How Often Do You Upgrade Your System?

Hello

I was curious about this question for PC gamers since I myself am one. How often do you upgrade your system for upcoming games? And do you or did you spend a vast amount on it when you first purchased?

Thanks

Mid-range PC.......

Midlife upgrade or two-year mark: New video card.

After 4 years, I start thinking of at least a new CPU/Motherboard/RAM/video card or a totally new PC altogether.

Total price of current PC from 2009 with mid-life video card upgrade: ~$980

Major upgrades (several components, eg CPU + GPU + MB + RAM) every 2 or 3 years.

Minor upgrades (eg hard drive, more RAM, case) twice a year or so.

Last upgrade was an extra 4GB RAM about 4 or 5 months ago. Currently looking to change the CPU cooler in the next few months to something quieter, and maybe get an SSD.

Usually I upgrade every 3 years or so, but this will be my final desktop PC. I'll be giving up my desktop at some point in the next year or so in favour of a more casual approach to gaming.

Every two to three years for the last decade. Before that it was probably every 5 years.

I'm at the limit of what my motherboard can support now and the video card and CPU are very balanced in performance. My next upgrade will have to be a big one with new everything except hard drives and case.

I average about 2 years for cpu / mobo / gpu / ram type upgrades. I've had my same full tower case for about 8 years. Other pieces, like HDD, keyboard or psu are just when I need it. Probably averages at 300-400 dollars a year on hardware I would guess.

I'll look at the GPU and RAM after 2-3 years, and a whole system every 4-5 years, but no absolute rules - it just depends when I notice the games I want to run don't run smoothly at the settings I want.

Other accessories like monitors, speakers, keyboard and mouse get changed occasionally, but I prefer to spend more on a really good item that will last a while than buy something cheap that won't last.

i built my rig in 2010 paid $890. still maxing most games out VERY FEW makes me ever turn something down. BUT i have no plans to upgrade till at least 2014 when new game engines start coming out

This is my first rig so i guess you can say 4 years+?

i am assuming you trying get a idea how often you need upgrade if you get a rig. SO i will say when When you want to. It all depends on how you feel about games. If you must perform EVERY GAME to the extreme max them you most likely end up switching upgrading parts every 2-3 years. IF you don't care turning somethings down later down the road then i would assume you be able get to around 5 years without much issue of course that depends how you build your rig,

thats my opinion

every 3 years for me

If theres a new game out I like and I can't max it fully and run it perfectly, I usually see that as a sign for me to upgrade. Usually you can get a few video card upgrades in before you need to fully upgrade everything else... depending on the quality of everything as a whole though.

Usually I upgrade every 3 years or so, but this will be my final desktop PC. I'll be giving up my desktop at some point in the next year or so in favour of a more casual approach to gaming.

HyperWarlock

You can be casual and still have a desktop ya know...

As for the Topic, I upgrade when I need to (as in when most games lag on medium settings, I never go to low)

Probably once ever 5 years.

I upgrade on a consistant basis, change hardware as they are realeased so over time my personal rig is totally different each year. But that is just the industry that I am in, I don't feel comfortable selling a product unless I have tested it first hand.

I upgrade parts as needed, I have a prehistoric optical drive and a case from 5-6 years ago, but a brand new GPU and up to date CPU/mobo/ram.

Usually works out to new gpu every 2 years and new cpu/mobo and such every 4.

Every 4 years I get a new proc/case/mobo. Every 2 years I get a new videocard. I'm constantly upgrading other things in-between (monitors, hard drives, speakers, sound cards, fancy accessories, etc.) It's getting pretty fun now actually, I have so many old parts that I actually have two other computers that I've built out using a mix of old spare parts and cheap new ones.

Spare PC Uno - Intel E8400 @ 4.0 Ghz, 6 GB DDR2 RAM, AMD 5850 1gb,180gb Hardrive, X-Fi Forte 7.1 Sound Card

Spare PC Dos - Intel E7200 @ 3.2 GhZ, 4 GB DDR2 RAM, AMD 5850 1gb, 1Tb Hard Drive

And just like my PC gear has accumulated, I have relatively decent accumulated audio gear to accompany it. :)

Seems like most of you average between 2 to 4 years which is a common figure amongst the community. I was wondering, how much is it usually to build a computer that lasts 5-8 years? I'm thinking about upgrading mine, but I like to play a combination of old and new games. Mostly an RPG fan who likes to go on adventures. Anybody got a good suggestion for a CPU that will last several years down the line on the market currently, any GPU that is still going to handle most games and so on? Just some pieces of advice, I rarely upgrade and would like to get as many years as possible if I can, but I'm not a graphics whore, just a gamer who enjoys recently released and old-school gaming.

You must have quite a system if you upgrade every 5 years which seems to be an ideal span of time for me. Feed my curiousity and tell me what your current specifications are, the price you purchased it for originally and when you did so. Thanks.TheEveryMan

Seems like most of you average between 2 to 4 years which is a common figure amongst the community. I was wondering, how much is it usually to build a computer that lasts 5-8 years? I'm thinking about upgrading mine, but I like to play a combination of old and new games. Mostly an RPG fan who likes to go on adventures. Anybody got a good suggestion for a CPU that will last several years down the line on the market currently, any GPU that is still going to handle most games and so on? Just some pieces of advice, I rarely upgrade and would like to get as many years as possible if I can, but I'm not a graphics whore, just a gamer who enjoys recently released and old-school gaming.

