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PC Gamers: What's your cpu timeline?

CreepingFear

CreepingFear

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
16,766
2011- i7 2600k
2015- i7 6700k
2018- i9 9900k

My next CPU will be whatever is the fastest Gaming CPU that I can afford, AMD or Intel. I probably won't go past $750 or the max would be the R9 3950x equivalent.
 
kmfdmpig

kmfdmpig

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
19,367
1994 - Pentium 2 90
~98 Athlon 2
Then I was living overseas and had a laptop with a processor I don't remember.
Returned to the US and had a Core 2 Duo (6800 I think).
Then an I7-860
Now a 7700K
 

Deleted member 2809

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
25,478
2015 - Now : i5-4460

I'd love to upgrade it, but I'd have to change my motherboard and that sounds scary as fuck :(
 
Skyfireblaze

Skyfireblaze

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,257
Wow I have to think back a bit here, let's see:

Pentium I 100mhz
Pentium III 450mhz
Pentium 4 1.8ghz
AMD Athlon x2 1.8ghz
AMD Phenom x4 9850 Black Edition
AMD Phenom II x4 955
i5 3750k
i5 8600k
 
Gelf

Gelf

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,307
Pentium 133
A Celeron of some description, I dont recall exactly it just came with a shitty Compaq system but it could do more than the previous CPU anyway.
Pentium 4 at around 3Ghz.
Core 2 Duo of some description.
i7 860 - easily my longest lasting CPU, though part of the reason I stuck so long was because I didn't want the hassle of getting a new motherboard too.
Ryzen 2600 - Finally switched to AMD because of price and better upgradablity.
 
Allietraa

Allietraa

Prophet of Truth
Member
Mar 13, 2019
1,901
2010 - Phenom II X4 925
2013 - i5-4670k
2015 - i7-4770k
2017 - Ryzen 1700(although I returned it so idk if it counts lol)

In retrospect I should have just bought a 4770k in the first place, but I was a stupid broke teenager. Got enamored with Ryzen when it launched and tried a 1700 but it just wasnt worth the $500~ to get a decent mobo+RAM along with the CPU. Now I'm waiting for Ryzen 3000/Intel's 10nm stuff to see if its finally time to upgrade. I dont play much newer stuff so I'm mostly interested in per-core improvements and there just aint much of that to go around. Might wind up just running my z87 stuff til it dies at this rate though lol. I really want to try a small form factor build but seems pricey to get something actually worth building since all my existing stuff is meant for a full size ATX setup.
 
Vega

Vega

Member
Oct 28, 2017
106
Let's see...

Athlon 1000B Thunderbird
Athlon X2 5000+
Dual Core E8500
Xeon x5460 (771 to 775 mod. Still kicking ass)
Ryzen 1700

Extra GPU sauce:

GeForce 4 MX440
Radeon x1650XT pro
Radeon HD5670
GTX 750ti
RX 480

All of them paired with the respective CPU listed above. Gonna wait for Zen 3.
 

Deleted member 2809

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
25,478
TaySan said:
It's not scary! Just expensive lol
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I'm not really worried about the price, I don't mean to buy a super high spec thing anyway
I got my PC built by the retailer I bought it from, since then I upgraded RAM and the GPU, which were fairly easy, the mobo and CPU are another story with how much stuff is coming in and out of them.
 
Kenstar

Kenstar

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,887
Earth
VLlUi1t.png

been oc'd to 4.2GHZ since day 1 tho
 
SmartWaffles

SmartWaffles

Member
Nov 15, 2017
6,246
2005 a Pentium 4 I cant remember exact model
2007 Pentium E2140
2009 Core 2 Duo E8400
2012 Xeon E3 1230 V2
2015 i7 4790K
2019 Ryzen R7 3700X (upcoming)
 
theSoularian

theSoularian

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,252
Pentium 120MHz-1999
This was a hand me down computer, didn't last a month.

Celeron 300MHz-1999
This replaced the previous PC.

Pentium 4 1.6GHz - 2002
I was in desperate need of an upgrade

Pentium 4 3GHz - 2005
I don't know what the hell I was thinking with this one - dumb decision on my part, but still played some games on it.


AMD Phenom 2 X3 Black Edition-2009
My first real gaming PC because able play the latest games on it. Plus his also was when my PC game library exploded thanks to all those Steam sales.

Core i5 3570K 2013
Back to Intel. At this point I was able afford a good PC and not cut corners on. I didn't have i7 money though.

