I think I might get out of pc gaming, a little too expensive

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

The most expensive thing on my rig is the X1900XT (got it back in early March for ~$335 from Dell).
It's basically around the level of the XB360 and PS3 GPUs, so PC gaming only becomes expensive if you must constantly stay on the cutting edge.
You're not telling me that I can no longer use my card when the next ATi/AMD/nVIDIA hung-like-a-horse edition card comes out are you?

 

[waggy]

I have slowed down a LOT i used to upgrade every 6-9 months. its been nearly 3 years since my last upgrade.

 

[Trikat]

I don't buy the newest card, it is all about buying what is the best value and that means being patient. For example the 7900 GTO was such a good performance/$ ratio as it could be OCed to GTX speed for a lot of the cards.
SLI/crossfire is a complete rip off as it eats so much more power (good PSU), 2x the cards = 2x the cost, and you need a SLI/crossfire mobo. That is soley for the enthusiasts who have deep wallets or large bank accounts...
I haven't even upgraded to Conroe yet!!! Because I found out that CPU processing doesn't really affect gaming too much so why not just stick with a real cheap AMD dual core?
It's fairly easy to make a computer last about 2 years before having to upgrade. The only thing you need to upgrade almost every year or 1.5 years is the video card.
I'd prefer PC gaming vs console gaming for now, but I can see how console gaming is far more "cheaper."

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Originally posted by: Trikat
I don't buy the newest card, it is all about buying what is the best value and that means being patient. For example the 7900 GTO was such a good performance/$ ratio as it could be OCed to GTX speed for a lot of the cards.

That's the key right there, although an exception was made for the X1900XT (where else could you get it for freakin' $335 back in March?!!?)
I skimped on other things (Socket-754, 2GHz Venice, Audigy 2 ZS, etc.)

 

[sniperruff]

you don't need top of the line stuff for gaming... i use a 9550SE and an AXP 1700+ for HL2 and it runs ok if i turn off eye candy.

 

[clickynext]

Yup, I switched to doing mainly PS2 gaming about three years ago. $200 CAD for the console/accessories, and $200 CAD for all the used games I've bought. Lots of entertainment, for what a good video card would cost.

I still play PC games occasionally, but none of the newest, graphically advanced stuff.

 

[doze]

The money I spent upgrading CPU, Vid card and memory last year should have been spent on a 360 which would be more useful than current my hardware. I was trying to get back into PC gaming after a lapse of several years and forgot how much fun it wasn't to load rivers, tweaking settings etc.. just to play a game. Then god forbid you have to format your machine and it takes an hour reinstall and load and patch and update each game and authenticate steam passwords and blah blah blah.

 

[flexy]

Originally posted by: Smartazz
I started playing my xbox 360 recently, I've had it all year, but I never really played it much. With the rising cost of pc gaming, it doesn't make much sense to keep pc gaming, granted I'll always prefer pc gaming over console gaming it seems. I might just buy an 8800GTS next year and that'll be it for my pc gaming hobby. Anyone else here do the same?

i'd rather get a better paying job and then get REALLY *more* INTO PC gaming, w/ 4 8800GTX in quad and whatever cool hardware is out there

Also..you make it sound the 8800 is the frst time a pretty expensive part came out....but AFAIK it's not. It might be most expensive TODAY...but that ^@%% gets cheaper all the time. A year or so ago a X1900XT was horrible expensive too...and now you can get it for under $200.

Every year the same game....really...i remember people popping insane sums on cards like a X850XT PE on ebay..$700...$800...so...what else is new ?

give up PC gaming ? I dont think so

 

[Slew Foot]

Once I get the Wii, it will largely signal the end of my PC gaming days.

 

[flexy]

Originally posted by: Slew Foot
Once I get the Wii, it will largely signal the end of my PC gaming days.

until people see Alan Wake, Crysis, UT2K7

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Aflac
I game on old hardware. Problem solved.

Same here. :thumbsup:

Staying 2 years behind is REALLY cheap.

Agreed, not to mention by then the stuff you're buying has matured a lot, is cheap, and there are tons of reviews out making it even easier to buy the right thing.

 

[Zugzwang152]

I've moved to MMO gaming so I don't have to constantly upgrade. Since the requirements, especially GPU, rise much slower than an FPS it basically allows me to upgrade as my budget really is able to support. In the past 2 years, all I've done is upgrade from a 9800 Pro to a 6600GT, and that was only because the 9800 died.

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
PC gaming is dirt cheap as long as you don't have to get every game the week it comes out. Play games that are a year old. You can buy them for $10 instead of $50-$60 and by that time their hardware requirements are easier to meet too. The only way PC gaming is hard on the wallet is if your ego demands you stay on the cutting edge and you get stuck on the constant cycle of needing to upgrade your box in order to play the new stuff. Besides, games that are a year old have already had 6 or 7 patches and are better than the new ones.

Ding, ding, ding! We have a WINNAR!

I wish I had figured that out about ten years ago, then I would have a lot more money right now!

 

[state 08]

I'm still running a ATI 9800pro.

I play CSS, and just got COD2 from a friend.

 

[imported_goku]

I don't understand people who think that it costs $2K to upgrade or build a new system, maybe a really high end system? And if it really is *that high end* then technically it should be able to play games for at least 4-5 years before needing some sort of upgrade. That upgrade that you need to be able to play that "killer game", may not play at the "best settings" but then again, this is the same thing with your console. You can build a killer system for $1k for one thing...

Your console can't play games at full fidelity like on the PC (PS2 for example, games look like shat compared to the PC counterpart for the most part today).

