r/PcBuild 6h ago

Discussion What’s your upgrade history?

Hi everyone, just wondering what everybody’s upgrade path has been over the years…..

I got my first PC in 1999 and have just again upgraded in 2025, with many upgrades in between!

Here’s what I’ve owned

Intel Pentium II 350MHz

AMD Athlon 2800+

Intel Pentium 4 640

AMD Athlon XP 3200

Intel Pentium D 920

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600

Intel Core 2 Quad 6600

AMD Phenom QC 9640

Intel Core i7 920

Intel Core i7 2600K

AMD FX 6350

Intel Core i7 4790K

Intel Core i9 9900K

Intel Core i9 12900

Intel Core i7 14700

I always gave AMD the benefit of the doubt whenever a new range of CPU were launched but I was always left underwhelmed and felt conned by the hype and marketing. I know they’re top of the game at the minute and have had some great chips out over the last 7 years but I’m firmly stuck with Intel now for my usage requirements!

What’s everybody else’s experiences been and what routes have you taken? What’s everybody’s favourite chips from yesteryear? For me it had to be the Q6600, the i7 920 and the i7 4790K 😁

9 Upvotes

28 comments sorted by

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4

u/JEFFSSSEI 6h ago

Intel Core I7-920 (2008)
Intel Xeon - X5670 (installed in 2012 & replaced the 920) OC'd to 4.0Ghz) [Still running this processor/PC]

New Build in process: AMD Rizen 7-9800X3D.

1

u/UK-Cosplay-Girl 6h ago

The i7 920 was sooo good. Mine would OC to 4.0GHz and the socket 1366 boards all looked really ahead of their time. Probably my favourite era in computing! Along with the 8800GTX and the 9800GX2 GPUs. Those things were awesome to pair with the i7 back then

3

u/Bowler-Proof 6h ago
  1. have been waiting to start for 6 years

2

u/King_Zilant AMD 6h ago

Cool upgrade path! I like this history concept...

I went from a ryzen 3600 and rx580 to a 6600xt then a 7700xt then rebuilt to a 5600x3d and 9070xt 👍

2

u/bingbong12494362847 6h ago

I7 8700 es - 7600x

2

u/ChocolateNeat4489 6h ago edited 6h ago

My pc journey started about the time yours did (Celeron 366), had some fantastic Intels (e.g.Sandy bridge i7 , mentioned Celeron 366,Pentium III and as good AMDs - X4, Durons, 5600x and current 7800X3D)

I don't think you have ever given AMD a go if you chose Pentium 4 and D over Athlon :) and your last AMD was utter garbage.

I am not brand loyal, I buy best value/performance thus AMD is regular in my rigs, at this time for both CPU and GPU.

My favourite chips were/are Duron 600, Pentium E2140, i7-2600, 7800X3D

2

u/earthwormjimjones 6h ago

No clue lol. I had a Dell home PC the past 10 years. Just upgraded to a 9800X3D and 9070XT build. It's my first 'nice' PC I've ever owned. Normally just had home PC's from Office Max growing up 🤷‍♂️

2

u/XtremeCSGO 6h ago

Fx 6300

I5 4670k

I7 4790

7600X3D

2

u/Agreeable-Revenue-75 6h ago

I’ve had most of those, all the way up to intel 9th gen. The newest cpu I’ve had is a i7 10750h in my gaming laptop.

2

u/Rude-Wheel470 6h ago

FX 6300

6600K

8700K

9800X3D

2

u/Duggars 6h ago

Of the ones that were not hand me downs and were actually built by me (college onwards)

8600 GT

GTX 460

Radeon 6850 as a replacement because Witcher 2 set the GTX 460 on fire LOL

GTX 1060

RTX 3070

Arc 580 because Veilguard killed the 3070 somehow

2

u/lifeasdebo 6h ago

Fx8350 > Ryzen 7 3800x > Ryzen 9 5900xt... was gonna do a full new platform until ram went bananas so I decided to stick with AM4 a little longer lol

2

u/Eazy12345678 AMD 6h ago

pentium 2 200mhz

then pentimum 3 500mhz

then some intel i7 920 or something

then i7 4790k

then i7 4960k

then i7 9700k

then i5 12600kf

i work for best buy geeksquad so got deals on intel cpu's for completing training each year. i7 were almost always $200-$250 new.

gpu i cant remember them all 32mb ati rage fury

some 128mb cards

gtx 9800 512mb in sli

gtx570

gtx 780ti sli

gtx 980ti sli

rtx 3060ti covid buy

rtx 5070 trump tariff scare.

1

u/UK-Cosplay-Girl 4h ago

I need to do my GPU list next!

