How long can a non-gaming (basic use) desktop last?

gimli on 20/12/2015 - 12:54
Last edited 20/12/2015 - 13:03

Hi guys,

I built a desktop for my dad 8 years ago. with e2160, 2gb ram, cheapest graphics card, 500gb hdd.

Currently it is running windows 7 without any glitches but it is getting slow.

Looking at task manager seems at busy times my RAM is upto 80% used. So I'm going to buy another 2 gigs of ram and maybe an SSD and I think things should be much better.

The CPU is overclocked to about 3ghz and does not ever seem to be a bottle neck.

It is simply used a a home office computer for word processing and browsing. Newer OS's and software haven't really increased hardware requirements over the last 8 years and it seems that its not going to increase any time soon.

So is it possible for home office desktops to last over 15 years?

Poll Options

  • 32
    15 years +
  • 13
    <10 years
Computing

Comments

  • currentfad on 20/12/2015 - 12:58

    Or you could just get a new laptop for like…300bux

    • gimli on 20/12/2015 - 13:01
      +1

      ram costs about 30bucks. even cheaper 2nd hand.

      My gut feeling performance of 300bux laptop will not necessarily be better than my 8 year desktop, which more reflects that the demands on computing power hasn't really gone up much.

  • MadMurph on 20/12/2015 - 13:04
    +2

    SSDs are a now affordable way to breath new life into an aging system. For basic systems you need only worry about the CPU, RAM and read/write speeds of the main hard drive. Sounds like the CPU is fine. If you can afford to upgrade to 8GB RAM that will save some trouble in the future.

    • gimli on 20/12/2015 - 13:05

      yeah true may get 8gb. I can't remember if I have installed 32bit or 64bit OS. Will one day upgrade to 64bit windows 10.

  • captobvious on 20/12/2015 - 13:39
    +2

    10year old laptop revived after a boost of ram and a SSD

    • gimli on 20/12/2015 - 13:43

      what cpu did you have?

      • captobvious on 20/12/2015 - 13:57
        +2

        centrino duo 2.33ghz

  • elvino on 20/12/2015 - 14:16
    +1

    As MadMurph and others said above, youll be surprised at the performance improvement an SSD will make.
    Dump in an SSD for the O/S, and use the existing 500Gb as a filestore.
    Add that to an obvious RAM upgrade, and for sub $250 this system will run pretty well.
    Youll obviously have to weigh up the pro's and cons of investing that cash into a new system, versus a birthday for your existing one.

  • RobMel on 20/12/2015 - 14:45

    It is usually the moving parts fan, powersupply harddisk that fail.
    Otherwise cheap capacitors on mainboard.

    Avoid heat stress and and replace moving parts, if you overclock suggest upgrade fan to avoid pushing temp.

    SSD and RAM is a great idea.

  • Randxyz123 on 20/12/2015 - 16:20

    I've always done a 5 year turn around with my laptops.

    My advise is upgrade everything between now and in say a years time…

    1. Put a SSD in for the OS.

    2. Buy a new HD for his files and stuff. Hard drives don't last 10 years so you should replace that now before it fails.

    3. Put in more RAM

    Also check the fan is still working ok and doesn't need to be upgraded.

    then in a couple of months

    1. New Power supply

    2. Maybe a new CPU and graphics card

  • DarkOz on 20/12/2015 - 17:40

    I only upgraded my work PC this year to Windows 7. The old Windows XP PC had been in use for 15 years.

    • Randxyz123 on 20/12/2015 - 18:41

      Wow how the hell did you work on a 15 year old XP machine? It would drive me crazy

      I'm assuming you upgraded components inside the PC?

      • DarkOz on 21/12/2015 - 11:42

        I only used it for Words/Excel/Outlook Express. It wasn't too bad when it doesn't glitch but when it does it was a nightmare. No I didn't upgrade the components because it could cost more than a new PC lolz. Got a new simple $500 pc with SSD.

        • [Deactivated] on 21/12/2015 - 22:50

          It would cost more if you a new PC, but that's only because the PC you started with had low grade components. If you ask me the best thing to do with desktop PCs is get a good case and PSU then just upgrade high quality components as they fail.

    • gimli on 20/12/2015 - 18:49

      What specs did you computer have.

      I guess a pentium 4 may be able to still chug along today.

