How long do desktops last?

[sports fan Matt]

Inspired by the other thread, how long do desktops last? Bought mine in either 09 or 08 but I can't remember. Any thoughts on how long they last?

[pi3.1415926535...]

Depends on the manufacturer and your needs. For example something for general use can last ten or more years, though a gaming desktop will often last less.

[cprofitt]

I have built all my desktops since 1993 or so... and most of mine last until the processor becomes too old to be worth using. I just put an old Athlon 1800+ out to pasture last year. My PIV machine is still going strong and my core2duo runs like a silent ninja still.

[3Miro]

My custom build desktop (PIII Abit Mobo) lasted for 6 years. One HDD died before that, but it was the motherboard that finally went away.

I got a new desktop in 2007, but since then I upgraded pretty much all the parts in it (some parts died, some were upgraded ... )

[Khakilang]

I had an Acer that was 9 years ago. Provide there is no power surge it could last at least 10 years.

[Shining Arcanine]

Inspired by the other thread, how long do desktops last? Bought mine in either 09 or 08 but I can't remember. Any thoughts on how long they last?

Aside from the hard drives and flash, failure rates of electronics are statistically memoryless, so the probability of failure at year 10 is the same as the probability of failure at year 0. That excludes the possibility of dust build-up insulating your electronics, causing them to cook themselves to death.

[LowSky]

considering internet explorer 6 is still used by a small percentage of people.. you can get a very long time

[Muffinabus]

Built my computer 7 years ago and I still use it every day and even for gaming (albeit slightly older games). I have had the PSU die twice on me, upgraded the video card once, and added 1.5 gigs of ram (up from the original 512MB). I'm due for a new one, if only I had the monies.

[aG93IGRvIGkgdWJ1bnR1Pw==]

6 years and counting, good as new.

[jfreak_]

I had a 8 year old 128mb RAM P4, but as the components started failing, it got costly to replace them since the required parts were no longer available. Eg- who keeps SDRAM nowadays?

[msandoy]

The case is 8 years old, most internals have been replaced once or twice over the years. I like to be relatively up to date on my hardware, but I still have a testrig for various distros, that is at least 6-7 years old. (Most of my old parts get a new life in that one.) Present specs in my signature.

[disabledaccount]

Aside from the hard drives and flash, failure rates of electronics are statistically memoryless, so the probability of failure at year 10 is the same as the probability of failure at year 0. That excludes the possibility of dust build-up insulating your electronics, causing them to cook themselves to death.I can't agree with this - low quality components (especially electrolytic capacitors) or poor design are very often the main reason of failures. There are tens of examples - one of my favorites: Toshiba SP6000/SP6100 - those laptops were killing their HDD's due to insufficient cooling and most probably every exemplar have failed at least once during warranty period due to bad internal PSU board connector.
Low quality capacitors are often causing crashes of operating systems and if they are placed inside same low-quality PSU then results are in killed mobos, CPUs and HDDs. Many motherboards (especially in laptops) suffered from bad BGA soldering - and after forcing consumer-unfriendly ROHS things are only getting worse. (Guess why military-grade electronics is not ROHS-compilant... )

[Drenriza]

Inspired by the other thread, how long do desktops last? Bought mine in either 09 or 08 but I can't remember. Any thoughts on how long they last?

Their is not a defined time, where your desktop is no longer worth using. Depends on

#Usage.
#Performance.
#Need.
#Stability.

And so on. A gaming laptop, tends to last less since you need to change GFX every 1-2 years to get the latest graphics in the games. But the CPU, MB, RAM e.t.c docent need to be changed before 3-4 years. Unless you overclock, and thereby diminish their life span.

A work pc can last ages. My mothers laptop lasted 6-7 years. Now she needed a new one because she wanted something faster. And that is expected to last just as long if not more.

So all depends on needs.

If you build your own desktop i would advice the following, for less maintenance.

#Get a tower that is big enough to have the room for new hardware (GFX cards can get very big)
#Get the correct cooling system from the start. Air / Water coolers of high quality can last years.
#Get a MB (AMD) that is compatible with new processors. The X2 X3 X4 X6 Phenom series is a good choice. Here you can get a new CPU without getting a new MB when u need it.
#Get a HDD of high quality. WD is a good choice.
#Get a PSU that has a slightly higher output than needed.

[Paqman]

Depends on the component. Optical drives, hard drives and PSUs are the least reliable parts, and will fail before the others. At the other end of the scale, there's no reason you shouldn't get as long as you want out of a case. The only thing that would make a case obsolete would be a change in the form factor standards.

I would say expect to have to replace a hard drive, optical drive and PSU within 5 years. After that you might get fans, RAM or mobos failing (although newer mobos are a lot better than they used to be). CPUS tend to become obsolete before failing, unless you muck about with them.

[Rasa1111]

my current desktop is an old dell dimension 2350(i think). lol
It was made around 8 years ago.
Has Ubuntu 10.10 installed..1 GB RAM, i forget the cpu right now..
pretty slow tho.
and it still runs better than most other peoples PC's i know,
that are fairly newer machines. lol
those with windows, i mean.

It boots up in like 20-30 seconds, shuts down in about 10. lol

Runs great.

Other desktop is about 10 years old i think,but not sure.
(compaq)
runs ubuntu 9.10, and runs great, for the specs. lol

have a 3rd desktop to, Ubuntu 10.04.
think its about 5-6 years old.
everex machine.
pretty quick also.
just acquired it a few months ago tho,
not sure how long itll kick. lol

Im pretty impressed by me old dell though, for the most part.
Dont know how long itll last, but doesnt seem like its going anywhere soon.