If you didn't game would you upgrade as often?

[Megatomic]

Probably not. My last computer was fine for the DV work I do (just 25% slower), but it was still good enough.

 

[igster]

Gaming is the primary reason I am upgrading (just ordered new hardware) but even if I didn't play games I would still need to. The system I have now is over 3 years old and is really showing its age. Even the simplest things take forever. At the same time I do not feel compelled to have the latest and greatest and am certainly not willing to pay the premium for cutting edge technology, especially if waiting a few months means it will be much less expensive.

 

[Monkey muppet]

GPU: ATi-All in wonder pro<Gforce 2mx<Gforce4 4400Ti<Gforce 6600GT

CPU:AMD900+ < AMD1700+< A64 3000+

Hmm...One more graphics card upgrade than CPU; Oh..no..does this mean I'm a gamer!?1?1?

Who cares???

 

[HeaterCore]

I get the upgrade bug whenever my system "feels" slow, and that generally only happens with games. The first time I have to drop below 1280x1024, it's time to drop a few hundred. Microsoft bloatware tries its damndest, though. I still can't figure out why office runs no faster today than it did ten years ago, while doing (for virtually all users) the exact same crap.

-HC-

 

[quakefiend420]

if it wasnt for gaming i wouldnt upgrade quite as much...but i still like to stay on top of things anyway

 

[Looney]

Nope, probably wouldn't upgrade as often. Infact, the last few upgrades were purely for EQ, FFXI, then EQ2.

 

[SynthDude2001]

If I didn't game, I'd probably still be fine with the Athlon XP 1600+/Radeon 8500 machine that I was using when I was a senior in high school. (Mind you, I'm only a sophomore in college right now )

Since then I've bought a Radeon 9700 Pro and then a 6800GT; for CPU's I bought an Athlon XP 1700+ (that's been running at 2400MHz ever since I got it). I've had that CPU since August 2003, and I'm finally about to upgrade to A64 soon - mostly because my CPU is holding back my video card quite a bit, I'm sure. Oh, and I also now have a 1680x1050 20" Widescreen LCD, so a pretty high-end computer is necessary to drive the latest games at its native resolution. It's a vicious cycle, really.

I wouldn't have it any other way though. (Also, the cost is not as bad as it could be, since my friends/brother tend to buy my older stuff as I upgrade.)

 

[jterrell]

Ya I would because I love this stuff.
If I wasnt an enthusiast I probably wouldn't surf and post here.
I can be happy on a 486dx running an old release of slackware but I'd rather have recent technology and run whatever I want.

The money isn't a big factor for me because as far as entertainment and hobbies go it isn't that expensive.
Its 30 bucks to go to the movies and grab a soda and popcorn for 2. Thats 15 bucks per hour on entertianment whereas my pc probably costs me about a quarter per hour.

 

[mooncancook]

i don't feel that my P3-500MHz with 256mb ram at work is slow because i never play game or do any major multimedia tasks (like video editing, encoding) on it (else i'll get fired)

 

[powerMarkymark]

Simple answer is no.

 

[Rock Hydra]

No. I wouldn't do it if I didn't game. But, I want to upgrade my computer for a few simple reasons. My case that I have is falling apart and not very roomy at all to work with. I've had it for about 6 years. Most of the fans I have stopped working. I accidently shorted out part of my motherboard when cleaning it. The airflow is horrible because my video card is so long and my hard drives are nearly inaccessable wihtout removing my video card, which is a pain. And for the reason that I game. I run games at max settings, but I don't mind playing a game at 800x600 or 1024x768. I never run AA or AF, so those aren't a factor. But when it gets below that, it starts to get hairy. I'm going to keep the current computer I have now for a few more months, but a year at the most, and upgrade it then. Waiting for all this standards stuff to settle down and some of the glitches to be worked out of these new chipsets.

 

[Jeff7]

My videocard might be different, but that's about it. I like to have a very responsive system.
I also edit large video files, ranging from 100MB up to 15GB, and sometimes larger. I also edit the accompanying audio files, which can also be fairly large. A good hard drive subsystem, lots of RAM, and a fast CPU help with that.

 

[suse920]

i would still upgrade, but not as much. I would still want programs to be fast and be able to do some video editing

 

[Cheesetogo]

Right now, I'm on the family computer, a dell with a 733mhz priocessor, intergrated graphics, 128mb of ram, and it runs fine for basic use and some older stuff.