do you really need it ?

[mforce2]

It kinda bothers me how people are throwing money away just to have the best thing out there and brag about it . The question is what do you really need ? Do you need an FX-60 or Pentium EE just to play games ... Not to mention dual 500+ $ video cards ....
Just buy something moderate . It'll be obsolete in 1-2 years time anyway , no matter what you buy.
Go with a A64 Venice core , and OC it and that's that . Cheapest are just over 100 $ . Get a 100-150 $ video card and deal with it for a year or two . Then you can buy something new .
You got extra money ? Give it to charity and remember there are many people that can't even afford a PC . And no , despite of what you think it's not always because they don't work as hard as you/your parents and that's why they don't have the money .
Please consider this the next time you go out and spend thousands of $ for stuff which in a couple of years time is only going to worth hundreds .

 

[Bluefinger]

Well, if people have the money, its kinda upto them how they spend it. Doesn't mean i forget about the situations of others, but i like to spend some of my well earned money onto my system. I'm quite happy with my system, which i hope i won't have to upgrade for a year or more. And besides, what some people would spend on PCs others would spend on getting stuff for their houses, or maybe cars, which is an excellent example. Why spend on a Caterham Super 7 when you'll never be able to push past the speed limit or get it to take advantage of its handling abilities. In the end of the day, each to their own, right?

 

[maxxum]

Its like any other expensive hobby, people want to keep tuning and the only way to do it is to buy more ‘stuff’ – you can only pimp out your rig so much before you have to move to something else

The stuff you speced out is fine for the moderate user, but for me it would drive me crazy. I simply need more HP. Dual cores, max memory (at 2.3.5.3-1T) and so on is what I need. I still find myself tapping my fingers when I’m ripping VOB’s into DivX files and when you have more than a quarter of a terabyte waiting in the queue even an X2 4200+ seems slow.

And two big things, first, if it makes me happy then who is to tell me I’m spending my money wrong? And lastly, it is us ‘power hungry’ do-it-yourselfers that are driving the market to improve products.

 

[ForzaItalia4]

It kinda bothers me how people are throwing money away just to have the best thing out there and brag about it . The question is what do you really need ? Do you need an FX-60 or Pentium EE just to play games ... Not to mention dual 500+ $ video cards ....
Just buy something moderate . It'll be obsolete in 1-2 years time anyway , no matter what you buy.
Go with a A64 Venice core , and OC it and that's that . Cheapest are just over 100 $ . Get a 100-150 $ video card and deal with it for a year or two . Then you can buy something new .
You got extra money ? Give it to charity and remember there are many people that can't even afford a PC . And no , despite of what you think it's not always because they don't work as hard as you/your parents and that's why they don't have the money .
Please consider this the next time you go out and spend thousands of $ for stuff which in a couple of years time is only going to worth hundreds .

I don't respect this kind of thing. If you have a problem with how someone spends your money, it doesn't need to be said. it's not your business whether someone wants an awesome comp and you want your mediocre pos. Have fun playing at 800x600 on cod2.

 

[mforce2]

I don't respect this kind of thing. If you have a problem with how someone spends your money, it doesn't need to be said. it's not your business whether someone wants an awesome comp and you want your mediocre pos. Have fun playing at 800x600 on cod2.

Well I was just trying to point out something . It's not my problem if you need a cool PC to play :roll: . I get serious work done ( programming ) on my Athlon XP system for which I paid 400 E two years ago . For a video card I have an MX 440 , the cheapest I could find .
It's just an idea . There was all that talk about the 100 $ laptop and people spend so much to get 2 , 500 $ video cards , it seams odd .
Sure , the same can be said about people who get million $ home when there are homeless people out there but ... There's a catch . The PC you pay 3000 $ today , you can have for 300 $ in 2-3 years but it's strange how some want the latest all the time . Some need it , while with some I think it's more of a male thing of having the biggest ..... Ghz :lol: .

P.S. I don't even know what COD is , I play Sokoban , look it up and try it . It's a 2D simple game but it actually requires you use your head instead of just the CPU and GPU .

 

[Bluefinger]

P.S. I don't even know what COD is , I play Sokoban , look it up and try it . It's a 2D simple game but it actually requires you use your head instead of just the CPU and GPU .

COD is Call of Duty, a pretty good game as well. And i take it you haven't heard of Rome: Total War... awesome game where thinking is a must! A fairly decent pc is required to play it, but what you get is a strategic feast!

 

[Heyyou27]

You're acting like it's a crime to spend the money we make.
I'm guessing you're in the wrong forum; the stingy Communist forum is over there. :lol:

 

[mdd1963]

"You got extra money ? Give it to charity..."

I consider my $12k yearly withheld in Federal Income taxes to be exactly that ...charity!

 

[g-paw]

Personally, I don't think it makes sense to pay extra for something you'll never take advantage of, e.g., why put thousands of dollars into a high end gaming machine if you don't play high end games? Why pay extra for the high perfomance version of a car if you're never going to drive the car fast or near the its limits? On the other hand, there are reasons to do this, e.g., bragging rights or prestiige. On the other hand, just because I don't think the latter is worth the extra money doesn't mean that someone that does is wrong or immoral. Just means that they have different priorities and values. If you can afford, you have a right to buy what you want.

