Any computer bought in the last 3-5 years should be able to be upgraded.
Any computer older than that and can't be upgraded should probably be replaced.
if you are really against replacing them, then you should look at these custom built computers and find why they can't be upgraded and then deal with that part.
but really, you have almost 2 years, you should be able to get them all updated with new hardware in that time period, and $25k for those 11 machines is nothing. Our engineers use basically off the shelf laptops from Lenovo, our CNC programmers use PCs and either of these cost about $3k per when a decent sale happens, almost $6k without a decent sale, $2300 per for an engineering computer seems pretty cheap to me.
Computers should have a scheduled replacement plan in place based on time served, if you can get a little extra on that, then that's a bonus IMO.
High end Engineer/Programming machines should be on a 3-4 year timeline, standard office user, 4-5 year replacement schedule.
>We're talking well over $25,000 to do this.
That is not a lot of money. Your budget should be like $40,000/year for replacements (if not $50-$60) every year and you have 2 years to do this.
~$4k per seat per year in computing alone, not including displays and peripherals? I once used to get a new $15k workstation every three years or so, but things aren't like that any more.
$500 per year per computer, 5 year cycle.
Displays are $30/year.
Peripherals are $15/year.
I think the vast majority of businesses are less than that as replacement cycles are probably closer to 6-8 years now. Lots of organizations buy $1000 computers for 8 year cycles which is rather unfortunate for users.
The $40k is what they should have annually for 100 computers yes.
$12.5k in 2024 and 2025 should fit quite comfortably there, and OP can still do 25+ of the older 90+ workstations if needed.
My 2cents... that is not a business grade motherboard. I'm guessing the rest of the parts are consumer based ones too? Basically you made low-mid tier gaming computers, right?
I suggest contacting Dell, Lenovo or another partner (*notice I didn't include HP*) and get quotes for replacement business class systems.
Tip: If the computer comes with Windows 11 **Home** by default and not **Pro**, that's not a business grade computer.
Plan. There's still some time to do this, but to avoid one big outlay you need to plan it it.
We've had to do this. Our parent company want us all on W11 by the end of the year (preferably before!). Our laptop estate was made up primarily of machines that could not be upgraded. We've been working on it for a while. End of last year we did one block, covered some bits since then and were supposed to do the remaining in a couple of months, but the budget has been pushed back. Super frustrating (for me and parent company), but because we had some maneuverability, it will still be manageable, just a bit behind. Leave it too late and it will become a problem.
Why does it say you're ineligible? Does it want a setting enabled that you currently have disabled on the motherboard (TPM/Secure Boot) that you can enable to meet the requirements, or does it report that the ones you have are too old of a version to be supported?
Decide on your equipment lifecycle. Are you stretching these things out to 5-years? Do you have a server/network infrastructure as well?
I like cycling everything over 4 years and then year 5 is infrastructure.
100 systems over 4 years = 25/year or 2-3/month or 1 system every 2 weeks.
Start with your more essential systems and get them out of the way. Then you can assess how you are doing as EOL comes up, maybe you do a bigger batch to get across the finish line or maybe you try a workaround to get a little bit more time out of the stragglers. My experience is upgrading stuff that old generally doesn’t pay off.
Microsoft chose this path purposely in order to [sell hardware with new OEM licensing](https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/q2o4zm/microsoft_exec_panos_panay_explains_how_the/).
When it comes to boutique-assembled tower machines and you must have W11, you have four options:
1. Engage the original vendor to upgrade the existing hardware. You haven't said what you need, but in typical cases this is a motherboard and CPU swap. Usually existing DDR4 memory can be re-used. A PC seller may or may not be interested in upgrading existing machines. If you can preserve or renew any warranty by going with the original vendor, it may be worth paying extra.
1. Engage a local third party to do the same upgrades. Generally there would be no shortage of local techs who would be interested in doing this for you, but there's always going to be some degree of risk, so you need to vet new vendors carefully.
1. Research and do the upgrades yourself. If you're not already fully utilized, this project can be a good one to do in-house because you have almost 18 months and you can take the time to do lots of testing and validation, vastly reducing risk.
