Help me, I have an expensive hobby!

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
KarlKarrlander

KarlKarrlander

Honorable
May 7, 2015
92
0
10,640
Hey there,

I'm not going to sugar-coat it folks, I have an expensive hobby which is computers and building computers.

It's not like I spend all of my paychecks on computer parts and so on, but I find myself always feeling the urge to upgrade my PC and build new ones (I've built 2 so far in 2015). Even though I have a decent income and can technically afford this hobby, I still get anxiety over the fact that I'm spending a lot of money of computers.

But then again, I love it. I love upgrading computers, researching for new parts, comparing components and so on. And I don't consider myself an expert, I don't have any kind of IT education or experience in the computers and IT business. I've just grown up with a father who is a computer geek, which means I became one too. So I guess I'm just a happy camper who loves building and handling computers, who is by all means not an expert of any kind.

Kind of meaningless post come to think of it...

Just needed to vent some thoughts here and see if there's anyone else out there with the same expensive hobby themselves! ;)

Cheers!
 
Solution
D
My aunt sandy says "Its your money do what you want as long as you have money for the bills and through out the month". Personally I'm disabled and without work and on a monthly income. So when I want to go and get free scrapbooking magazines from the library that there giving away and then go to the goodwill the search there clearance bins and crafting section she dose not laugh at me for buying a 2 foot stack of vinyl photo protectors for 3 dollars. Because after all it will save me from having to reprint the same photos or from re-buying the same photos.

It might seam odd to buy a 2 foot stack of them but when there in a bundle why not.

And if you buy 1 pc to fix or to tinker with as long as your bills are paid then it should not...
Sort by date Sort by votes
bailojustin

bailojustin

Distinguished
Dec 7, 2014
2,145
1
20,465


same amen, only reason I do this is for fun and knowledge. I like helping people out aswell.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

MattyKo

Honorable
Jan 30, 2015
21
0
10,520
I definitely feel you on this one. I love the idea of building computers and making something and upgrading it, tinkering with it, fine tuning it, etc. I luckily have been able to resist the urge to not build another one or completely revamp my previous PC. I've been having the strongest urge to build a steam machine just to do so. Trying to make the smallest form factor with the highest performance that would kick the living shite out of the ones that are on sale now. I've been fantasizing about it for a while now, what case I'd use, how I'd situate the cooling, what mobo, gpu, psu, etc. But I realize I'd be dropping a grip of money on something that I wouldn't use since my PC would be better due to the fact that I am not restricted by size.

Hey man, lots of people have their expensive hobbies. Some of my buddies really like working on their vehicles, others motorcycles. I live in a very bike friendly city and I have friends that have dropped several grand into their bicycle...like seriously at one point a friend had a bicycle worth more than my car. If I had the space to have a project car I would really consider it or I'd like to try my hand at woodworking, building random stuff like shelves or cabinets...a square box to tie my shoe on. As of right now though, I am just trying to convince my friends into getting PCs or upgrading theirs and I offer to do all the labor for free or do it while teaching them. Its not very easy though since most of the populace doesn't seem to want a desktop anymore.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
bailojustin

bailojustin

Distinguished
Dec 7, 2014
2,145
1
20,465
Along the same lines as Brandx, You should modify your hobby, its a great one to have and an amazing learning experience. It will help you greatly in the future.

As for all your computers, its almost Christmas, give away the junk you don't want, sell it, make something that is you. hand build your own PC from the ground up.
A while back I was bored messing with them so I started messing around. Long story short I custom built a Freon CPU cooler using my knowledge and training of HVAC and .5hp condenser and a modified cooling block that was 3d printed aswell as a supply of FREON. Yes I had a few issues with water condensation but that was easily taken care of by a wick wraped around the cold line and the PCU cooler, as well as I bought a specific type of modeling clay, covered the mobo all around the CPU to prevent any leakage, then bought a MOBO cover custom fit to stop shorts and water damage on the mobo incase something was to happen.
And for reference the cpu temps were -20c idle and 0-10c under max load. Very efficent in terms of cooling, practicality not so much.

