better, but I am quite sure it will be beaten by a £100 pound (maybe less) cpu in 10 years
Why do you want a pc for 10 years?

Edit: maybe I approached from the wrong direction.
You want a computer just to work for 10 years, or you want to use it for "new" stuff in 10 years?

I know this topic would cause alot of "controversy" between you computer experts but please bear with me... not everyone has enough cash, nor lives in a country where computer components are damn cheap, that they can go around uppgrading stuff on their rig each year. I can't do that. I only uppgrade components when they blow up for good, like literally. :/

So what I ask of you is what CPU do you think it would keep on handling multitasking and art programs, reasonably acceptable, during this next 10 years?


My first and last pc was bought in December 2004. It lasted me till July of 2011, before the motherboard made short circuit, blowing off several PSU and then my hardrive, my CPU fan and case back fan.
Though I can't say I'm surprise because from not cleaning to using a vacume cleaner inside the case on the motherboard, I did it all. :lol:' I never took the CPU fan out of the CPU just so you have an idea, I can't possibly imagine the state of the thermal paste... :lol:

 

[lp231]

Sadly that wont work out, 10 years just too much time regarding computing.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/benchmark-marathon,590-25.html
An awesome (P4-3 ghz) worth only a couple pounds these days and it was $218 dollar back in 2013
of course, 4930k would be better, but I am quite sure it will be beaten by a £100 pound (maybe less) cpu in 10 years
Why do you want a pc for 10 years?

Edit: maybe I approached from the wrong direction.
You want a computer just to work for 10 years, or you want to use it for "new" stuff in 10 years?

I know this topic would cause alot of "controversy" between you computer experts but please bear with me... not everyone has enough cash, nor lives in a country where computer components are damn cheap, that they can go around uppgrading stuff on their rig each year. I can't do that. I only uppgrade components when they blow up for good, like literally. :/

So what I ask of you is what CPU do you think it would keep on handling multitasking and art programs, reasonably acceptable, during this next 10 years?


My first and last pc was bought in December 2004. It lasted me till July of 2011, before the motherboard made short circuit, blowing off several PSU and then my hardrive, my CPU fan and case back fan.
Though I can't say I'm surprise because from not cleaning to using a vacume cleaner inside the case on the motherboard, I did it all. :lol:' I never took the CPU fan out of the CPU just so you have an idea, I can't possibly imagine the state of the thermal paste... :lol:

So I was right, it depends on long a motherboard will last.

 

[Isa Santos]

If you are asking for a spec that can still perform par with the latest products in the market 10 years later, that's kind of absurd question. First of all, who knows what kind of breakthrough will we have 10 year later? If you had built the most powerful computer 10 years ago with components available to general consumers, enthusiast or not, I doubt that computer is still relevant, even if still in operation.

This was the pc I got at 2004: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00284716&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&product=447112

I'm not sure of how "most powerful" that pc was back at that time but hey, fact was it lasted me till 2011 despite my awfull cares with it. :/ Maybe if I had been more careful and known more about pcs back then, I wouldn't have screwed the motherboard, who knows. :/

 

[Isa Santos]

Sadly that wont work out, 10 years just too much time regarding computing.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/benchmark-marathon,590-25.html
An awesome (P4-3 ghz) worth only a couple pounds these days and it was $218 dollar back in 2013
of course, 4930k would be better, but I am quite sure it will be beaten by a £100 pound (maybe less) cpu in 10 years
Why do you want a pc for 10 years?

Edit: maybe I approached from the wrong direction.
You want a computer just to work for 10 years, or you want to use it for "new" stuff in 10 years?

I know this topic would cause alot of "controversy" between you computer experts but please bear with me... not everyone has enough cash, nor lives in a country where computer components are damn cheap, that they can go around uppgrading stuff on their rig each year. I can't do that. I only uppgrade components when they blow up for good, like literally. :/

So what I ask of you is what CPU do you think it would keep on handling multitasking and art programs, reasonably acceptable, during this next 10 years?


My first and last pc was bought in December 2004. It lasted me till July of 2011, before the motherboard made short circuit, blowing off several PSU and then my hardrive, my CPU fan and case back fan.
Though I can't say I'm surprise because from not cleaning to using a vacume cleaner inside the case on the motherboard, I did it all. :lol:' I never took the CPU fan out of the CPU just so you have an idea, I can't possibly imagine the state of the thermal paste... :lol:

So I was right, it depends on long a motherboard will last.

