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Question

HTPC lifespan

by Mar 23, 2017 10:24AM PDT

Hi! I just turned my 6yr old entry-level gaming computer into a htpc running 24/7 using plex. for the past 6 years its been running 6-12 hours a day. I did some maintenance On it first and got rid of all the dust, changed Intake and exhaust fans to silent ones, mounted a coolermaster evo 212 with silent fan as well cause stock fan was a jet engine, and changed thermal paste on CPU and GPU.

I was wondering, because the PC is getting older, if there's any other parts i should change to keep it running smoothly for the coming years. It has a Radeon 6850HD GPU, intel i5-2550k processor, Silver Power Gorilla 500W and 2 seagate barracuda HDDs, 1 and 3 TB. Anyone know the average lifespan of these components? I'd especially hate the HDDs dying on me..

Discussion is locked

4 Posts
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Answer
At 6 years
by Mar 23, 2017 10:38AM PDT

I would go ahead a change the HDD's as they are still running ok but who knows for how long ?
I'll leave it to the Pro's for suggestions on what to replace HDD's with.
Tell us about the PSU , you may also want to replace the PSU to a more modern , power saving one .
After so many years PSU's tend to get weak.

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PSU
by Mado93 Mar 23, 2017 10:59AM PDT

Forgot to say the 3tb HDD is brand new, its where i keep all my media files but the OS is still running off the 6yr old 1TB.

My PSU is a Silver Power Gorilla SP-SS500, 500 watts seems fine, i used a Power supply calculator and it said 90watts Idle and 340watts heavy load so i doubt it ever gets over 50% of capacity as it is never under heavy load. Remember reading somewhere that as long as the PSU doesnt exceed 50% capacity it increases the lifespan quite a bit.

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Cool !
by itsdigger Mar 23, 2017 11:06AM PDT

But let's give one of the Pro's a chance to chime in ....

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Answer
Not a sure thing
by Forum moderator Mar 23, 2017 12:33PM PDT

While makers issued MTBF, none published life spans. Desktops are 5 to 10 year things excluding minor repairs.

In other words, no exact answers.

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