A general question about life span of computers...

Thanks for your input here Jim
 
I think it's fair to say that, Sonar, for instance, doesn't seem to have demanded more computing power over the last five years. Would you expect it to in the next five?
 
That leaves VST software and, yes, there are some items, like 2CAudio's Kaleidoscope, that I simply can't run, no matter what I do. So I have to be happy with where I am and limit my "creativity" based on what I can use on my current set-up. As much as I like Kaleidoscope I don't consider it worth scrapping my laptop for.
 
Regarding Windows. I don't follow developments so I'm not entirely sure if, now that I am on Windows 10, that there will be any further significant steps in computing power requirements for that. After all, it's an OS and it is the software that runs on it that makes demands on you CPU. Am I understanding that correctly?
 
And then there's "bit" thing. That has certainly been one area where you have had to follow in order to keep up to speed. I've worked on 8, 16, 32 and now 64 bit computers. But is it likely that the next step change will come anytime soon? I get the impression that we have hit the wall with respect to the number of bits.
 
cheers,
 
andy

My DAW is going on 7 years (processor, mb and memory).  System drive is a bit newer (update to Win 7 on a new drive) but the original drive is still in the box.  The case, power supply and video card are all 10 years old.  Handles Sonar fine.

My computers evolve rather than upgrade. Although the next time will be a complete overhaul. New RAM, new CPU, motherboard, new boot drive and Windows 7 if I can avoid 10. I'm not too keen on Windows 10 which I occasionally dual-boot into.
 
My currernt setup spans around 7 years I think which in technology terms is old. My PSU is modular and 750W so shouldn't need upgraded.
 

interpolated
My computers evolve rather than upgrade. 
 
 

This is what I did too, for the longest time - evolved one system, a part at a time, until I pretty much turned over every original part (probably at least twice) over quite a few years (10+). The longest serving part was the case, an Antec Sonata that I picked up in (I think) 2004, and finally retired in 2015. Not all the parts swapping was done as an upgrade in power -- mostly, it was basic maintenance: replacing an aging power supply, or a dodgy MOBO, or swapping out a HD that had gotten unreliable, etc. My current system is the first brand new, everything-from-scratch system build I have done in a over a decade, and I expect it to be good for 5 or 6 years before it will need any significant upgrades. 

I have been building computers since the Pentium 3 days with Win98.  I think we have seen the bottlenecks that induce a desire to upgrade have shifted with each generation of hardware.
 
Back in those days it was a struggle to get a multimedia PC to run smoothly, as there were potential problems everywhere.  AGP and ISA slots anyone?  IRQ assignments?  LOL!
 
Then I built several single core 3.0 Ghz Pentium 4 32-bit systems that ran for 10 years, or until I retired a couple of them. Started with a good case and power supply, and used Intel branded desktop boards.  Very dependable!  One is still running at my sisters house as a print server that runs Win 7 24/7.  The death of the AGP port hasn't helped much there.  Those AGP GPU's are getting hard to find.  But other than one power supply and several GPU's no issues with these builds.  Except for the rest of the world moving on to dual core and higher CPU's.  Plus the need for more that 4GB RAM.
 
Which is why I finally threw in the towel on my main desktop and upgraded to a 64-bit Intel Core based setup.  I had noticed for a couple of years recently that greedy software developers were maxing out the CPU thread on a single core, for even simple tasks like web surfing, or running real-time AV protection.  And the number of processes running was increasing all the time.  I have an old XP install that runs empty with around 25 processes.  Win 10 runs about 70+!!!
 
But I think that we have finally gotten to a good place with hardware architecture that has eliminated many of the previous bottlenecks.  The move to multicore CPU's, plus eliminating the Front Side Bus [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front-side_bus ], and AGP slots, legacy PCI slots, USB1.1, and so forth were big improvements!
 
