Had this bad boy for 6 years going strong

How long do you (historically) use a computer before you feel like it's time for an upgrade? For laptops, I imagine that means buying a completely new one.

For stationary computers, switching out parts at least? With what frequency do you consider these things?

My MSI laptop has lasted me about 5 years before I built a desktop. I still have it as a portable workstation now though and leave gaming to the desktop. I was hoping to get 5 years of use from my desktop before upgrading it but with the strict Windows 11 requirements I'm not sure it'll last...

I legit used a Windows XP computer until January 2020

I keep my stuff for years without too much slowdown. I almost never download anything unless it's necessary, like microsoft office for homework related projects.

I still notice my battery life gets shorter and shorter the longer I keep the computer, even if I'm not putting anything on it. I don't think the batteries are meant to last.

I used my Toshiba laptop from 2014 until 2018, so not as long as some of y'all :P

I've had my ASUS laptop since late 2014 and it still works well! After a few reinstallations...

Built my desktop in early 2019 and haven't thought of upgrading it yet since it still runs everything I've tested on max or near max settings with no issues. I guess I built it pretty good c: seems to be a really bad time to buy parts now anyways...

I replace or upgrade only when parts fail or specs are no longer adequate for what I'm trying to do. Years in service doesn't matter. Only parts that will trigger a whole system replacement are hard drive failure, processor failure, or motherboard failure. Everything else will be replaced.

My previous desktop PC lasted 6 years before replacement (2010-2016), as it was a budget build using a case and a couple HDDs I already had that cost me about $300 initially. OS hard drive was new, mobo and CPU were a bundle for less than $100, RAM was new but DDR2 to save money, PSU was 80+ gold certified back when that actually meant something). I upgraded from the onboard video after 2 years by buying a super cheap dedicated video card with 512 MB of video RAM, then that failed after 2 years which led to me ordering a 750ti for the last two years of that PC's life. That PC also had the PSU have plastic break off inside in the same year I replaced the video card, which I replaced. I only shelved that PC for a replacement after HDDs started to go.

My current desktop PC has been the same since I had it assembled in 2016. I have been meaning for the past year to open it and install an additional 16 GB of RAM I have sitting around to upgrade from 16 GB in the system to 32 GB, but actually doing that's not been a priority. I'll probably replace the GPU whenever that fails, since that was actually used when I had the PC built (got an r9 290x off a coworker for probably $100 at the time), meaning that's the oldest part. I'll probably have to do a complete replacement in a couple of years since I built my current PC using parts that were top of the line in 2014 to save some money, but that'll depend on how long the processor can keep meeting my demands.

My current laptop is also the oldest PC I ever had. I bought it in 2012 and it's still doing alright despite frequent usage.

I not quite sure what I'll go for when it stops working, though.

Megan said:

My current laptop is also the oldest PC I ever had. I bought it in 2012 and it's still doing alright despite frequent usage.

I not quite sure what I'll go for when it stops working, though.

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That is honestly very impressive. Can it run games? :O

I built my PC at the tail end of 2015, but nothing in the computer was particularly "high end" at the time. I could probably count on both hands the number of times I've shut it down without the intention of turning it right back on again a few minutes later. It still runs well enough, but has some issues. Every couple of months I get a nice little blue screen, but it recovers quickly enough. I had thought about simply upgrading the system, since even just adding in some more ram could solve one or two issues I keep running into, but since it was a budget build at the time I'm ready to just go all out and put together something new.

I do still have a toughbook laptop boxed up somewhere that works well enough to browse one or two tabs of chrome or open up a word doc. I was using it up until the time I built this computer, since the dell laptop I got back in 08/09 overheated one too many times and stopped running around 2012/2013.

I would definitely be at least considering looking for a new PC. This one is something like 9 years old now, though it's had some minor upgrades. It's pretty slow and has accumulated a lot of issues, and needs to be restarted pretty often. Unfortunately there's basically 0 chance I'll be able to afford anything better anytime soon.

Flowerchild said:

I would definitely be at least considering looking for a new PC. This one is something like 9 years old now, though it's had some minor upgrades. It's pretty slow and has accumulated a lot of issues, and needs to be restarted pretty often. Unfortunately there's basically 0 chance I'll be able to afford anything better anytime soon.

