Do you build your computers to last, or to replace?

[sandyd]

^^this

[WinterRain]

My builds usually last about 2-3 years. And then I get the itch for something "better".

[EarthMind]

To last. I don't like to keep spending too much money on computers because there are more important things to me. Mostly, I only upgrade when it's really necessary and when I do I spend quite some money to get a high end one that lasts a lot of years.

[ttshivers]

I definately built my computers to last. Why would you ever build one to replace? Its just a waste of money if you keep replacing computers.

[kelvin spratt]

All my builds are to last.

[Chrysantine]

Since I mainly use business machines, it's 24 months and a tabula rasa machine.

[jerenept]

I have a VERY CHEAP Sempron 3000+ build that has seved me well for about 3 years. It only runs DSL in Virtualbox with any decent speed though. It is out-of-date, compared to most other people's computers, but Ubuntu runs great on it!

[samalex]

The last computer I built from scratch was around 2001 or so, and it had two 1Ghz P3 processors, 2 Gigs of Ram, dual-head Matrix G400 video card, and has a mother board with 4 IDE (or PATA as they call it now) controllers allowing 8 drives. I think I had about 800 Gigs of drive space at one point, which in the early 2000's was HUGE. Most of the space was used for redundancy in a software RAID.

It's now used as a server running Ubuntu 9.10 Server, but I'm planning on reloading it with Ubuntu 10.04 Desktop when I have time. The system was built to last, and given it's 9 years old it still runs like a champ.

It was retired for a PowerMac G4 around 2004 or 2005, and I've since moved to using laptops as my primary system. Unfortunately there's no way to really build a laptop from scratch or I would :)

Sam

[chessnerd]

To last. Then again, my definition of "last" is probably a little different from most. When I say "last" I simply mean that it is still in regular use, not necessarily that it isn't obsolete.

While I didn't build them, the computers in my house have lasted for a long time. My house currently has 3 desktops that are in regular use. The primary one is a computer from 2002 (Gateway Mid-Tower with 2.0 GHz P4, 786 MB RAM, upgraded from 256 MB, and 80 GB HDD running XP). After that our next most used desktop is from 2004 (the desktop in my sig), then there is another one that I made by combining two old computers, both from 2001, that has slightly lower specs than the Gateway (1.8 GHz P4, 512 MB RAM, and 60 GB HDD running Windows 2000 and Xubuntu 10.04). These computers, then, have an average service time of about 7.5 years.

If/when I build my desktop this summer, I'm going to build it to be a solid system that could be in service for 10 years.

[cariboo]

I build systems to replace, as the replaced system gets repurposed for something else, the last system I replaced got moved to my office/shop, the system it replaced got donated to someone that couldn't afford a new system, they where still running an HP with ME on it.

[RandomJoe]

Few of my machines are self-built anymore, but whether building or just purchasing I want something that will last. I typically do that with everything - my car is a 1998 model, and I'll keep it until the wheels fall off.

The only reason I've recently been replacing machines is for power consumption. I wanted to reduce my usage, and the always-on P4 machines were consuming far more than I liked. I've reduced that usage to 1/4 what it was, and given the old systems to people who wanted them.

Hopefully I'm set for many more years now! The P4 systems I was running were probably in the 5-8 year old range and doing fine for what I needed. If it wasn't for power consumption they would still be in use here.

[Paqman]

I rarely replace whole systems, but I regularly upgrade components.

[asddf]

We have an 8 year old computer still going very strong, with Ubuntu.

It wasn't top of the range when we got it either.

[alexfish]

Got Hitched onto the Intel atom boards , nothing to add with the exception of a decent sound card {which I've had for years } so relevant to cost , it is a use it or bin situation or pass it on

For speed then I use a mother board with the latest of latest everything .so relevant to cost ,I make it last as long as possible; then when it Conks , Bin it

[98cwitr]

built my current box around the end of 2007...still running like a champ. Only thing I really want to do now is get an SSD to replace my current HD and build my HTPC/NAS for storage. Only only using 25GB of my 500GB anyway :?

[Frogs Hair]

To Last

I make sure the mobo has a large CPU support list so it can be upgraded if needed , and always get a
larger power supply than needed because graphics cards get more power hungry every day. I would hate to be unable to upgrade due to power limitations.

[NMFTM]

I dropped around $1400 on my setup (monitors and speakers included) and am not planning on purching another component until I go to build another computer completely from scratch (except the case) in 5+ years.

[Objekt]

I try to build to last, but nothing really lasts.

I have not had any better luck with pre-built systems. 3 out of 3 netbooks I bought in the last year had to be repaired or returned.

At least with stuff I build myself, I can sometimes get by until the part gets replaced under warranty, or simply buy a replacement. With a pre-built system, one is often stuck sending the whole works to a repair shop. I'd rather diagnose & fix it myself.

It is a philosophical question whether I have had "a system" last more than a year or two. I have had to replace so many major components, and so frequently, that I've almost lost count. The only original bits left are cases, power supplies, CPUs, RAM, a sound card, and one Hitachi DeskStar HDD from 2003 that just won't quit.

