I’m planning to build a computer primarily for programming and want to ensure it’s upgradeable for the future. and Hardware with opensource drivers support.
I used to think a lot about up-gradability before but often find that when a cpu is too slow then it is also so old that I have to change the motherboard and ram too for compatibility reasons.
Same thing with the motherboard, if it fails I’ve never had it be new enough that I can bring my cpu and ram with me to my next motherboard (unless buying an older motherboard second hand).
And many of my disks will be old enough that I want to replace them too, at least if they have anything important on them.
Only things I’ve brought with me when upgrading desktops have been my case (including fans), psu, gpu and (some) disks.
Having a quiet and dust proof case that is easy to build in and a good psu that https://cultists.network/140/psu-tier-list/ endorses has become higher priority to me since then, as I know they might last me more than one build.
I tend to recommend a 3 year cycle. Year 1 upgrade peripherals (speakers, monitors, maybe chair, keyboard, mouse etc) year 2. Upgrade video card and hard drives. year 3. Upgrade motherboard, ram and cpu. Year 4 repeat year 1
With this you can you can do 95% of the latest stuff with “good” stuff (think XX70 cards rather then 80 or 90 series) since you are never that outdated on any portion.
You upgrade your chair, keyboard, mouse, and speakers every 3-4 years? You might as well be flushing your money down the toilet. You’re giving pretty terrible advice imo.
Replacing peripherals that often is nuts. Buy proper gear instead of wasting your money. My speakers are 20 years old and still look and sound like new, my proper office chair finally needs replacing or repairing but I got it used 24 years ago (do yourself a favor and never buy a “gaming chair”, buy a proper ergonomic office chair meant to sit in 8+ hrs/day). Monitor is 12 years old and works great for anything that doesn’t require >60Hz. Buy quality keyb+mouse and replace them when they break if you can’t repair them.
And depending on what you do, your computer could last longer than you think. I’m still running a first gen Threadripper from 2017 and it still handles everything I’m throwing at it without hesitation, granted I’m not throwing very heavy things at it these days.