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no wonder you arent a gamer

adventure said:

no wonder you arent a gamer

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god let me choose gamer or hot girl and i chose correctly

back when i only really had laptops, i would buy a new one every 2 years or so. this wasn't exactly intentional timing; this was mostly due to screen cracks and my laptop being too old to use for my tastes anyway.

since i have a desktop now, i can imagine this lasting me a solid half a decade if not more than that. c:

adventure said:

That is honestly very impressive. Can it run games? :O

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It's a gaming laptop that was decently expensive. I used to play games on it a couple years ago but at some point decided to much over to consoles. I use a very resource friendly Linux system for the purpose of longevitability which helped a lot.

It came with Win 7 at the time but when I upgraded to 10 it just really didn't like that. Early Win10 was a real horror...

I've had my ASUS laptop since late 2013

For laptops, it's time to buy a new one when it starts physically coming apart. I'm saving up for a new one as we speak, and it won't be made of just plastic anymore.

For PCs, I guess when the hard drive dies or smth I dunno

Laptop wise, for many years i would get a new one because 9 times out of 10 i would have destroyed it one way or another (i think i use to be harsh on laptops) I think it was usually screens breaking or keyboard keys just breaking off and unable to put em back. One time a hard drive broke. Thats usually about it though. Recently it was because i had an intel laptop, forget the specs exactly but it felt underpowered for the heat it was giving so I got a new laptop about a yearish ago and it was better. Phones are an interesting case, sometimes because they broke (like my first smart phone which i believe was motorola which lasted me about 3 years), the 2 LG phones i had (very cheap they were) that had some weird software issue or something that i just couldnt keep it because it didnt like texts going through. my samsung galaxy j7 sky pro is still working, my A10e is still working, my a50 screen is busted but if i replaced that i think it would still be working (just couldnt think of any places to repair it at the time so i just upgraded), my current phone is a A51, still working, sometimes the touch is unresponsive and gotta wiggle the charge cord for it to charge sometimes, along with you can tell its low end with how slow it is sometimes specially when its got apps on google play store updating, the chip and 4gb of ram doesnt do it justice. I was gonna just upgrade to like the A52 5g, but i found the s20 fe 5g for $250 through my carrier, but right now its delayed so idk if ima get it still or not, if i do great, if they refund me will probably end up getting the a52 5g or wait longer to save up for an S series phone. Desktop, i havent had this pc long, and it works well, even with a gpu thats from about 2017 (i bought the gpu used) thats probably gonna be the only part i upgrade anytime soon besides storage, RAM i might one day upgrade to 32gb, but its doing fine at 16gb atm.

I originally upgraded from a PC bought at a pawn shop / parts scavenged from the trash and garage sales in '09 to my first homebuilt computer in 2011. Then due to the sandy bridge i7 constantly overheating I upgraded my mobo and procesor to 4th gen intel in 2013. Some of the parts I initially got in 2011, mainly the graphics card lasted. That gts450 kept on ticking for a decade until I got sick of its terrible performance. I did a complete overhaul in January and switched to team red. Ended up rocking a 5950x and an RX 6800XT. I saved up quite of bit of paychecks working at a factory to get the hardware I so coveted. GFX card scalpers eventually won in the end. Sometimes you can stretch the hardware for as long as you desire but sometimes it becomes apparent you need an upgrade. For me it was the gfx issues on linux with legacy nvdia drivers that are no longer supported. It was infuriating installing a distro and having massive visual glitches and screen tearing. 1GB of VRAM wasn't enough. My intel 4770k is still good and the onboard gfx supports 4k resolutions so I got a decent junker out of old parts.

I've only owned 3 laptops. One really old Toshiba one (had XP when it was new) that is still kicking around somewhere, a Sony Ultrabook (which was replaced 3 times within a week before I gave up and got a refund - not sure if it was the laptop or Windows 8, which had just been released) and the refurbished Macbook Air that I bought that same week. Its had a lot of internal work done, but that's still adding up to less than 1/4 of any potential replacement. I haven't even upgraded it to a 64-bit OS because that would mean being unable to revisit my old Football Manager saves.