Hardware obsession

[Vdubchaos]

Does anyone else has an obsession with buying hardware? I just LOVE doing research, selecting and putting together Computers/PC Config.

I've build about 4-5 PCs over past 10 years, about $6000-7000 on Newegg spent.

It's kind of easy to identify this obsession. Usually Want VS Need will jump out at you. But there is also that time when you build a rig, install windows....games...then sit back and say, why the hell did I build this PC again?

Hasn't happened to be lately, perhaps with a monitor back few years ago...but I kind of needed one <<<<< see? :biggrin:

Funny, last week I was at costco and I had that new 27" Samsung in my cart, then something triggered in my mind and I put it back.

When I got home, I was happy I didn't get it. It's kind of silly to be honest, I mean Monitor Size is not THAT big of a deal. I moved my monitor closer to me (6-8 inches) and said to myself "Now I have a 27" inch"

It's kind of true, I mean if you think about it.....What's the difference between distance from your eyes to monitor and bigger monitor size?

Anyways, anyone else with similar issues? hehe

 

[Zen0]

Size is not THAT big of a deal.

You sure? ^_^

If you have a healthy finances and social life, then the obsession is really just an expensive hobby.

If the other two are lacking, I would say it is something to examine.

 

[badb0y]

I have thoughts of buying the GTX 580 roughly 3 timesa day. I almost bought an eyefinity setup a couple of weeks ago and after bickering about 3D being a niche I almost bought a 3D ready monitor to try it out myself so I guess I am obssessed a bit.

Also I want to upgrade to Sandy Bridge but I talk myself out of it everytime.

 

[SlowSpyder]

You sure? ^_^

If you have a healthy finances and social life, then the obsession is really just an expensive hobby.

If the other two are lacking, I would say it is something to examine.

It's more of a hobby than an obsession. And while I'm hardly made of money, this hobby is much cheaper than what I used to waste money on (my car). Buying a $300 video card every year is no big deal compared to buying a new $1500 turbo every 18 months, stand alone ECU's, head rebuilds, etc, etc.

 

[Vdubchaos]

I just upgraded my Video card (well, kind of needed a new one for my 2nd rig) so I got a 460...and I'm SO glad I did. It runs all the games I play at max. If I spend another $100 on 560 or 6950 it would've done NOTHING.

Same for Sandy Bridge, I got itchy fingers when it came out. But then I asked myself, what can't my E8400 do? And what will SB gain me....answer was VERY little, if ANYTHING.

It's more of a hobby than an obsession. And while I'm hardly made of money, this hobby is much cheaper than what I used to waste money on (my car). Buying a $300 video card every year is no big deal compared to buying a new $1500 turbo every 18 months, stand alone ECU's, head rebuilds, etc, etc.

ohh god, cars was the biggest waste of money EVER. BUT I did learn a lot and saved 10k in labor (doing things myself). I still change my own oil and maintain all my cars.

But learned a valuable lesson, don't mess with cars until you have a House, garage and another daily driver. Leave NICE car for those special days.

House and Daily is all set, once I have a garage I might think about a nice C5/C6 vette or something along the line.

 

[Barfo]

I guess I do, though I wouldn't call it an obsession. I wanted to upgrade to SB so bad, but being realistic, my current rig is more than adequate for what I use it for. And then I paid $200 for a 6850, just so I could run some IQ settings in Ultra rather than High. The thing is I barely game anymore and when I do I mostly play old-ish games so it wasn't needed at all. The only great thing I got from it was a quieter pc, but that wasn't needed either.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

It's a sickness for sure. Luckily I make decent money so it's not putting me into debt or anything. If I was racking up credit card debt then it would be an issue. The way I look at it is I work hard and it's good honest fun. It's not like I'm cheating on my wife or doing anything illegal. If the worst I do in life is spend a few grand a year on computer stuff then I can't be all that bad.

 

[Rhezuss]

I got that bug too.

I love researching and reading about hardware and often I upgrade from pure wantness instead of needness!

Just love it!

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I have thoughts of buying the GTX 580 roughly 3 timesa day. I almost bought an eyefinity setup a couple of weeks ago and after bickering about 3D being a niche I almost bought a 3D ready monitor to try it out myself so I guess I am obssessed a bit.

Also I want to upgrade to Sandy Bridge but I talk myself out of it everytime.

Is there any games you run that you can't max out? Will the thermalright shaman fit the gtx 580? Interested in nvidia 3D? If the answer to all of those is yes then I say go for it. It's a beast of a card.

 

[BD231]

I get the bug often! But over the years I've realized spending beyond a certain point gets you almost nothing for your money. If you spend $500 on a video card you're retarded IMO, but it's not so stupid to those who don't mind spending that much on hobbies. If I have the option to step up on a part that's around $100/$150 bucks I jump typically. Example > 4850 to GTX 460. 140 bucks for a GTX 460 and I paid off an eighty dollar debt with the 4850 through exchange.

Simple steps, big gains are my aim more often than not. I simply don't spend unless I know for a fact I'm getting my money's worth and that generally keeps the spending at bay.

Bottom line, and this goes for anyone, excessively expensive parts depreciate faster than the car sitting in your driveway. That should help anyone keep the spending at bay.