TheEveryMan

If you want 5-8 years I'd say your looking at over two thousand dollars for a six core ivy bridge + dual high end gpu but no one really knows how demanding games will be once next gen console come out and devs start moving in mass to more advanced engines like unreal 4. This current gen anyone trying to future proof there pc before or at the 360 launch which was Q4 2005 would have gotten massively screwed over none of that hardware does well now. By the ps3 Q4 2006 launch nvidia 8800 series was out as well as the quad core Q6600 and that could last you the whole gen if your not as interested in graphics or highest performance especially if you sli those gpu but it generally better to buy one good gpu when you need it and sell it of later to upgrade to a stronger one when more demanding games come out. So basically timing(and a bit of luck) plays the biggest factor in how long before you upgrade as well as what you buy at the time.

Your better off money wise just going for a 4 core ivy bridge(get a K model so you can overclock them to like 4.5+ghz with a cheap hyper 212+)a single mid range gpu and 12+gb of ram(which is the only thing you can reasonable future proof right now for future games) and a large 3tb hardrive so even if games go way up in install size your good. Then upgrade the gpu and cpu as needed further down the line your going to spend way more money and potentially waste alot of money if your try to "future proof" your pc right now only to find out its not good enough. Altough microsoft and sony are probaly going to be alot more conservitive in how strong there next-gen consoles will be to keep cost down.

last big upgrades for me were a 240GB SSD and a AMD 7870, both were done over 7 months ago I'll probably look at a 8780 if one should appear soon, but CPU, RAM, M/B seem to be fine, even the newest high end games are crushed by any quad core sandybridge/ivybridge and 8GB of ramWWIAB

I have a bad habbit, everytime a new series GPU comes out, I sell mine and get the newest one.

for CPU, I usually stick with it for about 2 years.

Right now, I'm on an Intel Core 2 Quad (which was upgraded in 2011 from the Intel Core 2 Duo I had in 2008).

I usually upgrade when I feel that my system is no longer up to snuff with the games that I play. Right now, my GTX 560 Ti is running fine, no need for an upgrade just yet. But if newer games start taxing my system, I'm thinking about making a move towards Haswell and getting a GTX 660 Ti.

Whenever I feel like it, in fact, that 2nd 670 will be mine 3 weeks from now.

Usually upgrade the video card or cards after about 2 years then a year after that usually build a new one from scratch. Probably gonna wait longer this time as my pc still runs everything I play easily ( 2 gtx 560 oc, i7 oc to 4ghz, 3 tb hdd, 16 gb ram, etc).

Whenever I feel like it, in fact, that 2nd 670 will be mine 3 weeks from now.

mitu123

Mid-range PC.......

Midlife upgrade or two-year mark: New video card.

After 4 years, I start thinking of at least a new CPU/Motherboard/RAM/video card or a totally new PC altogether.

Total price of current PC from 2009 with mid-life video card upgrade: ~$980

jun_aka_pekto

I do pretty much the same as you. Unless of course I seriously need new parts like more RAM for my previous PC, than I make an exception

I'll start replacing stuff in about 18 months.

I'll start with a gpu then when I hit that 2 year mark I'll upgrade the mobo/cpu.

[QUOTE="jun_aka_pekto"]

Mid-range PC.......

Midlife upgrade or two-year mark: New video card.

After 4 years, I start thinking of at least a new CPU/Motherboard/RAM/video card or a totally new PC altogether.

Total price of current PC from 2009 with mid-life video card upgrade: ~$980

R4gn4r0k

I do pretty much the same as you. Unless of course I seriously need new parts like more RAM for my previous PC, than I make an exception

Another factor in the upgrade process are the games. If I feel my PC isn't chugging enough yet, I can hold off assembling a new PC for a bit longer, especially if I'm going to remain at 1080p for a long time. I thought Far Cry 3 might prompt me to upgrade sooner. Nope. Far Cry 3 is fine on my current PC. Bioshock: Infinite also looks to be okay too along with Tomb Raider. That leaves Crysis 3. I'll find out next month if this year will really be an upgrade year or not. :lol:

Edit:

On second thought, I don't know about Tomb Raider's recommended requirements. But, it can't be worse than the ones for Crysis 3.

PC was £900 (with windows and monitor) 4 years ago.

Since then I've bought a CPU cooler and a sound card.

Considering a new GPU soon.

[QUOTE="mitu123"]

Whenever I feel like it, in fact, that 2nd 670 will be mine 3 weeks from now.

lockjaw333

@DJ_Headshot

I appreciate the helpful advice regarding the current state of the market. I don't always play new games, and even if I do, I just want it to run with good graphics, not full HD at 50 frames per second, that ain't me. I'll have to wait to see what is being offered with upcoming consoles, although $2000 is a lot for a gaming rig, especially if you buy it ready made. I'll probably have a budget of $600, try to run a few new games, but mainly stick to old and recently released RPGs. Onlive could be a great platform also. If a new Elder Scrolls comes out then I will be looking forward to it. I like new and old RPG games.

Every time a new line of hardware is released.

Come the 700 series, I am going tri-SLI in preparation of 4k.

Just a quick question. Does it annoy you when you suddenly find out that a game developer of a series you love has forked up the system requirements? I know that put me off the GTA series for a short period of time since GTAIV was such a great leap from San Andreas that graphics and CPUs had to be upgraded in order to get a good framerate going. I'm hoping The Elder Scrolls doesn't follow this path, although I doubt they will do since their games can be run on a fair system. I remember looking at the Fallout 3 requirements and you could play it off a pentium 4 processor which was quite amazing, considering how the other developers were already increasing the resources required *cough Crysis cough* and this begs the question:

Are graphics required to make a great game?

In a way they are integral, but it's not what everything should be about and that's why I admire Valve & Bethesda Softworks.

Are graphics required to make a great game?

TheEveryMan

No. But, if they're there, who am I to complain?

My favorite game is FSX from 2006. It looks very dated although it has its moments.