How often do you upgrade?

[DutchTexan]

2 minutes ago, mutedcurmudgeon said:

Ayy, good stuff man, I'm up in The Woodlands, but I'm currently away for school up in College Station. Always fun to see other Texans on here. 

My little sister is studying electrical engineering there!

[JakeNTech]

My first PC was about 4 years ago, it was an Advent 3212 1.5GB of DDR, 40GB IDE HDD, and a AMD Athlon 2400+ (I believe) I upgrade my PC when ever it breaks(Now I have maxed it out), in the case of the Advent I was given a computer to replace it from my uncle. I upgraded from a Pentuinm D 930 to a Q6700 as I needed more threads, I scrapped the 6800GT for a GTX 550ti.  

Phones is every two years because of contract

Laptops never, have had the same A1181 for over a year and a half. 

[Underi]

My pc is now 3 years old and I'm gonna upgrade it in December. Laptop gets and upgrade as soon as it is unusable, which was 5 days ago, now I got a new laptop I'm atm writing this on. Phone like 3-5 years. Depends. I have a Galaxy J5 now and getting either OnePlus, Huawei or Nokia 5 next. If I'd have the money I'd get a Google Pixel.

[PaintChips]

Personally I switch between upgrading from a desktop to notebook so the processor gap doesn't become too big. In my student to early working years I did travel quite a bit so my desktop requirements resulted in keeping a DDR2 desktop for 8yrs--longest I ever kept a working desktop   (every 4yrs was the average in my family)

 

For a desktop I went from an Athlon 64(2004-2008) then a Core 2 Quad Q6600 built in early 2008 until May of 2016, that system went through four GPU upgrades, new fans and new HDDs.  Only reason I built a Sky Lake machine was due to Win7 support, my C2Q was still running Vista/Win8.1 and wasting my spare Win7 license on old hardware would be stupid. For the most part I can deal with dual-booting if Win10 stupidity strikes.

 

On the notebook side I used a 12" PowerBook G4 system until moving to a MacBook Pro in 2010, when my student era Thinkpad T61 abruptly suffered the famous Quadro 140M failure(GeForce 8-series family flaw) I had to settle with a Thinkpad T430 which I really didn't like but I needed a "work specific" system to keep using OneNote(this was before OneNote for OS X happened). I bought a Chromebook to fill in the gap of a long battery yet compact system--if I carry a Chomebook+MacBook Pro I could squeeze two days of mobility between charges which is perfect for long travels.  (sadly since Lenovo ditched some of the impressive extra battery options post T/W_30 era, it leaves too much of a gap in my needs--carrying extra batteries or solar panel+battery pack would be too much weight or worry about lithium ion battery restrictions when flying)

 

For "work" I finally retired a pair of 2010 Westmere era Xeon servers with modern Xeons, they were decommissioned a month ago but haven't been pulled off the rack yet--planning to turn the CPUs into keychains.  Why were the servers a big deal for me?  When I was an undergrad I co-founded a startup which was bought out, since I had a working community media site it created a loophole in my non-compete contract so I kept my servers running with the intent of upgrading/replacing them as necessary--was amazed I never had a crippling failure in the entire usage life.

[xsimplyjosh]

So i guess I can say i built my budget pc in 2011 around 1200aud... with non-wow parts, just enough to get 1080p running
now im upgrading a few parts [minus case, ssd, hdd] for another 1700-1800aud in 6+ years...

i guess its sorta okay? kinda got the urge lols after eofy sales on ebay

 

imo if i look at it now phone every 2-3 years depending on what the competition offers.

for pc i just use it till parts are slowing/dying down. tbh the reason for jumping on PC over laptop is the fact they have longer lifetime use in contrast to laptops, which i find inferior for my type of use [not to mention for same specs of PC-like laptop, it will be expensive by a factor of 1.5-2x...] 

[007agentHP]

I tend to upgrade when i need to 

i needed to do CUDA for work and wanted to keep a GTX Titan Black in my workstation PC so i bought a GTX 980.

[DXMember]

my last system (2014) was:
Intel Core i5-2500

Gigabyte P67

Radeon HD6870

 

my last incremental was 2015 from single R9 290, and a 950Pro like a year ago

 

right now I'm twitching to get a Threadripper based system

[othertomperson]

Console gamers ask me this a lot, and I still can't given them a simple straight answer.

 

GPU -- tends to be every two or three years

CPU -- Six years and counting...

RAM -- when my CPU needs it. I added more last year, but I didn't replace my old RAM

Storage -- Same as RAM -- I've added to it, but I still have the mechanical drive I bought six years ago.

 

If you buy a good CPU to begin with, you can spend £200 on a new GPU every time there's a new console generation and always have something drastically better.

[DutchTexan]

7 hours ago, PaintChips said:

Personally I switch between upgrading from a desktop to notebook so the processor gap doesn't become too big. In my student to early working years I did travel quite a bit so my desktop requirements resulted in keeping a DDR2 desktop for 8yrs--longest I ever kept a working desktop   (every 4yrs was the average in my family)

 

For a desktop I went from an Athlon 64(2004-2008) then a Core 2 Quad Q6600 built in early 2008 until May of 2016, that system went through four GPU upgrades, new fans and new HDDs.  Only reason I built a Sky Lake machine was due to Win7 support, my C2Q was still running Vista/Win8.1 and wasting my spare Win7 license on old hardware would be stupid. For the most part I can deal with dual-booting if Win10 stupidity strikes.

 

On the notebook side I used a 12" PowerBook G4 system until moving to a MacBook Pro in 2010, when my student era Thinkpad T61 abruptly suffered the famous Quadro 140M failure(GeForce 8-series family flaw) I had to settle with a Thinkpad T430 which I really didn't like but I needed a "work specific" system to keep using OneNote(this was before OneNote for OS X happened). I bought a Chromebook to fill in the gap of a long battery yet compact system--if I carry a Chomebook+MacBook Pro I could squeeze two days of mobility between charges which is perfect for long travels.  (sadly since Lenovo ditched some of the impressive extra battery options post T/W_30 era, it leaves too much of a gap in my needs--carrying extra batteries or solar panel+battery pack would be too much weight or worry about lithium ion battery restrictions when flying)

 

For "work" I finally retired a pair of 2010 Westmere era Xeon servers with modern Xeons, they were decommissioned a month ago but haven't been pulled off the rack yet--planning to turn the CPUs into keychains.  Why were the servers a big deal for me?  When I was an undergrad I co-founded a startup which was bought out, since I had a working community media site it created a loophole in my non-compete contract so I kept my servers running with the intent of upgrading/replacing them as necessary--was amazed I never had a crippling failure in the entire usage life.

Impressive. If your momma hasn't or couldn't say it lately, then I will. I'm proud of you  

[ttam]

Whenever something better comes out, I'll buy it

[Desk]

When things stop working or when they become a major annoyance. No timeline on that really...  I am not one to upgrade when there is something bigger and better,  I like to wear things out and get as much use out of them as possible.

 

I would like to upgrade sooner and i absolutely could upgrade sooner (every 2 - 3 years),  but i tend to use things until the wheels fall off.

 

I5-2500k and 660Ti still working just fine.

[DXMember]

31 minutes ago, ttam said:

Whenever something better comes out, I'll buy it

i9-7900X and GTX 1080ti is a thing

[Foxxer]

Depends, sometimes upgrading isn't really beneficial.

e.g: my old 3930k beats the crap out of my current OC 7700k. 

[PCGuy_5960]

Just now, Foxxer said:

e.g: my old 3930k beats the crap out of my current OC 7700k. 

I really doubt that

[Foxxer]

12 minutes ago, PCGuy_5960 said:

I really doubt that

lol, okay.  

[Noirgheos]

22 minutes ago, PCGuy_5960 said:

I really doubt that

Perhaps in some well-threaded apps, but other than that, this guy is full of it.

[PCGuy_5960]

Just now, Noirgheos said:

Perhaps in some well-threaded apps, but other than that, this guy is full of it.

A 7700K at 5GHz is as fast, if not faster than a 3930K at 4.5GHz

[Guest]

Personally... I miss my first desktop computer...It was an Acer of some kind with an AMD CPU. It was super old by I would still be using it today with Windows XP, and a 250 GB HDD. It had the best case, something slid up and down to hide/show the front io, and it had the coolest dvd buttons. It had a door and everything.

 

You'd press the case button which would press the DVD drive button and the tray would push the door open and it looked sooooo cool. 

My dad took it to work (he has his own business) and I guess he needed it...  now I have these stupid "modern" and "fast" computers. 

I only "upgraded" because I didn't have a computer, and then I got a used desktop because I couldn't play Fallout 4 on my laptop. (And then fallout 4 sucked... )

 

I got my i7 laptop in 2014 because I wanted to make video games. idk if you guys have family computers... but for some reason someone thought it'd be a good idea to have a AA powered wireless keyboard, and then I found a wired keyboard to hook up, and everyone eats at the computer so it was really gross to touch. Also I wasn't allowed to install games, or software or things to it as well as everyone else needing the computer 24/7. Now I got my desktop in 2015 or 2016. I got it used with a gtx 960, but sold it and got an r9 390 for my birthday. 

 

I'm more in favor of downgrading more than anything. With Mining being such a huge dumb fad, GPUs are in demand, so I'm considering selling my r9 390 to buy an rx 460 or GTX 1050, 950 or 750 ti just because they're good enough, and ... College is fucking expensive. I need money, and a better CPU. 4 cores is baby talk. I really want a ryzen with DDR4. 12 GB DDR3, and this ancient i5 is so tedious. I'd prefer to have never upgraded from my windows xp PC as I never felt a speed issue because I didn't use anything but that PC. I knew how long it'd take to do things instead of longing for these faster computers. 

 

As for phone, I want to downgrade that too. I have an iphone 5c but I don't need internet or all those fancy features. They're distracting. As someone said earlier, it just has to text and call. I would prefer my flip phone from 2007, if not install a lightweight linux OS to my droid 2 global. (It has a touch screen and a PHYSICAL slide out keyboard. Something all modern phones say "fuck you" to. )

[Ithanul]

Varies on desktop builds, depends on if some hardware catches my fancy at the right price that I want to tinker with, or I see a good deal on some used hardware.  Also depends if I sell off previous hardware to re coup costs.

 

Phones, when they die or battery dies (I don't really like phones to begin with).

Laptops, when they die.

[DiamondMines]

Usually once every 4/5 years. But sometimes, I sell my old PC and get a new one immediately. 

[Savage Tech]

cpu if it bottlenecks my Gpu

Gpu When i can't get 60fps at low-med

 

Laptop When it cant play 720p Video

 

Phone when it dies or there's a good deal

[ttam]

3 hours ago, DXMember said:

i9-7900X and GTX 1080ti is a thing

Yep. I probably have 8-9 1080 TI's in the house currently. I have the 7900x at home, just haven't had the time to set it up.

[DutchTexan]

1 hour ago, ttam said:

have 8-9 1080 TI's in the house

 

I have the 7900x at home, just haven't had the time to set it up.

[DXMember]

7 hours ago, ttam said:

Yep. I probably have 8-9 1080 TI's in the house currently. I have the 7900x at home, just haven't had the time to set it up.

pics or didn't happen

[Neenan]

I think it depends on what computer you have, the age of the hardware, budget, and personal preference.

 

For instance if you have an underpowered computer like I do with a single core AMD APU  and an old EVGA GT 640 graphics card on a stock mini ATX motherboard you might just want to replace all of your parts, in my case I can't really do so right now because of my budget of like $60. From the specs seen in your "signature" section it looks like you're probably best off to incrementally upgrade every few years or so.

 

Best wishes.