 

[wuliheron]

Like the man said, "I don't have a drinking problem, I haven't stopped drinking in years!"

 

[Vdubchaos]

I get the bug often! But over the years I've realized spending beyond a certain point gets you almost nothing for your money. If you spend $500 on a video card you're retarded IMO, but it's not so stupid to those who don't mind spending that much on hobbies. If I have the option to step up on a part that's around $100/$150 bucks I jump typically. Example > 4850 to GTX 460. 140 bucks for a GTX 460 and I paid off an eighty dollar debt with the 4850 through exchange.

Simple steps, big gains are my aim more often than not. I simply don't spend unless I know for a fact I'm getting my money's worth and that generally keeps the spending at bay.

Bottom line, and this goes for anyone, excessively expensive parts depreciate faster than the car sitting in your driveway. That should help anyone keep the spending at bay.

I Agree, I always shoot for best bang for the buck. And have my limits (for example: $200 on CPU, and 250 MAX on GPU)

Second you go beyond Best bang for the buck you are talking 50%-100%+ price difference with 10-20% performance increase.

 

[Zap]

My therapist told me that it is healthy to have hobbies.

 

[nemesismk2]

For me it's not an obsession more a hobby. I never spend more than I can afford so it's a hobby.

 

[Vdubchaos]

I cant say I spent more than I can afford over the years.

But correct, perhaps Hobby would've been a better word over obsession.

 

[Castiel]

All i seem to do is buy anymore.

 

[DJK Frank 16]

I don't spend much on it, I get what I need and use it till it breaks. But i'm on a computer 10 hours a day at work, and game on my 360... so I don't need the best of the best when it comes to a home PC.

 

[Dkcode]

I am a sucker for it.

Gaming mice - It took me ages to settle on the Imperator.

Then it broke - So now I am looking for an 'alternative' if this breaks. Doing research.

I have a 30" monitor which should be enough but then I research 120Hz displays because I am curious and a sucker for smooth frame rates.

I am looking at video card upgrades, I recently bought a PCI Xonar Essence ST and I start debating to return for PCI-X so I can have enough room for SLI video cards. Or do I hold on for GTX 590 or 6990.

It never stops, exercise some self control and focus on my other hobbies.

Yeah I know exactly where the OP is coming from. It can take over if your not careful.

Girls are the same with shoes...

 

[Red Storm]

All my buying binges also go hand in hand with selling binges. When I buy a new video card, the current one gets sold to offset the cost. Doing it this way allows me to always keep my rig up to date and it never costs too much.

 

[BoomerD]

I like it a bunch more than my budget does...I'd build with every new Intel platform release if I could...but instead, I wait 4-5 years between builds because of costs. Same with video cards...I'd LOVE to buy new cards every year and constantly upgrade...but it just doesn't make financial sense...

 

[Aristotelian]

I don't think there's any 'truth' in the statement "bang for the buck". I know some people that think "bang for the buck" is objective (across the multitude of hedonistic pursuits) but it simply isn't: The amount of 'bang' you get cannot easily be compared to the 'bang' I get from, say, eating a good steak (and we might very well disagree about what a good steak is).

This relates to computer hardware simply because some people enjoy owning the most pricey components, which sometimes turn out to be the fastest also. So, whether or not your 1500 dollar rig performs 80&#37; as well as a 5000 dollar rig is neither here nor there - the bang they are looking for cannot be satisfied with your supposed 'objective' bang for the buck criterion.

Further, I don't know why some people are so judgemental about it. I have friends (who are still students) that think I am a retard because I spent as much getting silicon moulds of my inner ears made (for my inner earphones) as they did on their headphones. On my view, it's simply incoherent to try to universalize your take on what is worth what with other people.

The thing is, some of these things make a huge difference. I bought earphones that cost me in total about 1300USD, and a headphone amp and so on, and let's put it this way: the people who told me that it was a waste of money have never owned (and therefore never tried) a custom inner earphone. Regarding computers it's a bit different, of course, but I know someone who thinks that IPS panels are a waste of money. It's stupid to have arguments about these things because you'll often notice that it isn't the people who own 580 tri sli making threads going "having a 5000 dollar computer RULES MAN", it's more like the people who can't (or don't want to) afford those computers creating threads arguing "Well, that stuff just isn't worth it anyway, right?" and why do you think this is the case? My guess? They're trying to convince themselves that it (size, whatever) doesn't matter.

Size does matter, but not as much as some think it does

 

[Grooveriding]

If my wife and I had children I wouldn't spend as much as I do. Wouldn't have the time to appreciate it and the money would be better spent elsewhere. But, we don't :thumbsup: yet...

 

[ZipSpeed]

I'm always looking to a new build for distributed computing.

 

[Dkcode]

Further, I don't know why some people are so judgemental about it. I have friends (who are still students) that think I am a retard because I spent as much getting silicon moulds of my inner ears made (for my inner earphones) as they did on their headphones. On my view, it's simply incoherent to try to universalize your take on what is worth what with other people.

If my wife and I had children I wouldn't spend as much as I do. Wouldn't have the time to appreciate it and the money would be better spent elsewhere. But, we don't :thumbsup: yet...

Good lad.

 

[HumblePie]

Um no.... I have no idea what you are talking about.


Wait stop! Don't look down! Stop reading my signature damnit! I said no!