Hi all, there have likely been lots of similar discussions recently (been reading a few on Tech PowerUp forums myself), realise it is a vague question but I'd be interested in thoughts about when/whether to upgrade a Z97 i7-4790K DDR3 system to something new in the coming years?
The recent history of my system is that it started with an H87 ATX board and an i5-4570 back in 2013 and has been upgraded (via eBay) into a Z97 micro-ATX (Asus Maximus Gene Vii) and i7-4790K (micro-ATX to fit in my beloved TJ08-E). My Win 8.1 install has remained throughout and is solid. I personally prefer the stability and (maybe percieved?) control I have over this OS and I've preferred not to move to Win10 so far (I have it on a Surface Go and find aspects of what it automatically does / changes to be a bit frustrating). Part of the reason why I went for as good a 4th Gen system as I could was to set me up until 2023 when I will have to retire my Win 8.1 installation - I don't overclock or game very heavily, but I do multi-task at times stress my system so I like having something capable.
I have some components that I can carry over to a new build, such as a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD (Samsung 980 PRO 1TB) and RTX 2060 StormX, but my 32GB DDR3 is obviously not going anywhere.
Because I haven't built anything new for so long I was out of the loop on lots of stuff, it sure has been interesting to read about AMD's rise! And simultaneously a bit sad to see that Intel haven't been doing so great at hitting back so far. But of course I've also discovered that now is not an ideal time to be planning a major upgrade!
I've read lots of advice which helps me realise that I don't need to upgrade right now, and I am pretty happy with my system - one exception being random reboots that I get and can't track down (see here). Fingers crossed I can sort out those problems and if I do, I could run this system for some time yet.
However, I've also been reading that waiting for AM5 (or whatever it will be called) or Intel 12th Gen might well mean waiting a good few years until they are stable and Windows is properly ready for them. I've missed the DDR3 -> DDR4 transition myself but I hear that it took time, and the same could be said about the move to DDR5. I've read opinion that MS will take a while to get to grips with Intel's Big.Little architecture, and I can believe it.
What I'm struggling with is - if I want to upgrade before late-2022, should I do it now and grab a B550 & Zen 3 (or Intel 11th / 10th gen) system with DDR4, or wait for the new stuff? Is it likely that by, say, October 2022 the new platforms will be mature enough to be worth moving to? Or will it take longer, such that my system might fall too far behind?
The recent history of my system is that it started with an H87 ATX board and an i5-4570 back in 2013 and has been upgraded (via eBay) into a Z97 micro-ATX (Asus Maximus Gene Vii) and i7-4790K (micro-ATX to fit in my beloved TJ08-E). My Win 8.1 install has remained throughout and is solid. I personally prefer the stability and (maybe percieved?) control I have over this OS and I've preferred not to move to Win10 so far (I have it on a Surface Go and find aspects of what it automatically does / changes to be a bit frustrating). Part of the reason why I went for as good a 4th Gen system as I could was to set me up until 2023 when I will have to retire my Win 8.1 installation - I don't overclock or game very heavily, but I do multi-task at times stress my system so I like having something capable.
I have some components that I can carry over to a new build, such as a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD (Samsung 980 PRO 1TB) and RTX 2060 StormX, but my 32GB DDR3 is obviously not going anywhere.
Because I haven't built anything new for so long I was out of the loop on lots of stuff, it sure has been interesting to read about AMD's rise! And simultaneously a bit sad to see that Intel haven't been doing so great at hitting back so far. But of course I've also discovered that now is not an ideal time to be planning a major upgrade!
I've read lots of advice which helps me realise that I don't need to upgrade right now, and I am pretty happy with my system - one exception being random reboots that I get and can't track down (see here). Fingers crossed I can sort out those problems and if I do, I could run this system for some time yet.
However, I've also been reading that waiting for AM5 (or whatever it will be called) or Intel 12th Gen might well mean waiting a good few years until they are stable and Windows is properly ready for them. I've missed the DDR3 -> DDR4 transition myself but I hear that it took time, and the same could be said about the move to DDR5. I've read opinion that MS will take a while to get to grips with Intel's Big.Little architecture, and I can believe it.
What I'm struggling with is - if I want to upgrade before late-2022, should I do it now and grab a B550 & Zen 3 (or Intel 11th / 10th gen) system with DDR4, or wait for the new stuff? Is it likely that by, say, October 2022 the new platforms will be mature enough to be worth moving to? Or will it take longer, such that my system might fall too far behind?