How do people w/ the PII 450's 64mb ram not let the bug get them?

MichaelD · Jul 30, 2001

I only used that setup as an example. The meat of the question is "How do you not let the upgrade bug take over your mind?" Sometimes, I see replies/posts from folks who are running a 10-year-old computer (gosh, that's about 150 years in "computer years!&quot

and they say they won't be upgrading anytime soon because they don't want to or don't feel the need to

This puzzles me. I don't have The Bleeding Edge Bug; I know that buying anything the day it comes out is a bad idea. I have The Paper Cut Bug; it bleeds less but hurts just as badly!

When I built my rig, it was cutting edge. The following week, the KT133A chipset hit the world and everyone upgraded to that. Now, DDR is The Man. Argh!

If I were to construct a DDR system tomorrow, next month Super Duper DDR would hit the shelves and I'd be "slow" once again.

How do you keep the bug from biting you? Not surf the IT forums, ever? Lock yourself in a closet with War & Peace? I dunno. Thanks for listening! Have a good day.

Cattlegod · Jul 30, 2001

easy, the bug feeds on money. if you don't have money, the bug won't bite.

gopunk · Jul 30, 2001

up until a month ago i was using a p2 450 (though it had 256 ram). it's simple, you don't let your computer be your life... hang out with friends, etc. unless you do stuff like photoshop and burning dvds, it probably won't bother you.

Daniel · Jul 30, 2001

Many people have strict budgets and priorities and they don't put upgrading a pc they don't use for games at the top of their list.

crosshare · Jul 30, 2001

i got a p3 450 and 256 ram and everything works for me,im not a rich snob like alot of people here whos mommy can buy them a new pc every 2 months

MichaelD · Jul 30, 2001

**Swallows Hard** Ulp...what if you use your PC mostly for gaming? It's my little "entertainment center." I do some photo editing and burn 2-3 CD's a week, but mostly gaming. Ah, this is one expensive hobby! Cheaper than collecting cars or Playboy models though! I think a GF3 is in my future and then I'll wait for whatever will be succeeding DDR. DDDDDDR?

EDIT
Hmm. I'd imagine that there are some folks here who's Ma and Pa give them money to play with. I have noticed that about 75% of the AT forum members are under 25. (My observation, not hard facts) Me? Mom and Dad don't buy me anything because they are long gone. I pay for all my stuff, myself.

Raspewtin · Jul 30, 2001

<< The meat of the question is "How do you not let the upgrade bug take over your mind?" >>

That's easy. I am running an old p2 400 with 128Mb. Why you upgrade? for games mostly. Best games are coming to console, and with Xbox virtually all PC games worth owning coming to Xbox. now multiplayer aint a issue since all the new consoles are internet capable (although I don't play multiplayer games personally) Can you rent PC games easily? No - But you can rent console games easily. (1 a day for 30 days for 30 bucks, keep each 5 days!) Are you tired of subsidizing thiefs with your pc game purchases? much less console game theft = much less subsdization. Think about if you just bought consoles and poured that cash into your stereo every year. you could play most of the same games, and have a kickbutt home theater before you know it

of course I am upgrading, but all this runs through my mind all the time. The hard part is getting yourself to justify the upgrade IMO.

gopunk · Jul 30, 2001

i can see how gaming would require a decent computer. also depends on what types of games i suppose. i mean starcraft doesn't require too much. i just make it a rule to upgrade every 1-2 years. computers are fairly inexpensive these days anyways. i guess... when my current computer is half as powerful as the average computer for sale, i upgrade.

HardcoreRobot · Jul 30, 2001

It also depends on what you use the computer for. For some people, capability and money take a back seat to speed. As long as their computer can run everything they need it for, there is no reason to upgrade. Take into consideration all of the programs your computer can run now. Regardless of how much technology improves in the next decade, your computer will STILL be able to run all those programs 10 years from now. This is what happened with my dad. Up until a few months ago he was using an old pentium 233 because all he used the computer for was checking mail, surfing the net, and playing snood and red alert. Unfortunately, that computer bit the dust (RIP) and now he has upgraded.

ShizNitz · Jul 30, 2001

366 K-2, 10 gig HD, 256 MB RAM. I definitely don't consider it to be that slow and spending $500.00 on upgrades for something I don't use very often is definitely NOT worth it.

bigbootydaddy · Jul 30, 2001

<< i got a p3 450 and 256 ram and everything works for me,im not a rich snob like alot of people here whos mommy can buy them a new pc every 2 months >>

hehe, thats me, i have a dual p3 933, 768 megs of ram, abit vp6, 10k scsi hdd, 2 40 gig maxtors, burner, 20" trinitron, dvd, ati tv wonder, radeon, hercules gtxp, voodoo 3 with 17" second monitor, then i have another comp that has a p2 300 with 288 ram, 6 gig, soundblaster, voodoo3 and 15" monitor, zips on both comps, router, digital camera, cambridge dtt2500, 2(extra) subs, switches, hydro (lol)...

oh wait, i paid for it all myself...i got a job...im only 19...and pay 400 a month rent and 400 a month car, 150 insurance...

we aren't all snobs...most,if not all, of us work hard.

BKN booty

edit: oops, forgot i just turned 20, bad habit...

Emulex · Jul 30, 2001

i used to as well, now i spend all my money on my car.

