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OK I did builds before where I skipped on hardware and regretted it later and didn't really saved that much money. I don't know about you guys but I seem to keep my systems longer then I planned on. My last system is a good example of this, I had it for six years. Which is probably why I went a little overboard when I put together my current rig.

Granted we all have budgets to work with. However I'm thinking now that if you can afford to spend a little extra money on your build then do so. For all kinds of reasons you could end up keeping your new build longer then you intended to. After all we can't see the future.

So what do you guys think?

Having built PCs for a couple decades now, I rarely (if ever) recall wishing I had spent MORE on something. Computer parts are a horrible investment where you're guaranteed to lose almost all your money in a handful of years.

That said, the type of component makes a big difference. In general, the slower the advancement for a particular component, the better it will hold its value. Monitors, speakers, headphones, soundcards, cases, and some input devices can all be used for a very long time, so it doesn't hurt to spend a little more on these.

Stagnant components (currently CPUs, RAM) can remain viable and thus hold their value for a while. It's best to go above the "value" lines if you want longevity, but that doesn't mean you should overspend for diminishing returns. For example, my 2500k turned out to be a very good investment in 2011 (because CPUs are stagnant), but splurging $999.00 on an i7-3960X wouldn't have done much for my particular use case.

Rapidly advancing tech (GPUs, SSDs) tend to lose their value the most quickly, particularly at the very high-end where you're paying a huge premium for that extra bit of performance/capacity/etc. When the next generation is released at a brisk pace with better performance/capacity at a lower pricepoint (as well as lower power usage and new technologies) they old top-end can rapidly lose a huge portion of its value. The more you spend, the more you lose. Since GPUs are so key to gaming performance, my approach has been to spend less and buy more often. The depreciation is less painful, the cards have a better portion of their value when sold, and new technologies are acquired more quickly.

Motherboards and PSUs are in somewhat of a special category. Both are intrinsically tied to system stability, so I tend to spend a little more on them.....within reason. I generally don't buy a motherboard with the intention of upgrading the CPU.

The Egg wrote:
Motherboards and PSUs are in somewhat of a special category. Both are intrinsically tied to system stability, so I tend to spend a little more on them.....within reason. I generally don't buy a motherboard with the intention of upgrading the CPU.

I upgraded the CPU in a system just once. And I nearly broke the motherboard trying get the HSF installed. It was such PITA that I sworn that I never do it again. Of course that was about 14 years ago or so. I was delighted by how easy it was to install the HSF on my socket 1150 motherboard.

whm1974 wrote:

The Egg wrote:
Motherboards and PSUs are in somewhat of a special category. Both are intrinsically tied to system stability, so I tend to spend a little more on them.....within reason. I generally don't buy a motherboard with the intention of upgrading the CPU.

I upgraded the CPU in a system just once. And I nearly broke the motherboard trying get the HSF installed. It was such PITA that I sworn that I never do it again. Of course that was about 14 years ago or so. I was delighted by how easy it was to install the HSF on my socket 1150 motherboard.

I also find if the HSF had pre applied TIM it just gets really stuck to the cpu and one time I pulled the cpu out of the socket without lifting the lever attempting to upgrade it... was an AMD system and still worked .
But with platform changes becoming so regular (motherboard) I think most will not upgrade the cpu only they will opt for cpu+motherboard change at the same time. But in the future its hard to tell if platform advancements will stagnate and new sockets are not constantly released with every platform.
Also I think motherboards only have so many times the CPU can be changed with structural fatigue of the socket coming into play, but that is probably irrelevant except for reviewers.

Do you mean longevity in terms of reliability, or obsolescence-proofing? They're not the same thing!

I tend to worry more about the former, and not as much about the latter. You can make a conscious decision to buy quality components that will likely keep truckin' for the next 5+ years, but you can't predict where the market will be in 2 years in terms of bleeding edge components, or what might be compatible with what you're buying today.

Quality PSUs (over-spec slightly to give yourself some headroom), motherboards from tier 1 vendors, larger low RPM fans, no refurb anything (re-purposed or re-used stuff is OK if you know its history though), put the system on a UPS...

"Motherboards and PSUs are in somewhat of a special category. Both are intrinsically tied to system stability, so I tend to spend a little more on them"
Well said...........

I consider PSU to be the most important part of any build-A good PSU is easily transferred to next build....................
A pet hate of mine is nearly every budget build I read uses a cheap (low quality) PSU.
Where a extra $20 brings you up to the 5 year warranty (better quality) range and $30-$40 to the 7 year warranty range.................
NEVER CHEAP OUT ON PSU................................

just brew it! wrote:
Do you mean longevity in terms of reliability, or obsolescence-proofing? They're not the same thing!