You'll at the very minimum, be able to play your games, just not at its "best quality". But because you want to play it at its best quality, that is why you have to upgrade opposed to being artificially tagged along with the console.

Look at the system requirements for BF2, 1.7GHZ P4/AMD, 512MB Ram, Radeon 8500... Last time I checked, that would be about a 4 year old system. (Assuming its '05 since that was when the game was released) Now a year has passed and your system can't play an even newer game, giving it a 5 year cycle... (Making say Unreal '07 the game that makes you upgrade.)

So what do you do? You upgrade your Processor and video card. So you slap down maybe at most $200 for the processor and again, at most $200 for the video card. $400 for the upgrade, but say you're now running a 2.8 and a X800XT (X850XT if you got that microcenter thing). Now you can run your newest game at VERY GOOD settings and it should last you 3 more years with possibly a cheap ram upgrade down the road.

Now, Say you don't/can't upgrade the processor in your board, and you don't want to get an AGP video card, well then you can get a PCIe video card/board, new processor and that?s about it, so you spent about $500/$700/$1000[depending on what video card you consider ?sufficient? (X1900XTX SLI anyone?)] for that upgrade and not $2K because you can keep all your other components.

So I don't really see why people are complaining about all the upgrading, when it's practically the same as it is with the console... At least you can extend the life and improve the quality of your games when you get an upgrade, unlike the consoles where if a game is released for it, it's really not going to look better on a newer console, unlike PCs where it almost ALWAYS looks better.

 

[PricklyPete]

I stopped PC gaming a while ago...I have a lot more important expenses in my life. A console (currently Xbox 360) is much easier to justify.

All I use my computer for is photography work and internet usage. I won't need to upgrade my computer (which is already over 2 years old) for quite a while given my needs.

 

[Smartazz]

Alright, thanks for your help guys. I used to game on a geforce 2 before I got the 7800GT. The geforce 2 definatly showwed its age by 2005. So I did play games at bare minimum settings. One thing that drove me crazy about doing that was the frame rate lags even when the graphics were all the way down and when they were all the way down the game wasn't worth playing. I think I might start buying midrange from now on, but how is the value on mid range equiptment?

 

[j00fek]

ill stick with pc gaming

 

[newmachineoverlord]

Originally posted by: dudeman007
Rising cost of PC gaming? Not really...the brand new hardware has usually always cost about the same. If you want rising costs...you're looking at consoles. GG PS3

When I first built a computer so I'd be able to play starcraft broodwars, the fastest, top of the line graphics card was the hercules tnt2, which cost $150. Does 150 still get you a high end graphics card? The fastest cpu then was the $40 celeron 366, which overclocked easily to 550Mhz with decent cooling, and performed about the same as the overpriced 550Mhz Pentium III. High end components have certainly increased in price. Low end components on the other hand have dramatically increased in quality, since nowadays integrated graphics sometimes uses half decent graphics chipsets and can be upgraded via the AGP slot. Socket A is where the real hot deals are on computers. The other sockets are still overpriced. Only when ddr ram production is largely displaced by ddr2 will the newer sockets have economic relevance to the true bargain hunter.

That said, the best way to play pc games is to stay three or more years behind the cutting edge. You can generally get the same quality of hardware for .1-.5 times the cost. I have integrated geforce4mx video, and have not yet found a game I desired to play that it couldn't handle. I won't upgrade again until after the starcraft 2 expansion comes out and they have a starcraft 1 and 2 package with both games and both expansions. (I lost my starcraft cd key so I can't play online.) Also, three year old software tends to cost half as much. Five year old software tends to cost $10 or less. It is bottom feeders like me that enable you addicts to recoup some of your losses by selling your used dvd's and gamecube games at electronics boutique.

 

[Hossenfeffer]

Originally posted by: Aflac
I game on old hardware. Problem solved.

QFT

Toss in playing games that are months (or years) "old", and you've got yourself a cheap habit.

 

[Chaotic42]

It's fairly expensive, but this is the first time that PCs have been really interesting or exciting in a long time. I'd really like to see nVidia and ATI get on the ball, though. They need to minimalize their designs.

 

[Stuxnet]

The hardware isn't the problem for me, it's the boring, sh*tty games. Company of Heroes is the only game in the last year that I've really cared much about (great game, BTW). Next year it will be UT2k7. Other than that, I'm not playing.

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: Aflac
I game on old hardware. Problem solved.

Me too.

I am still running an ATI Radeon 9800Pro that I picked up for around $100. Had it for 1.5 years or so and will keep it for a long time. It manages all the games I play very well (in fact better than I have ever had before) so I am happy.

Besides I tend to play RPGs and they are measurably better on the PC than on any console I have played.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: jbourne77
The hardware isn't the problem for me, it's the boring, sh*tty games. Company of Heroes is the only game in the last year that I've really cared much about (great game, BTW). Next year it will be UT2k7. Other than that, I'm not playing.

I agree. It's very disappointing to walk down the games aisle. I think that multiplayer madness has ruined video games.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
PC gaming is dirt cheap as long as you don't have to get every game the week it comes out. Play games that are a year old. You can buy them for $10 instead of $50-$60 and by that time their hardware requirements are easier to meet too. The only way PC gaming is hard on the wallet is if your ego demands you stay on the cutting edge and you get stuck on the constant cycle of needing to upgrade your box in order to play the new stuff. Besides, games that are a year old have already had 6 or 7 patches and are better than the new ones.

:thumbsup: You took the words right out of my mouth. When I clicked on the thread I was planning to type that exact same thing.