Anybody else try to get 3 years out of their computer?

[LOOP]

Anybody else here try to get 3 years of their computers? I don't know about everyone else, but it seems like everyone else is rich, and constantly updating their computers. I was curious if anyone else trys to get atleast 3 years out of their computers? To me a computer is a BIG investment, and I try to get atleast 3 to 4 years out of a computer, before building a new one.

[Rob Williams]

I'm a performance whore, so I usually upgrade often. I don't usually run out and buy top notch things, but just what's good. I don't think I could be satisfied with a 3 year old computer, personally. I think every 2 years would be more reasonable.

[Jakal]

My last one was built in 2003 and I just built a new one. I plan on upgrading in two years, but not build a whole new computer. When you start with a great platform like Socket 939, you can expect to pick up great parts at a fraction of what they would have cost new. You just have to wait or upgrade when you can. I put a lot of hard work and effort into saving up for this pc.

[madmat]

I'm on 3 years with this one though I've upgraded a few things. The core of it is basically the same. It'll still play any game out, maybe not at uber high resolutions but playable at 1024x768 with AA enabled which suits me. I can play older games at 1600x1200 with 4x AA and 8x AF pumping but that's the way games go now isn't it?

[liqnit]

before my last computer burn away - i had had it for almost 3.5 years.
i would keep it but as i said he died ...

[sbrehm72255]

My second rig is about 3 years out and my main rig is over a year now..............;) I up-grade whenever I have the extra cash.

[madstork91]

my last comp was 6 years old. All I had done to it was a graphics card at about 3 years, and I bumped the ram from 256 too 384 at about 3.5 years(granted this was rd Ram) Believe it or not a 2.0 p4 with atleast 512 ram and a decent graphics card will still get you damn far in this world. That old comp of mine still runs games like battlefield 1942 and lineage 2 quite well.

Now for the newest games and what will be coming out soon, I suggest something better than that, atleast 1 gig of ram with a 128 vid card, and youll be fine.

I usually get > 4-5 years outta my systems with little to no upgrade.

[leecho7]

The rig I have now I had since the beginning of 2002. So it's about 4 years old. The only thing I changed on it was adding an extra 512mb of ram, and upgrading my graphics card from a Geforce Ti4200 to an ATI Radeon 9800 pro, now to an eVga Geforce 6600 (in agp form).
I didn't change my processor at all, AMD XP 2400.

I am able to run BF2 at high (not max) settings and it runs real smooth. It ran FEAR on high settings smoothly as well. Hopefully it'll run Oblivion (which comes out today), just as smoothly.

[Tech-Daddy]

I usually upgrade on a 2 year cycle.

However that would be the "major" upgrade, utilizing a new CPU/mobo install. I do upgrade throughout those 2 years... video card here, hard drive there... maybe a sound card...

but I look hard at tech leaps usually on a 2 year cycle.

[Jakal]

I didn't change my processor at all, AMD XP 2400.

That's what I had in my last pc and I loved it. I managed 2.2Ghz with the patriot ram, and a shoddy motherboard.

My original processor got a chip on the die and wouldnt' work on the motherboard. Well I kept it and bought another one. I then built a pc with the chipped processor for a friend of mine for his birthday; he was using a k6-2 500.

He got a 9800xt and ran doom 3 and farcry great with that thing. Everything maxed out on D3.

[Lothar]

I generally go 3-5 years between upgrades because my wife doesn't like me spending tons on computers, and also doesn't like having the old ones sitting around. I'm still working on a P4 2GHz system with a Geforce4 MX card from around 2001-2002 (pre hyperthreading). I also just put my P2 400MHz system to use as a PVR.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I don't have time to get into any new games at the moment, so I haven't had a huge need to upgrade either. However, I do plan to upgrade sometime this summer. :)

[PUTALE]

have a p3 system that's been with me for around 5 years already.

[=CDU=Above]

I've got more than three years on this case. I've switched out so many things...it can't be called the same computer. Motherboard, CPU, Vid card, memory ....switched and added mutible harddrives. From IDE to Sata...it goes on and on.
My next will be my own creation. I really want to get in to the cases. I think I could create some really cool stuff.

[tugovony]

Yah, I go about 3 years on my rigs. My current rig is a AMD socket 939 system, and I plan to get another 2 years out of it. I had it for a year so far, give or take. :)

[T-Shirt]

I still run 6-7 year old boxes, but the newest ones are almost 2 years old, close to doing a new build, then everyone in the family moves up a notch.

[Tech-Daddy]

Well... if we are talking about "using" a machine, and "do we get 3 years out of it?", hell yes!

I have P3 600's and 733's around my house, as well as some Athlon and Athlon XP lovin' happening in the garage.

They are not my primary machines, but theyare still productive and I still have use for them!

[PUTALE]

yeah, I use the p3 900 for my htpc. it's old and not really powerful but it plays teh movie just fine.

