Donate to Remove ads

Got a credit card? use our Credit Card & Finance Calculators

Thanks to johnstevens77,Bhoddhisatva,scotia,Anonymous,Cornytiv34, for Donating to support the site

Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

Seek assistance with all types of tech. - computer, phone, TV, heating controls etc.

How often do you upgrade your desktop PC?

Every year
0
No votes
Every 2 years
0
No votes
Every 3 years
3
3%
Every 4 years
5
5%
Every 5 years
4
4%
Every 6 to 7 years
10
10%
Less frequently than every 7 years
22
22%
Whenever I consider the performance gains to be worthwhile
19
19%
Only when it breaks
30
31%
Other - please explain in a comment
5
5%
 
Total votes: 98

Julian
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 1385
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 9:58 am
Has thanked: 532 times
Been thanked: 676 times

Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451138

Postby Julian » October 18th, 2021, 11:25 pm

I’ve just got the 3 year itch. I’m curious about other people’s behaviour.

- Julian

JohnB
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2497
Joined: January 15th, 2017, 9:20 am
Has thanked: 677 times
Been thanked: 997 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451151

Postby JohnB » October 19th, 2021, 5:16 am

I built my own ultra quiet machine 7 years ago, and just replaced a failed ssd and retired a 12 year old hard disk, demoting the 7yo one to spinning backup. No issues with other performance.

Such a change from the 90s, when the upgrade urge was so strong

servodude
Lemon Half
Posts: 8271
Joined: November 8th, 2016, 5:56 am
Has thanked: 4435 times
Been thanked: 3564 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451153

Postby servodude » October 19th, 2021, 6:18 am

I clicked 3 years

As that's probably the frequency with which I get a new main machine
Not necessarily a desktop.. though that is what that last one was (and it's normally accessed remotely by the laptop I got 3 years before it)

The frequency with which I get rid of machines... now that's when they break ;)

- sd

Allitnil
Lemon Pip
Posts: 54
Joined: February 6th, 2021, 3:13 pm
Has thanked: 57 times
Been thanked: 27 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451167

Postby Allitnil » October 19th, 2021, 8:38 am

I put "other". I certainly used to build a new machine pretty much every 3 years and would likely have upgraded the video card mid cycle. But my past machine was built in 2011 and I only built my current in April 2020 (albeit the HDD had been replaced by a SSD which in turn had been replaced when it failed and it had had two GPU replacements - again one following a failure).

Going forward, I think I'll probably be looking more at a 5 to 7 year replacement cycle.

scrumpyjack
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 4814
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 10:15 am
Has thanked: 606 times
Been thanked: 2675 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451168

Postby scrumpyjack » October 19th, 2021, 8:38 am

servodude wrote:I clicked 3 years

As that's probably the frequency with which I get a new main machine
Not necessarily a desktop.. though that is what that last one was (and it's normally accessed remotely by the laptop I got 3 years before it)

The frequency with which I get rid of machines... now that's when they break ;)

- sd


That is the problem, actually throwing away a machine that works. I have become more ruthless in my old age so am now down to 3 desktops, 3 laptops and 3 tablets! As for phones .....

Midsmartin
Lemon Slice
Posts: 778
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 7:18 am
Has thanked: 211 times
Been thanked: 491 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451177

Postby Midsmartin » October 19th, 2021, 9:10 am

As performance gains have slowed upgrade I go it less often. Once upon a time this was as you say every 3 years, roughly. Now I see little benefit in replacing my i5-6600 based pc which I suppose is six years old. I have upgraded disk drives in that time though as ssds have got bigger and cheaper. Sometimes it feels slow but I think it will last another few years.

bluedonkey
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 1791
Joined: November 13th, 2016, 3:41 pm
Has thanked: 1394 times
Been thanked: 652 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451210

Postby bluedonkey » October 19th, 2021, 10:11 am

"Other".

I updated my PC recently only because I had to upgrade the OS. Buying a new machine was easier - for me anyway - than installing a OS upgrade.

malakoffee
Lemon Pip
Posts: 96
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 9:14 pm
Has thanked: 71 times
Been thanked: 34 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451223

Postby malakoffee » October 19th, 2021, 10:36 am

I think this desktop PC is 7+ years old. Running Ubuntu 20.04.

