How future proof am I?

[_dawn_chorus_]

I recently saw this article:
https://segmentnext.com/2018/02/06/pc-hardware-prices-silicon-wafer/
Granted its a couple months old it is worrisome. I am on the verge of buying several new parts in the next couple months out of concern upgrading will get even more expensive over the next couple years. So How future proof do you think this current system is? I use it for Music production and gaming, and would like to do some light video editing over the next winter.
Also I am about to buy a 1440p G-sync monitor so I know that will hit my fps performance.

Current system:
i7-7700
Cryorig H7
Ripjaw DDR4 2133 16gb(2x8)
MSI B250 Mortar Motherboard
EVGA 1080 SC2
Samsung Evo 850 500gb (x2)
WD Blue 1Tb 7200rpm
Corsair RM550x

We want to upgrade my girlfriends CPU Motherboard and Ram in the next 7 months or so, so I was thinking of upgrading mine and giving her my parts.

Upgrades I am considering:
i7-8700k
Ripjaw DDR4 3200
Some Z3-- motherboard.
Samsung evo 860 1Tb - (Running out of space on my 2 500's, one is music production and OS the other is games.)

How future proof does my current rig seem? Should I upgrade now?

 

[evan1715]

You're good.

-Upgrading to the i7-8700k vs your previous generation wouldn't help too much, although the 6 core vs 4 core does sound appealing.
-Upgrading to DDR4 3200, you wouldn't see much of a difference either.
-The motherboard would just be an upgrade to support the newer model processor, yeah? Not really needed. If you're not going to overclock, then the i7-K series is unnecessary and so is a Z--- motherboard that would utilize overclocking features.
-The storage thing, that's really your preference on what you need and your budget. Do you need more space? If you do need more space, do you need high speed data or simply something to hold more storage? We're talking a ~$250 for 1TB SSD vs ~$60 2TB HDD. It depends on what you want there. If you're using it for casual storage, basic programs, movies, documents, or even video games, a hard drive should be fine since you already have two 500gb SSD . However, if you actively juggle 15 games at one time instead of the usual 2-3 games that most people actively play at a time, then perhaps you want another SSD. But you could probably get by with the hard drive. Hell, if you want, go for a 4TB hard drive if you want a lot of space. Just make sure you *always* back up your stuff on an external drive and cloud service!!!!! I do this once a year. ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR IMPORTANT STUFF.

Bottom line is, you don't "need" an upgrade. Although "future proof" doesn't necessarily exist, the answer is technically a "Yes, you are future proof."

However, if your girlfriend is going to build a new pc/upgrade and she'll pay the difference and you won't lose any money, or if you do lose money it's small, then sure, why not! Go for the upgrade if that's the case.

In 2012 I bought these:
i7-3770K
DDR3 8GB (2x4GB) @ 1600GHz
ASRock Z77 Extreme4
Corsair 120GB (for $160 compared to now's $45!!)
500GB HDD
And an EVGA 660 Ti.

5 years later, I added two more RAM sticks for 16GB (4x4GB) and I replaced the video card with an EVGA 1070 FTW. My computer is still fast as hell, processor never reaches 100% on video games, it does not cause a bottleneck, and 16GB is more than enough for a video game to be open plus all my background tasks, voice chat, internet browser, music, etc. I plan on having my build for another 5 years at least. My build may need another video card in 5 years, but that's fairly standard to upgrade the video card every five years. However, I plan on using the build for a 10-year period. 2012 to 2022 at least. I will use my i7-3770K until it operates at 100% and is a bottleneck.

So yes, your build, or the build you want to upgrade to, is "future proof" and will last you 10 years (give or take the video card upgrade). You wouldn't see a real world difference if you upgraded to the other stuff but if it doesn't cost you much and she covers the difference, then there's no harm in upgrading, just don't expect to see an obvious performance difference.

 

[g-unit1111]

There really isn't such a thing as being "future proof". The thing is 5 years from now the hardware specs and requirements will look completely different from what they are now. Upgrading from an already solid CPU to another isn't really going to improve performance muchh. You already have a top of the line CPU that will handle just about anything you can throw at it. Every generation of CPU is only going to yield about a 10% performance increase from the previous generation. And it will probably also incorporate whatever new tech comes with it. There hasn't been much since the 7700, and probably won't be for the foreseeable future. If you really must have new features, that's where the extra money would be spent. But if you don't need the new features, you are good for the next five or so years.

 

[_dawn_chorus_]

You're good.

