Cruisers after treaty limits disappear

Without the naval treaties, when would the previous dreadnought form factor go away in cruisers?

He says the older form factor fades quickly once triple-expansion-engine constraints give way to directed fire and turbines, making later cruiser layouts easier to build.

This short Q&A moves from treaty history to ship-design mechanics. The pre-dreadnought form factor was partly a product of triple-expansion machinery and the effort to get the best out of it. Once directed fire and turbines are in play, the cruiser forms familiar from the 1920s and 1930s become easier to reach even without treaty pressure. Propulsion and fire-control systems could determine a practical hull layout independently of treaty text.