The need to upgrade
 

Is anyone else addicted to upgrading their pc? I find myself upgrading shit even when I don't really need to. Graphics cards, ram, processor, on and on and on. I play a lot of games, do a lot of video editing, burn a lot of movies, etc...but there is only so much I need. And yet I don't stop. I have a problem.

That's easily solved... just make it so that you have no money :D... That's what I do!

Yeah. I'm willing to help you get rid of addiction - just give all your money to me, and you won't ever have to worry about it anymore. ;)

(Seriously: look at what you *need* to buy, not what you *can* buy. Spend the rest on more useful hobbies/objects. Or you could start putting some money in a savings account every month; then *don't* spend that on your computer...)

This is an intervention!
stop upgrading NOW!

that would be 'no' for me. Both my video card and sound card (Hercules Game Theatre XP :love: ) are mid-late 2000 at best; the only serious upgrades have been HDs as the increasing audio collection/vinyl transfer work has demanded and adding a DVD burner.
I did switch to Micrsoft Natural keyboards when the inital signs of Carpal Tunnel started to hit me (kept the excellent programmable 124 Gateway anykey on the server) and long ago changed to nothing but optical mice.

I would much rather spend spare money if it was there on expanding my collection of Golden Age of Radio Shows; my tape/CD collection hit about $2-3000 then stopped growing when the income was not there for it. Lossy files online are at best a very poor substitute for high quality tapes, vinyls, or CDs.

edit: have upgraded my motheboard at least three times since first building this system though. The sequence off the top of my head would be: A7V / A7V 133 / A7V 333-r

you could send all the parts you rip out on your everquest of upgradeing to me, i'll give them a great home and take care of them and give them much love.

I had a similiar problem that you have now. My solution was that since I enjoy video editing so much, I put my money aside and got a mac (strictly video editing purposes). And after I've seen how my computer ran doom3, and cs:s... my mind is more set on putting my money aside to move.

Note, I have no plans to move for a very long while. I enjoy where i'm staying now, I think that when the time comes to get a house/start a family, the money I've been putting away will help greatly.

Just think long term. Even if you own your own house now, there's always going to be problems down the big road of life, and extra money will ALWAYS be usefull. How usefull will a circuit board with a whole bunch of transistors be if the pipes burst and you need to call a plumber?

Or you could send me all your money!

My problem is I make too many small, silly upgrades. I just replaced a perfectly fine Logitech MX 700 cordless mouse with an MX 1000 Laser Cordless. Why? Laser sounded cool. I do really like the new mouse and I was able to sell the MX 700. But I need to stop buying stuff like that and I need to stop spending $50 a pop on games before I finish what I already have. Then maybe I could actually afford some major upgrades.

Hmm... I fail to see why you would need to upgrade as long as what you have is still semi-recent. Look at me... on my 2 year old 1.6Ghz Computer... I would upgrade a few things, but I wouldn't upgrade it all to the best of everything.

If you buy the best you won't need to upgrade!! :thumbsup:

That's why I won't be buying a new videocard for a long time (probably 2-3 years!). My videocard was $430, but it's also the best in the world right now. You can't upgrade from the best!

The only thing I'd upgrade on my PC is the motherboard, processor, and RAM. I don't have the money for it right now (and I won't for a long time) but if I did then that's where it'd go. My Barton 2500+ is still kickin strong and I do have 768 MB of RAM but I'd still like a shiny new Athlon 64.

I suppose my point is that if you upgrading to the best of what you *need* then you're fine. Today's games rely on the videocard and the amount of RAM you have way more than your processor so I don't have a whore-myself-out obsession with upgrading my processor.

-Lasereth

Yeah... But a week after you've bought the best of the best... a better thing comes out! There's not really any point in upgrading if you're only going to get a slight increase...

Actually, it's usually about 6 months before something "better" comes out. The PC market goes almost a year before something REALLY better comes out. PC's being "obsolete" is seriously exaggerated in the PC market. I bought my videocard 3 or 4 months ago and it's still the best in the world, literally.

-Lasereth

With video card upgrades, I try to upgrade while I can still sell the old one for a good price. That way the $100 I get for the old vid card will go towards a new card. This 9800 Pro (XT 360 Core) ended up costing be a little over $100. I'm currently trying to convince a co-worker to buy my 9800 Pro so I can get a 6800 GT.

Well all I got in my box is a GeForce 4 MX 420... in extreme need of an upgrade. I start a new job in a couple of weeks that pays alot better than what I do now. I plan on building a new computer then... I'll probably go upgrading at every chance I have once I have the money...

if you do a lot of video editing, I hope you have a real time card from pinnacle. they make a world of difference. they cost 1-2 thousand bucks, so that should stifle you from upgrading anything else shortly after....unless you got it LiKE DaT! :lol:

i have to upgrade my computer for half-life 2. could barely play doom 3 so i doubt half-life 2 will be any different.

I upgrade as needed. My laptop is the fastest thing Dell makes at the moment. =)

Upgrading
 

Upgrading is a good thing. But like anything, too much of a good thing is a bad thing. (Of course, being bad is sometimes good, so this is confusing and I digress....)

If you haven't already, consider keeping some of your old gear to build a file server or a linux box to play around with. For all you other graphics users, Adobe is making the first moves towards porting some of it's products to Linux, so you may find that it's worth checking out. Can't beat the cost, anyway.

I've been running an Athelon 1800xp with 1 GB RAM and a Radeon 9800 XT for games...runs almost everything without a hitch. I've not tried Doom 3 yet, but it runs Painkiller and NWNights and all the stuff I'm currently playing.

For all of you with a smoking processor and less than 1 GB of RAM...stop upgrading and pack that sucker full of RAM! I spec and maintain 30-40 CAD/Graphics stations and I won't build a thing with less than 1 GB of RAM. Some of the higher end stations I'm guilding are 2+ GB of RAM. HUGE and noticable performance boost--especially when running multiple applications.

I totally agree with Lasereth. If you buy high-quality top-of-the-line components, they will last you a long time. My computer upgrade cycle is once every 3-4 years.

exactly - my cycle will likely be 5-6 years though unless this video card fails and even then a 64 MB plucked from spare parts and from the same era would replace it.

I was like that until my boys were born. Need that upgrade money for their diapers, milk, toys, trips to the zoo / museums and education. Now I do a major upgrade once about 3~4 years.

Well, I think my problem's been solved. I totally demolished my car last night. It was unintentional, of course, but my need to upgrade my pc has suddenly vanished along with the entire front end of my car.

Oh, and the best part, the really ironic part, the part that just beats all? I had my pc (P4 3.2, 2G ram, ATI X800Pro, Audigy 2 ZS platinum, NEC DVD burner and two 120gb Seagates) in the back seat. I'd brought it over to a friend's house to give him an idea of how easy it is to build your own pc (he was about to buy a Gateway). Oh, and on the front passenger seat I had my brand new Sony DSC-F828 digital Camera. It doesn't seem to be working anymore.

Unfortunately, I can't really be without a pc, so I've already ordered parts for a new one.

Oh man, do I hear that--I only have one boy, but I find he gets all the new toys, not daddy. The cool thing is that I can play with him and get to play cars and trains all over again!