When did you give up on keeping up to date with computer hardware knowledge?

[charliebrown]

hmmmm so this is why semiconductor stocks are in the tank.....:Q

 

[coolVariable]

almost 2 years ago ... I just didn't notice that much of a difference between my machines and newer ones.
Also I pretty much stopped gaming.

 

[gogeeta13]

I have built my PCs since my XT 8088...

I really got into gamming and all that hardware stuff when i went from my P2-233 to a 440BX with pentium 3 500. I would read articles and magazine for hours everyday, I worked for 2 big techsites, and 2 smaller startup ones...from there I was crazy about it until I made my current system over a year ago. A combination of lack of general interest in whats new, no more time to game, and no more disposable $1000 to spend every 6-8 months has pretty much put me in a position where I probably won't upgrade for another good year or so. At this point, all I really need more of is HDD space...

I mean, what can't I do with a XP 1600+, 512DDR, Geforce 3, 80GB 7200 worth of HDDs, sb live! card, 24x burner, 16x dvd? Though, now that i think of it, I will buy a DVD burner when i can get it for $100. I have lots of home movies and stuff that I would love to have on DVD.

edit: oh yeah, and my addicted ass also made a LAN box and server too...

lan box: tbird 850, 512 SDR, geforce 3, 30gig 7200, sb live ( i stilll go to a monthly lan party, and i bring this, but I always find myself lost in all these new games, like wc3, bf1942, etc. I just am used to good old CS, q3, UT, etc)
server: duron 750, 256 sdr, onbaord video, 30gig 7200, onboard sound(only boot it up to print to my laser printer, or to drag files over to keep backups of important files on all my LAN machines...

 

[Paulson]

I've gotten more away from the hardware aspect of computers, to the actual networking and server type projects...

I get bored with stuff after a while, but I'm always willing to learn new stuff.

 

[LongCoolMother]

started years ago whe nmy dad finally gave me permission to upgrade my computer. really got into it for a while, but now, stopped following most things. occasionally video cards, but not really much at all.

 

[Chaotic42]

It's the same old crap now. Once you know how to build a PC, it's pretty straight forward. Nothing exciting or truly innovative has come out lately. I think the best times were during the P2 vs K6 days.

Not to mention that games aren't pushing the systems, and there are very few decent games anyway.

 

[T2T III]

There's a point of diminishing returns, after which, you jsut pour money into the thing and don't really notice any improvement.

That's correct. However, at least hardware prices are better now than they were 6 or 7 years ago. My 75 MHz Intel Pentium CPU was $339 and about 2 weeks later, I upgraded to the 100 MHz model for $500 ($339 in credit was applied to the $500 price.)

I still stay semi-current with my hardware knowledge. I don't maintain the knowledge only for my own use though - but, if a friend, family member or former co-worker has a question or two, I'm usually able to provide some form of response to them.

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Red, it's not about the physical construction of it... it's getting the perfect motherboard, the CPU with the serial number that you know will overclock

Spend an hour at a Hardware site and you will know all you need to know. Let me ammend my statement ..A trained Monkey that can read.

amy like pepsi

 

[Keego]

When I got my laptop in September of 2001

 

[silent tone]

I sort-of stopped around 1998. I worked at tech support then and would read as many tech sites as I could. When I worked the graveyard shift, I could spend about 97% of my time surfing the web. Knowing ins and outs of every chipset and memory setting isn't as important to me now.

I do follow the bigger changes, when rambus was introduced, serial ata, hammer, etc. Envynews keeps me about as up to date as I want to be.

 

[Dragnov]

I usually skim over most articles. Look at a few benchmarks and the conclusion. Only times I read everything is if I'm looking at buying parts and look up for articles relating to it. Most of the time you just get the knowledge anyways by just participating in these forums. Tech support, hot deals, fs/ft, etc... they usually contain an overview already.

 

[hans007]

i've been up to date with its sincei was like 10 years old. i'm 21 now, and i dont really see myself not reading about new developments any time soon. i dont think i muck with my hardware, and overclock like i used to anymore, since its pointless. but i'll stay up to date i'm sure.