Why upgrade? (not the same as usual with this title)

[duthoy]

I notice that everybody seems to upgrade their graphics on a regular basis, but is it necessary?
I still use, what looks to me, a great card in terms of dual screen (second screen my tv, to watch movies i've got on my computer) and driver features (like putting the movie on the tv and surf on the net on the other display.)
it is a Geforce 4 TI 4600, on AGP 4x and 128 mb Ram on it.
I don't play games (maybe sometimes some abandonware, like railroad tycoon,and civilisation, dune,..)
so, are there some other people out there with a recent comp and old graphics and don't give a f*** about it?

 

[jitpublisher]

I notice that everybody seems to upgrade their graphics on a regular basis, but is it necessary?
I still use, what looks to me, a great card in terms of dual screen (second screen my tv, to watch movies i've got on my computer) and driver features (like putting the movie on the tv and surf on the net on the other display.)
it is a Geforce 4 TI 4600, on AGP 4x and 128 mb Ram on it.
I don't play games (maybe sometimes some abandonware, like railroad tycoon,and civilisation, dune,..)
so, are there some other people out there with a recent comp and old graphics and don't give a f*** about it?

Well here is the deal. If you are happy with your PC and it does everything you need to your satisfaction, then there is no need to upgrade. Most people DO play a game every now and then, or have kids that want to play the lastest blast'em up shooter.
Just load any major game released within the past year and try to run it on the equipment you have, you will find out rather quickly why people upgrade all the time.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Why upgrade?

Because you either NEED or WANT to.

You seem more driven by 'NEED', although obviously there's a bit of want in there as it's not a GF4MX or Intel Extreme.

Not everyone needs nor wants good graphics, heck I know many would be fine probably with an MCGA card.

It's just like some people drive Mini-Vans or Escorts as utilitarian vehicles, and others drive Mustangs or Caddilac XLRs, and still others drive Bentleys, Buggattis or Zondas, and then there's people who take the bus or bicycle.

Upgrading is the same thought process meeting Wants and Needs.

Thus ends lesson 1 of: The psychology of Economics. :mrgreen:

 

[prozac26]

You upgrade to keep the economy running. If no one upgrades, the economy will stop, and there will a worldwide depression.

You upgrade because you want to play newest games at max settings, or neesd it for work. Simple. You don't upgrade because everyone else does...

 

[angry_ducky]

If I'm not mistaken, the X600 was the first card for PCIe. Mine's an ASUS one which came with my HP comptuer in 2004. It scores about 2,000 in 3DM05, and it can't finish 3DM06. However, I can play NFS:MW, which is the only game I've been playing (I'm #5 on the Blacklist; hoping to beat the game sometime this week).

After all the problems I've had with my PC, I don't care about having a fast computer; I'm happy with just a working computer.

 

[choknuti]

Try running oblivion or fear and you will find the answer

 

[Slava]

Not everyone needs or wants good graphics, heck I know many would be fine probably with an MCGA card.

Hehe... Well, in reply to the OP here's my situation: I used to be a super extreme hardcore gamer (I own close to 800 titles purchased retail over the last 15 years or so and on top of that I think I've played about 100-200 games borrowed from friends over the years).

But lately Real Life circumstances have been distracting me from gaming. Little by little I sort of lost the drive to play as much as I used to.

Many games involve a serious learning curve and I often think: "Oh, crap, I will have to sit there and study the manual + UI for hours, then I am going to screw up and will have to reload a dozen times before I am proficient enough to actually enjoy the game without being frustrated with my own stupid mistakes." When I think that it turns me off.

Now the reason I explained all that stuff above is that I still own an ASUS GeForce 3 Ti-500 V6 or 8-something Deluxe. It is in a perfect working order. When my GeForce 6800 Ultra crapped out a year and a half ago I put the Ti-500 in my machine and it served me perfectly well for about 2 weeks until the replacement 6800U arrived. I was busy then anyway and I had no time to play any games in a hardcore manner.

My current PC is no longer a top of the line machine but it can still run all current titles well (even Oblivion). But since I have been very seriously involved in a game called Real Life lately and I do not really have the time to play, my girlfriend could replace my 6800U with that good old Ti-500 and it could take me weeks to notice, if at all. So don't feel bad.

However, I am going to build the ultimate gaming rig when the NextGen cards come out. Why? Because

1. It is fun;
2. It is cool;
3. Gives you some major bragging rights
4. If I want to play Crysis and have time to do so, I have a rig for it;
5. I can afford to spend a large amount on a new rig;
6. and so on.

 

[kaotao]

While I'm not a hardcore gamer, I'm still pretty close. I'll stick with what I have until it no longer plays the games I want to play at the settings and detail I want. I upgrade my GPU probably once a year, and my whole system every 2-3 years. I like the perty pictures.