How old is your current computer, and how long do you expect you'll use it for?

[wabbitslayer]

Sig PC was built July 2013. Prior system which my 11yo now uses was built May 2010, one before that which the 5yo uses was built Oct 2007.

I appear to be on a 3yr cycle...although each build has had better hardware (compared to what was available at the time) than the previous one. I will probably upgrade video card to a GTX870 (or whatever is at the $375 price point next fall), so hopefully I should be able to get 4 or 5yrs out of this one.

 

[mmntech]

My current desktop build is from 2009.

Started with
Biostar TA790GX 128M mobo
AMD Phenon II X3 720
4GB DDR2 1000
AMD Radeon 3850
SoundBlaster X-FI XtremeMusic
80GB HDD / 500 GB HDD
Windows 7 Home 64-bit

I've upgraded it since, so currently...
Biostar TA790GX 128M mobo
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
8GB DDR2 1000
Two AMD Radeon 6850s in CrossfireX
SoundBlaster X-FI XtremeMusic
80GB Intel SSD / 120 GB Kingston SSD / 500GB HDD / 1TB HDD
Windows 7 Home 64-bit / Linux Mint 16

I've pretty much maxed out the current mobo. It's technically not even compatible with my CPU. It recognizes it but I have to put the clock, voltage, and multiplier settings in manually. Still does what I need it to do but I might replace it later this year or early next.

My Laptop I've had since 2008. It's a vanilla MacBook unibody. They only made the one generation out of metal before replacing them with the Air. It's got a 2ghz Core 2 Duo, 4GB of DDR3 1066, and a Geforce 9400 GPU. I put an SSD in it recently and took out the optical drive, which I replaced with the old hard drive.

 

[Demoralized]

I go through/buy computers faster than I do underwear. Not because they stop working or aren't powerful enough, but simply because I get bored with them or always want the latest and greatest technology.

Same problem I have. I just like building them with newer parts. My current rig is still in original boxes. Need a hard drive then I have everything. 4670k, ASUS Hero, Kingston SSD, Define R4, some GSkill ram and 2x R9 270x Toxic video cards.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I built the rig in my signature in September, 2011. I recently upgraded it with a new Seasonic power supply, a GTX 780, two new SSDs (one of which will be a new OS drive when I get around to loading it), a Lamptron fan controller, and a hot swap cage for my SSDs. I don't see anything this year and probably next year which would make me upgrade short of the motherboard or CPU dying. It just isn't worth the money to upgrade every year unless you're getting good money for your old components in FS/FT or eBay and even then, you'd have to go from something pretty low (like an i3 Celeron or something) to a good i5 or i7 to really notice anything.

Oldest computer still alive in my house is a Commodore 64. I have a Vic 20 as well but can't confirm if it still works yet. I suspect it does.

 

[Ichinisan]

2 days.

Ncase M1 chassis: $205

Asrock Z87E-ITX board: $110

Intel Core i7-4770k (Haswell) CPU: $250

Crucial 240GB mSATA SSD: $120

Silverstone 450W "Gold" SFX form factor PSU: $95

Using these components from my brother since he put his build on hiatus 8+ months ago and never used them:

EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 GPU: $???

16GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3 memory: $???

Corsair H100 closed-loop watercooler: $???

Not quite done with it. I want to put a 780 Ti in there and try 32GB RAM. *maybe* a slot-load Blu-Ray drive if a good deal pops up.

What will I use it for? Probably some gaming. I want it to be a dual-boot Hackintosh. Might be a good system to build iOS apps with.

It boots incredibly fast.

 

[Ichinisan]

It boots incredibly fast.

http://youtu.be/QAoF95cMlDo

 

[CZroe]

...
Using these components from my brother since he put his build on hiatus 8+ months ago and never used them:

EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 GPU: $280 because it's 4GB

16GB Crucial Ballistix. DDR3 memory: $70 because Micro center gave me $20 off in a mobo/CPU/memory bundle.

