Custom PC building dying as a hobby - parts becoming unrepairable proprietary modules

Question

Been building PCs since the Pentium days and wtf happened to this hobby? Looking to upgrade my 3yr old rig and suddenly everything's soldered, integrated, or requires "authorized repair centers." RAM soldered to motherboards. GPUs with non-standard power connectors. CPUs permanently attached to boards. Cases with proprietary screw patterns. PSUs that only work with specific motherboards. SSDs that can't be easily swapped. Each generation making it harder for average person to build/modify/repair their own system. Companies clearly pushing toward appliance model where entire components must be replaced instead of repaired. Pricing structure increasingly punishes DIY while prebuilts somehow cheaper despite worse components? Feeling like the entire culture of PC building getting deliberately strangled by manufacturers who realized repair/upgrade cycles more profitable than empowering users. Anyone else feel like we're watching the death of a hobby in real-time or am I just being dramatic?

Another0001 · Answer

R.I.P.&nbsp;to my framework laptop i literally BOUGHT FOR REPAIRABILITY. Company just went under and now can't get replacement parts. Meanwhile buddy's "disposable" dell from 2018 still getting parts. Market too small to sustain right-to-repair focused companies. We lost

t1oNe · Answer

U&nbsp;can pry my screwdriver from my cold dead hands. Still building frankenstein systems from "obsolete" parts. Running home server on "ancient" optiplex with upgraded everything. Entire secondary market ecosystem forming around repairing/modding "unrepairable" hardware. Adapters. Converters. Custom firmware. Underground forums. Manufacturers created their own black market opposition lmao

beck · Answer

took nephew pc shopping last weekend... kid asked why prebuilt hp was $899 while individual parts totaled $1200+... couldn't explain without sounding like conspiracy theorist. "well you see, corporations are deliberately..." trailed off &amp; bought him xbox instead. hobby officially inaccessible to next gen

noji · Answer

U&nbsp;do realize 99.99999% of computer users never opened case in their life right?? Like srsly touch grass. "pc building hobby dying" affects microscopic fraction of market. Companies catering to actual customers not reddit diy fetishists crying about soldered ram

DefmanGo · Answer

maybe im dense but still building fine??? 12th gen intel rig last yr, 5 diff manufacturers for components, everything worked first boot. Microcenter shelves still packed with options. Entire youtube ecosystem still making build videos. Death greatly exaggerated imo

deportivos2006 · Answer

lmao all hardware engineers know EXACTLY why this happening... laws of physics don't care about ur hobbies. signal integrity at current speeds REQUIRES shorter traces &amp; integration. can't have ddr5/pcie5 AND modular design. physics says pick one &amp; physics winning

NIKON · Answer

Helped friend buy upgrade parts at microcenter last sat... Sales guy literally tried steering him away from gpu upgrade saying "might not be compatible" with his 2yr old system 🙄 When pressed admitted nothing wrong with compatibility but "better overall experience" with new system. Checked commission structure online after - staff gets 3x points for full builds vs component sales. Follow the money

Judas · Answer

Tried explaining to my kid why new motherboard wouldn't accept perfectly good ram from old system... "but dad it's the same size?"... yeah son welcome to intentional incompatibility hell where working hardware becomes e-waste because capitalism demands constant consumption

turbo20003 · Answer

daily reminder that ddr5 costs $$$$$ to produce, board layers doubled, component density insane, copper prices skyrocketing... integration isn't conspiracy, it's economics. separate components require separate packaging/testing/margins. integration only way to keep costs viable