It's just a phase you'll go through.

mAdD INDIAN · Jul 30, 2001

I got a P2-450 with 128MB ram. The last upgrade was adding another 128mb stick of RAM and adding a new 40GB hdd to replace my older 6GB. That's the only two upgrades that have been done in 3 years.

Before on my old computer I used to upgrade it often..but now I don't buy anything unless the previous part has become non-funcitonal. I have a 2x burner and I really want a newer 16x one but I'm not going to buy one untill my 2x dies naturally.

DoubleN · Jul 30, 2001

I think the key is to not try to play the latest cutting edge games. I had a Cyrix 6x86 166 for quite a while and was happy with it, then I started getting into some 3D games, and so I upgraded my CPU to an AMD K6-2 400, then got a Voodoo3 3000AGP and 128MB RAM...from there I got hooked on Quake3 and Unreal Tournament, and when I saw how nicely it worked on my roommate's P3-500, I figured I had to get a faster CPU. After I overhauled my whole system...I brought it home for the summer, where my brothers and friends saw all these awesome games I had and needless to say that required tons of upgrading. I just finished upgrading both my brother's computers b/c I felt sorry for them trying to compete in UT and whatnot using a P2 266 CPU and a K6-3 450 CPU, but for everything else like word processing, e-mail, ms office, even photoshop and whatnot those cpu's and video cards would have been acceptable...to make a long story short...avoid games and you're ok...I luv to play games every once in a while, and if I'm going to be playing, I don't want to be stuck at 10 fps after spending so much to buy the game, so that's why I keep my system relatively new.

I hear what you're saying about the whole KT133 -> KT133A. I've got a KT7-Raid and got it when it came out...still a great board, but sure would be nice to have 266 rather than 200 FSB. ah well...

cchen · Jul 30, 2001

Well I had my p2 266 with 192mb of ram for a while (2 years)
Since I'm still in school, I have to balance my time between gf, hw, going out, etc, so I never have any time at all to play games.
But a few weeks ago, I just decided to upgrade to a 1.2 ghz tbird, just cuz I felt like it. I'll probably need the extra speed for Photoshop and high-level programming, but that's it. I had the extra money too so that was another factor.

Marzod · Jul 30, 2001

<< i got a p3 450 and 256 ram and everything works for me,im not a rich snob like alot of people here whos mommy can buy them a new pc every 2 months >>

Man, didn't know there were alot of rich snobs in here. Hi all! j/k, I wish my mommie would buy me a new pc every two months. I doubt that is going to happen since I'm 39.

eLiu · Jul 30, 2001

I like to upgrade...i want to upgrade...but the suppliers of money (parents) dam up the flow...so that not enough $$ comes through

gar598 · Jul 30, 2001

I have a p2-450 256mb ram

and luv it
I have a p100 somewhere but can't seem to find it

I have had the 1ghz and such computers for a couple month but I always seem to need FAST money and end up selling them

I'M P00R

d33pt · Jul 30, 2001

in the timespam of a year or so, i went from a p200 to p2-266 to 300a@450 to 366@550 to 650@866 then lastly 700@933, with a few mb upgrades during the time too. Then I realized it was all dumb and now I am using a 450@300 underclocked on a good old Abit BX6-2. All you need is a ton of ram and a fast hd.. i don't notice the diff between a 300mhz cpu and a 900mhz cpu for what i do 98% of the time. so it's fine with me.

dc · Jul 30, 2001

my celeron 300a@450 ownz joo all.

man, i need a faster cpu so i can encode divx better. heh.

StageLeft · Jul 30, 2001

Priorities

Since '97 I've been upgrading constantly, spending about $1k US a year into my comp at least. However about a year ago I just almost out of the blue stopped - probably because I was no longer a student and instead of taxing up my credit card promising to pay it off "when I got a job" I was actually having to make the money.

I'm now using a p2 350 with 128 ram that was my dad's old office comp. I moved and my faster one is with my wife, but I'm planning on using this old clunker for at least a couple more months! Plus, since I play my games now on PS2 (online FPS games were hurting my wrists, but I admit they are more fun) I don't need to keep the comp up to date to handle games.

RDMustang1 · Jul 30, 2001

I'm on my celeron 300a runing @ 464mhz with 256mb of ram and a tnt vid card... It plays the games I want (even the newer ones).. maybe I don't get 20938 fps but it is playable and still very fun! I rip and encode videos, I burn cds, I do basically everything and it works fine for me... I've been considering upgrading but right now processors have slowed down for a bit and it still isn't clear which way to go... Intel has stability but AMD has speed and a better price... When games start coming out that I can't play I WILL upgrade, or once the market starts moving again or a better alternative comes out (cheaper intel chips or more stable AMD chips) then I will probably build a new system... as for now I am content since this computer will do pretty much anything I want.

JesusCow · Jul 30, 2001

some dont have a choice

JesusCow · Jul 30, 2001

<< i got a p3 450 and 256 ram and everything works for me,im not a rich snob like alot of people here whos mommy can buy them a new pc every 2 months >>

i know folks like this, and i keep getting nice parts whenever they get new ones

MrCodeDude · Jul 30, 2001

I have a 600mhz PIII with 128mb RAM. Very close to adding 256mb RAM along with the 128mb, and plan on upgrading to a 1.2ghz T-Bird.
-- mrcodedude

How do people w/ the PII 450's 64mb ram not let the bug get them?

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