Author Topic: Replace PC after 8 years or not?  (Read 4781 times)

wealthcare

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Replace PC after 8 years or not?
« on: January 20, 2015, 03:24:36 AM »
Hello Fellow Mustachians!

I am a long time reader of the site and forum, but didn't bother with registering, (I was busy pocketing the massive savings from not using electricity to create an account). However I am now requesting some advice from you with thick and fully grown money mustaches.

My PC wont start anymore. I am fairly well versed in IT, and spent 5-10 hours trying to repair it, going through checklists etc, but apparently the motherboard is gone. It was and Asus P5KE board, and wont post anymore - this is a well known issue btw, and there is no solution.

Anyways, the PC showed erratic behaviour for around 1.5 years and then finally one morning gave up. This was in August, 2013. Being the badass I am I decided to wing it, because I have a work laptop and a smarthpone as well. However, a certain itch started to manifest itself a couple of days ago because I have this big box + flatscreen collecting dust being completely useless at my desk.

Since I built the PC myself I know exactly which parts to swap, how to do it etc. Unfortunately, since it is over 8 years old it is "very" outdated in terms of available parts etc. Seems like I need to buy a MoBo + CPU + DDR3 RAM. Apart from this I have everything else at hand.

The total for the "repair" would be USD 150. Additionally, I can write this off as a business expense on my small company, so it would reduce the tax liability by the same amount. There is probably no resale value of the old parts, and I would donate the old RAM to a family members PC as it runs only on 1GB.

My questions is: Do I need a kick in the nuts, because I already have a work laptop and smartphone so I dont need this extra luxury item?
Or do you think I should go ahead and replace the parts? Would you exchange your hard earned USD 150 for a few depreciating electronic parts?

Pros:
I won't have to use my work laptop for personal stuff anymore, or only to a much more limited extent
A completely working, fancy, high end (for me) PC for only USD 150, by replacing some parts.
No more dust collecting, as I usually am a heavy user.

Cons:
USD 150. I could save this extra and earn 4% forever on it. More money is always better


Thank you in advance for your help!

Edit: I just gave it a second thought and I feel my main motivation to repair it is I still like to own and buy new shit. However I feel physically bad when spending money, hence the dilemma

« Last Edit: January 20, 2015, 03:28:42 AM by wealthcare »

innerscorecard

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Re: Replace PC after 8 years or not?
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2015, 04:46:28 AM »
What is your use case? Your question cannot be objectively answered without this.

wealthcare

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Re: Replace PC after 8 years or not?
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2015, 05:03:42 AM »
Hi innerscorecard!

I sometimes play some games, but am a "casual" if that is what you mean. I am not a heavy gamer but I would prefer to be able to run current titles if I decide to spend a bit and buy the new stuff, with the understanding that I might need a new GPU at some point for this.

If by usecase you mean how much I use it: every single day. I am a very heavy user, and spend most of my time in front of the screen during weekdays as I work in the office. During weeknights we usually watch movies via the computer etc.

« Last Edit: January 20, 2015, 05:08:48 AM by wealthcare »

Bbqmustache

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Re: Replace PC after 8 years or not?
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2015, 05:35:54 AM »
Isn't your opportunity cost of not having a PC much higher than the $150 you would invest in a new one?  If you do ANY income-producing activities on this machine, it is game over.  Get the new PC.

DK

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Re: Replace PC after 8 years or not?
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2015, 05:51:04 AM »
here was a decent talk about new computer and what parts to get if interested. it's linked to what i did about a yr ago. more than the $150, but will last a long time and it flies.

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/computer-questions-4-6-or-8-cores-for-the-next-8-years/msg475239/#msg475239

wealthcare

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Re: Replace PC after 8 years or not?
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2015, 05:58:04 AM »
Hi Bbq,

Thank you for your reply. While it is true that it might be used for income producing activities, I do already have a work laptop which I am free to use however I like. I wrote some technical articles last year, from which the income went towards a weeklong trip to croatia last summer with my GF. However I wrote those from my laptop. Point is, I could do income producing activities, but I can do them now just as well.

DK,

Thanks for taking the time to link the post. I dont believe you can future proof your PC. In the end it is going to be outdated so you need to upgrade anyway. What I try to do is to select a mobo which might be upgradable if I choose to do so, but that does work only for so long. Take the cpu sockets for example, the only reason I need to buy new hardware is because the new mobos have intel 1150 sockets instead of the old 775 I currently have. And already there are 2011-3 sockets on the market which will most likely be used within the next 2 years. The ride never ends.
So for now I will go with an 1150 socket mobo, ddr3 ram and a basic CPU.

For future reference, I always use: http://www.logicalincrements.com/ because its as clear as it can get. I chose stuff from the "Entry" tier.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2015, 06:00:39 AM by wealthcare »

alsoknownasDean

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Re: Replace PC after 8 years or not?
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2015, 06:13:04 AM »
I would because I don't like the idea of using work-provided computers/phones for personal use.

Honestly though, if you find it's useful, $150 isn't much to spend on getting it running again for a few years. If you don't think it'll be useful to you, then sell it.

Mustachianism isn't quibbling over whether to spend $150 to fix something that's useful to you, rather it's being more considerate with your spending, instead of going in on spending autopilot and spending thousands of the credit card company's dollars (which of course are repaid with interest).

Yankuba

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Re: Replace PC after 8 years or not?
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2015, 06:18:22 AM »
I would because I don't like the idea of using work-provided computers/phones for personal use.


