How Old/New Is Your Main PC?

**Taosaur** · 03-08-2012 04:35 PM

Just curious. With all of the "Post PC world!" talk coming from Apple and the slowing of PC sales, I'm wondering if the reason is not so much that people are buying iPads, but that there's less reason to upgrade old hardware. I'm thinking people still have workhorse desktops and laptops, but aren't replacing them as often.

A PC in this case includes desktops and laptops, but not netbooks, tablets or smartphones. Please answer how old the machine is, to the best of your knowledge, not how long you've had it.

**sh4rkbyt3** · 03-08-2012 04:58 PM

6 months to 1 year.
But I've upgraded it a bit in the past 2 months.

**Marvo** · 03-08-2012 05:02 PM

4½ years. I haven't bought a new computer in a long while, because it is unnecessary. This one is starting to feel outdated, but 7 years ago a computer usually wouldn't be able to follow more than 2 years. This is most likely due to gaming consoles halting the demand for stronger hardware, since nearly all games are developed to be run on consoles.

I have replaced a few parts in my computer, such as the graphics card, but that was simply out of necessity. Bought a new monitor too, simply because I had the money and wanted something bigger.

All in all, the scalability and flexiblity of the PC is a massive advantage, and I find it hard to believe they will ever disappear entirely. Cloud technology still has a very long way to go, especially due to the very poor quality of the instracture of the world wide web. Until issues like that are resolved, I think PCs will retain their ruling position on the hardware market.

**sh4rkbyt3** · 03-08-2012 05:25 PM

Originally Posted by Marvo

4½ years. I haven't bought a new computer in a long while, because it is unnecessary. This one is starting to feel outdated, but 7 years ago a computer usually wouldn't be able to follow more than 2 years. This is most likely due to gaming consoles halting the demand for stronger hardware, since nearly all games are developed to be run on consoles.

I have replaced a few parts in my computer, such as the graphics card, but that was simply out of necessity. Bought a new monitor too, simply because I had the money and wanted something bigger.

All in all, the scalability and flexiblity of the PC is a massive advantage, and I find it hard to believe they will ever disappear entirely. Cloud technology still has a very long way to go, especially due to the very poor quality of the instracture of the world wide web. Until issues like that are resolved, I think PCs will retain their ruling position on the hardware market.

Due all those light-weight laptops and tablet prices for a real computer ( upgradeable desktop ) will drop.
So you will get a decent desktop computer for a small price while you need to pay much for a crappy laptop/tablet.

All hail powerful desktops !!

**Toozul** · 03-08-2012 05:44 PM

Eight years old and it's video card just broke

**Taosaur** · 03-08-2012 05:45 PM

Yeah, if you've been upgrading all the while, use your own discretion in the poll, but I would say age of CPU = age of PC. What CPU do you have, Marvo? I have an Intel Q6600 (Core2Quad) and have been really thinking about a mobo/CPU upgrade (so pretty much a new PC), but I dumped in some more RAM last week and the thing is cruising again. I'm thinking with a SSD system drive, I'll probably be set for another 2+ years. I've never made a real effort to overclock, either, so that's an option as the machine gets long in the tooth.

At this point it's 2+2 cores @2.4Ghz, 8GB of RAM @ 8/8/8/20, and a 512MB HD4850 GPU. The 7200RPM HDD is definitely the bottleneck in most situations. A GPU upgrade wouldn't hurt, I suppose, but this one is still gettin'er done.

If anyone is thinking, like I did, that 4GB of RAM is plenty--thing again! Windows Explorer and Chrome are both so much snappier since I jumped to 8GB. It's very much like the move from 256MB to 1GB on my Pentium 4 system back in the day. Granted, my current work involves running 40+ Chrome tabs alongside GIMP, document editors, text expanders, and of course tunes

**Carrot** · 03-08-2012 05:51 PM

I've had it for 3 years and I think it's probably 4 years old, considering that my Acer laptop is the last of its species with matt screen when I bought it from the store.

