How often do you do you buy a new PC desktop computer?

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

For those who buy PC desktop computers, how often do you get a new one?

For me I bought a new one 2022, so about 8 years ago was my last one.

 

[Ponchik]

When my current one breaks. Could be a year, could be a decade.

 

[milliniar]

There was a time I just constantly swapped parts and had more than 3 decent PCs worth of parts after like 5 years.
But now just when they die.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Last desktop I bought was 2003 when I started undergrad. I stopped using it around 2009. Haven’t gotten another one since.

 

[Morning Star]

I only buy laptops. Last one I bought was in 2020. I like being able to take my computer with me.

 

[KaNesDeath]

Happens in random intervals. For instance my current Pc tower is one i bought in the summer of 2018. Where it replaced my Pc tower that i used since 2004. PSU and M.2 SSD is about to turn six years old. With my motherboard and ram turning five years old in a few months.

 

[VulcanNervPinch]

I used to get new desktops every 3 years.

Now I get laptops, and tech progress has slowed enough that I'm at 5+

 

[Joshuaace]

Iirc We got our 1st Desktop in 1990, a Black Friday E-Machine deal from Best Buy. Since then We have purchased about 5 more Desktops, with the most recent being a 2nd gen I7( so it is 10+). Still have 3 desktops in service at the House.

 

[ralphc1]

The last desktop I purchased was in 2004. I use laptops.

 

[Plissken]

I tend to wait longer for a gpu upgrade than a motherboard and associated parts (ram, cpu) upgrade, more so these past ten or so years when gpu prices have gone insane. I buy power supplies on the top end that last longer than both (AX1500i or 1600i will last me a very long time).
I can't really vote as I don't do all or nothing builds.

 

[My Spot]

Buying instead of building?

 

[deviake]

I don't. I built one and have upgraded most everything in it over the last nine years. Keyboard is still the same, case is the same case, everything else I replaced as it got dated or died.

 

[Contempt]

I think my last PC was about 6 years old before the new one at the end of last year. I did update it with a 2080 video card since I first bought it though so it was still fairly capable but not even remotely like the new beast that @Madmick picked out for me recently (cheers for that)

Now I just need a quality monitor and I'll be ready to waste a bunch of time playing Diablo 4.

 

[aogiri]

Like never. I bought my first one in 2019 somewhat cheap for PC prices (like 1000nzd). I only play Runescape, Ow2 and Diablo 4 which really dont have high pc reqs. Only thing ive upgraded is my ram for Diablo. Considering those are the only games I play I won't need to spent $ for a while.

 

[Meatspin]

I ditched my last desktop when I moved overseas 5 years ago. Never found a compelling reason to replace it. I got an xbox and ps5 if I wanna game.

 

[Andy Capp]

My home desktop computer is about 10 years old, and the 24" LCD monitor attached to it is well over 15 years old--which blows my mind, frankly.

I bought it with money I saved from quitting smoking the year before and chose the best I could afford--i7 CPU, beast of a video card, 16 GB RAM, massive power supply, etc--so it would last me as long as possible and it's proved to be a decent investment in that regard. Turns out I needed a laptop for work so I tend to cart it back and forth and use it more than the desktop nowadays but it's still perfectly serviceable, even for light gaming--though I can't remember the last time I so much as launched Steam.

It has so many fans to keep it cool it sounds like a small plane warming up on the tarmac when you turn it on heh heh.

The last computer before that which I bought as a complete unit (well, bought the parts and built it, to be accurate) was 30 years ago or more and then I just upgraded parts after that until I'd replaced pretty much everything at least once--I called it Shitbucket because eventually it was all replacement parts I installed myself lol.

When it comes to tech I generally use it as long as it's even remotely adequate. For whatever reason my cell phone company gave me a free tablet about 4 years ago; the screen is cracked and it's kind of slow but I'm still using it and when it finally dies I won't be replacing it unless they weirdly decide to give me another free one lol

 

[NicholasJBasile]

I was on the fence for a few years on buying a PC rig, but I decided to hold out. I feel PC gaming is by far the best way to play games, but I have had enjoyment playing games via the cloud and I don't quite feel any rush to put together a PC. I feel that streaming over the cloud will get better and better to the point where it's a viable option for those that don't want to miss out on PC gaming. Right now, there is a ways to go though, especially for folks that really like RTS's.

 

[empsim]

Used to be around every 3 years but with hardware prices, quality of pc ports, and less playing time, I'll probably wait longer this time.

Should be good for a while with my Ryzen 7 and RTX 3070.

 

[Rygu]

I build a new PC every 4-6 years depending on how high end the one I last put together was.

I'm due for a new one this year but I bought a 2080 in 2019 so will prob wait for the Geforce 5xxx series to come out and then when the next line of Intel chips comes out I'll do it then.

 

[Prefect]

Buying instead of building?

Microcenter will put it together for 50 bucks. I built mine but whenever I think of the hassles and shitty cable management, I should have just let them put it together.

Upgrades are spaced out more just due Moore's Law being dead and multi core CPUs aren't seeing full utilization. Back when I was growing up, computer speeds were doubling like every 2 years. Now you just get more cores. A good gaming rig still hangsits hat on single core speed. My I7-9700k probably has another 2 -3 years of good gaming life. It bottlenecks my 7900 xtx at high frame rates like in 1080 but I don't play in 1080. If you stay away from 1080 or 180+ fps, old CPUs are still very serviceable and bottlenecking at high frame rates is completely different than at slower frame rates. Going from 150 to 140fps is less noticeable than going from 80 to 70 fps.