-Upgrading to the i7-8700k vs your previous generation wouldn't help too much, although the 6 core vs 4 core does sound appealing.
-Upgrading to DDR4 3200, you wouldn't see much of a difference either.
-The motherboard would just be an upgrade to support the newer model processor, yeah? Not really needed. If you're not going to overclock, then the i7-K series is unnecessary and so is a Z--- motherboard that would utilize overclocking features.
-The storage thing, that's really your preference on what you need and your budget. Do you need more space? If you do need more space, do you need high speed data or simply something to hold more storage? We're talking a ~$250 for 1TB SSD vs ~$60 2TB HDD. It depends on what you want there. If you're using it for casual storage, basic programs, movies, documents, or even video games, a hard drive should be fine since you already have two 500gb SSD . However, if you actively juggle 15 games at one time instead of the usual 2-3 games that most people actively play at a time, then perhaps you want another SSD. But you could probably get by with the hard drive. Hell, if you want, go for a 4TB hard drive if you want a lot of space. Just make sure you *always* back up your stuff on an external drive and cloud service!!!!! I do this once a year. ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR IMPORTANT STUFF.

Bottom line is, you don't "need" an upgrade. Although "future proof" doesn't necessarily exist, the answer is technically a "Yes, you are future proof."

However, if your girlfriend is going to build a new pc/upgrade and she'll pay the difference and you won't lose any money, or if you do lose money it's small, then sure, why not! Go for the upgrade if that's the case.

In 2012 I bought these:
i7-3770K
DDR3 8GB (2x4GB) @ 1600GHz
ASRock Z77 Extreme4
Corsair 120GB (for $160 compared to now's $45!!)
500GB HDD
And an EVGA 660 Ti.

5 years later, I added two more RAM sticks for 16GB (4x4GB) and I replaced the video card with an EVGA 1070 FTW. My computer is still fast as hell, processor never reaches 100% on video games, it does not cause a bottleneck, and 16GB is more than enough for a video game to be open plus all my background tasks, voice chat, internet browser, music, etc. I plan on having my build for another 5 years at least. My build may need another video card in 5 years, but that's fairly standard to upgrade the video card every five years. However, I plan on using the build for a 10-year period. 2012 to 2022 at least. I will use my i7-3770K until it operates at 100% and is a bottleneck.

So yes, your build, or the build you want to upgrade to, is "future proof" and will last you 10 years (give or take the video card upgrade). You wouldn't see a real world difference if you upgraded to the other stuff but if it doesn't cost you much and she covers the difference, then there's no harm in upgrading, just don't expect to see an obvious performance difference.

That all brings me some peace of mind. Now that you say it the storage thing is a bit unnecessary.. While my sample libraries, and .Wav's of live recorded instruments are massive, I do have too many games installed at once. I got a bit spooked after reading about ssd's having less re writes than hdd's and I figured if I am always installing and reinstalling these massive 30-40 gb games it would speed that process up, and some games I like to replay entirely or just donk around when I am bored. Thats probably unreasonable though...It's my first build so I baby it as much as possible, I am sure the ssd will hammer on for years.

As for the girlfriend machine, I upgraded to a 1080 from a 1060 6gb so with the parts from my old stock Dell and a couple new ones I built her something that does 60fps on high settings in current games but I feel its ability to do so will diminish rather quickly. We want to play Farcry5 next so we will see how it does. It has very similar specs to your 2012 build but has 8gb ram and a just slightly weaker cpu. I would be footing the bill as she isn't worried about it really... but I know going back to the 30fps she was playing before will be worse than she imagines..haha.

I think realistically my only concern is that my rigs gaming performance will drop steadily. I imagine for music production it will do fantastic for 5+ years no problem. But once I get the 144hz 1440p monitor and get use to 90-100fps in games I don't want that to be down to 60 or 50 within the next year or so... as I hear games will be utilizing ram and cpu power more and more.

Thank you for the insight though, I think you have talked me out of spending $700 for a 10% boost... for now.. hahaha.

 

[_dawn_chorus_]

There really isn't such a thing as being "future proof". The thing is 5 years from now the hardware specs and requirements will look completely different from what they are now. Upgrading from an already solid CPU to another isn't really going to improve performance muchh. You already have a top of the line CPU that will handle just about anything you can throw at it. Every generation of CPU is only going to yield about a 10% performance increase from the previous generation. And it will probably also incorporate whatever new tech comes with it. There hasn't been much since the 7700, and probably won't be for the foreseeable future. If you really must have new features, that's where the extra money would be spent. But if you don't need the new features, you are good for the next five or so years.

Those are good points.. I think am mostly just worried about gaming performance diminishing quickly.. or just having that "shoulda woulda coulda" feeling when I am getting lower frames in future games.. I have seen how much some open world titles benefit from higher ram speeds, and that higher ram speeds make a significant difference in games with the 8700k. I imagine upcoming titles like Cyberpunk 2077 will be pretty ram and cpu intensive, and if prices do go up for all silicon related computer parts (like that article speculates) I will be kicking myself when I can't run it at very high settings over 90fps unless I buy new parts..
Then again I played several semi recent titles last year on intel hd 4600 graphics so c'est la vie I guess... ha.