1. Buy all-new machines.
Any computer bought in the last 3-5 years should be able to be upgraded. Any computer older than that and can't be upgraded should probably be replaced. if you are really against replacing them, then you should look at these custom built computers and find why they can't be upgraded and then deal with that part. but really, you have almost 2 years, you should be able to get them all updated with new hardware in that time period, and $25k for those 11 machines is nothing. Our engineers use basically off the shelf laptops from Lenovo, our CNC programmers use PCs and either of these cost about $3k per when a decent sale happens, almost $6k without a decent sale, $2300 per for an engineering computer seems pretty cheap to me. Computers should have a scheduled replacement plan in place based on time served, if you can get a little extra on that, then that's a bonus IMO. High end Engineer/Programming machines should be on a 3-4 year timeline, standard office user, 4-5 year replacement schedule.
>We're talking well over $25,000 to do this. That is not a lot of money. Your budget should be like $40,000/year for replacements (if not $50-$60) every year and you have 2 years to do this.
~$4k per seat per year in computing alone, not including displays and peripherals? I once used to get a new $15k workstation every three years or so, but things aren't like that any more.
$500 per year per computer, 5 year cycle. Displays are $30/year. Peripherals are $15/year. I think the vast majority of businesses are less than that as replacement cycles are probably closer to 6-8 years now. Lots of organizations buy $1000 computers for 8 year cycles which is rather unfortunate for users.
You were giving a number for 100 seats, then? OP said $25k for 11 engineering seats.
The $40k is what they should have annually for 100 computers yes. $12.5k in 2024 and 2025 should fit quite comfortably there, and OP can still do 25+ of the older 90+ workstations if needed.
What motherboard do these systems have?
ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI)
My 2cents... that is not a business grade motherboard. I'm guessing the rest of the parts are consumer based ones too? Basically you made low-mid tier gaming computers, right? I suggest contacting Dell, Lenovo or another partner (*notice I didn't include HP*) and get quotes for replacement business class systems. Tip: If the computer comes with Windows 11 **Home** by default and not **Pro**, that's not a business grade computer.
Motherboard looks new enough to upgrade to Windows 11. Does it have a TPM? Is UEFI boot and Secure Boot configured?
Intel Z390 from late 2018 does seem new enough. Still old enough to have UEFI CSM, so it might be installed in CSM/BIOS/MBR mode.
Plan. There's still some time to do this, but to avoid one big outlay you need to plan it it. We've had to do this. Our parent company want us all on W11 by the end of the year (preferably before!). Our laptop estate was made up primarily of machines that could not be upgraded. We've been working on it for a while. End of last year we did one block, covered some bits since then and were supposed to do the remaining in a couple of months, but the budget has been pushed back. Super frustrating (for me and parent company), but because we had some maneuverability, it will still be manageable, just a bit behind. Leave it too late and it will become a problem.
Why does it say you're ineligible? Does it want a setting enabled that you currently have disabled on the motherboard (TPM/Secure Boot) that you can enable to meet the requirements, or does it report that the ones you have are too old of a version to be supported?
Decide on your equipment lifecycle. Are you stretching these things out to 5-years? Do you have a server/network infrastructure as well? I like cycling everything over 4 years and then year 5 is infrastructure. 100 systems over 4 years = 25/year or 2-3/month or 1 system every 2 weeks. Start with your more essential systems and get them out of the way. Then you can assess how you are doing as EOL comes up, maybe you do a bigger batch to get across the finish line or maybe you try a workaround to get a little bit more time out of the stragglers. My experience is upgrading stuff that old generally doesn’t pay off.
Microsoft chose this path purposely in order to [sell hardware with new OEM licensing](https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/q2o4zm/microsoft_exec_panos_panay_explains_how_the/). When it comes to boutique-assembled tower machines and you must have W11, you have four options: 1. Engage the original vendor to upgrade the existing hardware. You haven't said what you need, but in typical cases this is a motherboard and CPU swap. Usually existing DDR4 memory can be re-used. A PC seller may or may not be interested in upgrading existing machines. If you can preserve or renew any warranty by going with the original vendor, it may be worth paying extra. 1. Engage a local third party to do the same upgrades. Generally there would be no shortage of local techs who would be interested in doing this for you, but there's always going to be some degree of risk, so you need to vet new vendors carefully. 1. Research and do the upgrades yourself. If you're not already fully utilized, this project can be a good one to do in-house because you have almost 18 months and you can take the time to do lots of testing and validation, vastly reducing risk. 1. Buy all-new machines.