When to get a new computer.

[CastletonSnob]

When should you get a new computer? How old is too old for a computer?

[Laqweeta]

When should you get a new computer? How old is too old for a computer?

It depends on what you want to do with it.

I really wanted to have new technology to use, so I went ahead and finally broke down a few days ago and got a monster gaming computer.

The one I'm using right now is from 2010 with an i5 2500K and a 770.

It can run this gen games on medium to low settings, I want ultra so for me this was a good time to upgrade

[lockedout]

When should you get a new computer? How old is too old for a computer?

I have an I7-930 with a 980 TI that runs most games perfectly fine on medium/high.

I also have a 7700k with a 1080ti that runs all games on high pretty flawless.

There is a computer sub forum that is better suited for this question.

[Attackrabbit]

Every 20 years or so...current PC was built for WoTLK launch, have upgraded the GFX card slightly and the RAM from 2GB to 8GB but that's it. I can still play everything I want to play.

[potis]

When should you get a new computer? How old is too old for a computer?

There is literally like 2 answers to that and it all comes down to if its your "hobby" so to say.

The reality is, when the older one doesnt suit your needs anymore, no matter the needs, the "oldness" of the computer is irrelevant, as example you could build a PC now and in 5 years you want to play something, your older PC can handle it fine, but you dont want "fine" you want "Flawless top graphical quality fine" etc etc.

When i mean "hobby" is "Always having the latest tech", few people do that, always buy the new ones asap, and sell the barely older ones for a decent price, etc etc.

[the game]

If you have to ask if it's time for a new computer then the answer is probably yes.

[Chinese Bootlickers]

Every time I get ready to upgrade, something expensive ALWAYS happens, and when stuff is on sale I'm always broke so I'm still using an ancient AMD A6-3620 and GTX 960 with 6GB of ram. It can run Wolfenstein TNO okay-ish and Fallout 4 with(and without) performance mods at potato quality and it's still a stuttering mess. All I want is a "smooth" 30ish FPS and middle of the line grafix. ;A;

[Molis]

After 9999 downloads of porn.

Number 10000 will be the death of a computer

[Kokolums]

If we are restricted to time as the only variable, then should get one on the first Friday after thanksgiving. That is generally when you get the best deals. So you need to wait almost another year. You could throw in other factors like a computer breaking down or having enough cash or the ability to play the game you want, but that seems to be outside the scope of your question. You asked when. It is the first Friday after thanksgiving.

[PACOX]

How old is your PC? Is it a desktop or laptop and do you game/media edit on it?

5-6 years on a desktop*. Depending on your build you can carry a desktop longer if you're swapping out parts.

Laptops 3-4 years if its your main machine. It will probably begin to kill itself halfway through the 3rd year because people forget to vent them/maybe take a break if youve been on them for awhile. Their internal components fail, some are near impossible to fix.

Graphics wise, the range of GPUs out there is fairly large. You dont need a 1080, the average monitor cant even take advantage of a 1080. If you have a Motherboard that can take DDR3 RAM, invest in 16GBs, settle for 8 if you have DDR4 (expensive). Invest in a internal SSD.

[Kallisto]

When to get a new computer? Never once you get your first PC. Instead every year you replace 1-2 things so over time you basically you're always upgrading, spreading out the costs and in the end you'll have a ship of Theseus situation.

[Ghostpanther]

Simple. When it no longer does what you want to do with it.

[Kellhound]

I average about 18-24 months between complete rebuilds of my desktop, and about 3 years between replacing my laptop.

[DSRilk]

When should you get a new computer? How old is too old for a computer?

Never. Upgrade parts. It's far cheaper. As to when, the answer is when you need to. If a part dies or is not able to perform the job you are giving it. If you want 60fps in 1280x1024 and your machine isn't giving it to you, upgrade the video card (or CPU depending on the game). If you are tired of having to delete games in order to install new ones, buy a second or replacement hard drive. If your load speeds are slow, move from a standard HD to an SSD. But there's pretty much never a time I'd recommend getting an entirely new system - assuming we're talking desktops here. Your keyboard, mouse, case, power supply, and RAM can last and remain valid for an extremely long period of time, and not replacing them can save hundreds of dollars. Been keeping a near top of the line desktop on the cheap like this since the late 80s.

