The trap

[tg2708]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TiRg5X7OM0

Stumbled on this video and had to share. I actually thought about this even before watching this video. The 290 is coming out soon and their is a very high chance of me upgrading from a 7970 to it (waiting for a never settle bundle with it though) and will also be aiming to get the subsequent releases.

 

[Tweak155]

He has an interesting point although for myself, I'm pretty good at restricting the urge. Although the R9 290 has me tempted!

 

[imaheadcase]

I think most older gamer 30+ years are wise enough in the knowledge to upgrade only when you need it, not because you can. One of the worst trends I see is people upgrading a computer based on a game not released yet.

Battlefield 4 is making lots of people fall into this trap, lots have already upgraded to win 8 based on BF4 beta. But the 30+ year old crowd knows (the damn well better) this same issue happened with WinXp vs win 7 and it was not a issue for any games.

 

[NTMBK]

My motherboard is so old and crap that this rig can't handle any more upgrades- a better GPU would just be bottlenecked by PCIe Gen1 and the CPU, and the CPU can't be OC'd because the automatic voltage controls fry the damn thing and can't be turned off. I'd have to replace the whole damn lot, so I'm happy with where I am.

 

[Sequences123]

This is true for anything you can buy. There are entry level models and there are enthusiast models. I wouldn't call this a trap.

 

[bob123aka]

Have a good PC that can still run any game on High with no laggs what so ever and I was minutes away from purchasing a new rig because I wanted to have a new set up for Ghost lol .

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I'm happy with my rig, until the next node.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Edited

 

[BallaTheFeared]

You're in the wrong thread buddy.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Battlefield 4 is making lots of people fall into this trap, lots have already upgraded to win 8 based on BF4 beta. But the 30+ year old crowd knows (the damn well better) this same issue happened with WinXp vs win 7 and it was not a issue for any games.

Having ran windows 8.1 preview alongside windows 7, i see windows 7 being all i need as my tower is simply a gaming/entertainment unit and well 8.1 offers me absolutely nothing.Hardware wise i think i am covered pretty well.

 

[yacoub]

I think most older gamer 30+ years are wise enough in the knowledge to upgrade only when you need it, not because you can. One of the worst trends I see is people upgrading a computer based on a game not released yet.

Yep, and the sad part is when some of them get all defensive and inflammatory if you point out that the top of the line hardware is overpriced and unnecessary, probably because they finally realize they're suckers to have spent so much for things they don't really need.

Many people don't have a concept of saving, they just pay bills and then spend the rest. Historically, they are actually referred to as "fools". Yet they claim that those of us who are more fiscally responsible are "poor" or "cheap". But today, marketing preys upon their mindset, encourages it, and claims that those people aren't fools, they're "enthusiasts" and somehow the rest of us aren't even though we're just as much gamers as them, we just don't buy into the hype and the over-priced new product releases.

The thing to notice is that we're not the ones who are divisive. It's product marketing that's divisive and encouraging us-vs-them mentality, simply because we're trying to educate others to be more fiscally responsible and to marketing that's a terrible thing because it might reduce their ability to sell over-priced products, "new shiny", to those easily separated from their money. So marketing wants to drive a wedge between the two types of buyers and turn them against each other so that they can continue to fleece as many as they can. All that angst that's directed toward us, should be directed toward product marketing. That's where the real problem lies.

 

[blackened23]

edit: dp

 

[seitur]

People spending money they don't have on things they don't need.

 

[imaheadcase]

The biggest problem is people are not raised to know how save. We don't have standard tests on stuff like that in school. Its mind boggling the people who don't understand compound interest or simply interest rates at all. People lives would be better off.

I firmly believe this country would be better off if it taught in school basic finance. Then we can all have best GPU and CPU

 

[powruser]

So far I've avoided falling into this trap. See my rig in my sig below? I just got this a matter of months ago. Want to know my previous rig? Core 2 Duo E6400, 4 GB DDR2 RAM and a 9800 GTX. The only reason I upgraded is because my old rig was starting to randomly crash (motherboard I think was on its way out finally). I'll be keeping my new rig for at LEAST 4 years.

