Intel's locking CPUs to same-gen chipsets/sockets = lack of decent upgrade path

[misGnomer]

My current "rig" is an average Haswell i5 sitting on an upper midrange non-gaming mobo. At the time of building it I entertained the idea of upgrading the CPU to a newer-gen i7 year or two down the line for moar threads and better IGP as well.

Well, of course every new generation of Intel CPUs is tied to a spanking new generation of chipsets and/or sockets so the whole combo must be replaced when wishing to upgrade.

Intel doesn't offer upgrade editions of newer CPUs tailored for earlier sockets and chipsets. Too much work for possibly lower profit margins, and why do it when they can also sell new chipsets for more profit.

Moreover the prices of past-gen i7s never get a noticeable discount and AFAIK there isn't much of a second-hand market either so buying a new Haswell i7 as an upgrade isn't all that appealing proposition. Mea culpa of course, maybe should've forked out for it at the beginning since I hate to see otherwise serviceable hardware ending up in a landfill.

I appreciate Intel's good and nearly comprehensive support for Linux, but when I finally upgrade my system(s) this year should I ignore the red corner and their sane socket and chipset policy providing upgrade paths and their apparently competitive always-unlocked new processors or settle for another non-upgradeable Intel combo?

Based on the technical definition Intel probably hasn't engaged in price gouging, but what I as a mere customer experience isn't too far from it.

Now I can only hope that AMD makes absolutely sure that Linux gets first class support to help me with my decision. Price-performance-value considerations aside, upgradability will be a key factor and the blue behemoth doesn't have much, if any, credibility on that front.

[Holograph]

Expecting a "Core i7 Overdrive" module, are ya? That hasn't existed since socket 8 (you could put a Pentium 2 overdrive module in a socket 8 Pentium Pro motherboard, though almost nobody did).

Other than those modules and certain industrial PCs, it's almost never been the case that you could do this. And even with those old overdrive modules, they were usually not a good way to go, because the overdrive module cost more than the standard CPU, and you would be stuck on an old platform which would hold your system back from taking full advantage of the new processor.

AMD's not that much better. You're not going to be able to buy a Ryzen motherboard today and throw a new CPU in there say 3 years later. They'll be on AM4+ or something by then, and hopefully they will add a reasonable number of PCI-E lanes and a better memory controller (and/or more memory channels) by then.

I bet most computer enthusiasts have at some point wanted their motherboards to last longer but do a little more thinking about it... it's never been a reasonable idea in the first place. System upgrades are about much more than CPU. (Except in the case of Ryzen which is a great CPU in an archaic platform.)

Besides, what kind of performance increase are you expecting if you went to Skylake or Kaby Lake? If you're on Sandy Bridge or later, you probably wouldn't gain many benefits unless you use applications that will take advantage of newer instructions like AVX2 or FMA or whatever.

[misGnomer]

Look at Intel's nearly annual chipset releases and how they only support a single matching generation of CPUs. Fire/profit and forget.

There are no reasonable CPU upgrade options other than buying a whole new motherboard and CPU combo. Moreover Intel still prices their past generation CPUs nearly the same as the corresponding latest-gen models.

My last AMD CPU was an Athlon-something so I'm about as far from their fanbois as they come, but I believe their AM3 and now AM4 platforms are built to support multiple generations of CPUs so even having just the option of one or two generations newer Ryzen versions with a few improvements would be (re-)revolutionary. Two-three years from now a newer mobo/chipset platform is likely introduced, but having any CPU upgrade options at all would be most welcome. Instead of selling "overdrive" CPU editions targetting recent platforms Intel may lose potential upgraders to AMD's platforms instead. (besides cheaper CPUs even the AM(x) boards tend to be significantly cheaper, encouraging the ship-jumping)

With next-gen Ryzens compatible with existing AM4 boards I'd expect the older versions depreciate somewhat, with the added potential of a second-hand market.

Most users don't need to upgrade, but having the option and a less restrained market is still a positive which might also end up helping Intel's customers if such commercial or competitive pressures emerge.

And same with the upcoming APUs (Raven Ridge?) for laptops. Eventually it makes sense to replace the whole thing, but if everything works and it's fully decked out with large SSD and lots of RAM (even if it's of lowly DDR3 type) why not just drop in a new CPU module. It might not make 'murica great again, but at least the landfills might feel little less stressed.