Indeed they are not. But I do try to go for a little bit of obsolescence-proof to a point. Displays are a good investment which is why it makes sense to spend extra for a good one. The main two things I have cheap out on before were storage and video card memory.

HERETIC wrote:
NEVER CHEAP OUT ON PSU................................

The first build I did I made the mistake of using a DEER PSU that came with the case. I don't recall if the POS even last six months. I'm lucky it didn't kill the rest of the system or catch fire...

I've always been sceptical about the practical benefits of more expensive PSUs. Obviously the cheap ones with rip-off branding and dodgy ratings are to be avoided but there are people who insist that models without Gold efficiency, 7 year warranties and 300W of spare capacity are not worthwhile.

Where does the quality scale of the PC power supply market fall in broader terms? If you compared them quality wise to the average PSU you got with a similar priced TV, Laptop or other bit of DC electrics then which models would be most similar?

I've always been sceptical about the practical benefits of more expensive PSUs. Obviously the cheap ones with rip-off branding and dodgy ratings are to be avoided but there are people who insist that models without Gold efficiency, 7 year warranties and 300W of spare capacity are not worthwhile.

I went with a SeaSonic 550W Gold efficiency PSU myself when I built my rig about two and a half years ago. Now I will go out on a limb and say that for most people this is enough PSU.

"Future-proofing" has always been a money-losing proposition.

If you do want to spend a few more dollars on your build, consider the parts that are the most difficult to replace and those that will become obsolete the slowest as well as those that provide the most noticeable improvement in the user experience. A good monitor can last for a decade or more. Mechanical keyboards, headphones and amplifier+speaker systems are also long-lived and have a direct effect on the way that you experience your PC. Mice don't last as long, but $40 spent on a quality Logitech mouse and another $12 for a good mouse pad with wrist rest could prevent a repetitive stress injury.

If you find a case that you really like, you may build more than one PC in it, especially if you have paired it with an efficient high-quality power supply. When the SS-660XP² drops to $100 on my Newegg price alert, I restock my spare for my next build. My favorite case is currently the Temjin TJ08-E.

What you want to avoid is spending a lot more money for the most extreme components that are only slightly better than the next step down and that will become obsolete quickly. GPUs, RAM and SSDs are likely to see significant improvements in price and performance in the next two years. These are also the easiest pieces of the computer to upgrade. Buy what you need now. If you need something larger or faster in the future, it will be cheaper in the future.

whm1974 wrote:

I've always been sceptical about the practical benefits of more expensive PSUs. Obviously the cheap ones with rip-off branding and dodgy ratings are to be avoided but there are people who insist that models without Gold efficiency, 7 year warranties and 300W of spare capacity are not worthwhile.

I went with a SeaSonic 550W Gold efficiency PSU myself when I built my rig about two and a half years ago. Now I will go out on a limb and say that for most people this is enough PSU.

Not out on a limb at all-Absolutly spot on-Don't know what it cost then,but today it's not a lot dearer than some of the rubbish out there....
and spending more is overkill..............

JustAnEngineer wrote:
"Future-proofing" has always been a money-losing proposition.

While I agree with you, as far as CPUs go, since there haven't been large increases in performance like there used to be it does make sense to spend a bit more on them now that they last longer. If I had to do another build for my dad, I would now go with an i3 instead of a pentium as he is likely to keep it for a long time.

EndlessWaves wrote:

I've always been sceptical about the practical benefits of more expensive PSUs. Obviously the cheap ones with rip-off branding and dodgy ratings are to be avoided but there are people who insist that models without Gold efficiency, 7 year warranties and 300W of spare capacity are not worthwhile.

Where does the quality scale of the PC power supply market fall in broader terms? If you compared them quality wise to the average PSU you got with a similar priced TV, Laptop or other bit of DC electrics then which models would be most similar?

http://www.jonnyguru.com/

JonnyGuru has lots of excellent PSU reviews, that include looking at noise levels within the 3.3V, 5V and 12V lines, along with how the PSUs behave at varying loads.

I recall there was one review where they determined that a company slapped a "1200W PSU" label on a 550W PSU. They figured it out by looking at the similarities in the circuit board and components, and how the "1200W" PSU choked at above 550W before burning out at below 1000W.

