Future proofing is dumb but if you insited on it I’d say PSU, then CPU. Games are constantly relying on stuff like DLSS and FSR these days so you’ll always be upgrading your GPU but a CPU will last a long time. RAM is really cheap anyway so future proofing isn’t too difficult so you won’t need to focus on it
Outrageous-Log9238
Wtf? PSU is so easy to future proof.
Edit: So many people people picking on easy vs best so I’ll clarify. What I mean is that you can easily find a psu that will actually be good for many many years, while with the others it’s simply impossible to get the same kind of longevity. You can buy the best cpu today, but it is quite likely that there’ll be something much better available in 4 years and for cheaper too. By “future proofing” a cpu you can end up spending a ton only to find out you would’ve been better of getting a mid-range part and upgrading it to another mid-range part down the line. Both might cost about the same. When you get a future proof psu, you’ll be way more likely to actually be happy with it for a long time.
Tldr; I think psu is best, because you easily know that a good psu will be good in 10 years, while cpu or gpu progress/requirements are hard to predict.
Aggravating-Dot132
I’d say, RAM. Since it is once per generation of RAM.
Yelebear
The only parts that actually matter to “future-proof”, which is kind of a meme term really- are the PSU and the case, since they actually work across generations.
GLynx
If we’re talking about buying more than what you currently need, I would say RAM.
Comprehensive_Ship42
PSU is the only thing you can future proof by buy a 1600watt PSU . But do you want to pay 600 bucks when you can buy one at 150 bucks and just buy a new one in 5 years sue you need it with the 450 bucks you saved . Future proof is dumb and is not even real .
It’s what marketing tells dumb people so they buy that machine over the other computer which is the same but doesn’t have future proof logo
Penetroituja
PSU is probably least dumb as long as it’s not the most expensive platinum/titanium rated one.
BluejayMinute9133
In this days any component future proof, progress almost stop so you can use high end pc untill it broke.
ShockWave_Omega
I’d go PSU for a somewhat future proof item.. Get a decent one with good wattage and you should be able to use it 2-3 builds down the road. I had PSU’s last me 8+ years. Also had me PSU’s die within the first year of use.
Lisata598
LOL @ CPU winning. This is why pre-builts are put together with 14900Ks, single channel RAM and 4060s.
sunnyismyusername
The idea of future proofing is flawed but if you must might as well get a higher end graphics card so you can benefit from that now
EvziJnr
Surely PSU.. Getting a PSU that can handle your equipment for years… Everything else moves too quickly..
Noa15Lv
I’d say, an decent full tower atx case from 2010s is an ideal future proof for next generation gpu’s
SirHomoLiberus
Tech evolves super fast so future proofing is just hopes and dreams.
ExtraTNT
Depends what you are doing… on thin notebooks it’s ram… it’s what’s limiting you later… on desktop it’s psu and maybe cpu (if you will keep your cpu for a long time and go for a certain platform, ram can be worth it) if you only do light gaming, it can be worth it to spend 30$ more and keep your gpu for longer, as you don’t have high demands… it’s 100% depending on your usecase…
Ricoh4
At the beginning of a new RAM gen. i would say RAM, otherwise psu they work for centurys. Cpu depends what ur using, for e sports games then no, for games where the gpu is the bottleneck then yes.
Mother-Translator318
There is no such thing as future proofing when it comes to performance as you have absolutely no idea what games will need in the future.
That being said, a good power supply can and will last you multiple decades. Same with a good ssd and a case you like
LAO_Joe
The answer is PSU. You can get a high quality one cheap on sale with whatever number you might think you’ll ever need. I’d future proof a GPU to an extent so you can survive a drop off longer without having to buy again. RAM is dumb to future proof as better RAM will get cheaper later. You can figure proof Storage a bit with more TBs if you don’t want to mess with PCIE lanes being reduced later if you want to add more. CPU future proof is weird unless you are originally thinking of buying the cheapest of Intel or something.
Searching4datruth
Instructions unclear.
I’m using a 130w psu, 128kb ddr ram with a rx 3090 and Intel core duo.
Why can’t I play star citizen on ultra?
Wattheycus
I’d say cpu, in my own experience I had a intel i7 4th gen and it lasted for 10+ years and I just kept upgrading the GPU (750ti, 1050ti and 1650ti) …handled games perfectly fine until I just recently built a new gaming rig…
ExnDH
To me futureproofing means that you can upgrade your other components without having to upgrade that particular component. PSU is the one most likely to hold up. And for upgrading, I’d say you need to get ~50 % performance improvement for a similar cost as original purchase.