Ditto - I wouldn't want to have games, personal photos, music, Turbo Tax, etc. on my work laptop. If they ever need a reason to let you go a work laptop full of personal stuff could be it.

alsoknownasDean

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Re: Replace PC after 8 years or not?
« Reply #8 on: January 20, 2015, 06:19:51 AM »

I would because I don't like the idea of using work-provided computers/phones for personal use.


Ditto - I wouldn't want to have games, personal photos, music, Turbo Tax, etc. on my work laptop. If they ever need a reason to let you go a work laptop full of personal stuff could be it.

Also, if you do get let go and have to immediately return the devices, you'd better have backed the data up.

Also virii/malware on work PCs are frowned-upon.

wealthcare

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Re: Replace PC after 8 years or not?
« Reply #9 on: January 20, 2015, 06:39:25 AM »
Dean,

Thank you very much for your reply. Especially the bit about what mustachianism is. I agree 100%, it is the complete opposite of being a cheapskate - it is more being an "effectiveskate" or a "Best-value-for-moneyskate". And that is the reason I am asking, as two computers seem excessive to me. I am very considerate with my spending, as you see I have put this off for over a year.

Yankuba, Dean,

You are 100% correct regarding the personal stuff. Fortunately I consider my job to be very safe - I have teamed up with a colleague and work in the finance industry. Good revenues and small staff - leads to a very humane and awesome work environment. I will definitely not be "fired" over personal stuff on the PC.

All in all I still think I need to consider this regarding personal stuff, as it is not the most optimal arrangement. Maybe this is a good time to splurge a little bit and buy the new parts required? How FANCY! I have a 30 days no questions asked money back guarantee from the vendor btw, so I in any case I can return the items and get my money back.

Daley

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Re: Replace PC after 8 years or not?
« Reply #10 on: January 20, 2015, 08:39:16 AM »
Wealthcare, I too am going to jump on the bandwagon of recommending that you keep your personal computing wholly separate from your business-provided equipment. Hope for the best, be prepared for the worst. Even if it's okay to do so, don't... no matter how secure in your job you feel, don't keep your personal data on a machine that doesn't belong to you.

Second recommendation gets couched in a question: If you're outlaying any money at all, let alone $150+, to simply repair an eight year old computer without spending the additional money to potentially replace the PSU as well while at the same time one can still purchase new several decent LGA775-DDR2 motherboards through Amazon, Newegg or Ebay for half the price or less... why spend the extra?

If you just want to get the old machine up and running again to run out the clock on the remaining parts, only spend what you need to. If you're confident in the mobo diagnostic, just replace the mobo. Don't forget to poke around at the local brick and mortar computer shops that're bordering on junk stores now... you could probably get a nice Intel manufactured used board tested and working (check the capacitors) for well under $50.. heck, I know a place in my town that still has new LGA775 boards in the box that never sold!

If you feel you need to rebuild a new system just so you can pass along the older parts for others to use, just part it out already. Nothing was stopping you from doing this for the past two years. Just remember that used and refurbished full desktops are dirt cheap, and nice ones can be found for the money you're looking to spend on just repairing/upgrading what you have currently with new parts. Life expectancy might not be as long with used/refurbished, but if you don't need the "cutting edge" processing power, it's better for everyone if you use up and wear out the electronics that already exist and are basically mouldering in various corners unused around the planet waiting for someone to buy or even just take away than continuing to feed the incessant demand for new.

NICE!

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Re: Replace PC after 8 years or not?
« Reply #11 on: January 20, 2015, 09:05:04 AM »
I just don't know what current games you'd be able to play if you did this. If that's one of your criteria, I think your idea won't get you enough oompf.

I'm also slightly leary of personal stuff on work computers, but I do it often so I don't know. Just be smart. I wouldn't upgrade or even buy another one because I have an old laptop I replaced for a deployment so I could play games and never really ended up doing it (stupid). If either laptop dies I am just going to accept its passing. Oh, I forgot to mention my wife still has her 4 year old laptop (we were not married at the time). If I lose my two laptops I still will not replace either. Yeah, we have too many electronic devices (my fault since I have 2, but I won't accept blame for two people bringing laptops into a marriage!).

Also, if you are big on the environment (like I am now and didn't really think about much in the past), you should factor that into the calculations regarding producing another electronic thingy. Or, if you care about how minerals are sourced. I think this should factor into anyone's thoughts.

Guses

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Re: Replace PC after 8 years or not?
« Reply #12 on: January 20, 2015, 09:26:28 AM »
I also vote for used.

150$ in used parts will likely get you a nice step up from the computer you had.

I recently spent 110$ CDN to upgrade to a LGA1155 quad core with a full featured gaming "extreme" motherboard. I am sure you can find something that includes ram for 150$ US.

wealthcare

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Re: Replace PC after 8 years or not?
« Reply #13 on: January 20, 2015, 10:30:28 AM »
Hello everyone,

Thank you for the many responses! Sorry if it was not clear in my post, but the "repair" essentially means a swap.. all old parts go, and replace them with new parts. I unfortunately cant just replace the mobo, since its sockets and ram is outdated.

The $150 includes a socket 1150 motherboard, 4GB of hyperfury kingston DDR3 ram at 1600MHZ and also an intel G3240 processor.

I dont think I could do it any cheaper with recent(ish) hardware. I basically chose the "Entry" tier from logicalincrements website, and sourced the cheapest seller in my town.

I still have my 550W PSU, A Silent Knight 2 CPU fan, my ATX case, flatscreen, peripherials, and a 8600GT nvidia GPU which will fit into the new mobos pci-e slot.

This build is recent in terms of upgradeability, so in case I decide to buy more ram, better CPU or a new GPU it will work very well.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!