I don't think I've ever actually upgraded a CPU without a motherboard change anyway. Graphics cards, a couple of times I have though.

I've done it a few times. Frustrating that they keep changing the sockets (but understandable, I guess).

The biggest advantage of sockets is that it makes it far easier to choose the board you want and the CPU that you want when you upgrade your PC. If CPUs become soldered to boards, shops will keep less varieties etc. in stock and the choice you have at upgrade time will diminish IMO.

Imagine the stock levels necessary to keep 10 motherboards with 10 different types of CPUs soldered to them all available!

Yes, that is true. I think the article I first read was talking more about upgrading the CPU but motherboard selection would also be an issue if it's soldered to the board.

I hope this does not happen, I get such a buzz from upgrading and building bespoke computers and find you can always get good resale value for 1. Year old decent components.

I knew intel would be the death of the enthusiasts.

:? I was building Intel homebrews before AMD'd been invented! :{)

I meant that they are much in line with MS and want to simplify everything for the non techy world i.e. Windows 8.

I blame apple for the general trend of tech stupidity, which is beginning to encroach even on linux, oh lord.

There's nothing like the feeling of sourcing all the components that you want, receiving a big box full of your lovely shiny new computer parts, putting it all together, plugging in the power cable and booting it for the first time and finding the Windows installation keeps crashing or Windows BSODs every 2 minutes.

I used to enjoy building systems etc but now if I want a pc I want one that just works. It's not even as if super techy types have to get soldering irons/multimeters/pcb designing gear out either as building a computer is pretty much a plugging bits into the correctly shaped holes anyway. If you want to get your hands dirty, as it were, there's still plenty to keep you happy. Not giving a damn how its put together isn't stupidity. It's not giving a damn.

I had that! Then I found that if I overclocked my CPU from 2.6GHz to 3.2GHz, it increased the RAM voltage automatically and the system stopped crashing. So ironically, I overclocked my PC to improve its stability...

I just built one. There was no thrill, I'm glad it's over and it works.

Years ago, I used to really enjoy building systems and being able to now is still a valuable skill but, now I'm older, I just want stuff to work. I'm eternally grateful for the current console cycle that has slowed the PC upgrade race to a crawl.

I'm trying to think how CPU's that are soldered to a motherboard would affect me and thinking back I did manage to fit two CPU's to 1 motherboard the last time round (Early Dual Core followed by a Quad Core with more umph) but because of the aforementioned stagnation of the upgrade race it's getting to be a long time between these upgrade points reducing the likelihood/requirement to upgrade.

I don't like having to deal with non-standard bios and drivers, paying for over/under-spec parts, ones I don't need, or a place to stick ones I decide I do need after the fact. Also if you break the sticker you void the warranty. I deffo don't like that.

I've nothing against building your own system, but to be fair:

Non-Standard BIOS: Never really come across this beyond a splash screen.
Non Standard Drivers: If it's a standard component then standard drivers are going to be available. I always wipe the installed OS from off the shelf kit
Paying for over/under-spec parts: Fair point, but if you do a spec your own Dell, or whatever then you get whatever you ask for.
Warranty: That bit just isn't true in the UK, at least. I doubt it's true where you are - most countries have legislation that say the warranty can't be voided like that.

Don't get me wrong, if I suddenly wanted an all signing PC then I'd probably build my own, but my days of building machines for others is loooong since over.

Haha, never heard of overclocking being a fix to an unstable computer :) I think I've only had the issue twice, once I forgot to plug in one of the extra power cables and the second was a dodgy old PSU and new RAM.

Yeah, at standard speeds it kept under-volting the RAM, which caused crashes. And the BIOS (for some daft reason) wouldn't allow me to manually tweak the voltage. When I upped the FSB though, that caused the BIOS to increase the RAM voltage, thus fixing the problem. Weird, but I'm not complaining. And 3.2GHz from 2.6 originally isn't a bad little boost!

I bought my 2500K with the intention to overclockbut still hhaven't got around to it. Doubt I will either, bit pointless buying the K really.

Same here!

I've got a nice big red overclock button on my mobo too. I've been meaning to open 'er up (nj) and clean it out 'cos I'm getting a lot of fan noise when I start it up, also I need to clean out the dust filters etc. Might be tempted to press that button when I do.  :-O~~~

Go on, press it, you know you want to. I might give it a go sometime if it doesn't make my computer any louder. I rather like it being fairly quiet.

I've got a nice CPU cooler (a gelid tranquillo), which should be next to silent no matter how hard it's working, according to the reviews anyway. I built the PC around 18 months ago, and it's done everything I want it to so far with no problems, so haven't seen the need to overclock as yet, but as I'll be tinkering around I'll push it and see what happens. What motherboard have you got?