How Often

[Kobus]

How often do you guys replace computer parts? I try to get my money's worth out of all my machines so I try to go about 3 or so years between buying new hardware. My current setup is really nice, but I've been having some harddrive issues (bought one ~6 months ago and it's giving me problems already) that have gotten me looking into upgrading a few things. Just wondering what the average is that people go before rebuilding a system.

[shidobu]

took me 5 years to rebuild a system <_<

but normaly id just replace things as they broke.

once my PSU shorted out. Then my motherboard borked on me and i had an HDD go out on me -.-. MY last build was shit. Hopefully this one will be a hella lot better. When i was younger i didnt have the money to constantly keep repairing like that. But now a days. I have cash to blow 90% of the time soo upgrading and adding on wont be a problem. in Next 4 months i plan on adding another 5870 and adding another HDD. And maybe adding an SSD for my OS and other apps. By the end of the summer

[Cephius]

Situational really. If you feel the need to play the latest games at max settings, you'll probably be updating your system every 1-2 years. If you're just a casual gamer, MMO'er or mostly surf the web, you can probably get 3-5 years out of your hardware.

[Isiolia]

It varies really. I haven't had many things that have completely died on me, so I'll tend to continue using 'em in some capacity even if they aren't in my main PC. I've also given plenty of stuff to friends.

A large part of it, to me, is whether I feel like I'd get a significant improvement for the money. I'd say in general that'd be a 2-3 year life before a new build or whatnot. 'course, I'll probably keep using the hardware for twice that long, if not longer.

[sruon]

2 years about

[Rulke]

I build a computer to play a small handful of games for a long time. Back in college I probably rebuilt every 3 years or so, but since I built my FFXI PC back before release, its been 6 years (since FFXI was _the_ game I played.) Current machine I built a few months ago to play Starcraft 2, Tera and Diablo 3 (eventaully), so it'll prob last me another 5 or so years.

Basically, if the machine suites your gaming needs, try to milk it for as long as you can imo.

[solsirt]

I stay up to date on hardware news, and have the itch to upgrade monthly...

That being said when everything is compared I can't justify the $$$ for such slight upgrades. Normally every 3-4 years I break down and just rebuild completely. Possibly one or two upgrades in between.

I'm currently running a dual core E8500 at 4Ghz with 8Gb ram and one 4870. I've yet to find programs that I run daily that can really utilize multi-cores or multi-gpu's. I see absolutely no reason to upgrade right now.

[Epical]

Every third January I replace my entire main computer. Next system change is January 2012.

Every second December I change my video card (a year before the entire system change). Next video card change is December 2010!

[Minions]

Current PC is set to be replaced in the next 8-9 years.... pretty much top end as of 5 months ago or so.... and seeing as nothing is happening in the PC gaming scene I don't think I will need to replace anything other than perhaps the video card in the next 6-8 years. Sad if you really think about it though.

[SephYuyX]

Replace components? Never.
I build a new PC every two to three years, usually right before or after the year change. Chances are I will be doing it this upcoming new year.

[Agito]

I've only owned 1 computer (my current one) and that has lasted me around 6 years now, it had a graphics card upgrade and hard drive upgrade but that was it. I'm not really to old and the only type of video games i play is mmorpg. I just didn't have any need to upgrade to much until now, which will require a build from the ground up for ffxiv.

[Jurgen]

I usually build a new computer every 3 years. As someone above me said, I tend to build on the newest socket and get a good GPU, then SLI/CF the GPU about 2 years down the road.

Then when my new build comes around, I reuse my dual GPUs until the performance is no longer acceptable.

[levish]

video cards 6 months to a year
cpu/mobo/ram every 1-2 years
psu every ~5 (I only get quality ones) if needed
hard drives every 1 year

I'm a chronic upgrader / tinkerer

[Ketna]

wow levish you upgrade your GFX cards wicked often! or at least IMO. If you have some spare parts let me know .

I would love to upgrade every two years, but this last cycle i have found it hard to find a reason to upgrade. The only thing I am doing this year is getting a 5870 and a 3rd monitor for eyefinity gaming action!

[viperlasson]

I have fairly large jumps in my upgrades. I upgraded twice in a total of 6 years.

went from ------> to
7900 GTX > ati 4870 1gb
2gb ram > 4gb
amd 3800+ > intel e8400
^- one of the first dual cores to come out :D

It gets way too expensive trying to stay current with hardware. I usually upgrade after 3 or 4 newer generations of gfx cards / chips.

[Boyiee]

video cards 6 months to a year
cpu/mobo/ram every 1-2 years
psu every ~5 (I only get quality ones) if needed
hard drives every 1 year

I'm a chronic upgrader / tinkerer

lol nothing like spending 500$ a year on a part right.

[Equitas]

4-6 months for me.

usually once a year i'll do a motherboard / RAM / and a Processor swap.

Can't wait until the hexacore i7's and the new 6 (3 SLI or X-Fire ready) video card MOBO..... now to find 2000$

[fishstix]

I reuse parts a lot, pretty much replace things as they go, disregard outdated stuff. On some of my home computers, I'm still using harddrives from 2002. My current pc was built last Jan, but I upgraded the motherboard since the mobo for my previous pc (same socket) crapped out. I shifted my crappy mobo from this pc to that, and upgrade to a better one. Threw in a new 500gb drive since I was using a 120gb drive for the OS/storage and old 2002 80gbs for storage

[Equitas]

yea i have a second PC i use with my tv for streaming movies and playing light games on every so often, so when the main gets upgraded i usually swap parts on my other one and such. think i have like 3 motherboards in a drawer now some from the early 2004 pc's, and a HD that has like 80 that used to be "OMG they haz 80g HD's now"