 

[ForzaItalia4]

I don't respect this kind of thing. If you have a problem with how someone spends your money, it doesn't need to be said. it's not your business whether someone wants an awesome comp and you want your mediocre pos. Have fun playing at 800x600 on cod2.

Well I was just trying to point out something . It's not my problem if you need a cool PC to play :roll: . I get serious work done ( programming ) on my Athlon XP system for which I paid 400 E two years ago . For a video card I have an MX 440 , the cheapest I could find .
It's just an idea . There was all that talk about the 100 $ laptop and people spend so much to get 2 , 500 $ video cards , it seams odd .
Sure , the same can be said about people who get million $ home when there are homeless people out there but ... There's a catch . The PC you pay 3000 $ today , you can have for 300 $ in 2-3 years but it's strange how some want the latest all the time . Some need it , while with some I think it's more of a male thing of having the biggest ..... Ghz :lol: .

P.S. I don't even know what COD is , I play Sokoban , look it up and try it . It's a 2D simple game but it actually requires you use your head instead of just the CPU and GPU .

Congrats, you're totally wrong. Have fun with your oversized sega genesis.

 

[harmonica]

ok, I see your point and I'll help you out...I'll mail my bankaccount number to you, consider it charity,


greetz

 

[a1ien]

It kinda bothers me how people are throwing money away just to have the best thing out there and brag about it .

I don't quite agree with mforce on everything in his post, but I do somewhat agree with this statement he made. It does irk me a little when I read these forums and it seems that people are buying the top tier products not to use them to their fullest extent, but to mainly brag about how they have the latest graphics card or cpu. Personally, to me just because you can afford the number one top priced product at the time does not earn you any respect. To me, what earns respect is what you do with the component you have. Now, if someone got an FX60 and somehow OC'ed it to 4Ghz, THAT would be mad respect right there....

 

[Rob423]

I do see the point he makes, but i only agree on the graphics portion. 2 graphic cards? especially @ 500$ a pop. that's just rediculous.

if you do have about 1000$ to spend, then obviously do it up.

as far as mem storage and cpu.. that lasts you alot longer.


im still running my 5 yr old system i built.

xp2800+ 1GBddr400. only thing is my gfx card on my mobo is agp. there for i will not waste anymore money upgrading it.

i had a ti4200. and i recently purchased a 6600GT for like 129$
(gottalove Newegg) anyway there's no point to buy anything more.

i oc'd it to around a 6800gt and i play UT, CS, Battlefield 2, and this thing performs pretty well.
--------------------------------------------------------------

this fall... or possibly winter time i will do up a brand new killer rig. Im just hoping that it will last me 5+ yrs like this one did.

 

[theboomboomcars]

I can see your points, I we would take take care of every one then the world would be a better place, especially since governments take care of them selves and not the people they are governing. But, at least in the USA, consumer credit card debt is a huge problem. So quite often people don't have the money they are spending on their new system (I am not accusing anyone one imarticular of this, but it is a serious problem) but they do have the $20.00 a month for the next 10-15 years for it.

One of the great things about America is that we get to decide for our selves what we are going to do. The money I earn is my money and I can do what ever I want with it. I can give it to chairty, I can give to the credit card companies, I can invest it, or I can stuff it in a box that I hide under my bed, the possibilities are endless. I just hope that I will be able to make those same decisions in the future.

Oh yead, to answer the question do you really need it?
No computer gaming is not a requirement to sustain life. If all the computers stopped working people could still live happy and productive lives. They have been for thousands of years. But computer games, if I remember right, are fun and can distract us from other aspects of life. Which is why I have taken a hiatis from them until schools out. I don't want to waste $2000+ per semester for classes I am not going to do anything in.

 

[sojrner]

5 yrs old? you sure about that? dont think the 2800 was around 5 years ago... more like 3 to 3.5 years... but I agree that older systems can perform well when purchased at or near the top, like yours prb was then. which flies in the face of the original arg. for this thread. I think if you "get it while it's hot" then it lasts longer than if you buy what is the "bottom of the barrel" which dies much faster.

Edit: the 2800 was released almost exactly 4 years ago, so it could be a 4 year old system, but I assumed the proc was not bought right then... sorry if wrong.

 

[ivoryjohn]

I think too many people are assuming that the braggers are actually getting these systems and not just blowing smoke.

Personally, I find the incessant bragging very tiresome. Not to mention the bickering about who knows what better than some other poster.

I do like, however, to hear how someone has overclocked this piece or that, because I might have the same one and be stuck and need their help.

Anyone who does not play in a graphically rich environment, would have no concept of the kinds of lag and jittering that an underpowered GPU can serve up. The difference between a highly capable GPU and a lowend entry level is huge, but is it really worth the asking price?

Why are NVIDIA and ATI selling cards for 500? 600? 700? These are basically the same components they put together in other cards for much less. Shame on them. They do it because they can. I guess mforce2 may have been correct, because shame on all us dopes that enabled them to overprice this stuff. (In my defense, I only spent 320 on a GPU not 500).

