Who here...

[Hyperblaze]

Came from a technical background and turned into (more or less) a consumer user?

For example. Loved tweaking their computer, making hardware upgrades all the time, and now just uses the computer when they need to.

<--- raises hand.

 

[Mucho]

:thumbsup:

 

[mwtgg]

The day I went to college...

 

[nageov3t]

when building computers became my job, doing it during my off-hours became less fun.

I haven't actually turned my desktop on in the 2 months since I quit playing WoW (though it's also summer, so I haven't been downloading as many tv shows). of course, that'll probably change when the new Civ game comes out this fall.

 

[nerp]

Me. I was a pro in the 80s and 90s, was learning programming, etc. I was on track for an IT career and had I continued, I'd probably know my way in and out of an enterprise datacenter like nobody. But I ended up following my writing career and now find myself watching the years tick by as a reporter. I know how to build my own systems and can fix pretty much anything that comes up at home, but I don't know anything about IT anymore. I basically stopped learning that shit when windows 2000 came out.

 

[edro]

I stopped gaming and no longer need to build computers.
My laptop is just a web browser now...

 

[pontifex]

I do it less and less since I started hated doing it as my job.

 

[Tweak155]

I like to upgrade it every few years still, but I don't buy any new games. Last games I bought were WoW and expansions. Before that it was Diablo II and Starcraft.

 

[mmntech]

I've done the whole 360. Was big into modding then went off it when the s--t hit the fan for PC gaming back in 2007. Barely touched my desktop during that time. Then back again once I started college working with AV editing equipment.

 

[santz]

I opened up my own company making & repairing PC's for other people, Closed it in 8 months. ITS A HELL JOB dealing with customers who think they know more than you. and with the amount of bargaining they do. Not once did any one come up to us and asked us to build a high end system for them. It was always the cheapest of cheapest of shit like celeron cpu built in motherboard. I know I know at this day and age- go figure. Many people dont even know what they are buying, as long as it runs their web browser. They always asked for free windows and office, as if I make them in my garage or something.

I made money- but I hated myself for what I was doing in life. This is after getting a double major in Accounting and Finance from Kelley school of business, Indiana University Bloomington

I work with my father now and doing well

 

[her209]

Bought a Dell after telling everyone its cheaper to build your own.

 

[compbuilder00]

eh ... i loved building computers and tinkering around but since I graduated highschool and went to college, it kinda died down. I live off my laptop and only really tinker with cell phones.

 

[rcpratt]

My computer use and time I spend reading about hardware has drastically decreased in the last few months, especially after graduation. I'll never be as interested in it as I once was, but once some good games come out I'll probably spend a bit more time on it.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I'm leaning towards that direction TBH. I work in IT for a living so I'll always have some technical perspective, but more and more, it looks as if my current custom build could be my last one.

I am on a 3 year upgrade cycle and when the next upgrade cycle comes up next April, I am leaning towards not building a new PC and using this one until it dies or the next killer game/application comes along that would require an update. Right now, I'm not pleased at the direction of PC gaming and have been loading up a bunch of old classics to play instead of spending money on new stuff.

 

[vi edit]

Xbox and HDTV killed computer gaming/tweaking for me. I bought a Dell about 4 years ago and never looked back.

 

[dpodblood]

When I was younger I always enjoyed building PC's, researching new hardware, and troubleshooting. Now that I am in IT as a career I find troubleshooting outside of my job very annoying; I just want things to work like their supposed to.

I have been a PC gamer my whole life, but am also disappointed with the direction of PC games lately (aka PC games as afterthought console ports).

Every few months I will go on a spree looking at articles about new hardware just so that I feel in touch, but in reality I haven't upgraded my own PC in over 2 years.

 

[DrPizza]

I don't game, thus don't need the screaming fast computer with cross linked graphics cards, etc. At one time, I was "build your own" - now it's mostly just watch Dell for a hell of a bargain when something's on sale for that 20 minute span of time. However, I still have a pile of components that I may assemble, with a few more yet-to-be-purchased components to make a HTPC.

 

[SleepWhere]

Since i stopped gaming, i see no need for upgrade or a fast computer.

I'm still running AMD 3000+ venice and it's fast enough for anything I do on it.

I may just get rid of the desktop and go with a nice laptop for my next upgrade.

 

[Riverhound777]

I've pretty much stopped the gaming/pc building myself as well. I still enjoy it, and may build myself another computer in the future, but Ive lost that urge to have the latest and greatest. My current computer was overclocked when I built it, but it reset itself one day back to 3.0Ghz and I haven't bothered setting it back to 4. The only games I play now are online flash games, lol. Might buy the new starcraft when it comes out though.

 

[ajikan]

I used to make and play around with PC parts, and that went on for years throughout high school and some of college. After I moved to Macs, I stopped. It's so much simpler! Macbook Pros ftw.

 

[spaceman]

I used to make and play around with PC parts, and that went on for years throughout high school and some of college. After I moved to Macs, I stopped. It's so much simpler! Macbook Pros ftw.

....................

 

[IndyColtsFan]

To me, it just seems like games in general are simply rehashes of things that have been done over and over again and it gets old. I look back and in my opinion, the early/mid 90s to about 2003 or 2004 are when the best games seem to have been made. Most genres nowadays seem very stale and in some cases, such as the Sports game genre, have been moved entirely to the console.

So, I've been playing my sports games on my consoles and have decided to load up a few classics on my PC to play. I just can't get into new PC games these days, it seems.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I used to make and play around with PC parts, and that went on for years throughout high school and some of college. After I moved to Macs, I stopped. It's so much simpler! Macbook Pros ftw.

 

[Skitzer]

Haven't upgraded my computer for years. I no longer game, (no time).
Current computer is a 2.8ghz dual core AMD with 4 gigs of ram, a GeForce 9500 and a 250gb hard drive. I want to upgrade around Christmas but will probably buy a good Dell machine. Just not into all the work involved anymore.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I still upgrade my own computers and recently built myself a kickass rig because my wife took over my old system, she works out of the house and I needed a computer of my own. I think a quad core i7 with 4GB of RAM will be able to handle my needs for a while.

I upgraded hers about a year ago to a Core-2 Duo for around $300 so, yes, it is still cheaper for me to upgrade than to buy a whole new computer.