Lifespan of a cpu/motherboard

Haha, Well, you guys here answer all my questions well enough so I dont need to ask anywhere else. Anyway, I hope my system runs well. Its got 1GB ram now and within a month I hope to have it upto 2.4GHz and then I hope it lasts me many years. I know that it will always be slow and outdated compared to most modern systems, but I dont care one bit about that. As long as I can play games over 30 fps, thats all I need. My dad had a mentium mmx running at 166Mhz (not sure if that was called Pentium 1 though) and I installed Windows xp on it for him and it just ran and ran. The monitor blew off before the cpu or the m/b and that is when he decided to go in for a laptop instead of a noisy desktop pc. I got few more qs for you guys. What do you think is the future of ddr ram. In how many years will ddr ram m/bs become obsolute. The reason I ask is because I currently have 512MB of hynix 333DDR memory and 512MB of Transcend 400DDr memory and I am running them both at 266MHz. But by the time I upgrade my m/b maybe ddr will be out and these high speed ram sticks will never eally be used to their fullest potentila. What is the worst experience anyone has had with their m/b cpu over here? Sarosh

Well I could say I have had my Pentium 3 for 5 years now :) and it runs good just use it for internet and listening to music sometimes burning cd's but i'm building a new pc this year but I will still be keeping this one :D

jam January 4, 2006 at 16:43:48

"What do you think is the future of ddr ram" Just like all hardware, DDR will eventually fade away. DDR2 is already being used by newer Intel systems & AMD's new socket M2 format will step up to DDR2 as well...look for that in a few months. DDR2 is already becoming cheaper than DDR. No need to panic buy, but if you come across a good deal on DDR400/PC3200, you might wanna grab it....but don't waste your money on DDR266/PC2100 or DDR333/PC2700. This space for rent

bestbuy has a deal right now, corsair 512 value ram of 3200 for 39.99 picked up 2 sticks to oc my 2500 barton cause i have been running 333 for 3 yrs now but sadly its not stable and i think its cause i have a cheap 350 watt psu so im gonna pick up a beefier psu soon so i can enjoy 2.4 speeds with the new ram

Cobra_R January 5, 2006 at 02:24:48

Processors that aren't overclocked and are in a stable conditions could last 30+ years easily. My commadore 64 still runs fine and that thing was built in Nov of 1987. AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2GB Dual Channel DDR 3200 Nvidia 6800GT SATA II 250gig 7200rpm 8mb cache Gigabyte Nforce 4 SLI

GX1 Man January 5, 2006 at 09:43:48

I have never had a motherboard failure and MANY are well over 5 years. The occasional odd component can fail, but I think saying 3 years is a prelude to selling you a new board!

Your "hardware guy" may not have meant that the components will fail in 3-5 years. Just that many companies "refresh" their PCs around 3 years. Why? So the people selling them can make more money. What is really the difference, as most business computers go between a 2.4 GHz 400 FSB and a 2.8 GHz 533 FSB? WILL POST FOR FOOD.

Hi Zenith, I think you are right. My hardware guy has given me good deals from the very start. I think he meant that if my m/b goes bust after 3 years I should just get a new one rather than bother with repariing it or warrenty issues. I think this is what he meant. It is always good to have a hardware chap who is also a good friend. He has always given me good quality parts. For example, he knows that my motherboard will only run ram at 266Mhz but he insisted that I go in for transcend RAM because he said these are some of the finest available and he gave me 400MHz DDR which I am running at 266Mhz. This is one item that I have got cheaper here than available on newegg. If I am not mistaken it cost about 60$ for 512MB ddr 400 transcend ram on newegg, where as I got it for Rs.2300/ (52$) Sarosh

i just read this thread and this caught my eye "My dad had a mentium mmx running at 166Mhz (not sure if that was called Pentium 1 though) and I installed Windows xp on it for him and it just ran and ran. The monitor blew off before the cpu or the m/b and that is when he decided to go in for a laptop instead of a noisy desktop pc" Just so you know, Win XP minimum requirements are Processor speed (MHz) 233 RAM (MB) 64 Free hard disk space (GB) 1.5 Display resolution 800 x 600 Custom Built 2.8Prescott @ 3.6Ghz, 32/64bit,HyperThreading. WaterCooled. Asus P5ND2-SLI 2G DualChannelDDR2 4300 Win XP Pro