[lockedout]

Never. Upgrade parts. It's far cheaper. As to when, the answer is when you need to. If a part dies or is not able to perform the job you are giving it. If you want 60fps in 1280x1024 and your machine isn't giving it to you, upgrade the video card (or CPU depending on the game). If you are tired of having to delete games in order to install new ones, buy a second or replacement hard drive. If your load speeds are slow, move from a standard HD to an SSD. But there's pretty much never a time I'd recommend getting an entirely new system - assuming we're talking desktops here. Your keyboard, mouse, case, power supply, and RAM can last and remain valid for an extremely long period of time, and not replacing them can save hundreds of dollars. Been keeping a near top of the line desktop on the cheap like this since the late 80s.

Except that doesn't work. If you want/need a new CPU most likely you'll need a new Mobo and possibly different ram.

[CastletonSnob]

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.

[DSRilk]

Except that doesn't work. If you want/need a new CPU most likely you'll need a new Mobo and possibly different ram.

It works exceptionally well, actually. Yes, if you get a new CPU - depending on what MB you have at the moment, you may need a new MB. However, everything else (usually including RAM, as most boards are backward compatible) can stay the same. It's just far, far cheaper. Right now you can get a AMD 8-core 4.2 Ghz processor for $120 and a gigabyte board for $75 (less if you go AMI). That's about $200 for what amounts to a new processor. You cannot come close to getting a new PC for that price. And again, if you decide you want more RAM or a new SSD you can add those whenever you want. Telling someone who has been doing exactly this for literally over 30 years is just silly. And if you read through other responses, I'm not the only one.

[Kellhound]

Some people never wear the same outfit twice. Some people get a new car every year on lease. Some people change their oil every 1000 miles.

Some people buy things they don't need and discard things that are still perfectly good.

Laptops dont age well, and I dont discard old desktop parts. So your comments are nonsensical.

- - - Updated - - -

It works exceptionally well, actually. Yes, if you get a new CPU - depending on what MB you have at the moment, you may need a new MB. However, everything else (usually including RAM, as most boards are backward compatible) can stay the same. It's just far, far cheaper. Right now you can get a AMD 8-core 4.2 Ghz processor for $120 and a gigabyte board for $75 (less if you go AMI). That's about $200 for what amounts to a new processor. You cannot come close to getting a new PC for that price. And again, if you decide you want more RAM or a new SSD you can add those whenever you want. Telling someone who has been doing exactly this for literally over 30 years is just silly. And if you read through other responses, I'm not the only one.

DDR2/DDR3/DDR4 are not compatible with each other.

[DSRilk]

DDR2/DDR3/DDR4 are not compatible with each other.

I never said you could, nor does that have anything to do with what I was saying. However, if you want to discuss RAM compatibility... you can find AM3+ MBs that support both DDR2 (usually unbuffered) and DDR3, for example; useful if you have some old DDR2 RAM and didn't feel like forking over $50 bucks for new RAM. The fact that you can't mix DDR2 and 3 isn't relevant to backward compatibility. Yes, you have to know what you're buying, but it's not that complicated. I honestly don't understand why people in this thread seem to be arguing against piecemeal builds (some even going so far as to say it doesn't even work, all evidence to the contrary) when it's blatantly obvious that a great many of us have been doing it for decades with great success.

[TaintedOne]

Cond. 2: Best time to buy is shortly after a new generation of CPU and/or GPU was released, because the previous generations will drop quite a bit usually.

Best time to buy is when you have the $$ on hand to buy upgrades. AMD/Nvidia might have some price drops but not enough to put off upgrading longer than a month. Intel does not drop prices and because Intel change sockets all the time supply/demand can actually increase price of old cpu's. When I wanted a new in box 2500k cheapest I could find online was $400+. Haswell had just launched so I ended up getting a Z87 Mobo + 4670k and saving cash getting current gen hardware.

https://pcpartpicker.com/trends/pric...ore-i7.skylake

iirc 7700k was released Jan of this year and 8700k was in Oct. In Jan the skylake i7 fairly stable price dropping very little and actually went up in price with the coffee lake release in Oct.