To me it seems that the order of upgrading is as follows:
1. GPU: ~4 years
2. CPU: ~2 GPUs
3. RAM: ~1 CPU (typically becomes obsolete due to CPU upgrade)
4. PSU: ~2 CPUs
This is coming from personal experiance where I typically go for pretty mid-level components always (i5 & xx70).
lordhelmchench
the only thing what was future proof was my case
Civil_Medium_3032
The premise is dumb, just buy what you need when you need it
ColdEast7854
Hard to future proof cpu even eventually theyll just bottle neck new gpus
TheFrenchSavage
What needs future proofing is the CPU socket.
You don’t need a last gen CPU to have a nice build, but you should never ever get into the previous socket tech, because your CPU upgrade is then tied to the motherboard and RAM.
Exploit1993
Peaople buying cheap ass psu not knowing that cpu gpu ram mb works with electricity
likeonions
Anyone who didn’t select psu is an idiot
GamingRobioto
The answer is definitely PSU, I’ve had my Corsair AX860i 80+ Platinum for nearly 12 years and it’s currently powering my 4090.
All my other parts from 2013 are e-waste now apart from a 1TB 2.5″ SSD which I use for storing emulation related stuff.
spity0sk
PSU is the only future proof thing in a pc, everything else is still going forward and cannot be called future proof. Maybe the current SSD will last a long time as well.
fatogato
None. I buy the best I can afford at the time and upgrade to a new system every 5-6 years.
rmpumper
PSU>CPU>RAM>GPU
CrissCrossAM
I would say based on history over, say, the last 20-25 years, the PSU should be the most futureproof/least upgraded component in the list, followed by RAM, then CPU then GPU.
RedRayTrue
Funny how … None of them would work well without a good PSU, especially when power draw is greater than PSU power
At least that’s how I remember
notthatguypal6900
Shows you how much stupid has crawled into the MR, PSU is way too low.
TeachMeUbuntu
This list bothers me less than the fact that the % adds up to 101%
Toymachina
Real answer is none. Simply make an optimal PC with components “in sync” with eachother, and replace the entire PC when the time comes. Going overkill on any component for future proof makes no sense, is just a waste of money usually, and actually removes the option to sell the old PC as a whole or gift it to someone.
If it happens that you can reuse some component and do not want to sell/give away old PC for whatever reason – sure. But to pick overkill parts and pay more for them and build around the concept of future proofing makes little sense to me.
36 Comments
Future proofing is dumb but if you insited on it I’d say PSU, then CPU. Games are constantly relying on stuff like DLSS and FSR these days so you’ll always be upgrading your GPU but a CPU will last a long time. RAM is really cheap anyway so future proofing isn’t too difficult so you won’t need to focus on it
Wtf? PSU is so easy to future proof.
Edit: So many people people picking on easy vs best so I’ll clarify. What I mean is that you can easily find a psu that will actually be good for many many years, while with the others it’s simply impossible to get the same kind of longevity. You can buy the best cpu today, but it is quite likely that there’ll be something much better available in 4 years and for cheaper too. By “future proofing” a cpu you can end up spending a ton only to find out you would’ve been better of getting a mid-range part and upgrading it to another mid-range part down the line. Both might cost about the same. When you get a future proof psu, you’ll be way more likely to actually be happy with it for a long time.
Tldr; I think psu is best, because you easily know that a good psu will be good in 10 years, while cpu or gpu progress/requirements are hard to predict.
I’d say, RAM. Since it is once per generation of RAM.
The only parts that actually matter to “future-proof”, which is kind of a meme term really- are the PSU and the case, since they actually work across generations.
If we’re talking about buying more than what you currently need, I would say RAM.
PSU is the only thing you can future proof by buy a 1600watt PSU . But do you want to pay 600 bucks when you can buy one at 150 bucks and just buy a new one in 5 years sue you need it with the 450 bucks you saved . Future proof is dumb and is not even real .
It’s what marketing tells dumb people so they buy that machine over the other computer which is the same but doesn’t have future proof logo
PSU is probably least dumb as long as it’s not the most expensive platinum/titanium rated one.
In this days any component future proof, progress almost stop so you can use high end pc untill it broke.