There was also a PSU that got the lowest ratings ever because it was a fire hazard (overheating in parts of the PSU), shock hazard (grounding could easily fail), and the fan also slows down as the PSU heats up due to the fantastic circuit design. Aka, if it gets hot enough, it will eventually overheat and catch fire.

Oh, and it also had an extreme amount of noise and ripple on all of the outputs, which meant everything in the computer (GPU, motherboard, CPU, etc) were going to take a severe beating.

I was thinking about longevity after having my mind refreshed reading the interesting replies.

just brew it! wrote:

Quality PSUs (over-spec slightly to give yourself some headroom), motherboards from tier 1 vendors, larger low RPM fans, no refurb anything (re-purposed or re-used stuff is OK if you know its history though), put the system on a UPS...

I might be venturing into the Server space here.
What about redundant Power Supply Units? The ones with two units in a housing and fail over to the second one in an event.
And what about Commercial motherboards from the likes of SuperMicro or the like in the workstation class?
And ECC RAM?

I feel those are extremes but for longevity in the end. If someone absolutely has to go 6 years without buying even one piece of computer hardware, which that is even uncommon I believe.

If you cannot afford that extra money you're better off cutting a part down.

Like I advise if you cannot get at least a 970/290 class GPU and plan to keep it for 2+ years to live with iGPU for now and get a 970/290+ later. Actually probably a 390 given you plan for Ultra high res.

Fonbu wrote:
I feel those are extremes but for longevity in the end. If someone absolutely has to go 6 years without buying even one piece of computer hardware, which that is even uncommon I believe.

It wasn't by choice. Normally I do new builds about every three years, but I ended up becoming disabled due to mental issues and took me about three and half years to get disability. It was hell going that long without money...

NoOne ButMe wrote:
Like I advise if you cannot get at least a 970/290 class GPU and plan to keep it for 2+ years to live with iGPU for now and get a 970/290+ later. Actually probably a 390 given you plan for Ultra high res.

That is a good idea. Or you could get a better CPU now and get the video card later...

whm1974 wrote:

Fonbu wrote:
I feel those are extremes but for longevity in the end. If someone absolutely has to go 6 years without buying even one piece of computer hardware, which that is even uncommon I believe.

It wasn't by choice. Normally I do new builds about every three years, but I ended up becoming disabled due to mental issues and took me about three and half years to get disability. It was hell going that long without money...

That's understandable, those things happen. Exceptions always. Good Luck!

I thought my i5 2500K would be a good purchase for longevity... and I was right. I knew that Sandy Bridge was a milestone, but I had no idea this thing would keep up with the top dogs for so long. With a solid overclock, it is within the same performance bracket as recent i5 processors (at stock of course), and I've had this thing for almost 5 years now.

If you are concerned about getting parts that will last you the longest in terms of reliability and performance, don't skimp on the CPU, buy a motherboard with enough expandability to suit or needs, get a good 80Plus Gold PSU, and get a good chunk of DDR3\DDR4.

I'd say at this point an i7 would probably be a good idea since quad cores have been utilized fully for years now, and we're bound to start seeing more games use more than four cores. An i5 will likely be more than sufficient though... especially if it is overclocked.

As for the graphics card, don't bother trying to future proof. I've had half a dozen video cards in this motherboard and my GTX 970 is probably considered mid range already. Get the best you can afford and plan on either swapping it out every year or two (to ensure that your old card is still valuable enough to make some money back) or plan on scaling down the settings as time goes on. In my case, I just don't play AAA games, so it rarely matters. I keep telling myself the 970 will last me a long time, but all it'll take is for one game I play to bring it to its knees and I'll be drooling over the next best thing. I'm weak.

When looking at motherboards, I choose those with four memory slots to make future memory upgrades easier. And I'm starting to think that a second PCIe 16x slot would be useful for a M.2 to PCIe x4 adaptor card.

JustAnEngineer wrote:
Mechanical keyboards, headphones and amplifier+speaker systems are also long-lived and have a direct effect on the way that you experience your PC.

I strongly agree with you on this. I have a SolidTek mechanical keyboard and a pair of Flips Audio headphones and I love both of them. And the Flips Audio can be used as speakers or headphones, which is nice since I don't like wearing headphones.

I feel like longevity is also quite dependent on when you buy, as opposed to merely what you buy.

jihadjoe wrote:

I feel like longevity is also quite dependent on when you buy, as opposed to merely what you buy.

I also believe how long a component may last is also directly related to how static free (ESD) the assembly environment, latent defects will shorten a piece of electronics lifespan.
http://electronicdesign.com/power/under ... or-devices