3 ms·

But, there aren't really "faster" processors for desktop use unless you pick the 5Ghz ones which are definitely pretty far into the diminishing returns region.

But, there aren't really "faster" processors for desktop use unless you pick the 5Ghz ones which are definitely pretty far into the diminishing returns region. When you plot single thread perf vs freq, its not linear so those 4.8Ghz cores are only marginally faster at best, and some of the lower end i5's/etc are probably slower for any number of desktop tasks (web browsing/etc) vs the 12300. Anyway, your completely right, for me the largest "cost" is the hundreds of hours of program install, OS tweaking/etc i've put into the current machine over the span of a few years. MS makes it really hard to get away with just swapping motherboards now as you end up calling them to reactivate windows on the new machine (and its always a crapshoot as its basically licensed to the motherboard no the user). There was a time when I was constantly rotating parts in/out of my PC's but that stopped in the late XP timeframe due to MS being a PITA. So, now outside of ram/gpu/SSD upgrades they tend to remain fairly static. This one is pushing 6 years old at this point.

iggldiggl 5y ago
> its basically licensed to the motherboard no the user You're right that you have to go through the reactivation dance, but doesn't that particular limitation apply only to OEM licenses that are included with a ready-built PC?
- Macha 5y ago
  You can buy Windows OEM in box through retailers or MSPs, and I'm not just talking G2A style grey markets. e.g. newegg: https://www.newegg.com/microsoft-windows-11-pro/p/N82E16832350882?Description=windows%2011&cm_re=windows_11-_-32-350-882-_-Product&quicklink=true https://www.newegg.com/microsoft-windows-11-pro/p/N82E168323... These are effectively locked to the a limited number of hardware changes per time period before they force you to talk to someone at microsoft to transfer the license to new hardware. The alternative is to buy a Windows license from Microsoft direct, but the only direct option they offer to consumers anymore is an account-bound license, so you'll need to set up with a Microsoft account for initial activation on new hardware (of course, if recent Insiders builds are any indication, soon everyone will).

iggldiggl 5y ago

> its basically licensed to the motherboard no the user You're right that you have to go through the reactivation dance, but doesn't that particular limitation apply only to OEM licenses that are included with a ready-built PC?

Macha 5y ago
You can buy Windows OEM in box through retailers or MSPs, and I'm not just talking G2A style grey markets. e.g. newegg: https://www.newegg.com/microsoft-windows-11-pro/p/N82E16832350882?Description=windows%2011&cm_re=windows_11-_-32-350-882-_-Product&quicklink=true https://www.newegg.com/microsoft-windows-11-pro/p/N82E168323... These are effectively locked to the a limited number of hardware changes per time period before they force you to talk to someone at microsoft to transfer the license to new hardware. The alternative is to buy a Windows license from Microsoft direct, but the only direct option they offer to consumers anymore is an account-bound license, so you'll need to set up with a Microsoft account for initial activation on new hardware (of course, if recent Insiders builds are any indication, soon everyone will).