**Musicdreamer** · 03-08-2012 05:57 PM

my computer is 5 1/2 years old, but my graphics card is 9 years old :p i had it from my old computer.
the first graphic card was very good but because of a production mistake it chrashed every hour so i put my old one in :p

**Marvo** · 03-08-2012 06:19 PM

I am still using a Core 2 Duo, E6850 I believe is its name, 2.6GHz. It's a fairly good CPU, but its age is showing. The biggest limitation in my PC right now is probably by 3 gigabyte RAM. A little more would definitely speed things up.

I've had the CPU since I bought the PC, which was back in 2007 late summer. Also bought my laptop at that time. It broke down about a year ago, probably due to me handling it not so nicely. It still works to some extent, so I think I got 4 years use out of it, which is acceptable for a laptop, even if it was expensive, especially considering I hauled it with me everywhere and sometimes did some not-so-nice things to it.

**khh** · 03-08-2012 06:57 PM

My computer is a about three and a half years old, and had when new an Intel Core2 Quad Q8300 processor, 4 GB 1066 MHz DDR2 RAM and a NVIDIA Geforce 9800 GTX+. I've upgraded it a bit since then, so I've currently got 8 GB of ram, an ATi Raedon HD5750 (got it for a beer, from a friend) and an Intel X-25M 160 GB SSD.

**Sornaensis** · 03-08-2012 08:37 PM

4 months. Got an i7-2600k / GTX 590 / 12GB DDR3-1600 rig late last year to supersede my Core2Duo E8400 / 2x GeForce 9800GT / 4GB DDR2-800 rig (Now runs with an FX 5200 as a file server) which I got in 2008, which had replaced a shitty Dell Dimension 3000 which ran that FX 5200 since 2005. So I'm on an update cycle of about 3.5 years. Probably less in the future, but that doesn't bother me. I like flexible machines that I can easily repair and upgrade myself. Both of my desktop chassis can hold 5 3.5" HDDs.

I also got a cheap HP laptop with an i3 370M / 4GB DDR3-1333 for school around the same time. Both are running Arch Linux and the desktop runs Windows 7 Ultimate for games, a few 3D rendering programs, etc.

Now I just gotta update my monitors, which aren't uniform at the moment : \

Also...

FUCK APPLE. I'll be buying/building desktops forever. I figure this rig will last me about 2 years with no upgrade, then I'll start looking into new parts.

However... I'll probably invest in a good tablet in the future, as a mobile terminal. I like my laptop, but it's 15.6" and if I can get something smaller that has a better screen and good wireless capabilities that I can hack whatever I want to on it, I'll take it :U

**Taosaur** · 03-08-2012 09:53 PM

Honestly, while my Windows tower isn't going anywhere, if I had the loot a 13" Macbook Air would be my laptop of choice without a second thought. I don't know if I'd run OS X or Windows on it more, but it's actually the best bang for your buck in the laptop market right now. I've been thinking so for a while, but just saw an article about it today, too: 4 Reasons My Next Notebook PC Will Be A MacBook Air [Opinion]

**Supernova** · 03-08-2012 11:43 PM

I find it hard to believe that an Apple product is currently the best value on the market.

I would love to see Apple try to beat for $1200 my 17'' Asus G74Sx-BBK8 with a core i7 at 2.2GHtz (3.0 GHtz TurboBoost), 8GB DDR3 (max expansion +8GB), GeForce GTX 560M with 2GB VRAM, and two 500GB 7200rpm HDD's.

Take that Apple!

So yeah, laptop's about 4 months old. It replaced a hand-me-down Toshiba Satellite series (very good, but around 7 years old). I'm quite pleased with it, but my next rig will be a desktop that I build myself.

**melanieb** · 03-09-2012 12:28 AM

I'm about the same as Sornaensis above except when I bought the desktop and laptop I have a desktop with an i7 and a laptop with an i5. I purchased both at the end of November.

I have 1.8TB of HDD in a Raid configuration.

Now if I could just upgrade my internet connection...

**Taosaur** · 03-09-2012 12:59 AM

Originally Posted by Supernova

I would love to see Apple try to beat for $1200 my 17'' Asus G74Sx-BBK8 with a core i7 at 2.2GHtz (3.0 GHtz TurboBoost), 8GB DDR3 (max expansion +8GB), GeForce GTX 560M with 2GB VRAM, and two 500GB 7200rpm HDD's.

Take that Apple!

You and I obviously mean very different things by "laptop."

