Hey Group--
 
I'm doing a low-key search into a new PC DAW and just wondered, on average, how often do you buy a new rig?
 
I'm pretty handy with PC's so I always tend to maintain and upgrade them and make them last way longer than I think they were designed to last. As a pro, I save money. As a con, I get left behind with new, faster technology that would make my music production flow faster and give me more options to have plug-ins/samples running in real time, etc.
 
Just wondering.

The last time I bought a new DAW was after Gibson abandoned Sonar, and before BandLab rescued it. I find it hard to believe I will buy another one until I can no longer run what I have. DAW's are pretty much at the stage of word processors. There has not been a truly useful word processing feature added to MS Word since 2000.

I have a two year old system.  I usually keep them about 5 years then replace.  However, I'm going to build a new one, probably after the 1st of the year.  But, its because the system I have I'll be giving to my daughter for her home business.  The system she has is an old system that was originally a Vista system and on its "last leg".
 
 

StudioCat #1 2010; still running strong, is now my office rig.
StudioCat #2 2018; is my studio rig, I can't say enough good things about it!
 
Talk to Jim at studiocat you will not regret it!
 
T

Sounds like I'm pretty similar. About 5 years or maybe a couple more. I do the trickle down with my old rigs too. The bottom goes in the trash, my old studio rig goes in the family room, and the top is replaced in my studio with a new rig. 
 
For me, part of the new rig experience is that is keeps things fresh and fun. Who doesn't like a brand new, screaming fast computer, right! ;-) I'm a tech geek and I can only go without the latest greatest so long! The last time I upgraded my rig is because the old one maxed out at 8 GB RAM and my newly purchased sampler program was choking.
 
Studio Cat is great, but after ADK went under this year, I'm very leery of small "ma and pa" shops for anything that might need future service. Here's where I'm leaning now --> pcaudiolabs
 
Thanks all!

5 years is pretty standard, but there has been a shift in that the older system can be kept in service a lot longer (in the old days it was truly obsolete, but these days is just "slower"). If Win 10 stays its current course, that will remain true (and fewer programs will obsolesce themselves because there won't be a newer OS to take them out).
 
I have always associated "StudioCat" with Jim, and he has never struck me as the type of person that would drop off the radar even if he stopped building machines. Even companies vaporize, and then you are truly screwed, since you don't have a specific person to call, and even if you do get someone, they might not have a clue what you are asking them. Jim doesn't fall into that catagory either.

Software-wise, I've been with Cakewalk since the mid 90's upgrading at least every 2 versions, but I've upgraded every version since Sonar 8.
 
But for PC hardware, I've tended to hang on to my system as long as is possible - up to 10 years if I can - although I might upgrade my processor after 5 years or so (from middle of the range to top of the range) once the prices plummet.
 
I'm currently maxed out processor-wise on my current motherboard, but it's not struggling in any way.
 
The last time I upgraded my PC was when X2 stopped supporting Windows XP, but even then I was still running 32 bit on Windows 7.
 
It was only when I wanted to use some 64 bit only plugins that I moved to Windows 10, and then as a result had to retire my 2 x Yamaha DS2416 PCI cards which I'd used in all my PC's since 1997.
 
In fact, it wasn't until I moved to Windows 10 that I started using VST's & VSTi's in anger. My 2 x DS2416's had EQ & dynamics on every channel, and 4 x effects; and all my synths were hardware.
 
Prior to X2 I was using an Athlon 4000 (2Ghz dual core) with 4GB memory running XP 32 bit. I used that since around Sonar 5.
 
Before that it was a Athlon 800Mhz machine (later upgraded the processor to 1.2GHz) with 750MB RAM. I'd had that since Sonar XL.
 
I think CWPA 7 through CWPA 9 I had running on an old Cirrus P166 (64 MB RAM), but still with the Yamaha DS2416.
 
And before that... 10 years of using an Amiga 500 with Music-X, using a Yamaha MT1X 4 track and later a MT8X 8 track.
 

I've got a DAW that's about 10 years old. It's got an Intel Q9550 Core 2 Quad(2.83Ghz), 4Gb RAM, a 480Gb SSD system drive, and 2 WD Blue 1Tb drives, one for audio and one for whatever. I've upgraded hard drives over the years, but that's it. I'm running Windows 7 Pro with Splat, Mixbus 32C v5, and Samplitude X3 Suite. Unless I find some money somewhere, I'll be running this rig until it dies. It's been real solid for me these last ten years.

mettelus
5 years is pretty standard, but there has been a shift in that the older system can be kept in service a lot longer (in the old days it was truly obsolete, but these days is just "slower"). If Win 10 stays its current course, that will remain true (and fewer programs will obsolesce themselves because there won't be a newer OS to take them out).

I agree with that.  I'm at about the 4+ year point now, and some of the software I have gotten in the last year has me thinking it would be nice to move from a dual core to a 4 or 6 core setup.
 
What I have now has served me well since jumping into the 64-bit arena with Win 10 from a 32-bit Win 7 rig.  I wouldn't say what I have is obsolete, but certain operations with virtual instruments can challenge my CPU  at times.

As new "versions" of Win 10 are introduced (e.g. V1803, etc) some older hardware is no longer supported.  Depending on the PC hardware, the newer versions will not even be offered.  Thus even though its still "Windows 10" the hardware issue remains.