What was the most recent computer you had before the one you're currently using?

The old specs of a computer that has been significantly upgraded count.

How often do you upgrade/buy a new computer?

See the other thread.

I get a new one when the old one breaks, I suppose. Upgrade it every few years?

i gradually upgrade piece by piece. so every 6mo to a year something gets replaced. so...yeah. i couldnt even tell you what this box was to begin with....

In case it's not obvious I have alot of computers, but my previous 'gaming' machine was

AMD 4200+ X2 (2.2ghz ran at 2.5ghz) 939 socket
EVGA K8-NF41 SLI mobo
2gb DDR 400
Geforce 7800GT 256 PCI-E
160gb SATA (1?) HD
DVDRW

It's been picked apart now, the motherboard has some minor issues none which effect stability but I suspect it wont last much longer. Im hoping to pickup a cheap 939 motherboard off ebay and rebuild it, but DDR1 ram is expensive so I might just sell the CPU and move on. The videocard went into my niece's computer and still serves her fine for Sims3 and other casual games.

600MHz Celeron
256MB RAM
Intel turdfest integrated graphics*
extra crappy integrated audio
40GB HD
CD-ROM drive (no burner, no DVD)

*video card later upgraded to a GeForce4MX (no AGP slot)... AA options were 2x, Quincunx, 4x and 4xS AF options were off and 2x


computers in this house don't get upgraded often enough

I buy a new laptop every 2-3 years. Bought my 15" MBP (2.4 GHz Core2Duo, 4 GB RAM, 8600M GT, etc.) about a year ago, before that I had a Dell D620 (too lazy to remember the specs on) for about a year and a half before that.

Last desktop I bought (built) was back in 2003... It was a 2.4 GHz P4, 1 GB RAM. Can't remember the original video card and hard drives in it, but for the past few years it had a 6600 GT and 520 GB worth of hard drives in it and sat around not turned on. I then turned it into a horribly overpowered file server a couple months back though and popped a total of 3 GB RAM in it and 3 TB worth of new hard drives in it.

I haven't built or bought a gaming computer in 6 years. Don't really bother with games much these days, and when I do they're on a console usually.

I don't remember my previous specs, but what I have now is not current.

I upgrade based on game requirements pretty much.

Before my iMac, I had the following...actually, I still have it & I'm going to use it as a server of some sort.

Intel Pentium 4 3GHz
1GB RDRAM (Rambus)
Asus P4T533-C Motherboard
Nvidia GeForce 6600
300GB HDD
120GB HDD
80GB HDD
19" NEC MultiSync FE950+ CRT Monitor
Lite-On 24x DVD-RW
Antec 1080G case

Currently have an E8400, 4gb of RAM, 4870, a 500gb and 320gb hdd.

Had an AMD 3800+ X2, 2gb of DDR400, and an 8800GT 512mb. It was a great machine, but I love this one to death.

Oh, and I upgraded my monitor from a 22" Widescreen Envision VGA-only to my 24" Widescreen Samsung with DVI, HDMI, and I think S-Video. Good stuff.

I built this workstation in early 2002. It has changed little since then.
Before that I was using a 1.3ghz Duron, 256mb ram.
Before that I was using a 25mhz 386, 1mb ram.

Athlon 64 x2 3600 overclocked to..something. 4Gb DDR2, etc.

Upgraded from

Opteron 165 @ 2.4GHz
8800GT
Asus A8N SLI Premium
2GB RAM
600GB over 3 HDDs

to

i920
4850X2 2GB
Asus P6T
6GB of RAM
1.4 TB over 3 HDDs

Obi, is the vram holding you back on that card?

400MHz TNT2 Windows 98

I have 1GB for each card. That's overkill for the power of a 4850X2. The only advantage over 512MB is that on some games, at really high resolutions with AA, the game needs just a tiny bit more than 512MB, so it just smooths out the hitches in those scenarios. The other situation where 1GB of VRAM is helpful is when you have user made mods with very uncompromising texture sizes. I can't imagine a situation where I would need more than 1GB of VRAM but have enough headroom in my GPU performance to get playable frame rates.

Games that are also released on consoles are optimized for 512MB of combined system and VRAM, so even when you raise the resolution and add AA, you will rarely run into trouble. I *really* wish that developers would include more acceptable textures with their PC releases. Almost every new game has awful texture sizes.

When I started university in 2005 I got my first laptop, a Compaq V2000 with a 1.8 GHz Sempron, 512 MB of DDR 400 RAM (later upgraded thanks to a friend to a whole 768 MB), and a 60 GB HDD in addition to some weak ATI integrated graphics. It couldn't run much, I was happy it could handle games like Half-Life and its universe though I never ended up doing much gaming with it.

