I was wondering when people consider themselves to have a new PC. Technically I’ve had the same PC for close to 20 years now, but every part’s been upgraded several times over.
I figure everyone’s got a different mind about it. For me, I’d have to say when all of the big three—CPU, GPU, mobo—have completed a phase, my brain thinks of the previous setup as “the old PC”.
This is just the Ship of Theseus.
Theseus’ battlestation
Mobo because it’s like the keel of the ship.
Although it falls to the same problem if you swap in the exact same mobo lol.
according to microslop, when you change the mobo
I upgrade my computer either when it’s not working as desired or I come into some extra cash and wanna treat myself to a boost.
Sadly with the new memory and storage costs I’ll probably ride this system out for ~10 years. (I pray she survives that long)
This is pretty much my PC atp, the only parts of it that are original are the side cover that has been sticker bombed over time and one of the ssds that was worth keeping for extra storage and is now my linux partition drive. Everything else has been replaced at some point including the case, which is the same model as the old one, just with the original side plate bc stickers. I have actually referred to it as the PC of theseus in conversation lmao
For me it is when i change the CPU or when i reinstall on a new bootdisk.
New mb, cpu, ram and videocard.
As long as it’s the same hard drive (or image), it’s the same computer. New computer whenever it’s a completely fresh install. I’ve had the same case since 2013ish. It’s had a few new computers in it.
I don’t think I have upgraded a processor for personal use this millenia
I don’t. I build new every time. previous PC was 1080Ti Ryzen 1700 16GB, current one is 9070XT 9850X3D 64GB. There’s something about being able to build a new PC while knowing you have a fallback ready.
The PC of Theseus!
Technically my my PC is the same PC I used decades ago. It started as a Pentium 3 with… 64MB of RAM if I remember, and something like a whopping 10GB hard drive. It’s still the same PC of course, I swear!
I remember when I got a Voodoo 3d card with like 128mb of memory for my Pentium 233 WITH MMX. Played Ultimate Online like a boss.
Not very many Voodoo cards came with 128mb and only in the Pentium III/4 era. You may be remembering your total RAM.
I’m impressed the case has handled the changes. Cases back then weren’t much to work with.
I have scars still from working in sharp edged computer cases in the 90s…
I built my current PC in the very first case I had back in the year 2000. Everything fits and all the screw holes still line up with modern hardware. The only downside is that it does get pretty toasty under heavy load.
Pic
Ooh, ye Olde white box!
Just pop the side onto a drill press, add a few holes. That metal isn’t too thick
I’ve been thinking about that. Or maybe a bottom mounted fan, would be a shame to ruin the look.
Not if you have pets. You’ll need a screen to stop hair getting into the case if you have cats/dogs.
I’ve taken to using window air conditioner filter material on all my boxes. Cut it to fit the intake and even taping over other intakes to ensure the air path is through the filter.
I hold it to the case with small neodymkum magnets. Once a month I rinse it out and put it back on. Case stays much cleaner inside.
That’s still easy enough to get at most home hardware stores.
No, the case can rotate out as well.
PCeus
Chip of Theseus
Ah yes, the classic Chip of Theseus problem.
PCtheus
Definitely when I upgrade the mainboard + CPU, which usually also means new RAM. It’s pretty expensive, you have to change several parts in one go and it’s much more noticable in general usage than the GPU.
mainboard + CPU
To me thats the line. Unless you are like, a very active enthusiast, most people, once they get their CPU installed cooler installed, etc… you probably aren’t’ swapping that out. Its pretty much a computer at that point.
Yeah, you pretty much need to be some kind of early adopter for your CPU socket to seriously consider upgrading just your CPU. Otherwise, there’s just no point. I actually looked it up for my last mainboard, thinking the socket is so old that maybe you can get a somewhat better CPU (i.e. Intel i7 or i9 instead of i5) for really cheap. But the parts market doesn’t seem to work like that, looks like they’d much rather trash their leftover CPUs than make an attractive price.
The timeless “PC of Theseus” question. For me, it’s when I replace the motherboard. Especially if it involves a new case.