I’d go PSU for a somewhat future proof item.. Get a decent one with good wattage and you should be able to use it 2-3 builds down the road. I had PSU’s last me 8+ years. Also had me PSU’s die within the first year of use.
LOL @ CPU winning. This is why pre-builts are put together with 14900Ks, single channel RAM and 4060s.
The idea of future proofing is flawed but if you must might as well get a higher end graphics card so you can benefit from that now
Surely PSU.. Getting a PSU that can handle your equipment for years… Everything else moves too quickly..
I’d say, an decent full tower atx case from 2010s is an ideal future proof for next generation gpu’s
Tech evolves super fast so future proofing is just hopes and dreams.
Depends what you are doing… on thin notebooks it’s ram… it’s what’s limiting you later… on desktop it’s psu and maybe cpu (if you will keep your cpu for a long time and go for a certain platform, ram can be worth it) if you only do light gaming, it can be worth it to spend 30$ more and keep your gpu for longer, as you don’t have high demands… it’s 100% depending on your usecase…
At the beginning of a new RAM gen. i would say RAM, otherwise psu they work for centurys. Cpu depends what ur using, for e sports games then no, for games where the gpu is the bottleneck then yes.
There is no such thing as future proofing when it comes to performance as you have absolutely no idea what games will need in the future.
That being said, a good power supply can and will last you multiple decades. Same with a good ssd and a case you like
The answer is PSU. You can get a high quality one cheap on sale with whatever number you might think you’ll ever need. I’d future proof a GPU to an extent so you can survive a drop off longer without having to buy again. RAM is dumb to future proof as better RAM will get cheaper later. You can figure proof Storage a bit with more TBs if you don’t want to mess with PCIE lanes being reduced later if you want to add more. CPU future proof is weird unless you are originally thinking of buying the cheapest of Intel or something.
Instructions unclear.
I’m using a 130w psu, 128kb ddr ram with a rx 3090 and Intel core duo.
Why can’t I play star citizen on ultra?
I’d say cpu, in my own experience I had a intel i7 4th gen and it lasted for 10+ years and I just kept upgrading the GPU (750ti, 1050ti and 1650ti) …handled games perfectly fine until I just recently built a new gaming rig…
To me futureproofing means that you can upgrade your other components without having to upgrade that particular component. PSU is the one most likely to hold up. And for upgrading, I’d say you need to get ~50 % performance improvement for a similar cost as original purchase.
To me it seems that the order of upgrading is as follows:
1. GPU: ~4 years
2. CPU: ~2 GPUs
3. RAM: ~1 CPU (typically becomes obsolete due to CPU upgrade)
4. PSU: ~2 CPUs
This is coming from personal experiance where I typically go for pretty mid-level components always (i5 & xx70).
the only thing what was future proof was my case
The premise is dumb, just buy what you need when you need it
Hard to future proof cpu even eventually theyll just bottle neck new gpus
What needs future proofing is the CPU socket.
You don’t need a last gen CPU to have a nice build, but you should never ever get into the previous socket tech, because your CPU upgrade is then tied to the motherboard and RAM.
Peaople buying cheap ass psu not knowing that cpu gpu ram mb works with electricity
Anyone who didn’t select psu is an idiot
The answer is definitely PSU, I’ve had my Corsair AX860i 80+ Platinum for nearly 12 years and it’s currently powering my 4090.
All my other parts from 2013 are e-waste now apart from a 1TB 2.5″ SSD which I use for storing emulation related stuff.
PSU is the only future proof thing in a pc, everything else is still going forward and cannot be called future proof. Maybe the current SSD will last a long time as well.
None. I buy the best I can afford at the time and upgrade to a new system every 5-6 years.
PSU>CPU>RAM>GPU
I would say based on history over, say, the last 20-25 years, the PSU should be the most futureproof/least upgraded component in the list, followed by RAM, then CPU then GPU.
Funny how … None of them would work well without a good PSU, especially when power draw is greater than PSU power
At least that’s how I remember
Shows you how much stupid has crawled into the MR, PSU is way too low.
This list bothers me less than the fact that the % adds up to 101%
Real answer is none. Simply make an optimal PC with components “in sync” with eachother, and replace the entire PC when the time comes. Going overkill on any component for future proof makes no sense, is just a waste of money usually, and actually removes the option to sell the old PC as a whole or gift it to someone.
If it happens that you can reuse some component and do not want to sell/give away old PC for whatever reason – sure. But to pick overkill parts and pay more for them and build around the concept of future proofing makes little sense to me.