The performance is absolutely fine for me and I wouldn't normally consider upgrading for a few more years . .

HOWEVER, The screen + PC + periphs. use about 65watts according to my "Smart" meter.

I know I could definitely get the power down by using a Single Board Computer - to approx 10 watts
A modern LED screen might use 18 watts ( at full ON ).

If Raspberry Pi came up with a Pi 400 with bigger memory 8Gb and better streaming capability ( with Ubuntu ), I would be much tempted.
Hopefully the reduced power consumption over the machine life would offset the embodied carbon & other env. damage from buying new PC components.

BT63
Lemon Slice
Posts: 432
Joined: November 5th, 2016, 1:22 pm
Has thanked: 59 times
Been thanked: 121 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451231

Postby BT63 » October 19th, 2021, 10:53 am

malakoffee wrote:......The screen + PC + periphs. use about 65watts according to my "Smart" meter.
I know I could definitely get the power down by using a Single Board Computer - to approx 10 watts
A modern LED screen might use 18 watts ( at full ON ).


How much is it worth spending on another computer to save ~40 Watts/hr?
Running 24hrs a day it's only 0.9 kWh (probably 13p per day).

Especially in autumn and winter when the Watts wasted as heat don't actually go to waste since they add a small amount of heat to your home.

tjh290633
Lemon Half
Posts: 8209
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 11:20 am
Has thanked: 913 times
Been thanked: 4097 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451243

Postby tjh290633 » October 19th, 2021, 11:19 am

I clicked "only when it breaks". My previous one had a mother board failure, and my usual servicers found me a Dell Optiflex 780, already well used, originally with Windows Vista, but upgraded to Windows 7, from which I moved to Windows 10. The earliest dates I can find are July 2016. As long as this one keeps going, I shall not be changing it.

TJH

malakoffee
Lemon Pip
Posts: 96
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 9:14 pm
Has thanked: 71 times
Been thanked: 34 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451263

Postby malakoffee » October 19th, 2021, 12:16 pm

BT63 wrote:How much is it worth spending on another computer to save ~40 Watts/hr?
Running 24hrs a day it's only 0.9 kWh (probably 13p per day).

Especially in autumn and winter when the Watts wasted as heat don't actually go to waste since they add a small amount of heat to your home.

. . . concentrating on what is really important ( i.e. not 13p per day ) . . . .
0.9 Kwh ==> 200g - 400g CO2 - depending on the mix of generation sources.

How much is your personal CO2 production today / this week / year ?

monabri
Lemon Half
Posts: 8396
Joined: January 7th, 2017, 9:56 am
Has thanked: 1539 times
Been thanked: 3428 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451271

Postby monabri » October 19th, 2021, 12:50 pm

Only when it breaks...and it is coming up to 15 years of age :shock:

It handles Excel/HYPTUSS/Browsing well and with an SSD it boots in ~20 seconds from "off", quicker from Hibernate.

It is struggling with some music software ("Ultimate Guitar" Pro tracks) as it can't seem to process all the different tracks of a song simultaneously so that may be a reason to retire it in the future.

xeny
Lemon Slice
Posts: 450
Joined: April 13th, 2017, 11:37 am
Has thanked: 233 times
Been thanked: 154 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451290

Postby xeny » October 19th, 2021, 2:09 pm

malakoffee wrote:
HOWEVER, The screen + PC + periphs. use about 65watts according to my "Smart" meter.


If you're thinking about it that much, it's possibly worth borrowing a plug in watt meter and finding out if the main culprit is the screen or PC, so you know which to replace?

Also, try turning the screen brightness down - they're often shipped with it turned fully up for pizazz in the showroom, but are perfectly tenable with it lower unless you sit with your back to a window.

servodude
Lemon Half
Posts: 8271
Joined: November 8th, 2016, 5:56 am
Has thanked: 4435 times
Been thanked: 3564 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451475

Postby servodude » October 19th, 2021, 11:50 pm

scrumpyjack wrote:
servodude wrote:I clicked 3 years

As that's probably the frequency with which I get a new main machine
Not necessarily a desktop.. though that is what that last one was (and it's normally accessed remotely by the laptop I got 3 years before it)

The frequency with which I get rid of machines... now that's when they break ;)

- sd


That is the problem, actually throwing away a machine that works. I have become more ruthless in my old age so am now down to 3 desktops, 3 laptops and 3 tablets! As for phones .....


