News Most computers replaced after 4.5 years

The first Computer we got in 1996 was a Compaq 75mhz Pentium, 8MB RAM, 1GB HD, Win95. This one got a 24MB RAM upgrade and various HDDs died.

in 2000 we got a 733mhz PIII, 128MB RAM, 20GB HDD, Nvidia TNT2, Win98, Crappy PSUs that would blow up about once a year. Throughout the years this got upgraded to 512MB RAM and got a video card upgrade, and also got a 40GB secondary HDD (It was a Seagate and only lasted for less then a year or so) It also got a DVD-ROM upgrade.

The next we got around 2006/2007 is a 1.8Ghz Core 2 Duo, 1GB Ram, Nvidia 7300GT, 250GB HDD. The PSU died on this about 6 months ago so I replaced that with another one that died again a month after, so I got that one replaced so it's running fine now.

In 2008 my brother gave me an old 2.6Ghz Celeron to play around with so I could learn how to build computers myself, I took the whole thing apart and put it back together If it wasn't for him giving me this I probably would never have tried building my own.

I built my own Rig in 2009, specs were 2.8Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Ati 4650, OCZ 600Watt PSU. I just upgrade when I feel I need to. So now it has 6GB RAM, Ati 5770, 150GB Raptor, OCZ 700 Watt PSU (The original one Died about 8 months ago) My original RAM also died about a year later as well. I don't plan to buy a new rig anytime soon, this one is perfect for what I do.

 

That sounds about right for a family computer. As for my gaming computer I upgrade when there is a new game that I REALLY want to play and it needs moar powa

 

I work on a 3-4 year cycle to replace major components (mobo, cpu) but other stuff like HDD's, GPU's and Ram get upgraded when I feel like it or I cant run a game at the detail level I like.
As The_Beast says though, if something needs it and I really want it, I'll upgrade

 

I wonder how many of your users would even know how to upgrade a pc. While my mobo was being rma'd recently i shoved an old machine together with spare parts i have and didn't bother with a case. When my flatmate came through she seemed to believe that all the internals for the pc were in the monitor and didn't have a clue what was on my desk.

3 years is also about the average lifespan for the cheap laptops my family buys before they die.

 

around every 2 years.. I really like the asus eee netbook for a laptop- it does what it needs to do and lasts forever on a charge.. no need to replace that with a ipad

the video cards seem bound to go before anything else.. pretty impressed with the rig have now.. 460- is just no hassle at 850 stable with just a few mods (re-did tim and ducting to cooler)

the g6850 still running at 4.2ghz.. hope parts stay this good

also still running a e6600 at 3.3 for 3 years now

 

I make regular, smaller upgrades to my computer. Had it for about 2 years and I've upgraded the GPU, motherboard, hard disk and ram all at separate times. PC's are my hobby though, so I upgrade not through need, but because something cool comes out and I want to buy it

 

My current PC is around the 4.5 year mark and has only had a memory and graphics card upgrade during that time. Upgrades are now limited due to the ageing form factor which isn't helped by Intel and AMD changing their sockets as often as they have during this time.

Since I have a 3Ghx dual core amd chip in there I can happily get away with simply upgrading my graphics card to keep things ticking over for a bit longer yet.

That said,when the time comes and since I am happy with my Antec fusion case it will simply be an upgrade of the motherboard, cpu and ram for me.

 

I upgrade parts every few months. I honestly don't think I ever went 6 months without something new in my PC, even when I was broke as hell.

The only things I keep forever are hard drives and my DVD burner. I have always had several HDDs in my PC (up to 6 at a time at some point) because I don't take them out until they become useless (say a 80GB surrounded by 500GB HDDs). As for my DVD Burner, up to a month ago, it had been in my PC for 7 years. It's still working beautifully and is the most silent DVD burner I have ever seen (heard?) but it's IDE and is useless with my Sabertooth X58. Sad



I think I will keep my current rig intact for quite a while, though. I will definitely add more HDDs in the near future however because 4.5TB is getting a little tight. The rest should be enough for a long time, especially if games keep being held back by consoles

 

Yeah I'm pretty sure I've gone a year without upgrading at least something. I'm surprised by the results of the survey, though.

