More upgradable CPU/mobo: AMD or Intel?

[SoulinEther]

I'm looking to build myself a desktop again, and I'm trying to build it as future proof as possible, for at least a few years, while on a budget. Basically, I want something that I can upgrade in the next 1-3 years without having to replace the motherboard: CPU, graphics, etc. - so that maybe I can save money now and replace as I get funds to spare.

My main question is, am I better off going with AMD, whose AM3 CPUs seem to be compatible in AM2/+ boards, or should I go with Intel? And if I go with Intel: 775, or which other socket?

Obviously, I realize that if I go with one of the i5/i7 sockets, I'll have to start out with an expensive CPU... so maybe Intel isn't the way to go?

Perhaps more importantly, then, what motherboard do you recommend? Definitely thinking PCIe, though SLi/Crossfire aren't that important to me. A few PCI slots would be nice. Onboard graphics is a plus. Should I stick with DDR2 ram (has the price on DDR2 ram gone up or is that just me?) or go for DDR3?

And since I'm looking to upgrade in the future anyway, maybe I'll pick up a cheaper CPU now and get a better one in the future. IDK. If so, what's a decent cheaper CPU? How does Athlon II X2 compare to Pentium Dual Core?

I appreciate any advice.

edit: right now I'm inclined to go with AMD. Their lower Phenom II offerings seem like really good deals, and the Athlon IIs seem to be pretty ok too.

[prophetik music]

amd is horrid, for a lot of reasons. mainly, their cpus perform far below what their measurables (FSB, clock rate, etc) say they should. not to mention they run extremely hot - the phenom quads they sell are rated at up to 145w of heat, which is literally enough to scald the skin off of your fingers in an instant (or boil water). you might get decent performance, but any cpu that runs that hot and doesn't have really awesome cooling - like, a hand-lapped heatsink with two large fans on it - will die once it is past the one-year mark.

go with a newer-model i7, like the 860. the motherboards for the LGA1156 cpus are way cheaper than the i7s requiring the 1366 socket.

i'm an evga fanboy, mainly because their warranty is so damn good (lifetime warranty, regardless of the issue. they're awesome!). check out the p55 model they're shopping now. if that's too much, gigabyte makes excellent long-term stable boards as well.

don't even bother with x2 and pentium dual-core. pentium DC are before the core 2 came out, and the core 2 architecture now has been outdated by the i7/i5/eventual i3 architecture as well.

of course, it depends on cost. don't even try to future-proof a computer when you don't have the cash to handle it. save and buy later instead of spending 600$ now. you'll regret it in less than a year. spend the money on your psu and motherboard, since that's what matters in the long term. go ddr3 if you can.

here's what i'd say you should get:

evga p55 model mobo - 200$

intel i7 860 - 289$

zalman 600w psu - i own this psu, and it's got the guts of the 750w model...as in, i've had it outputting 775w for hours and there were no issues! what an amazing psu. if you can't afford it, get the ocz modxstream, which is modular and a well-designed psu.

evga 9800gtx+ - good sli, good card. if you can afford it, get one of their gtx 260 core 216 cards, which are absolute monsters.

g.skill ripjaws (ddr3 2000, 4gb total) if you can afford it, ddr3 1333 if you can't

for hard drives, anything on this page

lg dvd-rw drive (12x burn speed for DL discs? do want!)

for a case, i recommend the antec three hundred. protip: get whichever model happens to have free shipping, and it'll save you 25$ for shipping the damn thing. there's always a model of the three hundred on sale, it's just a matter of finding it.

with the ripjaw ram, a 750gb hard drive, and the expensive psu, you've got a fantastic system for 1040$ or so. really, really awesome, and futureproofed out the ass. you might upgrade the gpu in two years, but everything on that list has at least a five-year warranty (aside from the hard drive, since none have more than three nowadays), and your mobo, psu, and gpu have lifetime warranties on them. the cpu, psu, ram and mobo are all components that you'll have for years and will function just as well then as they do now.

need to drop some cost? use the ocz gpu (-25), the i7-750 (-90), the cheaper ram (-30), or the gigabyte mobo (-35 or so). always buy as much hard drive space as you can afford, and never ever scrimp on your psu or ram. crappy ram or an inefficient psu will really make you pay in the long run (particularly with psus, an inefficient psu can cost hundreds a year over what you could be paying).

if you've got questions, let me know.

[SoulinEther]

Woo, that's... well, yeah, that's pretty damn impressive. The funniest part is everything costs at least twice as much as I was thinking of spending, lol. It would probably be screaming (or at least performing well) 3 years down the line, doing better than anything I was considering.

it's tempting. You make a good case against AMD... maybe I will wait a bit. Should I expect DDR3 ram to increase in price with increased demand?

And maybe I should have mentioned that I don't plan on using this rig for gaming (at least not for current-gen games), so having extreme performance was never at the top of my list per se; I just want something reliable with components that won't be abandoned any time soon should they need replacing (like RAM). It's more of a production computer, I guess.. graphics/video editing and the like. Still, what you offer is a good standard by which I can judge whatever I decide to purchase - I'll take your advice to heart.

and hey, warranties: there's something I hadn't thought of. They'd probably serve me well for saving money. And I didn't know evga had lifetime warranties. I'll definitely be looking out for their products.

muchas gracias.

[prophetik music]

all ram is starting to go up. i'd be surprised for it to go much higher than it is, now. there hasn't been much innovation in the field in about six months, with pretty much no new packs coming out. i'd be surprised if that held true over the next six months as well.

the 9800GTX+ would be enough for you, then, as it's particularly strong with GPGPU and CUDA technologies. you could go lower and not be hurt by it, but don't go too low - a 9500GT (512mb of ram, 256 or 128 bit bus) or the 9600GSO would be the lower end of the spectrum for what you'd want, i'd think. if you're not using GPGPU- and CUDA-enabled applications...you will be, in a year or two. so get a gpu that's worth the time.

it's quite expensive, yes. the days of spending 600$ on a computer and having it be good for longer than six months are gone, though, with the astronomical rise in the renewal speed of technology. go big now, so that you don't have to spend money for a long time. and always - ALWAYS - spend more to get the warranty. it's worth it, in the end.

[SoulinEther]

Alright.. sounds like a plan.

[prophetik music]

let me know when you pick. i'll give you more up-to-date info then.