Indeed
I'm almost running out of things to repurpose them for
- I should probably retire the Vista torrent box - but it's the only one with a FireWire/iLink port which I need for the old tape handycam
- actually... having a desktop now I can probably find a PCI card that would do it. hmmm!

- sd

jfgw
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2540
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 3:36 pm
Has thanked: 1097 times
Been thanked: 1146 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451553

Postby jfgw » October 20th, 2021, 10:53 am

It depends upon what you call "update". I have never replaced my entire PC but it has had a few motherboard+processor+RAM upgrades. My original hard drive has been upgraded numerous times but not at the same time as the motherboard etc. Other bits (such as the Blu-Ray drive and graphics card) have, again, been replaced at different times.


Julian F. G. W.

mc2fool
Lemon Half
Posts: 7812
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 11:24 am
Has thanked: 7 times
Been thanked: 3017 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451557

Postby mc2fool » October 20th, 2021, 11:08 am

jfgw wrote:It depends upon what you call "update". I have never replaced my entire PC but it has had a few motherboard+processor+RAM upgrades. My original hard drive has been upgraded numerous times but not at the same time as the motherboard etc. Other bits (such as the Blu-Ray drive and graphics card) have, again, been replaced at different times.

Yeah, I've got a box like that (now gathering dust). Replaced the power supply a couple of times too. The only remaining original things are the 3.5" floppy drive and the case.

The Ship of Theseus comes to mind ... or Trigger's broom. :D

kiloran
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 4092
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 9:24 am
Has thanked: 3234 times
Been thanked: 2827 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451565

Postby kiloran » October 20th, 2021, 11:25 am

jfgw wrote:It depends upon what you call "update". I have never replaced my entire PC but it has had a few motherboard+processor+RAM upgrades. My original hard drive has been upgraded numerous times but not at the same time as the motherboard etc. Other bits (such as the Blu-Ray drive and graphics card) have, again, been replaced at different times.


Julian F. G. W.

Sounds like a computerised version of Trigger's Broom :lol:

--kiloran

gryffron
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 3606
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 10:00 am
Has thanked: 550 times
Been thanked: 1586 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451571

Postby gryffron » October 20th, 2021, 11:36 am

jfgw wrote:It depends upon what you call "update". I have never replaced my entire PC but it has had a few motherboard+processor+RAM upgrades. My original hard drive has been upgraded numerous times but not at the same time as the motherboard etc. Other bits (such as the Blu-Ray drive and graphics card) have, again, been replaced at different times.

I used to do that but have found it more difficult since the millennium. We've had changes to power supply connectors, changes to disk interfaces, expansion card interfaces, smaller motherboard sizes. It became too hard to continually upgrade, so more recently I have gone for the all-at-once option.

I have lived in this house 11 years and have bought 1 new PC since I moved here. the previous one was a few yeas old when I moved. Though both were quite high spec when I bought them, so I chose the 6-7 years option. No plans to change yet so it may be longer going forward.

Gryff

scrumpyjack
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 4814
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 10:15 am
Has thanked: 606 times
Been thanked: 2675 times

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#451639

Postby scrumpyjack » October 20th, 2021, 1:11 pm

The other factor is space. My old desktops were rather large. One reason for replacing was to get rid of the big black 'box'. I went for the Dell OptiPlex 7090 Ultra BTX. This is far more powerful than my previous desktop and just clamps to the back of the monitor. Box gone, makes my study much much neater.

Albert90
Posts: 18
Joined: December 14th, 2021, 11:10 pm
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Poll: How often do you update your desktop PC?

#468314

Postby Albert90 » December 24th, 2021, 5:56 am

I would say, "Never; why would anyone want to keep changing what already works?" I use this approach and PCs typically last about 2-3 years before they need updating. But this is not my only assumption: I also believe there are many people who don't mind spending time and money on improving their computer's performance over time without buying a new one.


Return to “Technology - Computers, TV, Phones etc.”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests