How often do you upgrade?

[IAmAndre]

I like this topic. It's good to see that not everyone is spending a thousand bucks every month on their hardware. If I was an e-merchant or any company selling hardware, this thread would be a great way to place new ads!

 Here are my next upgrades :

- October : new 8GB RAM stick, to go from 8 to 16GB

- November : Logitech MX Master (1st gen) or 2TB external hard drive

- December : Logitech MX Master (1st gen) or 2TB external hard drive (depending on what I got the month before)

- 1st semester 2018 : New phone

- 2nd semester 2018 : Haswell-based Xeon CPU (I currently have an i3 4130)

- 1st semester 2019 : New GPU (whatever replaces the 1050Ti, I currently have a 750)

[Energycore]

For the next 3 or so years this is my upgrade plan:

 

- Go up to 16GB.

- Get a good mic.

- Maybe a case that's complete and actually closes.

[Trik'Stari]

I want to move my old 4690k rig into an NZXT Manta....

[Virus__]

At some point:

Motherboard: EVGA Z270 Stinger

Switch out my H80i V2 for an air cooler, something from Noctua, probably an L9i (or its bigger brother the L9x65), since it performs exceptionally well in my NAS.

Change my M.2 from an Intel 600P to probably a Samsung 960 Pro.

A 1TB SSD for a D drive.

Switch out my current mATX case for the ITX version which I have sitting around doing nothing.

A couple of new monitors, a couple of 27 inch 1440P ones, probably a pair of Dell ones.

Also I want to get a ten keyless mechanical keyboard. Haven't decided on what one yet however.

[PianoPlayer88Key]

I'm thinking ...

 

Laptop

 

2017;

• add 2x16GB RAM, remove 1x8GB, pending Black Friday sales. (would have 4x16 total.)

2018:

• Upgrade CPU from i7-6700K to i7-8700K, pending Black Friday sales (no, because CFL isn't compatible with Z170, and yes my laptop has that chipset with an LGA1151 socket.  The 6700K will most likely be the final CPU for this laptop; not gonna bother with doing a bios update to put the 7700K in even when that CPU goes on deep sale.)
• maybe add another 1TB, 2TB or 4TB SSD to the 2nd 2.5" bay, pending budget and prices.

2020:

• maybe a new MXM gpu, pending compatbility.  (not getting hopes up, have 970M and don't know of a way to put in a 1060 or 1070, not sure about a 20 or 30 series though.)

2025-2028 or so:

• possibly a new laptop

 

 

Desktop

 

2017:

• Possibly new motherboard/CPU/RAM/case.  (Existing board may have been killed.)  Considering Ryzen, or build a NAS for all my hard drives and use my laptop as my main PC for a while.

2020-2022:

• new build, supporting PCI Express 5.0 and DDR5.  Hoping for a motherboard with wide compatibility (from $20 to $13+k CPUs, and several years into the future without needing to replace the board, and enough RAM support to grow; minimum 512 GB or 1 TB before considering registered ECC or HEDT / server boards with their many DIMM slots).

And more hard drives, as needed and I run out of space.  (Not considering cloud storage at this time.)

 

Of course, the preceding is subject to change.  A couple weeks ago the desktop 2017 option wouldn't have been on the table.

[Not_Sean]

Honestly very very little, I've sold half of Lapis build, Obsidian is just used for stream and I porb will never buy a gaming laptop again, and Redstone the most I'll do is a i7-4790K if one pops up cheap but honestly its handling everything so well at the moment. RGB Vomit is on loan out and actually paying itself off. 

 

I wanted to update Redstone to Ryzen but frankly little to no need for it. 

[DarkHunter970]

I'm just going to wait a long time and do a massive upgrade all at once. It just seems easier to me.

[PianoPlayer88Key]

I meant to reply to this a while ago, but hadn't gotten around to it until now.

 

 

Phones, I probably go about 3-5 years when I have a decent enough phone.

 

Desktop and laptop PCs, I'd guess 7-10 years between full system replacements (replacing mobo, PSU, case, things like that on the desktop, or getting a new laptop).  Individual upgrades might be every few years, or in some cases, like storage capacity, "as needed".

 

As parts age, I'm willing to lower my expectations, before I'm willing to shell out the money to upgrade.  For example, one of my criteria for upgrading my 3GB GTX 1060 would be the inability to get 6-8 fps peak fps, when staring at a blank wall on an empty server, at lowest settings at 480p or lower resolutions, in then-light titles (like today might be Dota 2, CS;GO, LoL, Hearthstone, etc).  (In reality, other criteria, like card death, or preferred upgrade at preferred price, might trump that, making me upgrade sooner.)