AMD Ryzen 2700X Current
Back to AMD. Now I was able afford a really good PC right from the start.
 

Deleted member 10726

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,674
ResetERA
Intel Core 2 Duo -> Intel Core 2 Duo (minor upgrade) -> AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition -> i7 1st gen -> i5 4th gen

Legit don't remember my CPUs prior since my dad picked them for me and helped me install them, only thing I remember is that they were AMD. I mostly just handled GPU and RAM upgrades at that time.

That said, next processor in line will be an AMD one again.
 
Seahawk64

Seahawk64

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,463
2001 - Amd XP 2000+
2006 - Amd Athlon 64 3200+
2010 - Amd Phenom II X2 Black Edition (unlocked to quad core)
2012 - Intel i5 3570k
2018 - Amd Ryzen 2600
 
Wiseblood

Wiseblood

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,526
486SX 33
486DX2 66
Cyrix 6x86 (don't remember clockspeed)
Pentium MMX 200
Celeron 300A (overclocked to 450MHz)
Athlon (don't remember clockspeed)
Athlon XP 2100+
Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Phenom X4 9850
i3 540
i7 2700S
i7 4790S
i7 6700
Ryzen 2700X
Ryzen 3700X (soon)
 
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Dr. Zoidberg

Dr. Zoidberg

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,225
Decapod 10
286-16Mhz (Circa 1992)
486-33Mhz
486DX2-66MHz
486DX4-120Mhz
Celeron-300A - 300MHz (Slot 1, Overclocked greatly but I don't remember how much)
Pentium 4-2.8Ghz
Core2Duo E6750-2.66Ghz
Core i7-4770K-3.5Ghz
 
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RivalGT

RivalGT

Member
Dec 13, 2017
6,397
2008- i7 920
2013- i7 4770k OC 4.4 GHz

My Cpu is still going strong, but I do feel like I'm going to need to upgrade in maybe a year, so I can get PCIe 4.0/5.0. And finally upgrade my ram, and to a more modern SSD. Cpu wise I'm not bottlenecked at 4K, but at 1440p 144hz, I probably need a better Cpu, to keep the frame rate high.
 

PrimeBeef

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,840
Been so many, I couldn't tell you. Started with a 486, then a Pentium, then some non intel chip, a few other pentiums, then an athlon, a 3750k, then 8700k.
 
V_Arnold

V_Arnold

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
1,166
Hungary
1997: dX-33
1999: SX-40 (DO NOT ASK)
2002: Pentium 166
2004: Athlon 2600 if my memory serves well
2009: Phenom II 550
2013: FX-6300
2018: Ryzen 2600x

Needless to say, AMD finally delivered. Those FX-years HURT. But right now, for the first time in my life, my CPU aint the bottleneck for anything.
 
digreyfox

digreyfox

Member
Nov 7, 2017
457
Oof, that would be...

Intel 486 (not mine, but first computer I messed around in)
Intel Pentium 166
Intel Pentium II 333 (OC'd to 350 woo)
Intel Pentium III 600
Intel Pentium IV 3.0 Ghz ( not entirely sure that was the clock)

Then switched to laptops, with a 13 " macbook (blackbook) with an intel core 2 duo, I believe ?
Followed by another 13" macbook with an i5, followed by a 15" Pro with an i7 something or another (still around, this last one).

Current mains are a gaming PC with an Intel i5 6600k @4.2 and an HP Spectre laptop with an i5 something. (1100?)
 

ScreamingTrees

Member
Oct 27, 2017
115
I can't remember them all most recent ones have been Intel
6700k
2500k
Q6600
E6600
couple of AMD Athlon of some types
486
 
Minky

Minky

Verified
Oct 27, 2017
481
UK
Oh dayum, errr, no way I'll be able to remember the earliest ones but I'll try :P

DESKTOPS
Late 90s to early 2000s: A Pentium II machine and then Pentium III (I think, they were hand-me-downs!)
2003: Intel Pentium 4 (Northwood, probably)
2008: AMD Phenom II X4
2012: Intel Core i7 3770K
2016: Intel Core i7 6700K

LAPTOPS
2008: Intel Atom @ 1.6GHz in Eee PC 901
2010: AMD Turion II P540 @ 2.4GHz in HP Pavilion DV6
2013: Intel Atom N330 @ 1.8GHz in Eee PC 1201N
2018: Intel Core i7 8750H @2.2Ghz / 4.1GHz boost in HP Omen 15-dc0003na
 
rpg_fan

rpg_fan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
140
Kinda hard to put years on it.

Starting in the early 80's:

Some variant of 6502. Apple or Atari.
80286 12mhz
80386 both sx & dx, various speeds
Brief dalliance with amd and cyrix
486dx2
French toothpaste
Pentium 2. 333mhz if i recall.
Amd again 1.33ghz, cant remember series
Pentium D 820
That lasted till I7-870 Lynnfield. I think my son is still using this old thing.
And current. I5-6600k.

May well have missed some.
 
Fxp

Fxp

Member
Oct 27, 2017
647
Bought my first PC in 2000, it had Pentium 166 MMX CPU. Can't remember the upgrades I had later but I'm currently using Intel 2500 (without K) CPU and plan to buy Ryzen 3600 later this year.
 

XenIneX

Member
Oct 28, 2017
622
A mix of early guesstimates and email archaeology...

CPUs (overclocked to whatever was fashionable at the time...):
1999 Celeron 300A​
2001 Celeron 600​
2002 Athlon XP 1700+​
2004 Athlon XP 2600+​
2005 Opteron 148​
2006 Opteron 165​
2007 Core 2 Duo E4300​
2011 Core i5-2500k​

GPUs:
1999 ATI Rage 128 Pro​
2001 Geforce 2 MX400​
2002 Geforce 3 TI200​
2005 Geforce 7800 GT​
2007 Geforce 8800 GTS​
2009 Geforce GTX 260​
2011 Geforce GTX 560 TI​
2015 Geforce GTX 970​


So, new CPU every 1.5 years; motherboard every 3 years. And then, progress slowed to a crawl, and I've been hanging on to Sandy Bridge ever since. Definitely feeling like I'm due for some new, though.
 

Theobromin

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6
I ... feel old. And I'm only including CPUs inside PCs I actually used and ignoring everything else. Unfortunately, except for the last systems I can't remember when I got them.
  1. Z80 4MHz
  2. Intel 80386SX16
  3. Intel 80486DX33
  4. AMD 80486DX2/80
  5. Intel Pentium 166MMX
  6. AMD K6-2/500 (which I had running at 400 MHz since the mainboard couldn't do more; officially only 200MHz were supported)
  7. AMD Athlon XP 1700+
  8. Intel Pentium 4 (with unknown frequency)
  9. Intel Core 2 Quad Q9500
  10. Intel i7 3770
  11. AMD Ryzen 7 1700X (December 2017)
  12. AMD Threadripper 2920X (November 2018)
(Only CPUs 1 to 5 and 11 were/are used for gaming. 11 and 12 are used in my current systems.)
 
Finaika

Finaika

Member
Dec 11, 2017
13,320
Sometime in the 80's-1995: Some really old ass CPU
1995-1997: Intel Pentium 100MHz (My brother's computer)
1997-2006: Intel Pentium II 300MHz (Yes I used this desktop for almost a decade)
2006-2008: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 1.86GHz (New desktop)
2008-2011: Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 2.4GHz (My first laptop)
2011-2015: Intel i5-460M 2.53GHz (New laptop after the old one overheated)
2015-Present: Intel i7-6700K 4.2GHz (Still going strong!)
 
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Dec

Dec

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,532
I guess basically when core counts increase and become more important.

2008 - E8400
2010 - i7 860

I am long overdue for a new CPU. Buying a new Ryzen hopefully this month, if not I'll pick up a 2000 series or intel with the price drop. Waiting on benchmarks really.

It's crazy how ok my CPU still is after nearly 10 years. It isn't good enough for high refresh rates, but most games are fine at 60fps. 60fps is especially do-able if I reduce draw distance settings in open world games (like foliage in far cry 5).
 
gaogaogao

gaogaogao

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,679
pentium 3
amd 3200
dual core opteron
i5 750
i7 6700k

I might be missing some, but I remember these
 

Deleted member 49611

Nov 14, 2018
5,052
2015: i5-4590 - because it was my first time building a PC and i didn't feel confident about overclocking. also everyone kept saying i7 was overkill
2016: i7-6700K - because i finally felt confident about overclocking. still people told me that it was overkill for gaming.
2019: gonna get myself an 8 or 12 core Ryzen 3 cpu. 4c/8t is a joke now.
 
dabri

dabri

Member
Nov 2, 2017
1,728
Pentium 4 (2002 - 2010)
i5-750 (2010 - 2019)
I sold my computer to my brother to clear space. I use my work laptop for all PC stuff and don't game too much on PC. If it ever changes, I'll probably go with a laptop.
 