 

[blackened23]

It all depends on how you view it and what type of income situation you're in. If you have disposable income and view PCs as a hobby, go nuts. It's the same reason car aficionados spend lavishly on sports cars - if you have extra cash and can afford it, have fun. That said, I would agree with the sentiment regarding folks spending more than their means with credit. That is just stupid and is unfortunately common these days.

 

[Mastercommander]

Get midrange cards and resell

Buy most games on sale

Presto: Didn't spend more money at all and have better gaming experience all through the years

 

[skipsneeky2]

So far I've avoided falling into this trap. See my rig in my sig below? I just got this a matter of months ago. Want to know my previous rig? Core 2 Duo E6400, 4 GB DDR2 RAM and a 9800 GTX. The only reason I upgraded is because my old rig was starting to randomly crash (motherboard I think was on its way out finally). I'll be keeping my new rig for at LEAST 4 years.

What resolution do you game at?Resolution and screen size plays a important part i believe in just how much time you can get out of a rig.

I have a 19'' spare 1366x768 monitor i have used for the BF4 beta to see how well my processor does as far as bottlenecks and what max fps i could get out of my card before my processor becomes the bottleneck and i could see my rig getting a couple years easily if i used this monitor full time.

Have had more fun basically maxing every game on this thing then running my games on my U2412m at 1200p which my wife has been using with her notebook.

 

[UaVaj]

It all depends on how you view it and what type of income situation you're in. If you have disposable income and view PCs as a hobby, go nuts. It's the same reason car aficionados spend lavishly on sports cars - if you have extra cash and can afford it, have fun. That said, I would agree with the sentiment regarding folks spending more than their means with credit. That is just stupid and is unfortunately common these days.

well said. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

sadly - too many people buy stuff they do not need to impress people that do not care about them with money they do not have.

only buy when you deeply need that added performance. even if you have plenty disposable income.

 

[chimaxi83]

The real problem is people like a couple in this thread thinking they know what's fiscally best for others.

Want to buy the bare minimum? Have at it. Want to go mid-range? Be my guest. Want to go all out? Do it, because you can. You don't see people on here with thread titles "errmagerd I bought a Titan and now I'm in foreclosure and my kids can't eat!"

Don't like people doing what they want with their money? Stuff it.

 

[Imouto]

This guy makes a lot of sense and reviewers should get a clue already.

You don't need to max all the sliders to enjoy a game. In fact most of those settings ain't even eye candy, they just give your card a hard time for almost zero better IQ. Making default benches at max settings to see how lesser cards tank and make top of the line look better than they actually are is the reviewer's duty with the hardware provider.

Same goes for CPUs benching them at stupidly low resolutions.

 

[tolis626]

I don't think any of this stuff is about "need".For me it's all about want.My old,soon-to-get-thrown-out,laptop can cover most of my computing needs,such as browsing the internet,watching movies,listening to music and editing documents.However,I'm buying a powerful new PC so that I can do all the stuff I "want" to do.I want to game,I want to be able to study all anatomy models for med school without having a neural breakdown and I want to do everything I could do previously at many times the speed I used to.And yes,I'm willing to spend north of 2k for all that.If I have this kind of money,I'll spend it.If not,I'll spend what I can.Simple as that.

In my opinion,it all boils down to how high you price your own desire."Need" is a word widely used for stuff that has nothing to do with need.You need food,you don't need fillet mignon.You need water,not cola.You need a phone,not an iPhone.Similarly,you need a PC,just not a 10k beast with quad Titans.

Also,people NEED to find some common sense on the matter of computers.I mostly see the extremes : Those who spend thousands of dollars/euros per year on their PC and those who won't spend anything unless their current hardware permanently fails.The middle ground is the widest and least densely populated.Well,we don't need these 2 extra FPS that the new super-wow GPU variant of a GPU variant offers,nor do we need a 50 core CPU and 128GB of RAM.However,I think having a pleasant time using the PC instead of being treated with frustration every time you turn it on is very important to spend at least some money on the PC every once in a while.Balance is everything here...

 

[OCNewbie]

I've been a little slow to upgrade my PC because when I do, I'll need to upgrade the motherboard, the RAM, and the CPU simultaneously. I will probably need/want a new video card at that time too. I was thinking Haswell would be my upgrade time (I think my current cpu/mobo/ram is ~5 years old now), and it may well be, but I almost wish I could wait for the Haswell refresh (not sure if I will be able to though).