How often do you upgrade your computer?

[Zhaoan]

Now that I have a real job and lots of disposable income to buy new computer parts, I was wondering how often other people upgrade their computer. Especially people who frequent boards like the General Hardware forum on Anandtech. How long do you wait before buying the latest and greatest hardware upgrade?

 

[mnewsham]

8-12 months for GPU. then 8-12 months later a new CPU/MB and MAYBE GPU. depends on my income.

 

[stahlhart]

I get my motherboards from EVGA, which means I wait forever.

 

[Fhistleb]

For me it seems to be when something starts lagging horribly.

 

[fffblackmage]

I've been upgrading my GPU most often at every year or so most recently.
X1950XT -> 4830 1GB -> 4890 -> 5870

I don't upgrade the cpu+mobo very often. I bought an E6320 in 2006, so I used that for about 4 years until I got my current Phenom II, and I have no plans on upgrading yet. My Phenom II and mobo was bought as a combo for a really good deal, so I may just wait for another slick deal to show up before upgrading (I miss Bing cashback! T_T).

 

[Zap]

It varies for me. for instance back when I was in grad school, I kept the same system with minimal upgrades for two years. I think during that time I only upgraded the storage (added more) and swapped out the graphics card.

Then some times I upgrade something every couple months. A HDD here, an SSD there. Maybe graphics card. Maybe I'll swap a case for a side-grade. Heck, on Sunday I swapped motherboards because I had a spare and someone offered to buy the one I was using but not the spare (went from Asus P6T to Asus Rampage II Gene). While I swapped the boards I also upgraded the cooling from a Zerotherm Zen with stock fan to a Zalman CNPS10X Flex with dual low RPM Arctic Cooling PWM fans.

So, yeah, some upgrades, some side-grades. Very few new systems from ground up.

I don't always target latest/greatest, however. For instance I'm still using two GTX 285 cards in SLI that I got a while back. However, I'm considering "upgrading" my socket 1366 setup to Sandy Bridge, but I'm in no hurry.

Then again, if I find a hot deal on something...

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

I've had my system for over 2 years now, and the only thing I've done to it is add an SSD. I don't game much anymore, so my 4870 is completely redundant; the only reason I might upgrade at this point would be to get a 5xxx or 6xxx card so I can add a third monitor to my setup.

 

[Farmer]

Whenever I notice slowness in something (most often a game) or poor performance (crashing due to overheating, etc). Happens to be around every 2 years.

 

[DJK Frank 16]

I do most of my gaming on console, so I usually buy a higher quality system which tends to last 3-5 years a minimum.

 

[dpodblood]

I really depends on how much money I have at the time. Ideally I would upgrade the main platform (mobo/cpu/ram) every 2-3 years, and the GPU every 12 months or so. Things like storage are upgraded on an as-needed basis.

 

[Krynj]

I build a whole new system every 2 years or so. I tend to do small upgrades here and there during the 2 years, but, every 2 years is the "new build" schedule for me.

 

[Barfo]

Whenever I can get a very noticeable performance increase with a $200-300 CPU-motherboard combo.

 

[corkyg]

System upgrades are somewhat constant as replacement items become available. Major system changes, probably every 2-3 years - that is basically a technology cycle.

 

[Evadman]

I used to update my machine roughly every quarter (or build an additional one), and build a new primary one yearly. Since my last build, it has been almost 3 years since I swapped out anything besides a video card or drive. I really need to build another one, but it accomplishes 90% of what I want to do, and 100% of what I need to do, so I can't yet justify building another

Buying a house kills your disposable income.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The only thing I do anymore it seems, is browse the internet (AT forums), and crunch (DC, F@H). So for my needs, my rigs are fine for now. Sure, I would get better PPD/Watt with an i7-2600K, but my budget is limited these days.

When the money was more available, I used to upgrade every six months. Not a total system upgrade, but at least some component or other.

 

[Raswan]

It varies for me. for instance back when I was in grad school, I kept the same system with minimal upgrades for two years. I think during that time I only upgraded the storage (added more) and swapped out the graphics card.

What did you go to grad school for? Just curious.

To satisfy the thread, I (being in grad school meself) upgrade rarely. Just did a complete rebuild at the new year, to replace an old core 2 duo E6300 system. I'll probably pick up an ssd sometime this summer, a new psu at some point when I see a deal (running on a 4 year old Antec Neo 550w), and a cooler of some sort at some point, so I don't have to run off of the stock intel one anymore.

Also, even though I just got my Antec Nine hundred two xmas 2009, I've been getting the itch for something new. A silverstone, or corsair, or even a HAF. It always comes in waves...

 

[somethingsketchy]

I generally upgrade if there's a really good deal on the parts in question. Usually I buy a good CPU that will last me 2 years or more, and the GPU I try to keep going for as long as possible. I had contemplated buying a 5000 series GPU, but I've been thinking of picking up a card that can handle at least 4 displays

 

[Zap]

What did you go to grad school for? Just curious.

MSCIS (Masters of Science in Computer and Information Systems) from the University of Wisconsin, Parkside.

 

[ahenkel]

I don't really set a time frame. Its more a case of does the new part perform better than the old one, do I have the funds, and do I want them enough to guilt myself into buying them.

 

[blinblue]

I generally upgrade if there's a really good deal on the parts in question. Usually I buy a good CPU that will last me 2 years or more, and the GPU I try to keep going for as long as possible. I had contemplated buying a 5000 series GPU, but I've been thinking of picking up a card that can handle at least 4 displays

The only device I've upgraded over the last year and a half (when I built my desktop after using my laptop exclusively through college) is my video card. I've time all my upgrades with really great deals I found on slickdeals.net, to date I've made about $30 by buying a new video card really cheap and selling my old one for profit.
Once you do it, you can't stop. I'm actually making a small profit while also upgrade my computer.

210->240GT->250GT->260GTX->460GTX

I was tempted to upgrade to 8GB DDR3 now that the prices are so cheap, but I rarely utilize more than 75% of my 4GB anyway, so I just can't justify it.

 

[mfenn]

No set schedule, but basically a GPU upgrade happens when a game that I like doesn't play as smoothly as I'd want it to. Other parts are pretty much when I can get a nice boost for relatively little money or when there's a quantum leap in technology (i.e. SSD).