Longest you've owned a PC? Realistic lifespan..?

facade

The PC I'm using now has been switched on pretty much continuously* for the past 9 years, and is still the original CPU, motherboard, RAM & GPU.

I am building another as this one can't last forever, and on the box of the CPU cooler, amongst all the exciting "features" is the line that the precision ball bearing fan has a life of only 40,000 hours!

Is it even worth screwing the lid on the case for so short a time?

40,000 hours isn't even 5 years, the CPU cooler in this one has been running for 80,000 hours at least!

*apart from power cuts, maintenance & when I swap disc drives out

Cisco001

PC with E8400 still work. It is now 14 years. Stick in a £7 120 SSD and £10 video card for some simple YouTube and web browsing. 
My dad has a thinkpad with intel T3500. Replaced with SSD, still boot up. But need to plug in permanently. That probably be 12-13 years old

B0bbyEwing

facade said:

The PC I'm using now has been switched on pretty much continuously* for the past 9 years, and is still the original CPU, motherboard, RAM & GPU.

I am building another as this one can't last forever, and on the box of the CPU cooler, amongst all the exciting "features" is the line that the precision ball bearing fan has a life of only 40,000 hours!

Is it even worth screwing the lid on the case for so short a time?

40,000 hours isn't even 5 years, the CPU cooler in this one has been running for 80,000 hours at least!

*apart from power cuts, maintenance & when I swap disc drives out

Out of curiosity, why do you leave it on all the time? 

I now will use other features such as sleep where I never used to, such as if I go on it in the morning but then I know I won't be using it again for a while later in the day. 
But almost always turn it off at night, unless I have it doing something through the night. 

Not trying to imply my way is best in case the question is taken that way. Just genuinely curious. 

poppellerant

I'd advise caution if you're using an old PSU.  If possible, lift the lid of the PSU and check for scorches and bulging capacitors.  You can use software to check the voltages on the PSU, but I'd personally recommend using a multimeter and ensuring that the voltages aren't any more than 5% out of range - if so, very seriously consider a new PSU before it lets out the magic smoke, taking other components with it.

Also watch your hard drives don't fail on you.  Hard drives are most likely to fail when starting, due to the stresses they encounter during power up.

Neil_Jones

facade said:

I am building another as this one can't last forever, and on the box of the CPU cooler, amongst all the exciting "features" is the line that the precision ball bearing fan has a life of only 40,000 hours!

Well 40,000 hours is 1666 days, which is just over four and a half years.

Anyway you'll know if the fan goes, because it'll either pack up altogether or make a horrible grinding noise..  Its just basically the lubricant has evaporated on the bearings.  You can replace the fan itself rather than replace the whole cooler or the entire computer.

B0bbyEwing

poppellerant said:

I'd advise caution if you're using an old PSU.  If possible, lift the lid of the PSU and check for scorches and bulging capacitors.  You can use software to check the voltages on the PSU, but I'd personally recommend using a multimeter and ensuring that the voltages aren't any more than 5% out of range - if so, very seriously consider a new PSU before it lets out the magic smoke, taking other components with it.

Also watch your hard drives don't fail on you.  Hard drives are most likely to fail when starting, due to the stresses they encounter during power up.

Just to put it down here - 

Mine is is a be quiet PSU & says on it Model No.: BQT L7-530W.

How many hours this is rated at I don't know, but I'm probably beyond them now.

facade

Neil_Jones said:

facade said:

I am building another as this one can't last forever, and on the box of the CPU cooler, amongst all the exciting "features" is the line that the precision ball bearing fan has a life of only 40,000 hours!

Well 40,000 hours is 1666 days, which is just over four and a half years.

Anyway you'll know if the fan goes, because it'll either pack up altogether or make a horrible grinding noise..  Its just basically the lubricant has evaporated on the bearings.  You can replace the fan itself rather than replace the whole cooler or the entire computer.

I know, my point is the life is ridiculously short, and it is hardly worth screwing the case closed as I will be opening it again in a very short time. (I'm OLD now, 4 years is like an instant)

Neil_Jones

PSUs come in decent brands and then you have cheap stuff that runs the risk of cooking the board.

eMachines came with Bestec branded power supplies, which would always malfunction somewhere down the line, send too much voltage down the rails and slowly cook the board, which would then eventually die.  Most eMachines were doing well if they lasted more than three years with those horrible things in them.

A 350w Corsair power supply has been in my parents computer (now on its at least third generation of hardware) since 2007.  It was my old one that I upgraded as I needed more power for a graphics card (replaced it with a 480w not a Corsair but another brand).  Both are still going.

Once you experience the wonder of quiet power supplies rather than the cheap ones that sounds like a hovercraft you never go back.

facade

B0bbyEwing said:

facade said:

The PC I'm using now has been switched on pretty much continuously* for the past 9 years, and is still the original CPU, motherboard, RAM & GPU.

I am building another as this one can't last forever, and on the box of the CPU cooler, amongst all the exciting "features" is the line that the precision ball bearing fan has a life of only 40,000 hours!

Is it even worth screwing the lid on the case for so short a time?

40,000 hours isn't even 5 years, the CPU cooler in this one has been running for 80,000 hours at least!

*apart from power cuts, maintenance & when I swap disc drives out

Out of curiosity, why do you leave it on all the time? 

I now will use other features such as sleep where I never used to, such as if I go on it in the morning but then I know I won't be using it again for a while later in the day. 
But almost always turn it off at night, unless I have it doing something through the night. 

Not trying to imply my way is best in case the question is taken that way. Just genuinely curious. 

I was sure I'd replied to this, I must have clicked the wrong thing.

1) I use it as a media server, (Plex now, I used to run Serviio) and I want access to my media 24/7

2) I reckon that it is the stress of cooling down and warming up again that kills electronics, they usually fail at switch-on.

3) I can afford to leave it on, it takes around 20W I suppose when it isn't busy and the display is off, and that just warms the room up a bit and saves on the heating.

4) I quite often leave it to finish rendering or transcoding and it goes on past bedtime

B0bbyEwing

facade said:

B0bbyEwing said:

facade said:

The PC I'm using now has been switched on pretty much continuously* for the past 9 years, and is still the original CPU, motherboard, RAM & GPU.

I am building another as this one can't last forever, and on the box of the CPU cooler, amongst all the exciting "features" is the line that the precision ball bearing fan has a life of only 40,000 hours!

Is it even worth screwing the lid on the case for so short a time?

40,000 hours isn't even 5 years, the CPU cooler in this one has been running for 80,000 hours at least!

*apart from power cuts, maintenance & when I swap disc drives out

Out of curiosity, why do you leave it on all the time? 

I now will use other features such as sleep where I never used to, such as if I go on it in the morning but then I know I won't be using it again for a while later in the day. 
But almost always turn it off at night, unless I have it doing something through the night. 

Not trying to imply my way is best in case the question is taken that way. Just genuinely curious. 

I was sure I'd replied to this, I must have clicked the wrong thing.

1) I use it as a media server, (Plex now, I used to run Serviio) and I want access to my media 24/7

2) I reckon that it is the stress of cooling down and warming up again that kills electronics, they usually fail at switch-on.

3) I can afford to leave it on, it takes around 20W I suppose when it isn't busy and the display is off, and that just warms the room up a bit and saves on the heating.

4) I quite often leave it to finish rendering or transcoding and it goes on past bedtime

Yeah I was quite surprised how little the PC used when I plugged in an electricity usage meter. Even with everything - speakers, monitor & what not, it wasn't much over the whole day & then when I put it in to sleep mode it was virtually nothing. Surprised me.