 

[e1000]

Its all economics, mforce says that people should give their money to charity instead of buying brand new computer products?! Who do you help when giving to charity? Some noble cause that expects to have money dropped in their lap. On the other hand AMD, Intel, Nvidia, ATI, and many more of the computer part companies employ thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of people. Their products allow other companies (dell, emachines, *insert computer company here*) to employ many more thousands. Those products allow hundreds of more thousands of their consumers to do their jobs more efficiently than if they were using pencils and paper. From this one industry billions are made every year because of the extra productivity... billions that drive growth in third world countries... Billions that give enough capital to drive advances in the medical field… Billions that reduce poverty in every country from Algeria to Zimbabwe.

Consumers that buy the latest and the greatest help drive the market and make it beneficial to manufacture better and faster products. Theses improved manufacturing techniques allow the low end market to be even more inexpensive and thus more accessible to even the most disadvantaged consumer.

So really the best charity that one could possibly give to is, in fact, the computer industry. But instead of a "thank you for your donation" sticker, you get a shiny new processor from them or a nice new video card.

Think about that

(PS, I wanted to reply to this post so bad that I registered for these forums)

 

[SciPunk]

I see both sides of this issue. Sure, I think the cost to performance ratio should be optimal, but framing as "do you rally need it" is not really the standard, now is it? The human race has lived for hundreds of thousands of years without electricity, so no... we don't need the latest low latency memory and the graphics card with the most pipelines. As long as we don't go three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food, and three months without shelter... we'll probably stay alive. It's never about need, it's about WANT.

When you get into the corporate world, and you have specific goals and objectives, then you can ask yourself, what do I NEED to accomplish this task satisfactorily. And of course you can do that for your own personal system, but you have to define what "satisfactorily" means. Will you be satisfied if Joe Jr. across the street has a higher 3dMark score than you do?

I bet you can put together a functioning computer (socket A) for under $500. It will probably work pretty well getting you on the internet and checking e-mail and stuff like that.

We all have our sweet spot on the bang to buck ratio. I'd like to see people post their 3dMark scores as a ratio... score/$ spent on the system. I'm not one for bling bling for it's own sake, but I'll pay a bit extra for quality components which will allow longevity of the system.

 

[rodney_ws]

"You got extra money ? Give it to charity..."

I consider my $12k yearly withheld in Federal Income taxes to be exactly that ...charity!

Amen to that brother! And congrats on having a job that pays enough that you pay $12k/year in taxes.

 

[Maxiius]

If ya got the $ why not. And I think the question that you really need to ask, is Do you really WANT it? That's what it all boils down 2 imo. When it comes to this computer field, my motto = Buy what you want, when you want it. The only I see waiting to buy computer parts is saving up more money to blow on it 8)

Atleast spending lots of money on my computer is semi-constructive in a way. I mean, I coulda spent all that money on hoo hoo's & beer! :lol:

 

[a1ien]

From this one industry billions are made every year because of the extra productivity... billions that drive growth in third world countries... Billions that give enough capital to drive advances in the medical field… Billions that reduce poverty in every country from Algeria to Zimbabwe.

I am sorry, but I found thise comment amusing. Does anyone else? You are drastically overstating the benevolence of the computer industry. Sure, there is a little basis of economics there. Also, I do not see Algeria or Zimbabwe thriving and reducing poverty simply because of the computer industry. You know what the corporations do? They don't give it all back to the people, that's why a good amount of technological based jobs are being outsourced, to pay LOWER wages than if they were based in the US. The "billions" of dollars are not going to fight poverty in every country from Algeria to Zimbabwe, it's going right back into the corporations' pockets. :?

 

[a1ien]

Thank you Stranger. It is nice to see someone who can see through the mud and isn't dillusional enough to believe that BILLIONS are going to help these poverty stricten countries from computer industry manufacturers.

Computer parts are made outside of the US to avoid paying BILLIONS of dollars to the people who make the parts, they make hardly anything at all. Futhermore, as soon as laws come into effect that raise the wages the companies pack up and leave, leaving many jobless and in even worse shape than they already were (if you can believe that), just to make a fatter bottom line.

I find this amusing comment amusing:

(PS, I wanted to reply to this post so bad that I registered for these forums)

 

[MU_Engineer]

"You got extra money ? Give it to charity..."

I consider my $12k yearly withheld in Federal Income taxes to be exactly that ...charity!

LOL :lol: Hey, can't you write off charitable contributions? That would be great to write your taxes off on your taxes! Anybody want to try this out?

 

[MU_Engineer]

Hee hee, I spent $45.00. I don't game- I just got a card that can drive a DVI monitor and work with Xgl.

 

[sojrner]

why you gotta go and turn this into an American hater thread? Just because he is ignorant and somewhat self-righteous doesn't make him "obviously" American... I think that the point of the original post was to say that we are clearly self-indulgent when buying high-end parts and really do not consider the situations of the rest of the world that could use the $... e1000s post easily supports that notion.

He could really be an American, but whether he is or not you came off as a hater... Just dont turn this into a haters thread... there are enough ppl that hate Americans, we dont need to have this forum join them.