# How often do you replace your home desktop PC? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 5, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150 "2005-09-05T02:57:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/1 "2005-09-05T02:57:32Z")
Well? Just wondering. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/2 "2005-09-05T03:52:49Z")
I replaced mine this year. I had had the previous PC since 1998. It’s still here, and still functional, though the hard drive is I think starting to go. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/3 "2005-09-05T03:56:57Z")
I have never been an early adapter. In a week or so, I’m going to get a new computer. This one is Win98SE+, and I’ve been putting off getting it replaced for a while. But it’s time to upgrade. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/4 "2005-09-05T04:26:08Z")
I’ve had four case-with-motherboard-and-parts computers since 1998. The Sony VAIO tower is still running, my wife uses it. It’s due to be replaced next week. The HP Pavillon (a gift) died four years ago; I transferred the HD into a barebones computer, which lasted three years, when its motherboard died. I transferred the same HD (a Quantum Bigfoot) into another, more powerful, less expensive barebones last year. I just took out that drive two weeks ago and installed a new 60 GB C: drive, and figured out today how to connect the Bigfoot as a slave and transfer everything I needed from it. I’ll use this one until it dies. After next week, we’ll be set for up-to-date computers for several years. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/5 "2005-09-05T04:35:03Z")
**Suburban Plankton** and I replace ours whenever a new game comes out that we really want and we can’t play it on the old one. So, about every 3-4 years. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/6 "2005-09-05T04:51:05Z")
I replaced mine after about four years. It was really starting to show its age and simple updates like adding RAM couldn’t be done because it was RAMBUS. So now I’ve got a new high-powered machine that’ll last me another four years. Thing is, I do gradual upgrades. A little more RAM, a new hard drive, a different graphics card and so on. The problem I had wasn’t so much the lack of processor power as it was the difficulty and expense of upgrading the RAM. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/7 "2005-09-05T04:52:36Z")
Lessee, the one we have we built in Sept. 2002, and it’s only just showing its age. I think we’ll probably rebuild it with some new memory and whatnot in the next year or so, although I got a new (well, new to me) video card recently. So, 3-4 years. We build the suckers to last! ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/8 "2005-09-05T04:53:05Z")
I just upgrade mine piece by piece. I just lately replaced the motherboard, RAM and CPU. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/9 "2005-09-05T05:01:43Z")
We are back on dial-up after our move, no broadband avaiable. Don’t do games… So why upgrade? ::: sigh ::: ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/10 "2005-09-05T05:58:24Z")
I average about every six or seven years. My stuff lasts forever, which is sometimes a mixed blessing when I want a new toy to play with while my current one is still fine… ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/11 "2005-09-05T06:21:03Z")
I put together my first system in the fall of 2002. I added a DVD drive that December. I upgraded the CPU, video card, memory, and motherboard in early 2005. I also added a new HD last month (but still ahve the original, as well.) Odds are, I’ll never get another “complete” system again, because it’s cheaper and easier to upgrade. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/12 "2005-09-05T06:21:27Z")
Usually every 3 years or so … until my current machine which I bought in early 2001. It’s a Dell desktop and has been incredibly durable, no breakdowns of any parts. Quite amazing to me. Of course, I’ve done upgrades over the years – changing the OS, CPU, hard drives, adding peripherals, etc., but the basic box is the same. There have been times when I almost hope for something to break so that I can justify a new PC! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/13 "2005-09-05T06:28:34Z")
Pretty much every year. When I get my tax return, it’s how I spoil myself. This past year I upgraded the motherboard, RAM, processor, and video card (so essentially everything important). Next year it’ll be a new hard drive and perhaps a new soundcard… should be good on everything else for another year or two and I’m set up to be able to upgrade rather than replace (still have room for another meg of RAM and the new motherboard has room for a second PCI Express video card). It’s generally to keep up with the games, this past upgrade almost exclusively for EQII. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/14 "2005-09-05T15:51:47Z")
I replace a computer when it stops working reliably. I left home in 1998 and am now on my third computer… I used my dad’s old junker for one year (and replaced half of its components), then an eMachines for three years, and now my Hewlett Packard is beginning its fourth year and is still going strong. I don’t play games on it, so I really can’t tell that it’s showing any age at all. It runs all the new version of Office just fine, and that’s what I care about. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/15 "2005-09-05T15:59:12Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > I replace a computer when it stops working reliably. I left home in 1998 and am now on my third computer… I used my dad’s old junker for one year (and replaced half of its components), then an eMachines for three years, and now my Hewlett Packard is beginning its fourth year and is still going strong. I don’t play games on it, so I really can’t tell that it’s showing any age at all. It runs all the new version of Office just fine, and that’s what I care about. I finally got my first computer in 1997. I think it was a 200mHz job that I got from a computer show. Could’ve been 166mHz though. I used it until it just got too old and slow and finally replaced it in 2001 with a 500mHz Gateway. I’m still using it. I replaced the 17" CRT that I bought locally with a 17" Envision flat-screen a couple/three years ago. My hard drive was acting up a couple of months ago, and I’ve replaced it. (Threads around somewhere, where I’m asking for advice to get it to work.) The CD-ROM/DVD drive was replaced with a CD-RW w/o DVD capability. I’m on my third mouse. Now that I have an Apple PowerBook G4, I’m using that more; but I still use this desktop for e-mails and getting on the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/16 "2005-09-05T16:01:41Z")
Not replying to **Sattua**. Just hit the wrong ‘reply’ button. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/17 "2005-09-05T16:04:02Z")
Through the last 18 years, I’ve had 4 computers: Leading Edge Model “D” (an XT clone) HP 3000-series (Pentium I) HP 7000-series (AMD 1 Ghz) Dell 8300 (Pentium 4) I tend to stay about 1-2 steps under the “very latest” processor and keep the computer for about 3-4 years. As long as the current computer can do the most diffficult thing I want (in this case, editing video and making DVDs), I’ll stick with it. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/18 "2005-09-05T17:36:12Z")
PC #1: 1990-1996 PC #2: 1996-2001 PC #3: 1999-2003 (some overlap with PC #2) PC #4: 2003-present ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/19 "2005-09-05T17:39:35Z")
Another “continuous upgrader”. Started with an XT clone way back when and just kept swapping out parts over the years. I don’t get the “buy a new computer” concept at all. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150/20 "2005-09-05T18:08:53Z")
Four in about ten years. 386 Compaq in the early 90’s that we used for word-processing and some simple games, no internet access Dell (I think a 486) in 1998 (Christmas present from mom, and my first time on-line) – good machine, gave it to stepson and he’s still using it Compaq POS in 2002 – was in the shop four times in two years. Gave it to daughter, whose boyfriend works with computers. It died on them too. Still under warranty, but we give up. Dell Dimension 4700 – Christmas gift from hubby in 2004. It does everything I need it to do. The flat screen monitor that came with it is awful though. I can’t get it adjusted to where it won’t give me a headache, so I’m using the old SyncMaster 181T. Awesome monitor, IMHO. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-replace-your-home-desktop-pc/320150.md?page=2)