this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2026
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The upgrade argument for desktops doesn't stand up anymore (www.howtogeek.com)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by worhui@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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I haven’t thought about it in a while but the premise of the article rings true. Desktops are overall disposable. Gpu generations are only really significant with new cpu generations. CPUs are the same with real performance needed a new chipset and motherboard. At that point you are replacing the whole system.

Is there a platform that challenges that trend?

Edit Good points were made. There is a lot to disagree with in the article, especially when focused on gaming.

Storage For the love of your data : storage is a WEAR component. Especially with HDD. Up until recently storage was so cheap it was crazy not to get new drives every few years.

Power Supplies Just because the computer still boots doesn't mean the power supply is still good. A PSU will continue to shove power into your system long past the ability to provide clean power. Scope and test an older PSU before you put it on a new build.

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[–] saltesc@lemmy.world 19 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Let's say that you've just significantly upgraded your GPU. If you were getting the most out of your CPU with your previous GPU, there's a good chance that your new GPU will be held back by that older component. So now, you need a new CPU or some percentage of your new GPU's performance is wasted. Except, getting a new CPU that's worth the upgrade usually means getting a new motherboard, which might also require new RAM, and so on.

This guy's friends should keep him away from computers and just give him an iPad to play with.

[–] worhui@lemmy.world -4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Technology moves on. The highest spec iPads blow away older workstation class pc’s for non-gpu loads. It would only be the OS holding that back, not the hardware.

[–] biggerbogboy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

Technology moves on. Any meaningfully upgradable desktop will blow away the highest spec iPads of 2026 once the owner finds it necessary to upgrade. And upgrading a pc doesn’t mean you have to replace the entire thing just because you want a new GPU, it’s just like bulldozing your house because you don’t like the current wall paint colour.

Sure, if you’ll go clinically insane if you get the smallest bottleneck with your hardware, sure, replace your rig if it’s viable for you, but most of the time for most workloads, small bottlenecks don't mean much, so upgrading components when it feels right is generally just a better choice.

Also, the highest spec iPads only have 16gb of unified ram, and sure, with compression and it only having a single page table between all processors, it’s impressive, but realistically, what do you need all that insane power of memory architecture as well as the m5 chipset for a mobile workflow? And how are you supposed to replace the storage/ram/processor when it begins to feel slow after defying the trillion dollar company by putting a desktop OS on it?

iPads and workstations/desktops aren’t applicable to each other, they’re entirely different classes of devices. Frankly, if you manage to put a desktop OS on an iPad, I’d like to see you try using it for gaming, productivity and other workloads for at least a decade. And if you can’t? Well you can’t upgrade it like you can a real workstation/desktop.