jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

That sounds good.

CaltechNerd Loc: Whittier, CA, USA

All of the above. Pin-out changes every two or three chips. The chipset on the motherboard controls lots of the functionality. Even if you can speed up the clock, you now need to get faster memory. And if you're getting faster memory you probably want more as well, which probably won't fit on an older board. The list goes on.

I went years with a very serviceable, very out of date desktop. Then when Lightroom/Photoshop couldn't run any of the new goodies, I went for a new machine. Latest (at the time) Intel processor, Second from latest NVidea card (on sale because the new ones at the time had just come out), lots of fast memory. Couldn't be happier. I'll keep it until it's totally obsolete and then do another complete replacement.

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

This depends on a few things. As for putting a $300 CPU in an old machine, well, the motherboard is the only item that isn't easily upgraded. But the mobo often is just a placeholder to keep everything else in place. Sure, chipsets matter -- eventually. But if you have the latest or near-latest chipset and features you want on your current mobo, a CPU upgrade is often worthwhile. Other components, like RAM, the GPU, and storage, are easily upgradable and probably should have been done before the CPU.

What a person does with a PC matters most. Is what one does heavily CPU-dependent? Or does one mostly play video games? I don't game, but I do things like video rendering and, especially, photo processing, both of which use more CPU than other resources. I need a strong CPU.

We also might consider upgrading the CPU for features. I upgraded from a 10th-gen Intel to an 11th-gen to take advantage of PCIe 4.0 support of an m.2 NVMe drive. The ~20% CPU performance boost was nice I suppose, but the faster drive was worth the easy upgrade. Yes, swapping out a CPU is simple.

Those of us who buy or build in the sweet spot rather than the latest and greatest might be most likely to upgrade a CPU. I'm working up to my next build with an Intel 13th-gen CPU. I wouldn't do this if I didn't know that the next gen will use the same socket, which gives me an upgrade path of one CPU. After that, Intel will surely use a new socket. AMD, on the other hand, will likely keep its new AM5 socket for a few generations, but I'm a recovering AMD CPU user, so that's moot for me. Others might want to go with AMD if CPU upgrades are their thing. AMD uses the same socket for much longer than does Intel.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

When I build or buy, I never get the best processor available. I choose one a step or two down. There's much of a practical difference in performance, but there's a huge savings in price.

BebuLamar

That what I upgraded. When the computer is new the stepped up processor was expensive but when it' old the CPU became dirt cheap so I upgraded the CPU to the top of that line.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Harry02 Loc: Gardena, CA

One must keep up o n the times ...
I just upgraded yet another cMacpro.
It had 2x 2.3hz quad core CPUs in it- now it has a pair of X5675s.
From a good 8 core 16 thread to 12 core 24 thread system, also @ 50% faster.
I also upgraded the Ram, from 4x 4gb sticks to 6x 8gb sticks.
Should I mention I deleted the 320gb spinner for the 2tb SSD booter in the second optical bay?
OKaay ...
The CPUs aren't the best nor the fastest but they're close with a 70watt TDP decrease.
48gb Ram is plenty for almost anybody.
The SSD is big enough for a complete OS and all necessary apps. Add a 4tb spinner HDD.
I just took a closet queen and made it into THE powerhouse it should have been.
2 CPUs ~ $35, RDRam ~ $70, SSD ~ $110. 4gb GPU ~ $50. Runs Windows 11!

Check the website of the PC maker for upgrade options, also Intel's.
The CPUs, Ram and storage together make up the PC.
The rest is the support.
I dunno who you hang with, but half of those I know already changed CPUs and GPUs, and did the SSDs.
You buy a car- its got 6000 mile tires, AM radio, 50wt oil and the A/C is empty. Gotta deal!
You know cars? Everything is easy and do able, but $$$ at the dealer. He hopes!
PCs are kinda the same. You have the OK one, the one you wanted was twice the price.
Fox it!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I like laptops that let me change the memory and the drives. I prefer SSDs.