How often do you upgrade your system?

[Zyni]

I don't upgrade on a regular basis, more when I need something or a new game I want to play has higher requirements or something like that. I just got a new video card not too long ago, since mine blew up during a huge power spike. I have a decent system, not high end or anything. Just wondering do other gamers tend to upgrade frequently?

 

[TheBananaGuy]

I upgrade very rarely and only when I must (technical problems with a certain part). Overall I prefer consoles in that matter.

 

[smartdude966]

I upgrade when my computer cannot play games at even medium or low settings. Other times I upgrade when I have the funds too. But with my current method I have to upgrade frequently to keep up with the times. So I am going to save a lot of money for a very powerful system that will last for years.

 

[GSK76]

I upgrade every couple of years, my hardware easily lasts most of a console generation. My Nvidia 9500 GT lasted me from 2008 to up to a couple months ago. I was able to play Skyrim and Diablo III no problems but I was having issues with Battlefield 3. After I got a new video card I doubled my KDR. Besides the video card I found a Motherboard/8 gig ram stick combo deal, got another 8 gig stick, which will easily last me years. I added a quad core processor and a higher watt power supply. I've been using the same sound card since the early 2000s without issues. If you hunt for deals then a high quality gaming PC isn't much more expensive than a new console each generation.

 

[Inglenook]

I only upgrade when my old computer gives out, which happens every five years or so. I invested in a sturdy PC five years ago however and I think it'll last me a while yet, despite having to wipe the disk and reinstall Windows/Linux on a few occasions. Back-up, peeps...

 

[Supreme]

I do not upgrade frequently or on a regular basis. I upgrade when I find my system cannot cope with the game requirement of the game I am addicted to. I upgrade my video cards and hard disk occasionally.

 

[joshposh]

I upgrade my computer whenever I feel like there is too much lag and there is a good deal on computer parts. Whenever the next gen computer part comes out the previous technology becomes real cheap.

 

[gillman]

It depends on what you are talking about for upgrade. Hard drives kind of depend entirely on failures of other ones or just plain needs at the moment. That being said the best thing that you can do for your computer (gaming or otherwise) in terms of an upgrade is to get an SSD. That shit is the difference between night and day. No more "turning your computer on" and waiting for it to start. I used to go to the bathroom in the morning when I started, go in, open a browser, make breakfast, then start my day. This was on a gaming rig. I upgraded to a SSD and you turn it on and it simply is on. The thing that takes the longest is the Windows logo because, it turns out, that is on a set timer. Once you are in windows you are in.

Video cards I try to go every two-two and a half years depending on the cycle of new stuff coming out at the moment. I go for about a really nice mid-tier card that is hopefully on sale at the moment.

RAM, almost never. DDR3 has been the standard for almost a decade (think about that) and if you hit it right 8 gigs is about 30 dollars for a no name brand.

The Intel i series of processors have been really good. A friend got an i7 when they first came out and he is just now thinking about upgrading. That is about five years for a CPU.

 

[shreklock]

I upgrade only when I have some money to spend, so I don't buy parts on regular basis. Currently I need a new gpu, cpu, maybe even more ram.

 

[ReaperTV]

I'll usually upgrade after 2 years. It all depends in the part. Maybe theres a cool new graphics card. If there isnt ill just keep my old one. I often upgrade storage since hard drives don't seem to be that good. I guess other hardware would include mice and keyboard.

 

[gh0st233]

I bought the PC that I use right now five years ago, and it wasn't so bad. Q9400, HD 4850, 4 GB of RAM and a 1TB HDD. It was quite good for a bit more advanced gaming. But then my GPU died half a year ago and I just had to get a new one. I could get the same one for a lot less money, but I decided to get a much better GPU and enjoy my gaming a lot more, since the one I bought, R9 270x is twice as fast. Also got a new PSU. This is actually the first time I upgraded something and spent a lot of money on it. Next thing to upgrade is a CPU, motherboard and more RAM.

 

[gillman]

Last thing I upgraded was my storage drive on the primary computer. 4 terrabytes for 100 dollars as a pretty sweet deal.

 

[Jester23]

I upgrade when I feel I need to. I typically don't set a date because when I do I tend to buy everything a computer needs as opposed to just an upgrade of what I'm trying to upgrade at the time. For example if I am updating a video card for my system i'll go to a website and start trying to find the perfect one and by the time i'm done i'll end up buying a brand new computer's worth of components when all I needed was one thing. If something is happening such as a game i'm playing doesn't meet the requirements, i'll typically still try and play the game and see how my computer is acting while i'm playing and then if my computer isn't acting well I'll start to look for the right requirements to play it correctly.

 

[gillman]

Never really got that. I know just piece meal it through until I really fuck something up (last time I may have dumped an entire, and giant, glass of water into my computer while it was on and in a game [says the PC Editor of the site]).

 

[Fang]

I stick to laptops these days, so there's no tinkering with computer parts there. I'd have to buy a whole new laptop to upgrade, but my current one suits me fine for gaming. I don't ever play any graphically-intensive games on it anyway, just games like Civilization V and the occasional indie game from those Humble Bundle packs, haha.

 

[shreklock]

Never really got that. I know just piece meal it through until I really fuck something up (last time I may have dumped an entire, and giant, glass of water into my computer while it was on and in a game [says the PC Editor of the site]).

Hahaha, did the computer explode ? But seriously, was it a laptop or PC? Most important, what game were you on and did you manage to pull out the save files?

 

[hanseung]

I don't really upgrade until the console completely gives out and dies, but I usually just use my laptop these days. I wait for anything to completely die before I buy anything new, but I think I should stop doing that - my laptop which just recently fell to its death started blasting music at 2am the other day, while it was off. I may just be haunted, but that scared the crap out of me. It was possibly a message telling me I need to be less stingy.

 

[Supreme]

Last thing I upgraded was my storage drive on the primary computer. 4 terrabytes for 100 dollars as a pretty sweet deal.

My last upgrade is my storage drive too. It is a 2 terabytes HDD for about 100 dollars. I need more storage space as I get much stuff to store on my pc.

 

[gillman]

Hahaha, did the computer explode ? But seriously, was it a laptop or PC? Most important, what game were you on and did you manage to pull out the save files?

The only thing I have ever had make an "explosion" was a power supply, and that was just a massive fireball in my face. No, sadly the entire thing just turned off. It isn't like you see in movies and everything where there are amazing sparks everywhere, it just went dark.

It was a PC, I had the side off because I was in and out doing work on it randomly and it tended to overheat badly if I ever put it back on (bad case design). The only stuff I lost, which was really odd, was everything directly on the motherboard. RAM was gone, video card (it was old so whatever), motherboard (of course, from previous statement), and cpu. HDDs, DVD drive, and my oldest SD capture card (which I got 5 years before hand for 10 dollars) all lived.

 

[thepieeatingjay]

By normal gamer standards, I don't upgrade my system very often at all. I don't have much of a reason to. Most games can be played on minimal settings. Then there's the fact that I don't play very many PC games to begin with. Overall, there isn't any computer games compelling enough to me to run out and constantly upgrade.