So where does the membership of Anandtech (video) stand on the PC owning persons and PC enthusiasts spectrum

[Polish3d]

Taking my own system for instance, when I go to check out the steam survey of gamers, I find that almost every component I have that is surveyed is above the top 1% (typically like .5%) of gamers surveyed.

Then I come here for instance, and the quality of systems is far higher. A system like mine is not uncommon at all.

Then I go to extremesystems.org and my system is at best "mainstream" for that group

So where do you think the AT community stands amongst the regular PC using public, gamers, and the enthusiasts?

I say AT (at least the video forum regulars) is probably at the upper end of the general enthusiast community, but not to the level of those you find at places like xtremesystems.org

But sometimes it impresses me how around here an X2/Opty at 2.7ghz + w/ 2 gigs of ram and an XTX/7900GTX card with a large screen LCD is fairly common, but in reality when you look at a survey of gamers by steam for instance, in reality the % of gamers with a system like that is literally less than 1%

 

[skooma]

Forum vs Forum? I think AT has some of the smartest buyers around. Yeah XS has some great stuff but when I read about kids waiting for thier Dad to wake so he can go get some more LN, well, its not my world.

 

[m21s]

Enthusiast here

 

[postmortemIA]

Poor Enthusiast here

 

[TheRyuu]

Well, Opty @ 2.75ghz here with dual 7900GT's (in SLI) vmodded to 700/1620.
I only have a 19in LCD (1280x1024) but I soon hope to get a VX2025. Nice, cheap, WS monitor.

Also a Poor Enthusiast

 

[skooma]

Originally posted by: wizboy11
Well, Opty @ 2.75ghz here with dual 7900GT's (in SLI) vmodded to 700/1620.
I only have a 19in LCD (1280x1024) but I soon hope to get a VX2025. Nice, cheap, WS monitor.

Also a Poor Enthusiast

sli with a 12x10 res?

hey, its your money

that just sounds odd. and then you oc the cards......

 

[kmmatney]

Bang for buck! I have all the power I need for now.

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally posted by: postmortemIA
Poor Enthusiast here

I hear ya there ... I always feel fortunate when I pull off a new build on a shoe-string budget. Its half the fun ... seeing how much bang you can get for your buck.

 

[dug777]

poor enthusiast here..AXp and 6600GT...

 

[PhoenixOrion]

but then again enthusiasts and gamers are two completely different groups.

the forums you mentioned are primarily for enthusiasts and "budget-conscious" enthusiasts.

in my own little world, its funny how my gamer friends would ask my enthusiast friends (people who read up and have the bleeding-edge stuff) on what to buy for their next gaming build.

 

[Keysplayr]

Heh, my heart says "uh-huh", but my wallet says "nuh-uh".

 

[Ackmed]

Any enthusiasts board is never the "norm". A simple look at the steam survey shows the average PC is something of an E-machine form years ago.

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion
but then again enthusiasts and gamers are two completely different groups.

I dont agree with this. You can be both, I believe I am. I dont have the time to play like I used to, but I still game several hours a week.

 

[Stumps]

hmmm, I'm an enthusiast who would have a better rig if I didn't own so many(8 on my network, a further 3 not on it).

but for the record my fastest rig is a A64 3000+@2.67Ghz, 6800GT, 1Gb ddr400, 2x 250gb SATA2 in raid 0...I think that puts me in the middle

 

[TanisHalfElven]

poor enthusiast here. i a very enthusiastic about new stuff. BUT I CAN'T AFFORD ANYTHING NEW

imo have a bazzillion core , terbyte ram, octa-tetra sli system does not make you an enthusiast. it make you rich. an enthusiast can be one on a sempron 2400+ (like a i used to be).

so i can consider my self an enthusiast and a gamer.

 

[Golgatha]

I'm an enthusiast, but I also just don't throw money at every new technology that comes out. If there isn't a value proposition in the purchase, then the purchase isn't made. I think my rig reflects this.

Pentium D 920 (2.8Ghz@4.01Ghz, 1148Mhz Quad FSB), X1900XT BIOS flashed to XTX, 2GB of Samsung ECC PC5300 DDR2 running 4,4,4,12 timings, NEC 3540A DVD Burner, 640GB RAID0 (2x320GB, SATAII, 16MB WD drives), and a SB X-Fi ExtremeMusic.

I love games and I do a lot of video editing. I'm sure everyone will knock the Intel chip, but I can play games just as well as the boys with a FX-62 and X1900 Crossfire for a whole lot less money and with a minimal IQ difference.

 

[Ika]

I think I win winner for poor enthusiast. 3-year-old $500 Dell system, but I read AT, used to read around 6-7 tech sites for reviews, got 3 subbies to computer magazines (free subbies, mind you!), and I borrow games from friends. The only thing I've indulged in is getting a new vid card, up from an MX420 to a 6800NU.

It sucks to be poor.

 

[nitromullet]

I think what makes you an enthusiast is not your gear, but your interest and knowledge. I think I would rate someone here running an AthlonXP rig that reads the tech sites and posts here more an enthusiast than some dude that just purchased a $4000 Alienware box becasue a buddy of his told him they were the "best".

Originally posted by: Ackmed
Any enthusiasts board is never the "norm". A simple look at the steam survey shows the average PC is something of an E-machine form years ago.

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion
but then again enthusiasts and gamers are two completely different groups.

I dont agree with this. You can be both, I believe I am. I dont have the time to play like I used to, but I still game several hours a week.