Of course mate, I never put that in cause! I mean, afte rall, I had the experience myself! :lol:

 

[Isa Santos]

CPU rarely dies, it's usually the motherboard. By the time the board is gone, it will be obsolete and thus forcing to buy a new CPU.
So to answer your question, a CPU that last 10 years without upgrade, depends on how long your motherboard will last.

Oh, no no! I didn't mean that type of "lasting". D: My appolagies, I'll explain myself better.

What I mean is, a CPU that will be able to handle Games, Photoshop and other Art Programs in those 10 years to come without lagging. Sort of "future proof".

I heard that Haswell-E will have 8 cores, so it got me wondering if I should buy a 6 core processor now, to be already prevented for those 10 years, who knows if not even more years...
I would fix and keep my old pc, problem is that the pc is from 2004 and has only 2 RAM slots, 512Mb each, so working photoshop in there is not "very" possible anymore if you know what I mean. :lol:

I understand exactly what you mean, between the 2 CPUs, which ones will we pick, that's better suited for future proof, for the next 10 years. The answer still comes down to how long a motherboard will last.
Let's say you got the i7 4930K with a X79 board and used it for 5 years. During these 5 years newer technologies came out and one day your motherboard has gone bye bye. Your CPU is still good, because it's been 5 years since you got this, newer stuffs has comes out rendering your current board obsolete.
Now it's time to get a new board and which also force the purchase of a new CPU.
Also 8 cores is already out, there are even 12 cores, with up to dual socket for Xeon E5 and quad socket boards for Xeon E7.

Yes I'm aware of Xeons but I'm neither planing to run a server nor am I willing to work all my life to get one of those expensive little bastards. :lol:

 

[MKBL]

If you are asking for a spec that can still perform par with the latest products in the market 10 years later, that's kind of absurd question. First of all, who knows what kind of breakthrough will we have 10 year later? If you had built the most powerful computer 10 years ago with components available to general consumers, enthusiast or not, I doubt that computer is still relevant, even if still in operation.

This was the pc I got at 2004: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00284716&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&product=447112

I'm not sure of how "most powerful" that pc was back at that time but hey, fact was it lasted me till 2011 despite my awfull cares with it. :/ Maybe if I had been more careful and known more about pcs back then, I wouldn't have screwed the motherboard, who knows. :/

You are asking for a CPU that can handle mainstream workload, still 10 years later, right? If you are not very specific about what workload you have in mind, the most people here cannot help beginning from each one's own standard. Having said that, 10 year is a very, very long period of time. During that time, as hardware technology advance, so do software, hence hardware requirement will go up as well. The reason why I keep bringing up past powerful setup is because that is a good example. With the most powerful consumer PC available 10 years ago, can I still run Adobe Creative Suite 6 in a productive way now? I doubt. The same logic can be applied to 10 years later. You never know what kind of hardware spec will be required to run mainstream art programs 10 years later, hence future proof for 10 year cannot be guaranteed. I'm not saying it will be completely obsolete at that time, but when you say art program as your main focus, and I got this impression that you want to run mainstream programs, not some watered-down freewares, I think you can't find a good solution for that.

 

[Isa Santos]

CPU rarely dies, it's usually the motherboard. By the time the board is gone, it will be obsolete and thus forcing to buy a new CPU.
So to answer your question, a CPU that last 10 years without upgrade, depends on how long your motherboard will last.

Oh, no no! I didn't mean that type of "lasting". D: My appolagies, I'll explain myself better.

What I mean is, a CPU that will be able to handle Games, Photoshop and other Art Programs in those 10 years to come without lagging. Sort of "future proof".

I heard that Haswell-E will have 8 cores, so it got me wondering if I should buy a 6 core processor now, to be already prevented for those 10 years, who knows if not even more years...
I would fix and keep my old pc, problem is that the pc is from 2004 and has only 2 RAM slots, 512Mb each, so working photoshop in there is not "very" possible anymore if you know what I mean. :lol:

I don't think a modern CPU nowadays will be fine for 10 years for gaming. The reason is that eventually newer CPUs will use different types of motherboards with different video card slot types. Since video cards have to be updated, you may not be able to update the video card if you hang on to a 4930K (for example) for a decade. Therefore, on the big picture of things, no, a CPU today is not enough to game on for 10 years.