That does look like a solid rig at that price, but the whole concept of a desktop replacement laptop, much less a gaming laptop... I just wouldn't want to use that equipment in that configuration. For gaming I would want a proper keyboard, a proper monitor, and proper cooling so I could open up the powerhouse components. And for a truly portable machine, even 15" and 5lbs is waaaaay too big.

Different strokes for different folks, obviously.

**Supernova** · 03-09-2012 01:32 AM

Originally Posted by Taosaur

You and I obviously mean very different things by "laptop."

Haha, true. Basically I could only afford one computer, and I wanted good graphics & gaming performance, but I knew I'd have to move it around at various times. The battery life can be a little cumbersome (2 hours without changing power settings). Make no mistake, for all intents and purposes, this is a proper keyboard

If I need something more portable, I could pick up a refurbished notebook at the local computer repair shop for ~ $250.

I will note (incapable of resisting an opportunity to 1-up Apple) that I just checked on the Macbook pro, and this laptop is at least on par (lacks 1920x1200 native resolution and a long battery life, but probably has considerably better graphics performance) at a little more than half the price

**Puffin** · 03-09-2012 02:05 AM

I have a 15" MBP, which is a year old come April. Specs are 2 GHz Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 500GB HD @ 5400 rpm, and the battery has been through 108 cycles. I have a feeling that with all the memory-intensive stuff I do on it, however, that it may not last as long as it should.

**BobbyLance** · 03-09-2012 02:07 AM

My laptop's 3 years and 7 months old. This Mac of mine never fails me

**GestaltAlteration** · 03-09-2012 02:33 AM

Going on five years. It still plays all the latest games on max settings. >:3

**Burke** · 03-09-2012 02:55 AM

Had this laptop for about 3 years but it was refurbished when I bought it. I think it's around 4.5 years old in total, though. Still runs great though for what I use it for

**melanieb** · 03-09-2012 03:27 AM

My previous computer I kept running for a solid 8+ years, despite my son occasionally "discovering" all the web has to offer, including a virus or two.

I expect to do the same with this one.

**Taosaur** · 03-09-2012 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by GestaltAlteration

Going on five years. It still plays all the latest games on max settings. >:3

Yeah, so far the thread seems to be bearing out my hypothesis, as far as the people running older systems w/ no problems. I thought my 4-year-old system (and middle-of-the-road when I built it) was starting to show its age, but the RAM went a long way toward fixing that, and I suspect SSD and GPU upgrades would have it running circles around most off-the-rack systems three or four years from now. Obviously, it has a lot to do with web and software developers designing for the lowest common denominator--unless you're rendering tons of video, there's not much out there that takes advantage of the last two or three generations of PC hardware.

Originally Posted by melanieb

Now if I could just upgrade my internet connection...

My bandwidth is just cutting it (something like 15Mbps and 200GB/mo), but if I add any more or fancier gadgets to my wireless network, I'll need to replace my 8-year-old router.

**SpaceCowboyDave** · 03-10-2012 03:10 AM

My equipment is of different ages

**Mzzkc** · 03-15-2012 04:33 PM

My tower (which I've been using more than my 5 year old laptop) is ten years old, but you can hardly tell.

Everything in there was top of the line at the time; two Pentium 4's running in parallel @ 3.2Ghz each; 1GB of gold-plated heat sync DDR RAM; AI Series P4P800-E Deluxe mobo; Radeon 9600 Pro; 160GB (not sure on rpm) HDD and a second 120GB drive that failed on me several years back; 5 fans + CPU and HDD cooler; more slots to USB, Floppies, and SD card precursors than you can shake a stick at; Separate CD and DVD writers/readers; blue LEDs; and a sexy case;

Over the years I've had to swap the power supply, but it's only recently that I've bothered to upgrade the graphics card, since AGP cards are spiking in price and this was built before PCIe ports came onto the scene.

I can play HD video now! =0

I still need to upgrade the RAM a bit, but it's difficult finding RAM that will work for this thing at a reasonable price.

**Queen Zukin** · 03-20-2012 03:35 AM

Our desktop at home is now about 10 years old. It's very slow though, so it doesn't get much use anymore. My laptop is a little over 3 years old now, and it is still just as fast as when it was new.