How often do you update your computer equipment and internal hard drives?

Gochris1 · Post by **Gochris1** » 12 Jun 2022, 02:59

How often do you update your computer equipment and internal hard drives?

I have a PC that was built for me in 2012. 4 Cores, 16GB RAM, 2.93 ghz processor. I love it. I use it with Blender, TV Paint, Cinema 4D, Rebelle,
DaVinci Resolve, Cakewalk DAW, and several virtual instruments. It runs like a champ.

But it is 10 years old. I think the C-Drive was replaced in 2016, but I don't know, because I did not keep any notes or paperwork. (I will from now on. I learned my lesson.) I back my data up to external files often.

I was a hobbyist, and now want to get serious about making cartoons for money. So I want to treat my equipment like a professional would.

Do the professionals reading this have a sort of guideline about how often to update your equipment? Like, do you replace your computer every 4 years, or replace your hard drives every two years or something? I would like to just adopt a yearly equipment maintenance schedule for yearly budgeting and production scheduling reasons.

And do you use cloud storage as back up?

Any thoughts or responses would be helpful. THANKS!

GoChris

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » 12 Jun 2022, 06:39

Why should I replace a running machine?

My main animation Mac was built in 2008 and works reliable since then, had to replace only 2 of its 4 drives (1 last year) which was no problem bcause of Time Machine. Big external drive backing up daily.

No cloud backup. When I'm rendering I create several GB of files daily, no chance to presse those through VDSL. External drives are a good thing and really cheap now.

Gochris1 · Post by **Gochris1** » 12 Jun 2022, 15:43

Thanks for the response! It really helps.

I posted this because I went to a computer repair shop yesterday, and asked about cloning my C drive. I said I did not
know how old the drive was, but the computer is from 2012. They asked me why I would want to spend money to prolong the life
of a ten year old computer. They suggested it would not be much less expensive to get a brand new computer.

That's not really what I wanted to hear, but I could understand their logic.

It started me thinking about computers in general. Ten, fifteen years ago it took a pretty powerful machine to run a program like TV Paint.
Now, most new computers can run a program like TV Paint or Blender. The computer industry is always focused on the brand new technology - and that focus has positive and negative aspects.

So I thought I'd ask the forum about it. I have had hard drives crash. I've learned to back up my files. Do any of you professionals have a back-up computer for animation in case your main animation computer develops a problem? As I wrote before, I want to have a plan to protect against the kinds of problems I anticipate having - problems that effect meeting deadlines.

Thanks, GoChris

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » 12 Jun 2022, 16:43

Yes, I have a 2nd computer right at hand, only problem would be to connect the Cintiq which is from 2008 and problaby doesn't get a driver for a new OS.

djks · Post by **djks** » 18 Jan 2023, 11:03

Yes, I currently possess a third computer. The only issue would be connecting the 2010-era Cintiq, which likely lacks drivers for modern operating systems. I have some money.

Thank you.

o0Ampy0o · Post by **o0Ampy0o** » 23 Jan 2023, 07:13

At some point your hardware will no longer be compatible with newer operating system versions. Eventually your software will not be compatible with your old operating system version. There is a point when you cannot even navigate the internet because the browser cannot be updated to what many websites require. I think those become problems quicker than the point when software requires more recent hardware but the specific software is a factor. Some software has an ever increasing need for the latest greatest tech.

Note: I am a hobbyist artist not a pro. These issues reflect the nature of computer technology in general whether you use a Mac or Windows and I imagine Linux.

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » 23 Jan 2023, 08:44

Yes, my oldest machine can technically connect to internet, but the browser versions on it which can't be updated now can only load but the smallest and most basic websites. Everything else is so clogged with Javascript, framework bullshit, ads, and an avalanche of trackers, that every connection will time out. It's not the machine, the hardware ist still fine for everything else. It's the internet which has become a stinking pool of waste.

I have two other machines for browsing.

Svengali · Post by **Svengali** » 23 Jan 2023, 19:08

A vintage system, which may be running perfectly well, eventually limps past the point where it is practical to keep repairing it or further endure mediocre performance. If you suffer some kind of serious failure (hard-drive or major component) your replacement/upgrade effort could be much more grievous than if you proactively decide to move onto a new system.

The outlay to acquire a new system will be about the same, but it seems better to make the move when you decide to, rather than when your system decides for you. You also have the advantage of researching the current market and choosing the moment for the move, while watching for special sales . Add to that the convenience of an orderly migration between two working machines, side by side, with minimal impact on any work in progress. You also avoid the potential necessity and expense of needing outside tech help to simply recover from some catastrophic failure.

I'm in the process of moving from an old Windows 7 machine (upgraded to 8.1 long ago) to a new, relatively inexpensive, off-the-shelf box running Windows 10. I'm taking my time to organize and layout the new system, deal with unanticipated surprises and really appreciate the performance boost.

Your mileage may vary...

sven

Gochris1 · Post by **Gochris1** » 31 Mar 2023, 05:01

Hello Sven - thanks for the response. I think this proactive thinking makes a lot of sense.
I can see the day coming when I will have to replace my animation computer with a second, newer one I have.
I suppose Windows 11 will hasten that change.

But like you say, it makes more sense for me to decide when to do the replacing rather than waiting for the computer to die and make
the decision for me. Thanks for the common sense advice.

Gochris

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How often do you update your computer equipment and internal hard drives?

How often do you update your computer equipment and internal hard drives?

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