Now go out there and get a single core celeron, with an HD6670 card to game on because you will have to upgrade anyways </sarcasm>

Lol how evil. xD
But actually games are the last of my concerns, it's photoshop and other art programs of the type that worries me. :/

 

[MKBL]

And if your current PC can handle Photoshop 2023 without critical problem 10 years later, I don't think Adobe would have survived, because that means they couldn't catch up with technology.

 

[lp231]

CPU rarely dies, it's usually the motherboard. By the time the board is gone, it will be obsolete and thus forcing to buy a new CPU.
So to answer your question, a CPU that last 10 years without upgrade, depends on how long your motherboard will last.

Oh, no no! I didn't mean that type of "lasting". D: My appolagies, I'll explain myself better.

What I mean is, a CPU that will be able to handle Games, Photoshop and other Art Programs in those 10 years to come without lagging. Sort of "future proof".

I heard that Haswell-E will have 8 cores, so it got me wondering if I should buy a 6 core processor now, to be already prevented for those 10 years, who knows if not even more years...
I would fix and keep my old pc, problem is that the pc is from 2004 and has only 2 RAM slots, 512Mb each, so working photoshop in there is not "very" possible anymore if you know what I mean. :lol:

I understand exactly what you mean, between the 2 CPUs, which ones will we pick, that's better suited for future proof, for the next 10 years. The answer still comes down to how long a motherboard will last.
Let's say you got the i7 4930K with a X79 board and used it for 5 years. During these 5 years newer technologies came out and one day your motherboard has gone bye bye. Your CPU is still good, because it's been 5 years since you got this, newer stuffs has comes out rendering your current board obsolete.
Now it's time to get a new board and which also force the purchase of a new CPU.
Also 8 cores is already out, there are even 12 cores, with up to dual socket for Xeon E5 and quad socket boards for Xeon E7.

Yes I'm aware of Xeons but I'm neither planing to run a server nor am I willing to work all my life to get one of those expensive little bastards. :lol:

Not all Xeons are expensive, some are actually cheaper than their desktop parts.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116910
Had 4 cores with HT* and cost a lot less than a Core i7

*If you're lucky enough to get the first batch, which has HT enabled.
2nd batch, Intel disabled HT.

 

[Isa Santos]

It is nearly impossible to future proof your PC for the next 10 years. Yeah if you get an i7 4930k you'll be far better off than say having an i3 2100. Technology changes, at a very rapid pace. By the time year 4-5 comes around, your processor might be obsolete and considered slow. Obviously with the i7 4930k it's hard to fathom that, as it fairs better as a CPU than most, and will probably out last those of us with lesser CPUs, but I have no problem replacing my CPU in 3 year as I'm not trying to "future proof" my PC. My advice is to just buy something for the now, and enjoy it. When your PC becomes sluggish, just upgrade it.

I know there's no such thing a "future proof" when it comes to technology but that's my problem, I can't go around replacing stuff on my pc from 3 to 3 years, that's just really out of question from me. :/ It's trying to build to make it last the maximum possible, until either old photoshop versions become intolerable to use or components decide to blow up and cause smoke (like my last time). I know it's extreme but I have no other way. :/

 

[Isa Santos]

And if your current PC can handle Photoshop 2023 without critical problem 10 years later, I don't think Adobe would have survived, because that means they couldn't catch up with technology.

It doesn't have to handle "photoshop 2023", just one of its older versions. My goal is not being able to handle the new programs that there will be 10 years from now, just being able to handle some older versions of them as long as I'm still able to work on them (draw without lag, animate, etc etc), that's all.
Not unlike this piece of laptop crap I'm on that I can't handle anything at all. o_o'

 

[Nefos]

I think you are on a wrong track. If I were you, I would buy a i7 4770, and save that £600 pounds or so. That cpu should last for quite while ( it is more powerful than most people ever going to use) and in a few years, when you see it is slow, than you can get that £600 pounds and buy another mobo+ powerfull cpu for £300 and you can do it twice. So you will have pretty good computer for a quite long time, always up to date

 

[ssddx]

another option would be to build a mid-ranged pc now which will last 5 years and then to upgade then with another mid-range pc.

you will likely see overall better performance that way over the whole 10 years.

edit: which looks to be what nefos is suggesting... except you might have to replace more than just the mobo and cpu... we could be getting ddr4 and other standards by then.

quite simply there is no way to get 10 years of "good" performance out of a pc. technology and software progresses too much.