 

Of course, if parts die, I replace them sooner.  That seems to happen to me more often than I'd like.  In a few cases it was just as well - when my T-Mobile G1's screen died, the phone was already almost unusable for what I was doing with it.  I replaced it with a Galaxy S Relay 4G,which I still have an use occasionally.  That got replaced with an LG G4, which then bootlooped and got replaced with a Moto G4 Play.  Back to the G1, that phone lasted longer than my previous 5 or so phones combined (Motorola A1200, MPx220, V360, V188, maybe 1 more that I forgot).

Also my motherboard might have been killed in my desktop, so I'm exploring my options there as well.  (They include Ryzen 5/7, building a NAS with my existing LGA1150 or 1151 CPU, or with LGA 1366 parts off ebay, powering my 3.5" HDDs with my desktop PSU and the 24-pin ATX connector pins shorted, with SATA data connected to my laptop's 2nd 2.5" bay, among possible other things.)

[gergy008]

Phone: Wait til it gets smashed then I get bored of it and upgrade, min 2 years

Laptop: run it til it dies

Desktop: First PC built 2013, added bits since to keep it modern, but won't upgrade until Intel starts producing better CPUs. There's no need to upgrade from even sandy bridge like when even was that

 

[scighera2]

On 6/30/2017 at 2:53 PM, DutchTexan said:

How often do you build yourself a whole new system vs how often do you incrementally upgrade hardware?

 

 

I've had my system since 2013, but I upgraded from 1070SLi to 1080Sli to my current 1080ti

[DutchTexan]

1 hour ago, scighera2 said:

upgraded from 1070SLi to 1080Sli to my current 1080ti

 

[Hybris5112]

5-7 years on my desktop for a full ground up rebuild with video card upgrades only as absolutely needed.

3-5 years on hard drives depending on space needs and how confident I feel in the drives.

 

Phones I use until my carrier stops providing support for that phone. Example would be my old S5 couldn't access a lot of the newer cell towers so I had a fraction of the reception I used too. Now I have a S8+ and short of in a elevator I get reception everywhere along with 5ghz wifi support.

[Guest]

Since late 2014 I've used an iPhone 5S. It now has glass missing from the right corner of the top bezel; you can touch the back of the camera; and a thin, curved crack down the centre of the screen. A little sluggish on iOS 11, but it does its job just fine. An upgrade would be costly and pointless.

 

My laptop is a 2015 Dell XPS 12 9Q33. Way overspecced for what I use it for now, but I gamed on it for two years, and it got me by. i7-4510U, 8GB DDR3-1600, Intel HD 4400, 512GB mSATA SSD, 1080p touchscreen display, more than what I need. Again, an upgrade would be costly and pointless.

 

I only recently got a desktop PC, and it was when I both started watching LTT and getting into computers, and also when I started wanting to play games my laptop couldn't handle (Just Cause 3, Overwatch, DOOM). It's an HP workstation my parents got ridiculously cheap used as a backup PC, that eventually became mine. It had a Core 2 Duo E6400, 2GB DDR2-667, NVidia Quadro FX 560, and a 160GB HDD. I've since purchased parts used and upgraded it quite significantly. Core 2 Quad Q6600, 4GB DDR2-667, AMD Radeon HD 6850, 512GB mSATA SSD (pulled that from my laptop when I pulled a smaller one out of a broken ultrabook to replace it), and a 1TB HDD. It runs what I want it to (minus Just Cause 3) just fine, and I can live with it for now. In this case, I do need an upgrade, and once I have the money, I will be doing that. If, however, my PC was only ~2 years old, rather than ~7, I wouldn't upgrade.

 

TL;DR (bloody hell I got carried away)

I only upgrade when I actually need it, and can afford it. None of that "Oh no I have an i7-6700K and the 7700K is out. I'm a whole generation behind!". You can have a beastly PC with an i5-2500K. Don't spend money if you don't need to.

[Connor253]

I Upgrade Every Year-Two Years As I Am A Laptop User Because I Need The Portability So I Can Take It To School And Write Code On The Go.I Also Prefer The Fact That I Can Sit In Bed And Use My Laptop Rather Than Having To Sit At A Desk!!

[PlayStation 2]

Whenever I feel the need to.

While I would've liked to jump into an R7 immediately, I'm going to AM4 via an Athlon X4 950 then pouncing for an R7 1700 around Christmas.

Also rocking a 6th generation iPod touch that turned two on September 20th.

[PlayStation 2]

My upgrade isn't going exactly as planned and that's mainly because I decided to not blow my load all at once.

Went for an Athlon X4 950 and will upgrade to R7 later on.

[handymanshandle]

I'm ditching LGA 1151 because it's basically a deadend socket the 7700K is basically the best you will ever get out of it whereas I can see AM4 lasting for a little more time than LGA 1151.

 

I currently have an i3 6100 and I plan to get a R7 1700.

 

Phones, well I kept my S6 for almost 2 years. Just upgraded to an S8+ almost a month ago.

 

Honestly though for my desktop my upgrade pattern would probably be sparse, only really getting a new GPU every couple of years if the current one isn't holding its weight as well. So in that regard, my RX 470 will live to that task as I got it early this year and plan to replace it probably early next year.

[Prox1ma]

My last upgrade was in 2011. I was supposed to upgrade last year, but waited out for Vega(disappointed eventually). So typically 4-5 years. Although I think my current upgrade(WIP) must last longer than the previous one.

[DutchTexan]

1 hour ago, wcreek said:

I'm ditching LGA 1151 because it's basically a deadend socket the 7700K is basically the best you will ever get out of it whereas I can see AM4 lasting for a little more time than LGA 1151.

 

I currently have an i3 6100 and I plan to get a R7 1700.

 

Phones, well I kept my S6 for almost 2 years. Just upgraded to an S8+ almost a month ago.

 

Honestly though for my desktop my upgrade pattern would probably be sparse, only really getting a new GPU every couple of years if the current one isn't holding its weight as well. So in that regard, my RX 470 will live to that task as I got it early this year and plan to replace it probably early next year.

I've wondered what the next consumer i7 socket would be like. Although, I don't see myself upgrading mobos for several years, manly because I'm not sure how convenient moving my OS, contacting Microsoft and blah blah blah would be. Plus, I don't think there will be anything worth upgrading over my 6700k for another while. I'm kind of disappointed in my chips overclocking. A super high clock would be what triggers me upgrading, I think. Maybe more cores and threads, but even then, I'm not really sure the 4 cores and 8 threads will be totally 'out of date' or 'unusable' anytime soon. I can get 4.6, but 4.7 seems to be pretty difficult. Not sure why. I run 4.4 and I'm still not super comfortable with the voltage. I would have thought 4.4 or even 4.8 would have been easier to get a stable clock, but ah well. I guess it is what it is.

 

I've had the exact same iphone 6 for about 3 years now. It's pretty telling how often and in-depth people mention phones in this thread. I never thought about phones when I initially posted, but I guess I should now. They are interesting. I haven't really thought about replacing my iphone 6 too much. I guess I would go for whatever the next, next iphone would be(whatever comes after the iPhone 8 in another year from now, because honestly there is no reason to upgrade apple devices now(for me anyway)) I had a galaxy s3 for a few years before this and absolutely hated it. I'm one of those old school people that want a phone out of my phone. Camera is nice, but ultimately my phone is a phone with a screen. If I need any serious, personal power, then I have my PC, a real camera or a TV. Or is that line of thinking just me? The note 8 and next pixel 2 looks interesting though, honestly. 

[handymanshandle]

Quote

I've had the exact same iphone 6 for about 3 years now. It's pretty telling how often and in-depth people mention phones in this thread. I never thought about phones when I initially posted, but I guess I should now. They are interesting. I haven't really thought about replacing my iphone 6 too much. I guess I would go for whatever the next, next iphone would be(whatever comes after the iPhone 8 in another year from now, because honestly there is no reason to upgrade apple devices now(for me anyway)) I had a galaxy s3 for a few years before this and absolutely hated it. I'm one of those old school people that want a phone out of my phone. Camera is nice, but ultimately my phone is a phone with a screen. If I need any serious, personal power, then I have my PC, a real camera or a TV. Or is that line of thinking just me? The note 8 and next pixel 2 looks interesting though, honestly. 

Heck, If Samsung gives into the trend of removing headphone jacks from their phones then when I upgrade again in 2019 probably, I would consider going back to Apple. As soon as LG and Samsung lose their headphone jacks I wouldn't honestly just figure for about the same price I can get something that will at least be supported for 4-5 years at least. My S8+ I expect to probably get 2 more updates on top of Oreo, but if the Galaxy S6 was anything to go off of then Android 9.0 (Android P if we keep the letters) would be the last iteration of Android my phone would get. Occasional security patches maybe but not really through. So in theory maybe Samsung will keep the S8/S8+ line with updates until 2020 or maybe they'll cut it off at 2019. Not really sure. I hope 2020.  

@DutchTexan

[Prox1ma]

2 minutes ago, DutchTexan said:

....I had a galaxy s3 for a few years before this and absolutely hated it...

Oh I was in a similar position. The S3 aged way too sooner than I thought. I got OPO after that and I was very happy with it until I got the 6s plus(technically its a work phone, but I use it for semi-personal use, since we don't have any restrictions as such). I guess I'll have the 6s plus until they decide to upgrade it to newer models. The OPO is still good, though it gets quite hot on using it for prolonged periods.

P.S: Yes, I carry two phones with me.

[GDRRiley]

new gpu likely in 2018

new cpu+mobo in 2020ish.

 

[themctipers]

On 6/30/2017 at 3:53 PM, DutchTexan said:

How often do you build yourself a whole new system vs how often do you incrementally upgrade hardware?

 

 

new hardware - once every 1/2 years 

complete new system - like, new cpu/motherboard? once every 5 years. completely scrap everything? never.