What is the typical useful life of your PC? ... 1, 2, 3+ years?

[Tim The Enchanter]

Battery UPS

We got 2 of these after a power outage killed my wifes computer hard drive. A few months ago had to buy a new battery for one of them, after about 5-6 years. They are about the size and weight of a motorcycle battery.

 

[Fargo1]

Like others I build my own machines and I run Linux on them. A few years ago I decided on a rotation of building a new machine every 3-5 years. Then my wife gets the old machine for normal house work. So far its working. My old machines were well built and haven't let her down. I use quality parts. I like Gigabyte and Asus motherboards. I only use Samsung SSD. And maybe most important I only use Seagate power supplies. I've lost more computers due to bad power supplies than any other issue.

Also when getting a battery backup, be sure to get one that uses a 'Pure Sine wave" don't get a cheaper one that uses a Modified sine wave. If your computer has a power supply that has a 5 star energy rating or Active PFC, it will shut down every time you get a small power surge. Thats right your UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) will cause your computer to shut down. The exact opposite of what you want to happen. Thats because the high end power supply in your computer sees the modified sine wave from your battery backup as dirty energy and it will shut down to protect itself. Spend more on a pure sine wave UPS and you will be good. I have had good luck with CyberPower.

I will reuse some old components such as cd burners or card readers in new builds but I don't like mixing old hardware with new. Several years ago I re-used a computer case. The machine kept shutting down on me after the build. I was sure it was a defective motherboard. So I sent it in under warranty. The new one did the same thing. It turned out the power switch on my case was bad and it was shutting off my computer. It was a long road trouble shooting that problem. So I try to use new hardware when I can.