I used this laptop for most of my university years mostly just writing code, web browsing, watching videos, etc. It wasn't much but it served me well. It didn't give me any trouble until I started having problems with the power adapter not always connecting internally. A new power supply solved this temporarily, though now I suspect there's something wrong with the jack itself. Until this problem developed I had re-purposed the system to a spot next to my TV for playing movies and TV shows.

I got my MacBook in November of 2008. It was good timing as I was taking a course in system administration and needed a laptop that could handle a couple of virtual machines. I got a unibody MacBook 2 GHz CPU, GF 9400m, 2 GB DDR 3 1066 MHz (later upgraded to 4 GB), 160 GB HDD. Hope to get a 500 GB 7200 RPM internal HDD for it at some point, running out of space.

During this time I also had a desktop that I built I believe at the end of 2005. It had an A64 3500+, 1 GB DDR 400 (later upgraded to 2 GB), GF 7800 GT (later upgaded to a 7950 GT under warranty), 160 GB HDD, 20" WS LCD and 19" 4:3 LCD. This system is still my main desktop and serves as a file server for media and general files.

Core 2 Quad 9550
8 GB DDR2
Radeon 4870X2
300 GB VelociRaptor 10,000 RPM
4x 1 TB
2x 1.5 TB
2x 26" LCD

Yes, it's a bit misleading to say this was my "last" computer, but since I only have my laptop over the summer, I'm counting the laptop as my current computer

I forgot to post mine <_<

I have a "lot" of computers (atm 2 desktops (one brand new, one a year and a half old) and 2 laptops (one a few months old, one three years old), but I'll post about the (relatively) older ones:

HTPC (May 2008) -- HP Slimline
Athlon 64 X2 5400+ @ 2.8Ghz
2GB RAM
8500GT --> HD 4550
500GB hard drive

Old Toshiba Laptop (Summer 2006)
Core Duo (not C2D) T2300 @ 1.6Ghz ... I think?
512MB RAM --> 1GB
Intel GMA 950
100GB hard drive (I think)

The old laptop still runs surprisingly well. I made it into an OSX86 machine and "refurbed" it (replaced keyboard) and use it as an internet browser.

For comparison, my recent desktop build:
i7 920 @ 3.3Ghz
6GB RAM
GTX 260
640GB WD Black

Powerbook G4 1.5GHz, 1.5MB of RAM, 80GB HDD

4 years old.

Replaced by newest MBP 13" (Unmodified)

Old laptop:

Dell XPS m1530
Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz
3GB RAM
320GB HDD
nVidia 8600m GT 256mb
15.4" Screen

New laptops:

Macbook Pro 13"
Core 2 Duo 2.26GHz
4GB RAM
500GB HDD
nVidia 9400m
13.3" LED Backlit Screen

HP dv9540us (free laptop, used for games and movies)
Core 2 Duo 1.5GHz
2GB RAM
160GB & 120GB HDDs
nVidia 8600m GS 256MB
17" Screen

MY COMPUTER WAS STOLEN, *******!

thanks for reminding me

Mobo died in my last one, not sure what happened, just stopped POSTing, then it would POST sometimes, but wouldn't load the OS, liveCDs crashed, tried different RAM, nothing:

600W PSU
NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel 2.13 GHz Core 2 Duo
4 Gb Corsair RAM
Floppy Drive
500GB Western Digital SATA Hard Drive
eVGA GeForce 8800GTS

Thanks for the thorough response, but I read too quickly and I thought it was the 512mb : / But your input is still much appreciated.

well, I was on a laptop for about a year and half while in geneva, but the desktop before that was,

P4 2.8 Ghz
1gb RAM
250gb HD
NV 6800gt

then I went to my laptop, MacBook Pro, which I still use for work and when away from home,

C2D 2.33 Ghz
2gb RAM
250gb HD
ATI Mobility x1600

And now just last weekend I put together my first desktop from scratch which is up and running and I'm using it right now

C2Q 2.67 Ghz (i7 920)
Asus P6T Deluxe v2
6gb 1600MHz Corsair Dominator
ATI 4890
WD Caviar 500gb HD
Coolermaster RC-1100 Cosmos S "Sport" Silent Full Tower Case

running with watercooling on the cpu provided with a OCZ HydroFlow HF-MK1 and my good ole Zalman Reserator from the desktop above. I plan to start with the overclocking in a bit, but at the moment with win7 a lot of the motherboard monitoring stuff from Asus doesn't work with Win7.

Runs like a dream, might make a thread and post pictures but I always see those threads as "I've got a better pc than tyou" (said with a scouser accent) and don't feel the need.