 

[Isa Santos]

I think you are on a wrong track. If I were you, I would buy a i7 4770, and save that £600 pounds or so. That cpu should last for quite while ( it is more powerful than most people ever going to use) and in a few years, when you see it is slow, than you can get that £600 pounds and buy another mobo+ powerfull cpu for £300 and you can do it twice. So you will have pretty good computer for a quite long time, always up to date

Can I know for how much money is your country selling i7-4770k and i7-4930k? Just so I know where are those £600 coming from in order to make counts in my country currency. :/

 

[Isa Santos]

another option would be to build a mid-ranged pc now which will last 5 years and then to upgade then with another mid-range pc.

you will likely see overall better performance that way over the whole 10 years.

edit: which looks to be what nefos is suggesting... except you might have to replace more than just the mobo and cpu... we could be getting ddr4 and other standards by then.

quite simply there is no way to get 10 years of "good" performance out of a pc. technology and software progresses too much.

Yes I know where nefos trying to get but I'm not finding very amusing, nor appealing, having to pay twice the money (one now and other in 5 years) to uppgrade a pc cuz it's supposely slow, when I could possibly spend more money now (but still inferior the amount added of those 5+5 years) and have a pc for a period of near those 10 years without uppgrading the CPU and motherboard. :/

I know it's hard to understand but building new rigs with either periods of 3 to 3 years or 5 to 5 years appart it's really out of question for me, I cannot afford those expenses. :/
Besides, with technology having evolved so much since 2004, if a computer back then managed to last me 7 years being badly treated, why wouldn't a pc build right now, with proper maintenance and cares, manage to reach to those 9/10 years, still working reasonably acceptable for what I want? :/

I don't want to have a pc that is the best of the best, I don't want to have my pc always up to date. I just want to buy something that will last me the maximum time possible (from 7 to 10 years), until the programs I use start lagging so much that it will become impossible and unberable to use them at all. :/
Sorry if it sounds weird to most of you since you guys like to be uppdated of the latest techs and stuff but I'm really the type of person that wears something till it reaches the limit of usage, exactly cuz money is a problem. xD

 

[MKBL]

"I don't want to have a pc that is the best of the best, I don't want to have my pc always up to date. I just want to buy something that will last me the maximum time possible (from 7 to 10 years)"

You cannot expect someone else to pick up specific products for this criteria, since it is very subjective. Today's desktops, as someone suggested, can live up to 10 years. How healthy, or how up to date at that time is, yes very subjective. If it were me, I don't even plan to use my desktop 10 years later, although this desktop is mainly for game, light document work, and streaming movie only. 10 years later, I'm sure no matter how careful I manage this machine, it will be slower and need upgrade of storage, memory, and a few things, which may not be available in regular market because compatible components would be really outdated. For example, my previous computer needed a replacement GPU one time when it's about 5 years old, and it needed AGP card, which took me several days to secure, even for unreasonable price with poor performance, because no one was making AGP card any longer. Yes, even several years back already, 5 year old PC was badly outdated, and some key components were hard to find. After that, I kind of hoard left over component from old computers, although most likely I wouldn't use them ever, because of such case. For your information, I was involved in ThinkPad product development quite a long time , so I know how to find good components and still sometimes out of luck, even here in the US, where everything is abundant. When "future-proof" is considered, it should be understood as upgradability of some key modules to maximize potential of the existing platform, not as something to live up to 10 years as it is. That is misconcept.

If I would stretch, however, the best choice for you would be any I7 Haswell-K CPU + Z87 board with 10 year strength. For most "art-media program" I7's hyperthreading will be helpful, and later you can overclock it for more muscle power when it's needed. You want to have a Z board for OC, and for 10 year durability, you better find a reliable model. You can search your favorite online retailer for availability in your region, and narrow down to a few candidates based on user review. Then find expert review on those models to read about component quality and other features that you think would be useful. Then you can have better idea. Why Haswell/Z87, instead of IVB/Z77? Because if you see 10 years, you better start with the latest technology, in a hope that there will be still support for the platform at that time. The latest one will have more chance for that.