How often do you upgrade your PC?

[Chaikr]

I have 2 rules of thumb. Main component can be upgrade for at least 2x performance and I want to get the older performance "for free". Meaning, the new components should be at the same asking price of the old ones but double performance. For now cpu upgrades are done in 10 years and gpu in 6

 

[polord]

I buy a new computer roughly every ten years.
This previous Black Friday 2025, I bought a 285k/5090/64GB DDR5/8 TB SSD for just $4999.

Prices exploded a week later and I doubt they're coming down any time soon.

I won't buy another PC till 2036 or so. I will not upgrade to the 6090 or 7090. Instead I'll just reinvest into more stock.

Just 4999$…?

Anyway, ik bought mine 7800x3d, 64gb ddr5, 7900xt amd, and some storage in oktober 2023. Still good enough and I think coming yeats…

 

[trgz]

I used to skip a generation of GPU and perhaps upgrade the whole machine every 5 years(?), but TBH I don't need/want to run anything above 1080 so my RTX2060S (late2019), i5-9600K, 32GB DDR4, 1TB nvme (and a host of other SSD/HDDs from years past) is running fine and looks to keep me going for a couple more years at least

 

[yRaz]

I used to upgrade my GPU every year and sell the old one, but I bought my 6700xt during covid when my 1080ti died and haven't upgraded since. I was thinking about buying a 9070xt but I'm going to wait for AMDs next release at this point. CPUs I typically do every 3 generations but I have a feeling I'm going to be rocking the 5800X3D for awhile to come with memory prices the way they are

 

[FrancB]

I7-5820k, 32Gb and GTX1080
Not so weak even today, waiting for better times unless something fails.

 

[Anton Longshot]

Postponing the next PC upgrade indefinitely.

There is however a chance I'll get an Apple Mini later this month for desktop use, IF I can lay my hands on one. I'm willing to accept an M1 but I do want at least 16GB RAM.

 

[vicsrealms]

My system was seven years old. It really depends on the games I play or want to play, that will determine when I upgrade.

 

[Mediacenterkodi8]

I used to build desktops, then laptops started to be gaming contenders.

I picked up a Lenovo loq for 799.99 with an AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS/NVIDIA 4060 8GB 115TDP, upgraded it from 16GB to 32GB and swapped out the crappy mediatek wifi for an Intel card, at the time it was like an extra 175 bucks, ram prices weren't what they were now. Has a 1tb Samsung nvme on it. 144hz screen, 15.6in 1080p with 141 PPI, it's very sharp for its size. Some people need a bigger screen, to me it reminds me of the screen sizes we used to game on in the 90s/00s and I don't have to turn my head as much to see the full screen. It's good enough that I landed in the top 900 for rivals on fortnite.

I won't upgrade this until I can't extend the warranty anymore which will be in about 3 1/2 years. At 19 bucks to extend the warranty every year through Lenovo, it's worth it.

 

[cldmstrsn]

I built my current Desktop in January of 2023 and it still rocks everything and so glad for it.

 

[rmcrys]

Usually 5 years or longer. Most present hardware, with a little extra / updated mid range GPU will hold very long.

 

[Phylop]

I used to upgrade frequently, then everything started costing an arm and a leg.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

GPUs (yep, ran SLI for a good while) used to be every other generation.
8800GTS 512MB
GTX 280
GTX 570 (used them for 4.5 years and skipped to the 9xx series)
I decided to go all in during Maxwell and went with 980Ti cards in SLI. Found they were too big to easily keep cool and it was extreme overkill for any game so I moved to just a single 980Ti and used it for 6.5 years.
Going on 3.5 years with my 3080Ti and with how poorly the latest gen cards have been the 3080Ti will be another card I run 6+ years.

CPUs are usually 3-7 years.
Athlon X2 3800+
Athlon X2 5600+
Phenom II x4 940
i5-4670k
5900x
As it stands going on 5 years with 5900x and no near future plans to upgrade since it works wonderfully for all my needs.

What I have now should do me well for another 3+ years.

 

[Hoffman]

I really got into PC two decades ago. Since then, I'm an addict for upgrading. Except for an 18month period when I was very broke, every time there is a new CPU or GPU that gives me more performance, or something new to overclock or tinker with, I'll get it. Sometimes I'll upgrade memory with a new kit, for the same reason. I've easily spent six figures on computer parts over those two decades.

Now that process node progress has slowed considerably, I'm quite sad as these upgrades are now very far apart and the uplift in performance is decreasing. I miss the days of yearly GPU releases. Getting one card, OCing the ever loving hell out of it, then getting a second for crossfire, doing the same to it, then doing it all over again. It was awesome.

I know the incredibly privileged place I'm in to be able to do these things. At least my friend group is always getting cheap hand me down parts.

It's a hobby, enjoy it and spend as much as you want. If the computer is important to you then it's a good investment. I started my journey with home computers a long time ago and it's a central part of my family's media experience. We joke how much we would miss our synthetic brain in our life. Vr games, music, cinema, Ai, video production... Everything is on the computer.

 

[Hoffman]

Because of these video game webpages, Youtube channels, FOMO and access to credit cards, there are a lot of young men burning through money trying to keep up with the latest upgrades. One is my cousin.