I know that echo, Thats why even my hardware chap was suprised when I installed Win XP on his computer. He too was pretty suprised. But I did install WinXP pro on his 166MHz processor and it ran for many years after that. He was having driver problems with Win ME but not a single problem with WixXP. I guess having an original Intel m/b helped him. Sarosh

jam January 6, 2006 at 12:59:36

I find it hard to believe XP would even run on a 166MMX system. How much memory? Microsoft states that "64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features" but IMO, 128MB is barely enough. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/sysreqs.mspx I'm actually a WinME supporter. Just like any other OS, you have to learn the tweaks to get it to run well. Trev in the WinME forum has some excellent tips on his website. I run WinME/WinXP Pro dual boot on my system This space for rent

It ran quite ok on 196MB ram. Xp detected all the vedio and sound drivers (onboard) and the system worked fine for years. My dad only used it to create his notes and check email and stuff. But it was good enough for him to use it for a couple of years. He used it to prepare his notes, listen to music and play simple 2D games. That was the real value for money that he got back from his computer, and I hope to get the same from mine. Anyway, there is no news about my cpu yet. Sarosh

jackbomb January 7, 2006 at 11:22:11

I've got a 26-year old Apple II+ that still works. Also have a 18-year old IBM PS/2 386 rig. Not only do the mobo's/CPUs work, but the MECHANICAL parts are also still ticking! I wish hard drives were built with the same reliability nowadays.

GX1 Man January 7, 2006 at 18:05:30

Durable hard drives are a thing of the past. I don't know if it's from planned obsolescence, or the increased wear and tear from high RPM's and increased size. They can sure get hot!

Most agree that the hard drive is the weakest component of the PC and most likely to fail first. What is the average service life your HDs have given you guys? Sarosh

CPU's in theory will last for ever as the a decrease in dopant concentration leads to a decrease in electron flow

Thats interesting, what are the side effects of a reduced electron flow? Does the processor slow down a bit, or does it give errors often or something? Sarosh

Yeah, it's weird, I remeber it from my degree (yes, degrees are useless), it's a pretty slow process so would be hard to test, but allows semi-conductors to operate for a very long time (ok, 'forever' is a bit of an exaggeration). It's a bit off-topic, but any book on semi-conductor theory will go over it if you fancy some bedtime reading!

don't worry as long as you clean it every so often and take care of it. I have 2 complete systems that are 20+ years old. 1 runs windows 1.01 on a 10 meg MFM drive and a 360k 5.25" floppy and the other runs windows 2.03 on a 34 meg RLL drive and 1.44 3.5" and 1.2 5.25" floppy drives. The first 1 was found in the trash with nothing wrong with it and the other was found in an office I was cleaning out. About 2 weeks ago I found an ATI EGA Wonder (c)1986 (8-bit ISA graphics card).

jam, I knew there was something about you I liked...I am (was) a ME supporter also. Despite all the grumbling in the ME forums, I never had any major issues with it, and hardware recognition was great right out of the box. I still recommend it to family and friends that have older PC's running 98 or 95 (yes, they still do), who don't want to make, or CAN'T make, the jump to XP. "We used to think that if we knew one, we knew two, because one and one are two. We are finding that we must learn a great deal more about 'and'." - Sir Arthur Eddington 1882-1944

I have various systems of different vintages, rorm Sinclair spectrum 48k+ thru 386 laptop, 486 laptop p3 650, p3 866, amd k6-2 350 up to my latest laptop an Hp Pavilion ZD8369EA P4 3.2Ghz It has been my experience that intel chipset boards seem to be more stable and less prone to failure though again I have seem some very reliable PC Chips boards (socket 7 and slot 1) My own personal preference is for Intel Processor though I have had AMD based systems. I used to refurbish 286 and 386 systems for students and i did a few 486`s also. I bought a lot of stock from a local company that had gone bust, "dead/faulty" motherboards, failed Ram u/s hard drives . . out of the 20+ motherboards only one was actually faulty (a busted DIN keyboard socket which soldered back on fine) the rest all worked fine with judicious juggling of components, the hard drives were replace under manufacturers warranty all were then fine except for the quantum fireball replacement on which i installed 98 and all drivers only for it to click and die on the 1st reboot :/ Many of the processors were fine if underclocked ie 350 mhz running at 333mhz tho i did have a 300mhz running at 350 with no problems for several years till I sold the system. Overclocking would tend to shorten life due to heat production, which is why I don`t believe that more modern systems which do seem to run much hotter than the old 300mhz systems do. Only time will tell. Woof Always proof-read carefully to see if you any words out.