what is the lifespan of a good motherboard?

Hi.
I make no apologies for my relationship with my computer. He was the premier business pc of his day. We are running xp prof layered over some older programs. My 'tune up' program nags me to get a faster processor. Would that add years to his life? Can anyone give me a ballpark as to how long a really good motherboard will last?
thanks alot,
Sheena

 

The computer I am typing on right now is built around an ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe motherboard. If you google for reviews for it you will find that they are all dated from mid-2004 or thereabouts... back then, this board was a solid performance option. Not the best and greatest, but definitely a good choice for the PC gamer on a budget, who still wanted something reliable and fast for their money.

It's still stable as a rock, has never over-heated or let me down, and it has so far handled all the reinstalls and Linux distributions I've thrown at it.

How long your motherboard will last you depends primarily on what you use the computer for. I have upgraded the video card in this one, and I bought a new CPU a number of years ago, but it still runs off the 2GB memory it started with. For internetting and playing games from 2002-2006, and of course for experimenting with Linux, it's perfect. For anything more demanding, I have my other computers.

 

Over the past few months I've rehab'd-upgraded 3 old HP-Compaq computers (circa2001-2004) running 2Ghz AMD Athlon CPUs. Just by bumping the memory up from 512mb to 2Gb and adding a video card (2 were AGP slot, the other PCIe) they are in use running Windows 7 just fine. All 3 were Asus motherboards.
My ex-wife is using what was once my main system with a 2004-ish Biostar K8NHA Grand board with an Athlon 64 3400+ 2.2 Ghz cpu, 2Gb ram, 512mb AGP video card , running Win 7 and that board has been in daily use for close to 7 years now.

I find if you open the case a couple times a year and blow the dust out, boards will last a long time.

Sam

 

A modern motherboard will have a mean time between failure (MTBF) of about 100,000 hours. An older board, with older components, might only average 50,000 or 75,000 hours, but even 50,000 hours of continuous usage is over 5 years of being turned on 24/7. Realistically, if well maintained, your motherboard should last for 20 years or more.

Don't forget there are still computers from the 60s and 70s out there that still run perfectly.

 

Mimsy,
Thanks for this encouraging info. This computer has worked well for me for a long time, don't want to lose 'him'. Just use him for information researching, no games and not many downloads.
Sheena

 

Collins, Really helpful. This site never fails me.

Sheena

 

Scajjr,
Thanks alot for all of this.
Sheena

 

Greetings, sheena.

I'll throw my $.02 worth into the mix:

The number one enemy of any electronic component is heat, so heeding scajjr's caveat about keeping the dust to a minimum is crucial. A clean machine is a happy machine.