I often overbuild "parts" of my systems.
Way way long ago, I had a dual Opteron system with 2 GB and a 1,000 watt PSU for my DAW with five HDDs. Each CPU had 2 cores I think. That was overkill back in the days that single-slot/dual core CPUs were the most popular.
As Windows Vista 64 bit came into popularity, CPUs also got better. Additionally, data storage densities improved for hard drives and RAM, so I was able to build the system I have now.
I like to live with a system for 4 years or more, then make another big jump.
I'm still struggling with the decision to go with a single-slot hex-core i7 or even a workstation with dual E-26xx hexl or octal-core processors. And I'm thinking of putting in a dual-GPU graphic card to boot.
I am CPU happy, yes...but even I know that I don't need 16 cores/32 threads for DAW work or for typing responses on Techreport.
But I do want to get back into rendering and I also want to fold now too. The question for me is...do I really want to spend $4,000 on a new system? I certainly don't "need" to! I think the choice will eventually come down to power consumption expectations. I'm not yet ready to install a PV system on my roof.