Once I even attempted to build a computer inside of a minifridge in hopes of better cooling and for giggles.
It worked alright, I had to keep a DAMP-RID in there to take out moisture and keep them temps above 32f,
but I had great results, the goofiest build I have made. But anyone who saw it though it was incredible. I actually had watercooling on the cpu/gpu, After slicing the perfect sized hole I set up the push/pull config and slid the radiator into the opening then used low expansion foam to seal it, and of course it was blowing outwards. I actually had to replace the Freeze blower fan, I just replaced it by ripping it out and splicing a high cfm 140mm fan in the back, which made the freezer actually much more efficient,(it still bothers me to wonder why they have such terrible fans in mini freezers/fridges.
I think of adding a small dehumidifier in my case, to reduce to overall moisture in the air which will help stop the build up of condensation.

Honestly this is time for you to branch out in my opinion. you love computers, you have many. Now I honestly and If I were in your position would start having fun, and by fun I mean really be creative. make crazy computers that only you have, when people see it blows their minds. Thats the greatest thing about PC's, they are only as good any look as nice as YOU want them to. I have experimented like this because I always love trying new things, Something about computers and what they are capable of.

TBH with you, I have a hole in my wall behind my best where I keep my computer in a closet adjacent to my wall, I wired all the cords through, not only that, I extended my IO shield connections on the motherboard through the wall to a custom panel I build which allows me to access the DVD drives, aswell as 2 sata ports, a dp port 2 hdmi, a vga, and 8 USB 4 are 3.0. I also have a extended Toggle Switch connected to my desk next to my keyboard, I flick it on and boots up my computer.

There are a lot of amazing awesome things you can still do, you have just scratched the surface. so many different customization can be made and fans added to make a perfect PC, in your eyes at least because that's all that matters.

Not only that you can make PCS, optimize them, overclock them, and sell them to people. and still make a goooood amount of money.

The best part about that build was its SILENT. Literally 0db. Its not even in the same room as you.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
J

James Longridge

Honorable
Dec 22, 2013
205
0
10,710
Are building/selling computers still profitable?i remember reading an article about it and it basically saying selling PC's online via ebay etc are a waste of time, is this true or not as it is something i would love to do for passive income?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
BrandX

BrandX

Honorable
Aug 30, 2013
179
0
10,710


That is pretty accurate, but there's always a niche market for products and services that offer something special or different that people can't find elsewhere, the trick is carving out that niche for yourself. For example, I could be tempted to buy a bespoke wooden computer case, but nobody makes them except as one-offs.
If you can do something better and/or cheaper than everyone else, there's still money to be made.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

DawnRenee88

Reputable
Feb 12, 2016
10
0
4,520
My aunt sandy says "Its your money do what you want as long as you have money for the bills and through out the month". Personally I'm disabled and without work and on a monthly income. So when I want to go and get free scrapbooking magazines from the library that there giving away and then go to the goodwill the search there clearance bins and crafting section she dose not laugh at me for buying a 2 foot stack of vinyl photo protectors for 3 dollars. Because after all it will save me from having to reprint the same photos or from re-buying the same photos.

It might seam odd to buy a 2 foot stack of them but when there in a bundle why not.

And if you buy 1 pc to fix or to tinker with as long as your bills are paid then it should not matter what you do.

If you go and buy a 100 dollar pc to fix or rebuild and then ask a friend for 60 bucks to pay a bill maybe then you might want to step back. But when it comes to having enough money to do what you enjoy without bothering others then my man freaking enjoy yourself.

