When should you get a new computer? How old is too old for a computer?
1- When your present one is annoying slow, or breaks, stolen or blows us, or when you don’t have a computer, or if you really like the new one for whatever reason.
2 - When it gets annoyingly slow, or you can’t access stuff because of the age/speed.
So it comes down to use it till it gets boggy unless there is a great deal or you simply have to have it.
I’d say keep it if it’s doing that! Or, how much do you want for it?
I usually go two years, then upgrade the memory. Then after another two years, maybe three, it’s time to buy a new one.
When an elephant sits on it.
For me, it was when my computer would not support the browser’s latest version, and the browser I had would no longer support whizbang web pages.
If it is for personal use, you may as well use a computer until it dies. For business or other critical use, replacing it every 5 years, like Tim R. Mortiss, seems reasonable.
Replacing the entire computer just to get a browser upgrade makes less sense: software (operating system and applications) can be updated independently of the hardware, and it is relatively trivial to add extra memory and disks as needed.
Honestly, as long as I can go on the internet quickly and do my work (I’ll probably have to work from home), I’ll be happy. I have plenty of consoles for gaming.
It used to be that 2-3 year old computer was slow and ancient. You can go much longer now.
E.g., I’m in the process of setting up a new computer, Ryzen processor and all that. The old CPU was released over 6 years ago. The main reason for the upgrade is I want to go to 64 bit (more memory) and want to start clean. Since this, that and the other are also old, I’ve bought several new things (including an M2 SSD drive).
Note that computers do not get slower with age. They get more bogged down with crapware. If you go through and carefully remove stuff, esp. things that run at boot time, you can speed it up a lot. An SSD drive to replace an HD helps a lot too.
OTOH, web designers have gone nuts (or more nuts than they already were) and decided to through tons of junk onto web pages. So a truly out of date computer takes a hit on those. This should not be the case but sadly it is.
I have a desktop computer I built in 2012 I’m still using. It’s had a replacement motherboard as the USBs stopped working, a faster SSD boot drive and the graphics have been upgraded twice. Everything else is the same including the processor and memory. I just finished Prey and Wolfenstein 2 and it’s performing as good as the day it was built… As much as the vendors would like you to part with money, present hardware lasts waaay longer than the old stuff. Windows XP and after that Windows 7 had such a long operational life there just isn’t the need to upgrade all the time like there used to be. Must be why the market for tablets and mobiles is declining too, old stuff performs just as well as the new stuff so no need to upgrade all the time.
I play a lot of games so I should (in theory) need more new stuff than someone who just browses the internet and reads email. My processor (i7-860) was released in 2009 and my GPU (R9 290X) was released in 2013. That actually replaced a 9750 from 2011 which I know is still in active gaming use since a friend has it. I play stuff at 1080 resolution at high-ultra settings most of the time. Like ftg & Mavic Chen said, stuff lasts longer than it used to, especially if you take good care of it.
My daily computer for work is one that I ordered from HP.com in 2010 and it still works perfectly. I’ve only just replaced the hard drive, maybe twice.
My media server/tv was built in 2011 and it still runs fine. I actually just replaced the video card yesterday, only because there were no drivers for Windows 10 for the old one.
Both computers stay on 24/7 and get used every day.
I agree with Mavic Chen - hardware and Windows OSes last a long time now. I think both of my machines have i7 processors and “back in the day” whatever processor I put in a new machine would be absolutely ancient 7-8 years out. But computers are still being sold with i7, even i5, and they are fine.
This is at least true for desktops. I’m not sure on laptops. I have friends that have gone through like 4 laptops in the time I’ve had my two desktops here. I think the combination of moving them around a lot, having kids bash on them, and not springing for anything of any quality in the first place really lessens the useful lifespan of a laptop. They seem to be priced at “disposable” levels.
Unless you play a lot of games, or have unusual work requirements, not until the old one dies. I bought a Toshiba Satellite in October 2009 that still works just fine, though I bought a new one in 2014 to play games on.
That depends on what type of computer you have now and what you are doing with it. If you’re a gamer you probably at least need to upgrade the video card every few years. More RAM wouldn’t hurt either. Hard drives can be added/upgraded if you’re running low on storage space.
You should also consider if the currently available OS sucks less than the one you have. I held off during the entire Win 8 period, and I’m glad I did.
Designations like i7 and i5 are not chronological; they are, to oversimplify, performance ranges. A better indication of age, at least over the last few years, is the first digit after the hyphen, e.g. an i3-8xxx is an 8th-generation processor that was just launched, while an i7-4xxx is a fourth generation processor launched in 2013.
Cool, thanks. See - I’m so out of practice when it comes to computer builds and re-builds that I don’t know shit about processors anymore! 
You are so right.
I plan on the unthinkable with my next computer purchase.
After a lifetime using DOS and Windows. I plan to buy a Mac Book Pro laptop.
Waving farewell to that dog turd called Windows 10. The final straw is the new requirement to create a Microsoft account and login. Similar to what Google does with Android.
I’ll still use my Windows 7 mini Tower until it dies.
My Mac Book Pro will be my main pc. I’ve started saving up the 2 grand.
I’m very interested in learning to use a DAW and multi track recording. The best DAW’s are designed for Macs.
Incorrect, you can very easily set up a windows machine to work with a local account only.
When it won’t operate at all and the repair place calls it “vintage” or says “cool ---- I’ve never actually seen one of those in person”.
I still use my early 520c for a lot of things and this is being typed through a first generation “Mini” so -------------- I may not be the best judge of such things. 