Corsair H100 closed-loop watercooler: $50 because it was refurbished.
...

FTFY. The 4GB GTX 760 was actually a good deal because it was at launch, $20 off, and I got both nVidia and EVGA's game bundles.

 

[Markbnj]

My case is almost nine years old, an aluminum Coolermaster. I think the current motherboard, an Asus P8P67, is the fourth in that case, and is only a year and a half or so old. The processor is an I5-2500k, probably also a year and a half old. I will keep the proc and mobo for at least another year. The gfx card is a GTX-660, and what with the current trend toward crappy console graphics in PC games I expect it will hold up for a while longer too.

 

[shortylickens]

Well, the oldest COMPONENT is probably the case. Which is ten years old and good forever if the ATX standard holds out.

 

[HeXen]

5 weeks old. I'll use it until something breaks or quits working.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Built last summer around July

4670k
16GB ram
Gigabyte Ultra durable board
Gigabyte 4GB 770
850 Seasonic power supply.

Hope to get 3-4 years out of it total, thats my usual upgrade cycle.

 

[BUTCH1]

I built mine in '08, 775 MB, have an E8400@3.6, 4GB, 120GB SSD, 4850 vid card Antec earthwatts PS, Win 7 pro 64 bit. I only play a few games and they are older ones so I can see this rig continuing to serve my purposes for the foreseeable future, if the MB croaks I would probably build a new one as by that time a 775 MB might be difficult to find that isn't a used POS that will only delay the inevitable needed upgrade.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Current computer is less than six months old and replaced one that was 7-8 years old. And while the older PC was not suffering much in terms of age, it was slow and it developed an inability to update the MSE application.

I use to build a new PC every 18-24 months, but times have changed.

 

[CZroe]

My case is almost nine years old, an aluminum Coolermaster. I think the current motherboard, an Asus P8P67, is the fourth in that case, and is only a year and a half or so old. The processor is an I5-2500k, probably also a year and a half old. I will keep the proc and mobo for at least another year. The gfx card is a GTX-660, and what with the current trend toward crappy console graphics in PC games I expect it will hold up for a while longer too.

10 years for my Cooler Master Stacker STC-T01 (the original Stacker).

The dinky 80mm blowhole fan been replaced with 3x120mm radiator grill/mount but that required modification to the PSU cage. The PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 1KW is too big to mount up there anyway (dual PSU feature of this case really came in handy!).

The laughable 80mm fan in the 300mm side panel fan grill has been replaced with a much more appropriate 250mm fan.

The motherboard was flipped for reverse ATX. It was an easy mod due to the BTX conversion option but it did require a few nips with the nibbler to keep the expansion card area on top.

Of course, I have the optional CrossFlow blower fan and two additional 4-in-3 modules installed (tons of HDDs!).

I needed HD Audio and USB3.0 for modern FPIO so I have a Silverstone 3.5" drive bay device providing that (Firewire and the old AC97 audio will be blocked off).

An ancient enthusiast chassis is now a fully-modernized enthusiast chassis.

 

[Red Squirrel]

A few years ago, think maybe 1 and then some, lost track I'd have to check my email for the invoice for the parts.

Core i7
12GB of ram
2 SSDs (OCZ vertex 3 with Windows which I rarely use and Crucial M4 with Linux, may main OS)
ATI Radeon 7870
X79-UD3 motherboard... thinking of changing it though, this system has tons of issues, already changed the video card (had a GTX 560) which solved the artifact issues but now I get random lockups. My motherboard also has a known electrical issue where it can catch on fire... so definitely need to replace that lol

Might also just replace the whole PC, as I've been throwing way too much time and money towards this one.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I built mine late 2009 I think. This is by far the longest my main components have lasted while being able to play new games at 1080p and high settings with just GPU upgrades. May build a new one later this year.

i7 920 @ 4.0 GHz
6 GB Corsair Dominator
Evga classified x58 760 mobo
120gb Intel g2 ssd
x2 2TB Samsung drives
Started with a AMD 4890. Then 5870. Then GTX 580. Now GTX 580 sli.

