2600k > 6700k > 9700k > 13600k is my upgrade path,

I recently went from an i5-3330k to an i7-12700k. The jump was noticeable to say the least.

4770k > 8700 >10900k >13900k

Every few generations. My last CPU was an i9 9900k, current one is an i9 13900k.

When the next one comes out

I upgraded from the first I5 to the last I5 😂 (1st gen to 14th gen)

I5 6500 to i5 13600kf.

every other, i got a 13900KF, will upgrade with zen6 or Arrow Lake, whatever is better at the time, probably zen 6 X3D

Depends on needs and cpu. I kept my previous cpu (i7 2600k) for about 10 years but thats an anomaly due to anemic cpu performance progress during that time period and me also not doing anything seriously cpu intensive. 2600k had also very good oc gains and hyperthreading aldo carried compared to just 4c/4t cpus. Previously i owned pentium iii -> pentium 4 -> core duo E6750.

upgraded from athlon x2 to 7800x3d, now i just need save some money for 4090 to go from geforce 8600…

4790K -> 5960X -> 9900K

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have no intentions of moving any time soon… 9900k is still ripping for me

Use based, like i had an i7 4770K then when I was overseas I was mostly on laptop (desktop replacement) with a 6820HK, upgraded my laptop to 9750H, then I built my rig with a 9700K, sold to a friend, built another rig with 10700K, sold to a friend, came back stateside built the latest and greatest at the time lol so 10900K, skipped 11th, didnt want early adopter 12th, got 13th. If the price is right, IPC is great, everything is good maybe a 15th gen but if you want everything ironed out after a new platform then it’ll be 16th if we go by the tick tock process.

8K/9K - went with 9K

10K/11K - went with 10K

12K/13K/14K - went with 13K, I could’ve gotten the 14700K for cheap but I got the 13K brand new for $280 so… $280 vs $400 lol

15K/16K - if stable platform 15th if theres any sales, 16th if i want most of the stuff ironed out

The difference with 11th -> 12th gen was DDR5, you can keep your good DDR4 kit if you didn’t want to jump ship, initial DDR5 was trash, no availability, no kits, barely to no kits with XMP… this was the early adopter phase and you had kits going for $300-400 now they’re what like $80-$100 for a good 32GB kit with a good xmp.

Now that DDR5 is has pretty much settled the transition to 15th/16th will probably be easier.

But to answer your question, sometimes I just line it up with GPU release:

4770K I had a 970

6820HK I had a 970M (laptop)

6820HK I had a 1070 (laptop)

9750H I had a 2060 (laptop)

9700K I had a 2080

10700K I had a 2080 Super

10900K I had a 3080

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5800H I have a 3070 (AMD laptop)

13700K I have a 4080 (had a 4070Ti, had a 4090)

I upgrade hhen new RAM is released (DDR4 -> DDR5), I had an i5 from the sixth generation. Upgraded to an i7 of the fourteenth gen.

i have a ryzen 2600 & 1060 rn, would jumping to 15th gen next year do anything for me without a gpu upgrade?

Depends, i went 8700k ->11700K -> 13600K so 2/3 years usually.