How Long Should A Gaming PC Last?
Well this is the hardest question to answer, this is the case because the answer is so nebulous. A gaming pc should last you as long as you need it OR until it hinders you playing the games you want to play.
One customer might upgrade every two years because they want the latest technology.
Another might keep the same system for seven years because it still plays everything they enjoy.
Neither approach is wrong.
So let's take a look at the Steam Hardware survey, this shows us what steam users are currently using.
While the survey is great its kind of limited as it doesn't give us a lot of detail around motherboards or CPU’s but what it does tell us is how often people upgrade their GPUs
The survey shows us that the most prevalent GPU is the Nvidia 3060 and for the rest of the desk top line the newest GPU the newest of these is the Nvidia 5070 at number 5 in the list.
But what does this tell us?
This shows that the most used PC GPU is the Nvidia 3060 12GB model, this is important because this particular part came out in 2021.
This lets us know that realistically the ‘average gamer’ isn’t upgrading all the time, and more realistically these users are upgrading around every 5 years. But this isn’t a hard and fast rule because every one is different and some people will just have to have the new shiny thing every year!
What all this tells us is that most gamers aren't upgrading every year.
The way we approach things is to look at the options of the base system. We do this because if you choose a motherboard that will hinder you in the years to come you will have to upgrade more parts than you really need to.
Gamers aren't upgrading every year
For me, I recently upgraded for a few reasons. Firstly was because I was looking at the games that were coming out and seeing that ray tracing was becoming a ‘must have’ for some titles, Indiana Jones comes to mind. Secondly because I had the funds to allow me to do so. This is so important for me as I don't believe you should be going into massive debt to upgrade a system, but that is a personal mentality. Thirdly I was building my wife a new system and for her the perfect set up was actually the one I was using at the time so it allowed me to pass it forwards to her so that she could have a great gaming experience!
In reality for me this was something I had thought about for a very long time and every time I was close to being able to actually do it something would come up and get in the way. This is part of making the timing just as important for me to be able to upgrade.
So for me I believe in upgrading when the time is right for you, not when the industry tells you its time.
What is the first upgrade?
Normally the first change any PC gamer makes is more storage. I have personally done this over many builds. I have always kept my operating drive across a few systems but then when I need more storage I will pick up a new SSD when I can't fit everything I want to have available. This is the first thing most gamers reach for when upgrading.
Secondly, the reason for this is simple: your GPU might not be able to run the games you wanted to. This means that gamers will often want to upgrade this to get them the performance they want in the games they run.
The two least replaced components are CPU and Motherboard. This is because firstly the CPU rarely breaks down and outside of games such as CS 2 the CPU rarely limits the performance of the System.
But if you did want to swap the CPU on an AM5 motherboard you would be able to upgrade in the future as this socket will be able to make this swap for years to come.
The Factors
But there are so many factors in the process of considering an upgrade.
Some upgrade to a fully watercooled custom set up because of aesthetics and noise, a fully watercooled set up is surprisingly quiet and there are fewer fans in the system.
Some upgrade because of a specific game. In the past games such as Crysis, or more recently CyberPunk, people will upgrade because these games require a much more powerful base set up for it to run properly. CyberPunk is still kicking older PCs butts today!
But throughout all of this when we build a system we consider the next generation because we want our customers to have the ability to upgrade their set ups when it's needed. After all there is no perfect computer, just the one that's perfect for you and your needs.
But as to how long should it last?
Well that is something that only you can decide, we can all set timelines but in the end you should consider a few things. Can I play the games I want? Is there a new technology that means I need to make a change and what is that change that I need to make? Can I actually afford to make the change, or am I just buying into the hype? And finally, what do I actually need to upgrade? Because unlike a console you do not need to replace everything just to play a new game. If you have an X3D CPU realistically you will probably need to upgrade a GPU and possibly some storage.
But no matter what you decide we always recommend taking your time and finding the right components for your needs.