I built my system in Oct. of 2009. I did minor upgrades like going from 4gb to 8gb and adding an SSD. Just only recently I sold my 5870 and got a GTX770. I'm hoping it will last another couple of years.

 

[BoomerD]

Current computer built in Jan. 2010, about the time the first gen. Sandy Bridge processors were coming out. I prefer to not be an early adopter, so I went with an i5-760 processor.
I added an SSD in January of this year...excellent upgrade.

About the only other thing I'd like to change is my video card. Currently have an EVGA GTX460. I'd like to jump a couple of generations...but I'm cheap...and don't really NEED a much faster card.

 

[dennilfloss]

Build date: August 2009, so close to 4.5 years old (though some parts have been upgraded, like the video card from a 1 GB 3870 to a 1 GB 4870 to a 2 GB factory-overclocked 1GHz 7850).

I expect to change the whole shabang in the next 6 months. I used to get a new computer every 2-3 years but the need for speed just isn't the same anymore since I no longer crunch for distributed computing teams. This one only had to be fast enough to play heavily modded, high-def textured Oblivion and Skyrim. The next one will have to be fast enough for Skyrim's successor.

Edit: no plan to upgrade the laptop for at least another 5 years. I only use it when I go visit my family, or for troubleshooting the desktop, and it still has 3 years left on warranty. Built in February 2011 IIRC and it was a gift from the ex-wife.

 

[Imp]

Current system was put together just a bit over 4 years ago, very late 2009.

The original system was an i5 750, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD, ATI 5750 (?), and X-fi Xtrememusic sound card.

Since then, I've upgraded the case to an Antec P183, added a 120 GB SSD, doubled RAM to 8 GB, went with an external X-fi to give the video some breathing room, and moved to an AMD 6850.

I really don't play games much anymore, so my system should be good for a while longer. Even if I upgrade, it should costs less because I can actually reuse shit for once -- it used to be just the video and sound I kept. What I REALLY need to do is add a HDD because my current WD Black may be on its way out.

 

[Rubycon]

Retina macbook pro from August 2012, still runs nice, hope to hold on to it for a while.

The Xeon MP workhorse with Tesla/Quadro compute/GPU gets updated fairly regularly. It's ridiculously expensive but it's for production work where time is of essence.

I can run a show of my macbook pro without an issue and that alone says a lot.

 

[manly]

an ancient MBP that's over 7 years old. Should be replaced this year, maybe with a rMBP or rMBA?

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Almost 5 years old. Only original part left is the 870 (Oh, and RAM, but that doesn't really get old until DDR4 comes out.) and I plan on upgrading that ASAP. So maybe 6 months.

 

[Oyeve]

Late 2008. E8600, 8gb ddr2. ATI 5770. I plan to use it for ever as it does everything I need it to and plays all the latest games just fine. I see no need for anything faster. Or newer.

 

[bradly1101]

I'm still using the same computer I had ten years ago. It lives on as my HTPC running WMC. It's a P4 3.06 HT, and manages to record three HD channels while watching a fourth, barely. WMC runs much better on my desktop, which will become my HTPC when I upgrade it soon. I'd like to wait for Broadwell, but oh well.

The Desktop is an i7-920 (5 years oldish), and it could easily last as it is for the foreseeable future.

I've been saving up to get something to 'future proof' for a while (at least for 90 days! :| ). So I have in my list at Amazon a 4930K system. It will be my first experience with an SSD.

 

[ultimatebob]

I now have a Dell XPS desktop with a Core i7 3770, 8GB of memory, a TB hard drive, and an upgraded Radeon 6870 video card.

I got it in November 2012, and have no plans to replace it until 2017. I'll probably upgrade the video card next year, though.