The holdups are no longer typically in the CPU, chipset, memory controller, motherboard resources [PCIe slots, USB 2/3 ports, SATA ports, etc.].  No matter what I do now, I do not seem to ever redline any of these components as far as designed performance.  So as far as I can see everything in my current build exceeds my needs as far as performance.  Even an integrated HD GPU works well now, even for dual monitors at 1920.
 
Maybe the only exception here is one SSD drive I have that could be faster on a 6Gb/s SATA port that my current 3Gb/s port.  But it's fast enough!!!
 
I suppose the only upgrade I am thinking about now is additional HDD storage space.  You can never have enough of that!!! 
 
So that was a good question about how long this will last until we need the next generation of hardware.  I think we have seen some great leaps in hardware these past few years, so unless there is a game changer in software, maybe it will be a while before software will catch up to Moore's Law again. 

I think I would rather stick to this type of solution.  Heat will shorten your electronics life.  If no fans to move air, your stuff will run hotter.
 
http://www.quietpcusa.com/Quiet-Computer-Fans.aspx
 
http://www.quietpcusa.com/CPU-Cooler-Intel-LGA-1155.aspx

Heat only affects stability if it's out of safe range.
 
ie: If you're CPU isn't anywhere near TJMax (when under load)... say hitting 65-70 degrees C under 100% load across all cores... then running 15 degrees cooler won't affect stability.
It certainly may affect noise...  

Why is Heat Bad for Electronic Devices?
http://www.dowcorning.com...%20-%20Wet%20Dispensed

I built my i7 3930k system early 2012 with Win 7 and Sonar 8-8.5 and it operates quicker now with Win 10 and SPlat.

interpolated
You need a well vented case firstly. My current has pretty good airflow.  
 
I have front fans currently not in use, an exhaust fan in the case. 
 
Currently averaging 33.1 Centigrade (CPU), not sure about ambient. But anyway less heat produced by hardware should in theory become a more stable system. 
 
This is a point of interest for me at the moment.
 
http://www.nofancomputer.com/eng/products/CR-80EH.php
 
The plan is an exhaust fan behind the heatsink as normal and possibly enabling the front fan to increase the airflow throughout the case. However I expect using SSD storage in place of HDD will reduce the heat and power consumption.
 

This weekend, one of my two 80mm fans developed a squeaky bearing.  I don't mind the ambient sound of a little air blowing, but the squeaky wheel dives me nuts!  Out!!!
 
This case (full ATX) and fans (one intake, one exhaust) has survived a couple of builds over 10 years, so I would say I got my money's worth out of them.
 
I had a couple of new spare fans that I bought recently, just in case.  https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Bearing-Cooling-Computer/dp/B002R9RBO0/ref=sr_1_1
 
So I ripped out the old 80's and put in the new.  Wow!  The new fans (2000RPM) are much quieter, can hardly hear them running at all.  The only thing I really hear now is the stock Intel CPU cooler, and that's not awful.  It's a PWM fan controlled by the mobo, and averages around 1000RPM.

batsbrew
 
dont scrimp,
use quality parts

+1
 
That's the big advantage of home building.  You get to choose the important parts.  With off the shelf, store bought computers, it's a crap shoot!

My general rule of thumb has been 5 to 7 years. At that point  I prepare to get all the info I need from the older computer while it's still healthy so I won't have a tough time transferring. Then I usually mothball the older daw.
I still have my old daw.
Don't wait until it's too late. At 5 years you might start looking at replacement options. If funds are tight you could start to buy the hardware one piece at a time if you plan to build your own computer. You can afford to take your time looking for the best deals and spec'ing the best price/performance.
 
At 10 years though, you're walking on thin ice if it's your daw. Web surfing not so much.

I'm wondering if computer I.D. issues could be a factor in gradual replacement, especially with motherboards and main OS hard drives.  I might add memory later on or an extra hard drive. I don't think this flags win 10. If new OS, then it doesn't matter I suppose.
 
In the old days , you could simply replace the mobo and keep the main HDD and usually there would be no issues. With newer OS I'm not so sure.