I agree with you. I think that many of us started as gamers, but in the course of being a gamer also became enthusiasts. That being said, I personally think that some enthusiasts on some sites really take it too far and the specs, performance, and benchmarks become something more important than the actual use of the computer. I just don't understand those guys at the top of the ORB with their LN2 rigs on test benches talking about how they got the rig to POST at a certain speed. AT forums to me seems more focused on bang for the buck, real world performance, stability, and usability.

 

[DeathReborn]

Enthusiast here, I just don't see much point in going extreme for short term gain (ie LN2 etc) I upgrade on either a 2 or a 3 year cycle (normally to the tune of £2,000). I build it myself & like nitromullet said, I buy midrange and turn it into higher end performance (like my 3500+ @ 2.7). While there are some things that might prompt me to upgrade mid cycle nothing in 2006 has made that happen so far.

To me an Enthusiast has a passion for Computing, doesn't matter if you have a 286 or Conroe, S3 Trio 3D/2X Virge or X1900XTX Crossfire, LCD or CRT all that matters is that you get the satisfaction & enjoyment out of it. Highest ORB scores, Overclocks etc are just Ego boosts but not a sign of being an enthusiast if you lack the passion for computing.

 

[996GT2]

Before I built this computer, I was definitely a poor enthusiast running on a Pentium 4 (non HT) Dell. I guess I'm just a cheap enthusiast now

 

[LittleNemoNES]

I'm a PC junkie. I'm not rich by any stretch but manage to save up and sell stuff to get the latest fast chips. It's a lot of fun for me. Maybe I'll lay off GPUs in the future because after Crysis, not much else gets my attention. Hope to do something fun with multi CPU systems.

 

[ayabe]

I would classify the people who frequent the Video forum to be "Smart Enthusiasts".

The vast majority of us are looking for the best performance for dollar, although we may frequently disagree on what choices to make, that is the general feeling I get. We discuss things in detail and try to inform each other to the best of our abilities. This is why this forum has been my go-to for years.

Most of us don't have unlimited budgets due to wifey and/or other contraints (like common sense).

The people at XS are looking for max performance, price no object, they don't care if they fry a $600 part.

 

[Ackmed]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

I agree with you. I think that many of us started as gamers, but in the course of being a gamer also became enthusiasts.

Hit the nail on the head for me. Thats exactly the case for me. I was a console gamer only. Then saw a friend play Moto Racer, and Jedi Knight, and I had to have a PC. I bought the parts, and he built it for me. My first upgrade was more ram, then a new CPU, then a new mobo. I did it all myself, thru lots of trial and error. Self taught I guess you could say, with help early on from various forums. It grew from there.

 

[secretanchitman]

i agree with deathreborn. i buy midrange/best bang for the buck and i turn it into higher-end stuff (2.4C @ 3.4Ghz was tops back in the day!).

but yes, i am a poor enthusiast. i bought the best bang for the buck components 3-4 years ago (p4 2.4C, asus p4p800, 512MB of pc4000 ram in dual-channel, etc), and now i just recently upgraded the video card and memory so it wouldnt be sluggish.

since core 2 duo is coming out very soon, i am definitely going to upgrade to that.

though i am very excited that new technology is on the horizon. core 2 duo, 65nm athlon64s... G80, X1950XT (whatever the hell ati is cooking up now), and all that good stuff.

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
I think what makes you an enthusiast is not your gear, but your interest and knowledge. I think I would rate someone here running an AthlonXP rig that reads the tech sites and posts here more an enthusiast than some dude that just purchased a $4000 Alienware box becasue a buddy of his told him they were the "best".

Originally posted by: Ackmed
Any enthusiasts board is never the "norm". A simple look at the steam survey shows the average PC is something of an E-machine form years ago.

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion
but then again enthusiasts and gamers are two completely different groups.

I dont agree with this. You can be both, I believe I am. I dont have the time to play like I used to, but I still game several hours a week.

I agree with you. I think that many of us started as gamers, but in the course of being a gamer also became enthusiasts. That being said, I personally think that some enthusiasts on some sites really take it too far and the specs, performance, and benchmarks become something more important than the actual use of the computer. I just don't understand those guys at the top of the ORB with their LN2 rigs on test benches talking about how they got the rig to POST at a certain speed. AT forums to me seems more focused on bang for the buck, real world performance, stability, and usability.

I agree. I started as a gamer and am now a gamer and enthusiast. So much reading and so little time. I used to have angst about the fact that I was actually reading more about hardware than actually playing games with the hardware I have, but Oblivion helped to cure that angst .

I've also started retro gaming a lot more too. I'm so glad I kept all my Total Annihilation discs, expansions, etc. and even have a couple hundred megs worth of downloaded maps (I shudder to think that I downloaded all that over 28.8 modem, but I digress).

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: Ackmed

Originally posted by: nitromullet

I agree with you. I think that many of us started as gamers, but in the course of being a gamer also became enthusiasts.

Hit the nail on the head for me. Thats exactly the case for me. I was a console gamer only. Then saw a friend play Moto Racer, and Jedi Knight, and I had to have a PC. I bought the parts, and he built it for me. My first upgrade was more ram, then a new CPU, then a new mobo. I did it all myself, thru lots of trial and error. Self taught I guess you could say, with help early on from various forums. It grew from there.

Mine was more like, I bought a computer to use for college (yes college) work and then had a friend invite me to a LAN party. I had to buy a NIC to go to the LAN...this was the first of many big purchases to come . The friend who brought me to the LAN showed me the ropes of building computers, then I started reading a lot on the Intarweb, and now he asks me what he should buy for his next build. Funny thing is, he ended up an IT admin and I'm a chemist. Go figure!

Edit: Being a chemist, maybe I just love manipulating electrons. I also have rather large home theatre and car stereo setups...maybe I just have a need for more e-penis