Anyway thanks for your insight, feeling more confident about the current build now.

 

[evan1715]

I do not know of SSD's rewrites vs HDD's. From the information I've seen, an SSD will outlast a HDD.

Why do you think it will diminish quickly? You're good, man lol. You could get her 16gb of RAM but I don't know if it will truly make a difference. I wanted more because I do more than just game on my computer and I'm a heavy 'multitasker.' What's her CPU? Is it still an i7? If you're paying, then you shouldn't pay for too much lol. I don't even think the 1060 to 1080 upgrade was necessary.

Your gaming performance will be fine. If you're deeply concerned of less than max hertz at max resolution, you could go SLI on your graphics. But do take into account that you'd be spending a massive amount of money to SLI when an upgrade in a graphics card seems necessary after ~5 years.
I think your entire set up will be great for 10 years no matter what you do. In the earlier part of the 21st century, computers were accelerating and maybe every five years, you'd need a new PC entirely. Now, you're good for a bit. You might need more storage, replace a failing hard drive, a graphics upgrade, or a RAM expansion, but that's not bad.

I think I'll medically diagnose you with buildatitis. It's a very harsh disease that causes one to have the urge to want more and more out of their PC build even though they have a really good build. It's a terrible disease that I've seen many become just financially and emotionally degraded from. I tend to have it too but through some self-therapy, I've calmed down my buildatitis to a more manageable level. Of course, my calming is mainly from financial woes.

 

[_dawn_chorus_]

I think I'll medically diagnose you with buildatitis. It's a very harsh disease that causes one to have the urge to want more and more out of their PC build even though they have a really good build. It's a terrible disease that I've seen many become just financially and emotionally degraded from. I tend to have it too but through some self-therapy, I've calmed down my buildatitis to a more manageable level. Of course, my calming is mainly from financial woes.

LOL!! Ah man I was thinking that same thing.. buildatitis..hahaha. This is like an addiction for sure. Dopamine release for deciding on a part, for making a pcpartpicker list, for ordering the parts, then the build, then running benchmarks and games..ha.
I was thinking that too.. but in all seriousness I do really want 100ish+ hz for games and 144hz for scrolling and browsing, the blurring really strains my eyes having to refocus constantly. I got the 1080 because I found a good price and I new I would struggle to push 60fps in 1440p with the 1060.
Her CPU is an i5-4460s 2.9ghz with maybe 3.2ghz boost. We are playing a lot of Vermintide 2 right now and she gets just under or about 60fps in high settings on that one, and got 59fps across the board on the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark. She stayed above 60 in other games she played and even Dying Light. Games are definitely starting to use more ram and cpu power and I just imagine in the next couple years that will start to be more of a standard.
While she isn't fretting about it, I also am not ready to sell off my build (my first) for an upgrade as I seemed to have picked a really cohesive set of parts and gotten a bit lucky as I continuously get better results than benchmarks I see with similar specs, plus I know she will be bummed when she is back down to her stuttery game play of old.

Not sure if you read the article link but it mentions that silicon wafer manufacturers intend to increase the price of silicon wafer by 20% this year and 20% next...That is pretty damn significant. So while a 10-30% performance increase doesn't seem to justify a $700 upgrade, the coupon cutter in me would rather pay that now than a $1000 for that same upgrade in the next couple years. Although it will be interesting to see how that 40% increase for a wafer will translate to the consumer.

The SSD thing, I am completely being paranoid.. lol. They do have a longer life expectancy but have less re-writes than a HHD. That would take me years to accomplish though..Now that I say some of these things publicly they sound absurd..haha.

 

[nobspls]

Sometime I think I have more fun building the gaming machine than actually playing the games on them. So if you just want to build stuff, then more power to ya. But that is an expensive hobby and you can not make any sort of financial excuse bang for the buck gain for going from a kabylake to a coffeelake. And there is no future proofing excuse either.

 

[evan1715]

Hah! I have the same thing. I'll window shop new parts online and sometimes make up pretend builds in a wish list. I like building them too. I've built quite a few of them for my friends.

Personally, I'm good with 60Hz. I suppose I'd use 120Hz if I could but I want a 16:10 4K 120Hz monitor. That doesn't exist and it might not ever so I'll keep my 16:10 1920x1200 for now

For the CPU, maybe I would trade the i5 for an i7. Maybe sell the i5 on eBay and trade it for a used i7 on eBay with the same socket, LGA1150. It'll be cheaper and you get to keep all the parts.

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about the silicon parts. It'll always be expensive, which is why I plan on keeping my build until it can't operate anymore lol.