Really,Intel??

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I don't know about other people, but I don't really experience that much of an issue with socket changes. I don't think I've ever thought I would upgrade a CPU but felt that the rest of the motherboard was obsolete. Frankly it's usually the other way round.

My last motherboard was an LGA1366 and my current one is a LGA2066. At no point of my upgrade process I thought that I'd like to keep my triple channel DDR3, USB2, PCIe 2.0, SATA-2 and floppy drive connector.

Who has the need to swap out their CPU every generation apart from a minority of enthusiasts who want to be on the latest (albeit not greatest as we're not talking HEDT here)?

Actually it is enthusiasts who are the ones who tend to swap out motherboards all the time when they upgrade since they tend to buy the expensive CPUs in the range when they upgrade the system.

The fact is outside forums it is non-enthusiasts who I know who tend to prefer to upgrade the CPU without changing the motherboard since many people will buy a cheaper CPU in the first place and are using slower GPUs,and when the budget allows want to get something quicker. Lots of times since they have had to then change the motherboard they are forced to do so.

Unlike many here,I keep my systems for years,and start with a cheaper CPU and then get something better a few years later since I tend to be more GPU limited as I tend to buy mainstream graphics cards,and since Intel changes sockets so quickly its lead to another downside,new motherboard replacements are harder and more expensive to get,which caused me issues when my motherboard went kaput just outside of warranty.

Also the fact is the whole Z170/Z270/Z370 change and CPU lockout was pointless for many SKUs IMHO - the 6000/7000/8000/9000 series Intel CPUs use exactly the same cores,ie,SKL uarch ones,and only have increased core counts. At the very least the 65W TDP CKUs should have been supported in older boards.