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Old December 2nd 12, 05:55 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips,comp.sys.intel,alt.comp.hardware.amd.x86-64
Gerald Abrahamson
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Posts: 80
Default The end of the road for the DIY PC?

On Sat, 01 Dec 2012 18:11:56 -0500, Yousuf Khan
wrote:

On 29/11/2012 5:19 PM, Paul wrote:
Bug Dout wrote:
But the lack of a replaceable CPU need not doom DIY. I have a 5+ year
old DIY PC that I am considering upgrading. But since I want USB 3.0
ports,
that means I have to replace the MB anyway, and probably the case to get
external USB 3.0 ports. And maybe the disk drives to get the latest
high-speed drives there, and of course memory, to get the best.

The point being, after a couple of years, lots of things have to be
replaced, not just the CPU.


Asrock's solution from years ago, was a separate processor
module. Now, this doesn't make a lot of sense, but it gives
another idea of how to chop up hardware if required. The
FSB in that case (edge card), would be HyperTransport.
On an Intel equivalent, that might be DMI or DMI + PCIE.


They would need to come up with a standard module across multiple mobo
manufacturers.


That would be up to the CPU manufacturers (to create a
standard module) or the motherboard manufacturers.

Then the motherboards could, in theory at least, accept any
processor with the proper module connection. This would mean
the processor (the most expensive part in most systems)
could move to a newer motherboard as desired, thus saving
that immediate cost for the customer (if they wanted to keep
their current CPU). It would also mean used CPUs could be
more readily resellable (say via eBay) because each one
would be re-usable by a wide range of motherboards because
they were no longer "socket bound" to a particular
generation of motherboards that were no longer made.

There are some limitations (i.e. various N/S bridges, etc)
that may make this non-feasible over all ranges, but that is
more because companies are targeting each motherboard at a
specific range of CPUs by one manufacturer. When that
differentiation is no longer needed, motherboards become
more expensive (because they are more complex) but also
become more valuable (to the end user) because they are
usable for a longer period of time.

If the idea of a "CPU module" is considered viable, then so
is a "memory module"--for the same reason (swap out a DDR2
module for DDR3 and use the newer/bigger memory). As well as
a "card slot module" (dump PCIe-1 for PCIe-3).

Change cases to have standard-sized spots for all comm
standard (USBx, eSATAx, TBoltx, etc). Then have them all
share the same mounting bracket format--so they all fit the
same case opening. The plug within the bracket for each is
different--but all will mount into the same external case
spot (customer choice of which goes where). Which means
cases last longer because they do not become obsolete.

All of this significantly changes the market for
computers--in favor of the consumer.