[doas777]

I build for my usecase rather than for a depreciation schedule, so my answer varies.
I built up a few 300$ boxes for the kids and a media pc earlier this year. I don't expect them to see much past 2013. my workhorse box and desktop server box however will be good for a 4-5 year lifespan. laptops of course have about a 3 year lifespan.

I actually have a request to spec out a box that they would like to make last 7-8 years. presonally i don't see it happening, but i am trying to get alll the cutting edge stuff in there, cause SATA3/USB3/DDR3 will be hard to live without in a couple years here.

[forrestcupp]

Before I started using mainly laptops, I always built my computers to replace. But by replace, I mean the individual components.

Computers don't last. Within a year they're obsolete, at least to people who always want the latest thing. So why not build one that is easily upgradable?

Until lately, I never could have been satisfied with an old computer. Even now, it kind of irks me that I have a Core2Duo, but you can't upgrade laptops, and it's not worth buying a whole new one every time something new comes out.

[Objekt]

7-8 years? Yeah, good luck with that. I have not had an individual motherboard last longer than 3 years.

[cgroza]

Anyway , you can make a high end build and in 1 year its already outdated because some nerd in Taiwan will invent something that will send my 2.6 Ghz processor in the stone age.

[jflaker]

the computer prior to this one was almost 10 yrs old. My hand was forced to replace it after it succumbed to a surge due to a car striking a utility pole and dropping a 15KV line onto the residential services lines....needless to say, the computer was completely fried as was 3 surge protectors and a few other pieces of electronics in the house.

[cgroza]

the computer prior to this one was almost 10 yrs old. My hand was forced to replace it after it succumbed to a surge due to a car striking a utility pole and dropping a 15KV line onto the residential services lines....needless to say, the computer was completely fried as was 3 surge protectors and a few other pieces of electronics in the house.

So a car killed your computer not old age? That PC would probably last another 10 years :lolflag:.

[doas777]

7-8 years? Yeah, good luck with that. I have not had an individual motherboard last longer than 3 years.
yeah I know. i'm just hoping that a mobo or psu here or there will go out so that the repair costs will be low per incidence. as long as the maintenence costs trickle in rather than flood, I think he will be fine with it.

my best (yet doubtlessly contraversal)advice for keeping a mobo going, is:
1) get a UPS
2) get a decent mobo to start with. don't go with a 69$ msi or whatever. tend toward the 150-200$ asus (man, i miss abit).
3) run intel (AMDs run hotter as a general rule)
4) be aggressive about cooling

[aysiu]

I don't build computers. Never have.

[Bachstelze]

Replace, because obviously, I like throwing money out of the window (why else would I have bought a Mac?), so changing computers every month is surefine.

[jflaker]

So a car killed your computer not old age? That PC would probably last another 10 years :lolflag:.

up until the last 2 years of the computer's life, it was ALWAYS plugged into an APC 700 UPS.

The computer was over-spec'd when I bought it. It was close to $3K at the time. I didn't intend on replacing it any time soon...

I replaced that with 3 Dell tower PC's and one Mini for about 1/2 the cost I spent on that computer.

[98cwitr]

a computer will last for the duration of your satisfaction. This is quite dynamic considering the human psyche.

[westom1]

My hand was forced to replace it after it succumbed to a surge due to a car striking a utility pole and dropping a 15KV line onto the residential services lines....needless to say, the computer was completely fried as was 3 surge protectors and a few other pieces of electronics in the house.
Routine is to have such surges without damage. For example, a friend knows someone who learned this stuff decades ago. He had no plug-in protectors. He only had one properly earthed 'whole house' protector.

33Kv line dropped on local distribution. As a result, over 100 electric meters literally exploded from their pans - up to 10 meter (30 feet) away. Many suffered power strip protector and appliance failures. At least one had a failed circuit breaker. But my friend with only one 'whole house' protector only had a damaged meter. Even the protector remained functional.

Critical to protecting a computer (or any other electronics) is a whether the protector makes a short connection to single point earth ground. No protector provides protection. Either surges are harmlessly absorbed in earth - do not enter the building. Or that surge hunts for earth destructively via appliances and power strip protectors.

No plug-in protector even claims protection in its numeric specifications. It is sold on a myth that surge protector and surge protection sound alike. That the few hundred joules inside that protector will somehow make hundreds of thousands of joules just magically disappear. Either the effective protector is earthed. Or ... well those neighbors using plug-in protectors suffered damage even to ineffective (and highly profitable) protectors.

[TheNerdAL]

I might build my computer out of old parts but I'm not sure. I do get old computers and upgrade the parts so the computer would last.

