47% of PC Gamer readers prove to be sensible upgraders, but 3% of you are sickos who will start looking for your next upgrade straight away

Given the current price of PC parts, I've got a feeling these percentages will change as we keep hold of components for longer, but as things currently stand, nearly half of PC Gamer readers are rather measured when it comes to how often they upgrade their gaming rigs.

We recently asked you: How long do you keep your gaming PC unchanged before you upgrade anything? And the answers are perhaps not too surprising until you get down to the middle of the results.

Up top is a larger-than-I-really-expected percentage of folks who are smart about their money and keep their gaming PCs unchanged for at least five years. With 47% noting you don't change anything for five or more years, you are the sensible ones, who love the one you're with and make sure you get full value out of your system.

Latest Videos From

I salute you.

But then you have another 42% of readers who responded to our poll who will upgrade at either years 2 or 3, and given that's a regular GPU release cadence, I'm going to stick my neck out and guess that a lot of those will be graphics card hounds like myself.

How long do you keep your gaming PC unchanged before you upgrade anything?

Votes (%)

5 years+

47

3 years

28

2 years

14

1 year

5

I start looking for my next upgrade immediately

3

6 months

2

2 months

1

Votes (%) Data

Product	Value
5 years+	47
3 years	28
2 years	14
1 year	5
I start looking for my next upgrade immediately	3
6 months	2
2 months	1

The 5% who get itchy around year one, is that a desire for more RAM or storage? Something that used to be vaguely affordable in the before times, the long, long ago.

And then things get weird. I know it's not a lot in percentage terms, but it's not utterly insignificant, either. You guys are never going to be happy, are you, you 3%ers who are looking for your next upgrade immediately.

What about the rest of you? Let us know in the comments how you approach your gaming PC upgrades—especially if you're a 3%er: What is it about your PC that you're never satisfied with?

This week, we're drilling into your actual desktop habits. Do you use a mouse mat while gaming? I should maybe also ask if you've ever bought one, because I know I've only ever used freebie mats. But then I am a cheapskate.

Best PC build 2026

1. Best CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

2. Best motherboard: MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi

3. Best RAM: G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32 GB DDR5-7200

4. Best SSD: WD_Black SN7100

5. Best graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 9070

👉Check out our list of guides👈