If he'd invested in Nvidia, Micron, Microsoft, and Google like I'd told him too instead of constantly rebuilding his computer, he'd have huge gains and could just sell some stock to buy his upgrades. But he doesn't think like that.

I'm totally fine witrh prebuilt off-the-shelf desktops because they go on sale. My AAT2250 started around $6000, dropped to $4799 and now it's back up above $6000 because of the price chaos. I got it at $4799 with an added in 4TB SSD for just $199 which shot up to $399 a week later.

Thanks to the shutting down of the actual manufacturers however, eventually the audience will have no choice but to buy prebuilts instead of wasting their money on pointless and senseless upgrades trying to stay on top.

On top of who though?

As Wierd Al poins out "My computer has the clocks that rocks but it was obsolete before I opened the box"...

You're always going to be behind in this market.

That's because you do not use the full potential of a premium components. Now I agree that paying for premium just to look at the numbers is pointless but playing the MS flight simulator in VR on a motion simulator requires substantial components to run adequately as does work with videos, 3d design etc.

 

[Peter Farkas]

I have built myself a new gaming rig every 3-5 yrs in the last 25yrs. I always give the old one to someone in the family.

 

[Nobina]

I upgrade a component when I feel like it has become too slow for my needs. I usually upgrade one component at a time every couple of years or so. Seeing how little I use my PC lately for demanding stuff, I might as well sell it and get a laptop.

 

[MasterMace]

Every other graphics card generation I upgrade the graphics
Every RAM generation I upgrade the CPU/Mobo/RAM
Storage wise it was incremental, and I don't think I'll be upgrading lest I need the space. When SSDs first came out I got one, then upgraded to an NVMe, then upgraded for space then upgraded to a big 5.0.

 

[ActualViking]

On average I have been upgrading the GPU within 1-2 years while maintaining most of the other components for two to three generations of GPU, so I'd say about five years between total new builds.

But there is no rules here, it all depends on what strides are being made with the hardware ie. for me to upgrade it must make a meaningful improvement in performance and it must also be an improvement that matters to my needs. Example, as I have always been playing with pretty much max resolution and mad detail setting in most games, that then means the bottle neck is normally the GPU with little to no benefit to upgrading the CPU that often.

Also when considering to the move to a new rig, not only is there the cost vs. performance gain to consider there is also the effort vs. performance gain to consider. Sure the process of building a new rig is fun, but it also takes time to build and it takes time to get the OS, needed tweaks and ditto software installed - as in time one can spend doing other fun stuff.

 

[ActualViking]

I have built myself a new gaming rig every 3-5 yrs in the last 25yrs. I always give the old one to someone in the family.

Are you also experiencing that passing on a computer gets harder and harder?

It seem like in my circles that it used to be some was without a computer or making due with some old relic, but these last years everyone sort of have what they want. And there is even some who have moved to just a laptop or even a tablet, having no interest in a PC.

 

[Megalomaniac]

That's because you do not use the full potential of a premium components. Now I agree that paying for premium just to look at the numbers is pointless but playing the MS flight simulator in VR on a motion simulator requires substantial components to run adequately as does work with videos, 3d design etc.

MSFS is poorly optimized and the physics models are ridiculous. DCS World is where it's at.

No, I'm not using the full potential of premium components and I'd argue most buyers suckered into the upgrade cycle aren't either.

I buy the top notch components mostly as an investment in future proofing and for piece of mind. The knowledge that my PC is always going to rank at the top of the charts until new tech comes to market and I'll be able to breathe life out of the machine for a decade to come.

 

[Axeia]

I use laptops, So when they break... 3 to 5 years seems to be the norm, Right now this Alienware M18 I am using has a small keyboard fault but is otherwise still fine at about 3 years old.

How dare you say that in front of my 11 year old laptop.

Tbh I've no idea how it's still going strong either (other than the battery being understandably being weak after thousands of charge cycles). It did see its share of upgrades back in the day. RAM got doubled, HDD became SSD and the HDD got moved to the optical slot in a drive bay caddy.
It's a MSI GT640, run of the mill gaming laptop. It has no business still hanging in there.

Did install Linux because Win11 is a no go.

 

[LordVile95]

It depends what you count as an upgrade. I’d installing a larger drive and upgrade? Is a new mouse an upgrade? I generally sell my GPU when I go away with work and buy a new one when I come back but I was on AM4 for 5 years and intend to stay on AM5 and potentially skip all of AM6.

 

[bloomsun]

When I can't play the newest game in 4K with path tracing and all max enabled, I look for an upgrade. So far I could play everything with my 4080 Super. Features have become more important than raw power now. I would switch to a newer generation if it means I can reach 60 fps by some feature. Frame generation for me is a killer feature as it makes 30 fps into playable 60 fps. Also DLSS is a game changer as it enabled the ability to play in 4K, which was not possible before often. So if you don't develop ridiculous demands, which I see nowadays and this worries me, you can play for a very long time with a modern set of components. I still even use a 5800X.

 

[scavengerspc]

I have used "desktop replacement" laptops for almost 2 decades.
I buy a new one every 2 years.

 

[mbk34]

I'll admit I get addicted to a few games but they're few and far apart which means the hardware I run lasts for ages. I don't even understand people spending $1000's on PC parts but each to their own. In my 60's now so 4k is wasted on my eyes, I could probably do fine on 720p.