Go online and buy 10 towers form some random person strip them down build them up and then just get crazy with it.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
MU_Engineer

MU_Engineer

Splendid
Feb 18, 2006
3,868
4
23,165
There are certainly hobbies that are a LOT more expensive than computers are today. Prices have absolutely gone through the floor and the pace of innovation has really slackened off so people also can hang onto parts longer. There are a few halo products like the GeForce Titan and Intel Extreme Edition CPUs, but those are few and far between. And even then, you are still looking at about a $3000ish build in total. It's not like the 1980s and early 1990s when a reasonably decent machine cost $5000-10,000 which would be more like $12-25k in today's dollars. It then was nearly unusable for new software in a few short years. About the only way to spend that much money on a computer today is to buy a high-end multiprocessor server (particularly an Intel-powered one) stuffed full of RAM. $3000 in today's dollars wouldn't have bought you ANY kind of new laptop until as late as the early 2000s, even a low-end one, but today it will buy you an absolute top of the line gaming desktop.

Some far more expensive hobbies I can think of would be flying, collecting high-end cars, racing, and boating (assuming you have a boat larger than a little aluminum john boat.) But even those can pale in comparison to the most expensive hobby there is, skirt chasing. That one is absolutely ruinous as far as costs go...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
4Ryan6

4Ryan6

Champion
Apr 14, 2002
20,610
6
52,915


Wow, Does that ever sound familiar!

It definitely started that way for me and then got into overclocking, which was the 2nd step into computer expense, but in some ways brought a kind of balance, because the need to build new began being less and less as the overclocked later model was surpassing the newer, so build projects were becoming further apart.

Unfortunately overclocking comes with a side effect of increased temperatures which has to be controlled and doing that is not cheap and maybe not as expensive as a completely new build, but definitely not cheap if your overclocking goals are high.

Now if I plan a new build it has got to surpass what I am presently running overclocked, by at least a full 30% or it is just not worth the additional money, however there is also the perspective of the new build can be overclocked as well?

The main thing is you are doing what you love to do, and as long as you are only answering to yourself and footing your own expenses, it is no ones business but yours! :)

To a certain extent it is kinda an addictive hobby with overclocking being worse than just the building itself but also opening the doors to extended learning, meaning once you begin to discover you can get around traditional set barriers, by operating below them.

If you are curious as to what I mean, shoot me a PM, and I'll be glad to tell you! Ryan

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
MU_Engineer

MU_Engineer

Splendid
Feb 18, 2006
3,868
4
23,165
Good luck with that. Selling overclocked PCs is a very niche market that is already pretty saturated with large and small vendors.

I don't mean to be the bitter pessimistic old man, but there are good reasons why "hobbies" are very different from "work." Hobbies are fun and people will do them without being paid, therefore there is very little market in that field. Work is something that you don't want to do or cannot do yourself and thus are willing to pay other people to do it for you. The more unpleasant the work or the more difficult it is for others to do for themselves*, the more the person who does that work gets paid.

*May be due to a technical, physical, or increasingly a legal reason.

I'll admit I am an old man and am likely of a different generation than many on this site. (I know more than a few people who are my age who have grandchildren!) I take the tack of work is work, and you work to earn money to have your hobbies, as well as provide for your family if you have one. Ideally you'd love what you do and do what you love but that is generally not achievable, see the above. You just have to tolerate it well enough, get paid enough, and have enough time off work that you show up to work the next day. If any of that isn't true, you get burned out and life royally sucks until you change something. But once you find something that is tolerable, pays well enough, and you are able to keep the work hours to something reasonable (my limit is about 65 hours/week) you'll do OK. This isn't the advice you'll get from some idiot guidance counselor, but it is absolutely correct as it is information gained from the real world and not some ivory-tower theoretical book or journal.

Having many things that you enjoy is also very important as well as that enhances the work-life balance that makes life pleasant. Getting old-man-way-off-topic, for me that was having a family much more so than messing around with computers, woodworking, shooting, messing around with cars, going to the gym, going outside, or any of the other things I like to do. The advice I'd have for a young adult here is to not rush things, work hard and do something marketable, marry well, and have children only if you want to and only if and when you are truly ready (and well after you get married!) Also live below your means. That's very old school but it's very true, in my line of work I see an endless stream of folks who didn't do that and are rarely do very well. A little bit of forethought now saves a lot of "drama" in the future.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom