This is a very common question among a majority of the PC gamers, ‘How do I Future proof my PC?’ and also I read a lot of posts and comments on Facebook regarding the same. So I thought that I could help our gamer friends out there and advice them on how they can future proof their PCs to the most manageable cost.
These days, with the exponential increase in technology many people can get frustrated trying to catch up to it. But there is always that hope. As people have said there are two ways to be successful- Either you work hard and crawl your way up or just drag others down and move ahead. In case of budget minded people running behind technology, they’ll have to apply the latter method (Well not dragging down people obviously). The last console generation has left behind a mentality of static hardware for an extended amount of time and those jumping on-board to the PC platform right now, will be planning to make a PC on the basis of what they had experienced last gen. *Ahem ahem it just got shortened to three years*. But let’s not get into that.
Either way, trying to build a PC that will last you 5 years is a very risky gamble. It does alleviate your attention from that the fact that a game might not run on your PC and it does provide ultra gaming at 1080p, 1440p or maybe even 4K (not ultra) but the point here is that it comes it’s share of problems. First and foremost, the performance- a high end PC will definitely run any game at ultra for the next 3 years. Look at the GTX 780, it still maxes out games at 1080p and manages to pull of 4K as well.
But this is true now, maybe in the future this might not be possible and as we are seeing, the generation of 4K is coming, VR has already come and who knows what else is in store. So if you do buy a futureproof GPU now and aren’t able to utilize it’s full potential, maybe you should restrain on buying. Also as we can see, there has been a huge jump of VRAM capacity in the GPUs. The GTX 1070 is going to have 8 Gigs of DDR5 RAM. Where the GTX 970 has 4 GB, the GTX 670 had 2 GB of VRAM. The comparison of VRAMs is one of the most minor things as far as performance variation goes. As we progress further in technology, more and more differences will become appratent.
Being a budgeted person means that not only do you have to worry about performance but also about any hardware breakdowns that you might face. What happens if your GTX 980Ti just breaks down and is not covered in the warranty, all that cash goes down in the drain. Other than that, all the parts of the PC must be compatible with each other. You just can’t utilize your 980Ti on a 60Hz monitor, so it is useless dishing out that much cash. You could have bought a GTX 970 and saved some (Actually a lot) for the next card.
The idea of a static machine inevitably removes one of the best features of PC gaming, which is flexibility. The ability of upgrading your PC whenever you want is what makes this platform a very consistent performer. After you get a decent PC, you can change various parts of the PC as and when you find suitable time. So the question still stands: How do I efficiently future proof my PC?
Well the answer to that question is not very complicated. Future proofing is a relative term and you just have to take care of the parts that needn’t be changed regularly. According to me the most frequently changed parts are the GPU and PSU which are interdependent on each other, because the GPU is the power hogger of the PC. An average graphics card update is required every 3 or more years. I would suggest that you look at a GPU which fulfils your current needs and not one which you think will serve you better 5-6 years down the line.
The second most frequently changed parts are CPUs, which if you have an i5 will last you no less than 5 years and if you are ready to dish out more and get the i7, then you’re looking at a good 7-8 years of good going. According to the CPU and the GPU, the motherboard also needs an upgrade if it does not have the required slots, but happens very less frequently. As of other components like RAM, optical disk drives and network cards, they are available for very rational amounts these days and can be bought very easily.
So, what I would suggest in a build would be a decent PC with a great CPU, PSU and motherboard, a decent graphics card and any other parts you’d like to throw in (Though on a budget, I doubt you’ll have enough cash for extravaganza). Some time down the line, you could exchange your graphics card for a better one when you have enough money and then keep repeating the process.
In the end, future proofing is more of a personal preference than a general term. A person who can compromise on fps and graphics will have a longer future proofing time than a person with the expectancy of 4K and Ultra graphics. What do you think is the perfect future-proofing plan? Do you think I’m wrong with the ideology or do you agree with me? Let us know that and more in the comments below.