[Objekt]

yeah I know. i'm just hoping that a mobo or psu here or there will go out so that the repair costs will be low per incidence. as long as the maintenence costs trickle in rather than flood, I think he will be fine with it.

my best (yet doubtlessly contraversal)advice for keeping a mobo going, is:
1) get a UPS
2) get a decent mobo to start with. don't go with a 69$ msi or whatever. tend toward the 150-200$ asus (man, i miss abit).
3) run intel (AMDs run hotter as a general rule)
4) be aggressive about cooling

No brand is immune to defects, really. The first machine I built, in 2003, went through two Abit motherboards. At least they were still around when the first one died, so I got a replacement for only $25 with their out-of-warranty trade-in program.

FWIW, I paid $90 for that Abit board in January, 2004. It was an NF-7S v2.0.

My more recent machine has an Asus motherboard (see below), which was $270 in August 2008. The first one was defective out of the box. I did an RMA with Newegg, so all I had to pay for was shipping.

That doesn't mean Abit and Asus are bad brands, just that even spending big is no guarantee.

[Khakilang]

I prefer to build my computer to last. Hate it when new hardware comes and found out that it need Vista or Window 7 to run properly. I remember downgrading to Window XP and the sound won't work. Although I haven't come across any problem with Ubuntu. I believe they have some hiccup also. So when I build a computer with all the hardware drivers I make sure it stay the same as long as possible.

[Objekt]

I prefer to build my computer to last. Hate it when new hardware comes and found out that it need Vista or Window 7 to run properly. I remember downgrading to Window XP and the sound won't work. Although I haven't come across any problem with Ubuntu. I believe they have some hiccup also. So when I build a computer with all the hardware drivers I make sure it stay the same as long as possible.

Forced obsolescence is, unfortunately, a fact of life in the Windows world.

Not all manufacturers are equally evil in this regard. Example: I just bought a Samsung BX2440X LCD monitor. It's the very latest addition to Samsung's product line. Even so, Samsung offers drivers and support software for its use under Windows 98, in addition to all the more recent Microsoft offerings.

I chuckled at the image of someone connecting this brand-new, state-of-the-art LCD monitor to an ancient Pentium III running Windows 98 SE. :P

[cascade9]

I *try* to build to last, but there is a huge element of luck in that IMO. I've seen very nice, well setup boxes go 'bang' within a year.....I've seen cheapo corporate computers run for 10years+.

My current media box is an ancient P3-866, i810 compaq setup. Flippin awful, it should have been dead years ago, I actually picked it up on the side of the road! I just wish I could find some tiger stripe contact adhesive, the worlds cheapest case mod :lolflag:


7-8 years? Yeah, good luck with that. I have not had an individual motherboard last longer than 3 years.

Bad luck...I've had several go that far. My lovely old NF7-S (ver 2.0) ran from early 2002-mid 2009 (died from a dead northbidge fan that I didnt notice was dead....water cooled box, soundproofed, I couldnt hear the fan running when it was working).

The CPU still runs, RAM is fine, etc, just there is nobody home in the mobo department. One of these days I'll recap the baord, in the hope that I've just got dead capacitors....I'm probably kidding myself there though. :(


yeah I know. i'm just hoping that a mobo or psu here or there will go out so that the repair costs will be low per incidence. as long as the maintenence costs trickle in rather than flood, I think he will be fine with it.

my best (yet doubtlessly contraversal)advice for keeping a mobo going, is:
1) get a UPS
2) get a decent mobo to start with. don't go with a 69$ msi or whatever. tend toward the 150-200$ asus (man, i miss abit).
3) run intel (AMDs run hotter as a general rule)
4) be aggressive about cooling

Not picking holes in your logic, it makes sense to me. But I'd modify it myself-

1)- get a 'real' UPS (not an SPS) and/or really nice surge protector (I think part of the reason why my NF7-S lasted so long was because of the excellent protector I always run.

2)- yep. Not that fond of asus myself, I'm current specing gigabyte. Ditto on abit though, lovely boards.

3)- AMD can last fine. My mum has a (pretty much ancient) nForce1/AMD 2200+ setup, I've got an awful ECS SiS chipset/AMD 2100+ (which I really think should be dead but it refuses to die)...lot of other examples if you really want them. Just make sure your cooling is well setup...that goes for AMD and Intel.

4)- agree 100%. Heat buildup causes death.

I would add-

5)- No 'yum-cha' (cheapo) power supplies! If your power supply is bad, its going to give your motherboard mosfets more work, that means more heat (rule #4).

6)- dont skim on the amount of wattage. You really dont need a 1000watt power supply in 95%+ of cases....but running a 9 year old compaq 175watt power supply in your new beast is even more silly (and yes, I've seen that happen).

7)- Keep it clean. Dust filters for the lazy (or smart?) and a can of air blow out every few months if you dont have filters. Dust causes heat buildup..yada yada..rule #4 again.

8 )- dont run 24/7 100% load (yes, folders, I know you will disagree on that).

[xc1024]

Call me silly but I'm just going to use my computer until it completely dies. I just don't want to spend so much money every 3 years just to have games running well enough. I got it for 500 GBP and I'm not going to let it go until I utilise every last drop of its life.