PC components have a specific lifespan, which we can always define in different ways depending on the approach we take. We can therefore define it, for example, by focusing on time before use, which is a concept that is relatively widespread in many sectors, such as storage units, but we can also combine durability with optimal use experience, ie time, for which those components will provide us sufficient power for our needs.

This second starting point is the one I will use in this article, because it is the one that has grown the most in recent years and that leaves us with a more interesting vision in general. There is nothing better to understand than a few examples. PC purchased in 1995equipped with a 133 MHz Pentium processor, 16 MB RAM, 1.2 GB HDD and 1 MB SVGA graphics card, had a total very short shelf lifeand I know this from my own experience because my first own computer used this configuration.

In less than two years, I noticed that my computer was too small for me and I couldn’t use it well to play many new batch games. In 1999, it was practically obsolete and in the end its lifespan was less than four years because like I said, I couldn’t use it for practically anything but “old” games and applications. This reality was even more pronounced when we used the computer mainly for gaming, because 3D-accelerated graphics cards were significantly surpassed with each new generation, and it didn’t take long for them to stop measuring.

Stagnation of software and PC components

Over the years, this reality has gradually changed. Advances at the hardware level and some stagnation at the software level have been key to reaching the point where we are today. Think e.g. in everything we can still do with a PC based on Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, 8 GB RAM and 1 GB GeForce GTX 460 graphics card. The processor was released in July 2007 and the graphics card in July 2010, which means that the first is almost 15 years old and the second 10 years old.

Such a device can run Windows 10 without any problems and is able to run many PS4 and Xbox One games in more than acceptable conditions, especially those released before the debut of the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X. Impressive, isn’t it? ? With this 1995 configuration, we couldn’t do anything in 2005, Not even installing the latest operating system at the moment, a simple comparison, but that perfectly illustrates the background of this article.

If you are interested in how we got into this situation, the answer is very simple, for significant software stagnation, which in turn was accompanied by huge developments in the world of hardwareand this trend does not seem to change in the short to medium term. In the end, this is not without its positive side for the average consumer, who sees the components of his PC age with greater dignity, and this allows him to get a better return on his investment.

On the other hand, it also has negative sideand it is becoming increasingly difficult to really reap the benefits of the most powerful and advanced hardware on the market and software stagnation, with certain industries such as video games falling into recurring cycles where we always seem to play the same type of sandbox. What can I say about that, personally, I would like this topic to be better balanced and to go back to a time when generational leaps were faster and more striking than you? The comments are yours.