[bluGill]

That depends on what you do. a newer cpu is often enough more efficent per unit of work as to pay for itself. I first calculated this when we were arguing if the price of a 80486 was worth it over the cheaper 80386 and if you kept it busy 24x7 you would pay for the new computer in a year from your electric bill (more in summer when you need ac)

[Jolter]

The idea of the article is to not run the newer, more demanding software which drives the replacement cycle. Instead install a lightweight Linux or similar and don’t use all those extra CPU cycles.

[bluGill]

But even then wht if you ran the lite linux on the newest. Would the increased efficiency pay for it?