[fussnfeathers]

I have all of you beat........or rather, my mother does. She has a 466 Celeron she bought new in 1997. It's still used daily, several hours a day. Granted, it has an Antec PSU zip-tied to the back, but otherwise it's all stock, no replacement parts, no RAM upgrades, no nothing.

[Jakal]

lol... That's probably because there's nothing else out there that would work with it. Still, that's good considering it's 9 years old and the original parts still work!

[fussnfeathers]

Yup, gets a defrag once in awhile, and that's about it. Not bad for a Sears closeout special HP rig. I've been very impressed with it over the years. The 2mb of shared VRAM gives me the heebie-jeebies though........it's amazing that just 9 years ago, that was more than enough for most users, it was only us geeks that had 16mb cards and such.

[BlindMonk]

Six years on a 486, two years on a PII (with a Riva TNT2 upgrade a year later), and finally a Barton rig about three years ago. My current Barton 3200+ is, I believe, in its second year. I plan to ride this one for quite some time.

[LOOP]

Hi, I was the guy who started the thread. The point of the thread was about your primary machine. Not old machines that you just happen to have laying around.

I was more asking how long do you get out of your primary machine. Myself, I try to get 3 years out of a computer, but often end up upgrading atleast 1 part during those 3 years.

[Worldstar]

Hmmms, never thought about this. I guess I get around 2 years out of my rig before needing to upgrade. Like I said, I never really thought about how long, and didn't time it. Pretty sure though that it is 2 years. Does that answer your question?

[Angela Miller]

My computer is almost 2 years old now. I have so many problems with computers that I need to get one within 3 years.

[Fr00zen]

I got a machine that is one and a half years old. Because I overlocked the AMD processor when I built it (socket 939 AMD), it still runs plenty fast. Hope to get atleast another year and half out of it. 3 years is a good guess.

[living_joke]

Mostly use my computer for web browsing and typing term papers. I get new computers like once every 5 years.

[phonywish]

Five years on an AMD Athlon 800 MHZ on an Asus K7V motherboard.

[UnderRAPS]

My machine is about 4 years old. I had plans on upgrading last year but got fired from my computer tech job so I couldn't make the ever so sweet 'employee purchase' anymore. 1024x768 seems fine in most new games.

[drewd]

I've got a variety of Sun computers that are all way past the three year mark - one SparcStation 20, three Ultra 1's, two Ultra 2's, an Ultra 5 and a Blade 100. Does that count? I've got a 7 year old Micron notebook and a 4 year old Toshiba. Prior to my new build, my last PC was good for around 5 years with just one motherboard replacement (the original died - I think I ended up downgrading.)

[NicePants42]

My current rig (http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1030579359&postcount=115) has been complete since January. I can't wait to upgrade in September.

[KusoSamurai]

Does the TJ07 come with the water cooling unit or did you add that in yourself and then take the pictures?

[MacMan]

I have a 13-year old Mac Color Classic, around the house, that is still kicking! You can't really do that much with it, but I still use it, from time-to-time, for the sheer novelty of it.

The little bugger should have up-and-died a long time ago, but it's 10-inch Sony Trintron monitor is still sharp and the computer is still peppy for a 16 mhz machine.

The amazing thing about it was the cost, at the time...... a whopping $1,200 CDN! But of course, it also had a whopping 120 megabyte hard drive and an incredible 4 megabytes of ram, as well as being the first computer designed to handle Quick Time!

In those days Quick Time reminded me of the post office..... the video's were all about the size of a postage stamp! :)

[Rob Williams]

I'm a performance whore, so I usually upgrade often. I don't usually run out and buy top notch things, but just what's good. I don't think I could be satisfied with a 3 year old computer, personally. I think every 2 years would be more reasonable.

Wow, a year later and I actually still agree with myself.

[NicePants42]

Does the TJ07 come with the water cooling unit or did you add that in yourself and then take the pictures?
Heh, that depends on who you buy the case from. The guy I purchased the TJ07 from included two radiators and two pumps with it, but in general, you just get the case unless you order from a specialty shop (and thus pay extra for components and assembly).

[b1lk1]

My constant upgrading has come to an end so I am also gonna ride out my current PC for some time to come. To hell with upgrading for no reason........

[madstork91]

Well... I am ~ a year and a half in with my current rig...

I may upgrade the processor at Christmas, and may be going to a 64 bit OS.

I do not foresee anything else within the next year. (maybe an upgrade on these 7800gt x2's)

Yeah... this rig will prob last me a good while though.

[Tech-Daddy]

Taking in to account the original poster's thought that this was for the primary rig... there is *no* way I could leave my rig alone for 3 years.
2 is the tops that I'll leave something alone.

[Enigmachine]

I *try* to update every 2 years... I end up updating every 4 because there's always this "new thing" coming next month or something.

And I'm a software developper so fast hardware is important! I just announ ced to friends and family that I was getting a new computer and they all said I have enough of them already! They don't really get it, I think. :)

However the hardware I have right now is usually fast enough, programs used to take hours to compile, and now they take seconds, so I can live with 4 year old stuff. :)