      • DarkOz on 21/12/2015 - 11:46

        Pentium 4? I still have 2 of them running as dedicated "servers" and they are a luxury! The old PC was running on a Pentium Celeron believe it or not. Many young people don't know what a Celeron CPU is…

        • smalltime0 on 21/12/2015 - 13:13

          Do you also use those P4s as heating in the winter?

  • iridiumstem on 20/12/2015 - 18:25

    Depends, I've seen horror that is called "no cleaning and no maintanence of the PC for 7~8 years", basically everything was coated in dust.
    To be honest, I know that it is considered potentially harmful, but I want to just use a leaf blower on the PCs I've looked at.

    If you maintain the PC, replace the parts that can be replaced, I don't think 15 years is asking too much. I assume you've done this kind of things to the home PC, so I don't think you are asking too much. Though that said, I think replacing the older PC with newer systems (i.e. NUC, laptops etc) has benefits like them being more quiet, smaller and more efficient with power.

    I've replaced one of the old PC with a NUC. Similar performance or better performance, smaller form factor and it was much more quiet than the old PC. The person I've helped with for that was genuinely satisfied. It costed fair bit more ($400 ish vs RAM + SSD + Cleaning) though.

    • Randxyz123 on 20/12/2015 - 18:39

      Depends, I've seen horror that is called "no cleaning and no maintanence of the PC for 7~8 years", basically everything was coated in dust.

      THIS.

      • gimli on 20/12/2015 - 18:48

        I have alot of free dust if anyone wants some. :P

        • Lysander on 20/12/2015 - 21:33

          What? The "angel" kind?

    • GaryQ on 21/12/2015 - 18:14

      Worked in a major hospital for several months replacing 4500+ PCs.
      Hygienic environments? Hah!

  • kipps on 20/12/2015 - 19:22

    15 years is a ridiculously long time in technology. You could survive for 10 years though. In 2000 (ie, 15 years ago), the specs here were common. http://www.topdesignmag.com/top-performance-computer-looked-…

  • [Deactivated] on 20/12/2015 - 19:47

    Anyone who is still using a desktop after 15 years as their primary computer needs to get a job. Talk about being poor.
    Desktops last a long time provided that you don't run it 24/7 and clean it every now and again. Reduce the heat generation!

    MY HP desktop is 11 years old and still works, but I only use it for command line stuff. lol
    Sometimes I Miss the sound of loading screens and older HDDs.

  • terrys on 21/12/2015 - 13:41

    That processors passmark rating of ~1000 matches or just beats the ~$300-$500 lappies being pushed last year, and with your overclock you have it up near double that. An SSD will make a huge difference to booting and loading. For Office work and casual browsing it should be fine for a long while yet - I doubt your father is typing much faster than he did five years ago, and unless he is throwing a great many FHD videos in Powerpoint presentations or creating an interactive multi-media tour of the Louvre in Word while watching i-view and catching up on a podcast the keyboard is still the main bottleneck.
    A refresh and transfer of the OS to a new HD will speed things up anyway and if you don't mind the risk of forced updating, Win 10 may run better than 7…

  • scrimshaw on 21/12/2015 - 22:44

    Geekbench score of that processor
    Single core approx 1000
    Multi core approx 1700

    Meanwhile, a Celeron N3700 found in a basic notebook or an Intel NUC NUC5PPYH
    Single core approx 1000
    Multi core approx 3000

    So going by the processor scores alone, that Desktop has roughly the same oomph as a basic $350 dollar PC. Which isn't too bad actually if you only browse the web. For a lot of people though, even a Celeron N3700 is too slow and for me my minimum standard is a Core i3.

    Give that sucker a good cleaning, some fresh thermal paste, upgrade the RAM to 4GB and throw in a basic SSD and it'll be good as new.

    Anyway I'm still rocking an Acer with a t6600 processor, the CPU was released almost 10 years ago and it still manages to run Windows 10. A bit laggy here and there and it also seems to struggle with graphics heavy sites with adobe flash player.

  • Charity on 22/12/2015 - 19:13

    It is fine for general use. You are right when you say performance hasn't really gone up that much for what a general person uses a computer for. A bit sad really.

    Like others said, SSD's are a legitimate improvement.

    15 years is also peanuts for electronics, btw. Sometimes the older stuff is now better, in fact. Better build quality and made to last. This was before computer companies learnt about built-in-obsolescence and product life cycles, etc. BTW, I am typing this on a 30 year old IBM Model M keyboard (many consider it to the best keyboard ever made - even today)

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