How much longer is my system going to be a decent pc gamer?

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I'm buying another house and my wife and I agree that the constant upgrading has to stop. So basically the gaming rig I have is the gaming rig I'll have for a long time. My rig is in sig. What would you guys guess how long my rig will still be a decent gamer? Also what can I expect as far as BF3 goes?

 

[houe]

LOL. Who wears the pants in that household?

 

[mnewsham]

It should be fine for about 5 years, it wont be maxing out games in 5 years, but it should still be playable at medium to low settings in 1080p. (@60hz)

 

[spinejam]

4 years max. Think of 8800gtx users right now. Decent longevity in the 'puter world.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Do what I do -- I use a reward credit card for bills and daily expenses and then use the rewards for "fun" stuff like PC upgrades.

That rig will be good for 4 to 5 years, I'd guess. The rig in my sig can still play most things very well and it is 3.5 years old and will probably be able to play most games for the next couple of years.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

LOL. Who wears the pants in that household?

I'm betting my 2nd pc is better than your main pc. So that must mean your wife not only wears the pants but also keeps your balls in a case and let's you have them back periodically.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Do what I do -- I use a reward credit card for bills and daily expenses and then use the rewards for "fun" stuff like PC upgrades.

That rig will be good for 4 to 5 years, I'd guess. The rig in my sig can still play most things very well and it is 3.5 years old and will probably be able to play most games for the next couple of years.

That's a good idea. I do get rewards for paying bills and gas. I guess that's my fun money. Will take a lot of rewards to upgrade a pc though but building a super budget build and making it a decent gamer would be fun as hell.

 

[ieatdonuts]

Someone's mad, lol

It's up to you how long this lasts. If you really stretch you will be able to play stuff for 4+ years.

 

[Red Storm]

If money is a concern, you probably shouldn't have bought a Direct CU II 580...

Your system should be more than fine for the foreseeable future.

 

[mnewsham]

That's a good idea. I do get rewards for paying bills and gas. I guess that's my fun money. Will take a lot of rewards to upgrade a pc though but building a super budget build and making it a decent gamer would be fun as hell.

In general hardware we do that everyday.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

If money is a concern, you probably shouldn't have bought a Direct CU II 580...

Your system should be more than fine for the foreseeable future.

But but.. they had a giant ad on the box about how it is an overclocking and overvolting beast. I've been had.

Money is not tight like that thankfully. Just looking to be more conservative in the future. The computer stuff was never really that expensive. The friggin motorcycles are what really sent the wife into a fit.

 

[Grooveriding]

If you're playing games at 1920x1080, the difference between a 580 and say a 560 would not be that dramatic. Just buy mid-range if cost is becoming an issue. You won't notice the difference.. that much

 

[nitromullet]

Do what I do -- I use a reward credit card for bills and daily expenses and then use the rewards for "fun" stuff like PC upgrades.

That rig will be good for 4 to 5 years, I'd guess. The rig in my sig can still play most things very well and it is 3.5 years old and will probably be able to play most games for the next couple of years.

MAIN: E8400 @ 4 Ghz | Rampage Formula | G.Skill 8 GB DDR2 1066 | WD6400AAKS 640GB | HD6870 | Cosmos S | Dell U2410 and 2001fp | Windows 7 x64 Enterprise

I think he's talking about how long it will last without upgrading.

Although, you do make a good point about the rewards card. What it really boils down to is having a plan in place that will allow you to upgrade/buy stuff that you want responsibly. I personally have a set amount I set aside from each paycheck that is mine to spend on on whatever I want. It works out well because I know what my available funds will be so I can plan for purchases.

Your post also makes another good point that shows how difficult it is to truly answer the OP's question. You appear to be happy gaming with a Radeon 6870, and the OP is worried about the longevity of his GTX 580. I'd imagine that your standards for what the two of you consider "decent gaming" differs.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Console ports aren't all that intense. I have zero issues gaming on my ghetto Phenom... you'll be fine.

 

[ieatdonuts]

I still game on a PC that has a Radeon X300 SE for some low-intensive titles like Team Fortress 2 and Quake Live.

 

[Fallengod]

You are crazy. That is a top end PC. I still run a Core2Duo Oc'd @ 2.9ghz with 4gb of ddr2 memory and a 9800GT(died recently) and have for about the past 3-4 years. I have no problem gaming or doing anything on it. It is plenty fast for everything I do and resolutions I play at. Your PC is significantly faster than mine and your wondering how long it will last? Geez...

 

[bryanW1995]

That's a good idea. I do get rewards for paying bills and gas. I guess that's my fun money. Will take a lot of rewards to upgrade a pc though but building a super budget build and making it a decent gamer would be fun as hell.

You can save up rewards and upgrade incrementally in a few years. It will probably be several years before you feel any need at all, when you do it will be easy to spring for $150-$200 for a 2nd gtx 580 or maybe sell the i7 rig and snag a new mobo/cpu for a couple hundred or so.

edit: of course, plan B would be to sell your WIFE when it's time to upgrade...

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

5 years or so. Like another poster above said, you have to look at the high-end graphics cards from that time. The 8800GTX can still play most games at a min of 30 FPS at 1680x1050 and medium settings with 2xAA or so.

 

[Barfo]

19 months.

 

[sandorski]

Obsolete already. :thumbsdown:


Srsly though, 4-5 years easily. Totally dependent on you though and your expectations, so who knows?

 

[ElFenix]

in a few years the new consoles will come out and presumably kick the pc port requirements up a bit.

 

[taltamir]

in a few years the new consoles will come out and presumably kick the pc port requirements up a bit.

Yes.
Console ports have yet to make me feel the need to upgrade from a GTX260 simply because they are so weak, they are from the anemic PS3 or xbox2 (360)

but in 2 years you would have new consoles. Sure, they would be a year and a half behind PC hardware the day they come out, but right now they are 6+ years behind.

 

[VirtualLarry]

in a few years the new consoles will come out and presumably kick the pc port requirements up a bit.

Pfft. LLano is probably faster than his rig.

Spoiler

(kidding)

 

[greenhawk]

I'd say 4 years.

cpu is basically already their seeing as it's replacement is due in a few months, but most games are still console ports with low depand. It is only now that game manufactures are looking at PC again as they feel (well, they say), they have reached the limit of the hardware (consoles). But then given at least a 3 year turn around for software, that is still a while off yet. by then you would expect the better/new consoles to be out anyway.

For general use though, I suspect you can get near 6 years out of it. Espically as a SSD gives a responsiveness far inexcess of CPU power.

On a side note. If buying a new house and need that upgrade money to make ends meet, I think your oversteaching yourself somewhat. If just for extra re-payments, then I withdraw my comment.

 

[gevorg]

Will constant shopping for shoes/etc stop too? Use your wife's non-necessity spendings as negotiation tool.