Staying in the last generation...

[angry hampster]

So I've been thinking as a gamer, there's really not much of a reason for me to upgrade anything right now.


My system specs are:

E6420 ES @ 2.99GHz
P35-DS3L motherboard
8800GT with Zalman VF900
6GB DDR2 800
Vista Ultimate 64


So I read the reviews all the time, and I know that the 4870 and GTX cards will get substantially better framerates than what I'm getting now. However, I don't feel limited. I game on a 1920x1200 monitor and everything runs smoothly. Above 30fps, everything looks the same, so why bother?


Is now a better time than ever to live in the past?

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: angry hampster
So I've been thinking as a gamer, there's really not much of a reason for me to upgrade anything right now.


My system specs are:

E6420 ES @ 2.99GHz
P35-DS3L motherboard
8800GT with Zalman VF900
6GB DDR2 800
Vista Ultimate 64


So I read the reviews all the time, and I know that the 4870 and GTX cards will get substantially better framerates than what I'm getting now. However, I don't feel limited. I game on a 1920x1200 monitor and everything runs smoothly. Above 30fps, everything looks the same, so why bother?


Is now a better time than ever to live in the past?

Pretty much, yeah. It's fun getting new stuff but it's much more economical to replace components every 2-3 generations. And then when you do upgrade, it's more significant and noticeable.

I think the biggest thing to keep in mind when considering whether you want to upgrade or not is, is there anything you can't do now that you really wish you could do? If so, go ahead and get new parts. If not (or if your answer is "meh"), save your money. Every month you put off buying new stuff is another month's worth of increased performance and decreased prices for when you do eventually upgrade.

 

[Barfo]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca

Originally posted by: angry hampster
So I've been thinking as a gamer, there's really not much of a reason for me to upgrade anything right now.


My system specs are:

E6420 ES @ 2.99GHz
P35-DS3L motherboard
8800GT with Zalman VF900
6GB DDR2 800
Vista Ultimate 64


So I read the reviews all the time, and I know that the 4870 and GTX cards will get substantially better framerates than what I'm getting now. However, I don't feel limited. I game on a 1920x1200 monitor and everything runs smoothly. Above 30fps, everything looks the same, so why bother?


Is now a better time than ever to live in the past?

Pretty much, yeah. It's fun getting new stuff but it's much more economical to replace components every 2-3 generations. And then when you do upgrade, it's more significant and noticeable.

I think the biggest thing to keep in mind when considering whether you want to upgrade or not is, is there anything you can't do now that you really wish you could do? If so, go ahead and get new parts. If not (or if your answer is "meh"), save your money. Every month you put off buying new stuff is another month's worth of increased performance and decreased prices for when you do eventually upgrade.

This. Plus, I can run last year-s games with all the eye candy right out of the box and cheaper than at launch time.

 

[imported_wired247]

I like the OP's point... staying in last generation is clearly the economical choice right now. last generation hardware can run just about any game at just about max settings at modest resolutions, (except it seems nearly impossible to get crysis / warhead to run at >60fps all the time with all the eye candy turned on)



Although, OP, your assessment that >30FPS is enough for you... well that is pretty conservative. I really appreciate when games run at >60fps all the time... gaming with vsync also makes me a lot happier and vsync looks the best at 60fps obviously.

 

[Denithor]

If it's comfortable for you - absolutely no need to upgrade ATM.

When it starts feeling sluggish - then you upgrade.

And, as already mentioned, the longer you wait, the more performance you're going to get for your dollar. New hardware will be released, offering higher performance & older gear will drop in cost so you can choose to save some bucks or get higher performance than was available previously.

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: angry hampster
Above 30fps, everything looks the same, so why bother?

False. If you think playing Counter-Strike or Quake 3 looks the same when you get 200fps or just 30, you've gone bonkers, my friend.

EDIT: I know there will be nay-sayers chiming in shortly, but here's something you can read to understand the limitations, or lack thereof, of the human eye.

 

[mindless1]

Even looking at a video you can see the difference between 30 and 50FPS (progressive). Main thing to remember is it's the minimum FPS that matters, if speaking avg. of 60FPS the minimum is probably low enough you notice every now and then.