 

I personally upgrade minor things like RAM & video frequently (around 6mths-1yr) so complete rebuilds are spaced a few years apart, after which machines get passed down to family members who get another year or two out of it so 4.5 years does sound about right on average.

 

Haha, that was what my brother said to me a few weeks ago when I started explaining to him my current 'nine year old' PC!

It started out as my personal PC, then switched to becoming my work PC:

4 PSU's.
3 GPU's.
1 Extra stick of RAM.
4/5 Boot HDD's.
3 HSF's.
2 DVD drives.
3/4 new sets of case fans.

The only original bits left are the case (Lian-Li), motherboard (Asus), CPU (AMD Athlon XP 2800+) & the floppy drive! Although if anything else goes wrong I think it's getting beyond the point of being cost effective to replace individual components, it'll be time for a wholly new system, (probably a nettop of some description - I wish there was a barebones Shuttle version with AMD's Zacate/Fusion instead of just the Atom, I'd buy that tomorrow).

 

I have to agree. As mentioned above, damn near every day for the best part of nine years - you can't really grumble at that!

I have a cheap generic brand (Hynix) stick of 256MB DDR 400MHz CL3 you're very welcome to - unless someone can trump me by offering a 512MB stick.

It's been sitting in my drawer for a good few years now, but I can't see any reason as to why it wouldn't still work. I'd rather it went to a good home than continued to sit in my drawer feeling lonely...

I don't know how to send personal messages in here, but if you can get me your address somehow I'd be quite happy to wrap it in cardboard, pop it in an envelope & send it out to you.

 

Same, though each individual component usually lasts two years. I love buying upgrades. Some more RAM here, a new video card there, maybe another hard drive for good measure...

 

If you're still using that 4.5 year old HDD, then I think that could be well worth a replacement. The step-up I noticed from my old Samsung Spinpoint to my new Samsung F3 was immense - it practically felt like a new PC.

A 500GB Samsung F3 can be had for about £30 now:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500g...hd502hj-sata-3gb-s-7200rpm-16mb-cache-8ms-oem

Combine it with a free disk cloning utility like the nice and easy one I use:

http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/free-backup-software.htm

And you really can't go wrong...

 

Just build your own. Overclockers had "Hudson M1" Motherboards and you can pick up some itx cases that can take a full sized PSU. Mind you since LGA1155 dropped I've always fancied making an itx gaming rig. i5 speed in such a tiny space........I really need a higher paying job =(

 

my last pc was about 3 years old (amd 4400+, asus a8ne, evga 8800 gts) i've had a chipset fan die, dead soundcard and a dead gpu, bit unlucky there.

i'll probably upgrade after bulldozer's release, so by then the pc i have would be 2 years old.

 

That's a long course you on!

I would say about 4 years is probably right for what I'd expect MY pc to stay with me for, then at least another 4 years with the family. Until every member of the household has their own PC, there is no chance of one being thrown away. We still have a 10+ year old PC being used for flash games and web browsing.

 

Hardly any guilt involved if you flog a piece of kit that you bought new and more than one person gets good use out of it. Once you find a good backbone of Mobo/CPU and you're not playing games with a PC, who knows how long it'll last. The Socket A and Barton 2800+ CPU that my Mum uses, it's rolling into its eighth year in total when looking at the oldest parts inside plus the seven year old Jeantech Phong case, but I'd bought and sold two more of the same combo before the socket was axed. If it didn't use too much power then it would roll on forever, but she'll move on to her laptop eventually.

Current magic backbone is the MSI K9A2 either CF or Platinum, and the AMD 4400+, long in the tooth for big performance standards but trucking along nicely for anything else, sailed past its third birthday and easily another 18 months in it for gaming unless I bought a BF game. Not going quad until I see the current gen offerings, or whatever follows that vs Ivy Bridge in Jan.

Didn't even remember the decent PSU, once you've done the shelling out for one of those, it's years before you have to bother again.

 

I had that curiosity about the 3200+ Barton for years until the mag finally tested it and showed I was right to stick with the 2800+, 2GHz at that level, only cache was there to make it any quicker and it would have been even more heat and even more juice.

That's how I felt about the Phenom II X6s, probably great at the time, but will probably be bettered in the newer socket so no hurry to upgrade - not even now the 1055T/1075T are £130/£140 on the street.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbha4XclSMU