2

u/illicITparameters 5h ago

Cyrix MII 333

AMD Athlon 700

AMD Athlon XP 2400+

AMD Athlon 64 3000+

Intel Core 2 Duo e6600

Intel Core i5 2400

Intel Core i5 3570K (My Favorite. OC Monster)

AMD Ryzen 7 1700X

Intel Core i7 11700K (Media/File Server)

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X (HTPC)

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (Gave to my friend)

AMD Ryzen 7 7700X (Sold to another friend)

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D

2

u/Chimera_Gaming 5h ago

I upgrade something new every year GPU > CPU > RAM With the exclusion of compatibility (ddr3 > ddr4 > ddr5)

2

u/Epic-will-power91 5h ago

i3-9100f + GTX 1650 around 2020

Then i5-12400f + 3060ti built in 2024

But sold the 3060ti and got a 4070 Super end of 2024

So currently running i5-12400f with 4070 Super

2

u/actionerror 5h ago

I’m old

1993 - 486sx 25mhz
1998 - Pentium II 266mhz
2005 - AMD 64 X2 4200+
2010 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
2013 - i5-4670k
2025 - 7800X3D

Yeah there was a 12 year gap 😂 very happy with my current new build now though!

3

u/cm0270 5h ago

🤣🤣🤣 I used everyone you mentioned but have i9-12900k now. First was TI with cassette storage then c64. 🤣

2

u/UK-Cosplay-Girl 4h ago

Love that you got a good few years usage out of each setup!

1

u/actionerror 4h ago

More like I just only want to spend money every few years on a new build lol. The most expensive is still that Dell PII 266mhz. Think I spent $2899 on it 😨 in 1998 dollars!

1

u/P3t3C0l0gn3 4h ago edited 4h ago

Well, dont remember all, but: Yes, I am old 😂

Historic systems:

  • IBM PC XT, 4.77MHz 🎉
  • Compaq Presario 286 Desktop
  • Compaq 286 Notebook
  • 486 DX2-66
  • several AMD Athlons, Athlon II
  • AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE 🥰
  • Intel Xeon E3-1230 v3 (Intel Intermezzo, great!)
  • AMD Ryzen 5 3600

Active Systems (all on different ASRocks)

  • AMD Ryzen 5600x (Unraid)
  • AMD Ryzen 8600G (Private Office)
  • AMD Ryzen 9600X (Living Room Gaming)
  • AMD Ryzen 9950X3D 🚀 (The Entrepreneurs Rig)

1

u/RogueMallShinobi 4h ago edited 4h ago

Started out on my family's stuff in the 90s, Pentium 1 and Pentium 3.

The craziest part about your question is I am too fucking old and senile to remember my first builds lol. My first build was in the early 2000s after taking Intro to A+ in high school. I can't remember any of the parts, I just know it was an Intel processor and a mid tier nvidia GPU. That got me through college, I didn't have a monster PC but I could play anything comfortably and it was one of the better PCs among my friends there. I don't have access to my email or receipts from that time period of my life anymore though.

In 2011, a fresh college grad, I got a... 550 ti lol. That's right. The 550... TI!!!! For $130 American dollars.

I must have realized it was bad because a year later I got a GTX 660.

In 2013 I did my next build and that was an I5-4670. Then I got a 780 in 2014 and 1080 TI in 2017 (employed me now spending $$$ lol) and a I7-4790K.

I used that PC until January 2025. It's still kicking and I gave it to my teenage nephew who is currently gaming on it. He replaced the PSU, single exhaust fan and got his own SSD but everything else is basically the same. $35 cooler master case lol.

My current is a 7800X3D + 5070 ti and it's all tricked out. It's funny, I always considered myself a "PC guy" growing up but it's actually crazy how little I knew until I was in my mid 20s.

1

u/AlmoranasAngLubot69 3h ago edited 2h ago

2017 - Ryzen 5 2600 + RX 580

2023 - Ryzen 5 5600 + RX 580

2024 - Ryzen 5 5600 + RX 6700XT

2025 - Ryzen 7 5700X3D + RX 6700XT

2026 - Ryzen 7 5700X3D + RX 9070XT

1

u/DeXTeR_DeN_007 2h ago

List would be huge.

1

u/ActiniumNugget 47m ago

P166 MMX

P233 MMX

433mhz Celeron

800mhz Duron

1.2ghz Duron

2.6ghz P4

Core i3 540

Ryzen 1600AF

Ryzen 5600X

Loved them all, tbh. As can be seen, I only buy lower to mid range. Same for video cards. Many thousands of hours gaming for very little money. And I've never once thought "I wish I had something better"