MaDKaT

MaDKaT

Member
Oct 27, 2017
269
When I started to buy and build my own machines I think it was with a AMD K5 and then the K6. After, to the best of my memory

-Couple of Athlon XP variants
-Ditched desktops for various Atom based netbooks/ultrabooks for a long time
-i5 with the Surface Pro (G1)
-i5 with thinkpad, later replaced the main board with an i7
-Built a new desktop for VR and started with an i5 6600k but eventually upgraded to the i7 7700k

Ill eventually build a new machine and heavily considering a new Ryzen
 
Bulk_Rate

Bulk_Rate

Member
Oct 27, 2017
344
Texas
386
P133
PII400
Tbird 1000
Athlon XP 2500
P4 3ghz
C2D E8400
Pentium G4600
Plus my son has some kind of recent i5

Never been a power CPU junkie
 
Darkatomz

Darkatomz

Member
Oct 27, 2017
371
CA
CPUs
Intel Pentium III, 130nm (prebuilt Dell)
Intel Core Quad Core Q6600, 65nm
Intel Core i7-960, 45nm (first personal build)
Intel Core i7-6850, 14nm
AMD Ryzen 2700x, 12nm

Considering upgrade to AMD Ryzen 3900x, 7nm


GPUs
Nvidia GeForce 8800GTS
AMD Radeon HD 6850
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080

Waiting for details on supposed RTX 2080 TI Super
 
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gaogaogao

gaogaogao

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,679
WillJoe said:
2015: i5-4590 - because it was my first time building a PC and i didn't feel confident about overclocking. also everyone kept saying i7 was overkill
2016: i7-6700K - because i finally felt confident about overclocking. still people told me that it was overkill for gaming.
2019: gonna get myself an 8 or 12 core Ryzen 3 cpu. 4c/8t is a joke now.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I think you might be overreacting. as far as gaming is concerned, 6700k works about as well as a ryzen 2600
 
KingPat

KingPat

Member
Apr 29, 2019
796
California
2014 - i7 5280K OC @ 4.5 and a 970 ftw

2019 - deciding on what to upgrade to/spending amount

Edit: added oc for fun
 
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Hycran

Hycran

The Fallen
Oct 30, 2017
1,494
I literally havent had a desktop computer since I was 20 and playing wow non-stop. It probably had a potato with two cords sticking out of it.

That being said, i just bought a new computer with a i7-8700 @3.2 ghz with an RTX2070. So clearly i'll be well equipped to play counterstrike and classic wow /s
 
samwyse

samwyse

Member
Oct 28, 2017
683
Intel Celeron 333 MHz
Intel Celeron II 667 MHz
Intel Pentium III 933 MHz
AMD Sempron 2600
AMD Athlon II X3 455
Intel i3-6100

The first three were largely gaming machines, then I got on the Internet.

Before them there were MOS 6510 @ 1 MHz and Motorola 68000 @ 7 MHz.
 
Last edited:
Lazlo

Lazlo

Member
Oct 28, 2017
238
As far as computers I personally owned (not shared) and not including any laptops (which there were many)...

Intel 486DX 33mhz
Cyrix 686 PR200+ (166 MHz)
AMD K6-II 3D 450mhz
AMD Athlon Slot-A 750mhz
AMD Athlon XP 1800+
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+
Intel i7-920
Intel i5 2500K (Current, OC 4.4ghz)

Future: Ryzen 3950X?
 
Vulcano's Assistant

Vulcano's Assistant

Member
Oct 29, 2017
13,502
- ones my dad bought it so I don't remember well -
Pentium 4 (?) (?)
Athlon XP (?) (2003)
Athlon 64 (?) (2006)
( Laptop ) Core 2 Duo (2010)
- ones after I started buying my own computers -
Core i5 2500K (2011)
(Laptop) core i7 4700 MQ (2014)
Core i7 5820K (2014)
Core i7 6850K (2017)
 
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BlockABoots

BlockABoots

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,548
Im sure ive missed one between the Duron and Athlon cpus but cant think what it would have been.....

Intel 486 66 DX2 (1994)
Intel Pentium 233 MMX (1998)
AMD Duron (2000)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 (2005)
Intel Q6600 (2007)
Intel i7 920 (2009)
Intel i7 4770K (2013)

What this list highlights to me is i used to upgrade my CPU fairly frequently until the current 4770 i have which ive had over 7 years now!!!! whoa!!.

Will more than likely upgrade this year and being going back to AMD with Ryzen!
 
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