working mans guide "how to finance a high end gaming habit." :)

[happy medium]

After years of putting up with "walls of texts" on" why we have paid to much in the past for our cards, or are paying to much for our video cards now, yesterday, last week, because the die size is too small, its not high end, its runs too cool, don't use enough power, or because we didn't pay that much for a ti4800 11 years ago, ect ect ect ect ect .

I decided to give a short lesson on how not to pay to much for your video cards and still game at high settings at decent framerates and use the latest gear with the latest features.

First you need to start with a good gaming rig. Mabe mommy bought it for you, mabe a gift from your wife/girlfriend, or you got a good tax return. Anyway you need to start with a good rig.
Lets say 6 years ago you bought a 2600k system and you know how to overclock and you got it to 4.6.
Nice 500 watt psu, cool case, 8gb memory, a nice all around system.

Any man with a job can/should be able to afford a high end, latest features, videocard each generation, or about every 2 years.

No one should have to buy a card and keep it for 4 or 5 years.
If they do, they are not a serious gamer or hobbyist.

This is how to stay at the high end for $.75 a day or less.

Let me tell you a story. I'll call it.....

"The story of $.75 and a video gamer"

Happpy medium surfs newegg in March of 2012 for a fast brand new video card. He was disappointed with the $500 gtx480 power hog his wife bought in March 2010. He has saved .75 a day for 2 years and saved $547.50 and sold his gtx480 to some sucker for $200. He has $747.50 in March 2012 to buy a brand new gtx680 that he read on Anandtech was "retaking the performance crown" ( http://www.anandtech.com/show/5699/nvidia-geforce-gtx-680-review ) So he pays the $500 for the gtx680 and he is happy knowing he can crank the settings with a card that has the latest features and is not a power hungry beast.
and he has $247.50 left over for his next card.

Well here it is only 14 months later he again reads on ANandtech that there is a new card, the gtx780, what they describe as "the new high end" ( http://www.anandtech.com/show/6973/nvidia-geforce-gtx-780-review ).
Well he has been saving his $.75 a day for the last 14 months ($315), has the $247.50 left over from last generation and has a buyer for his gtx680 for a real cheap $250. Now he has $812.50 but no gaming card. So he surfs over to Newegg and buys the best gtx780 he can get for $650. He again has high end performance and $162.50 left over for his next "high end" card.

October 28 2013, AMD has a new card called the 290x that was released 6 months after his gtx780 and is as fast or a bit faster but runs hot. Happy says no way am I buying the 290x, its only 4% faster than my card and costs $550!!!.
( http://www.anandtech.com/show/7457/the-radeon-r9-290x-review/12 )

He reads of a $750 gtx780ti but he is happy with his performance, he just bought his new gtx780 card and still is @ 1080p resolution.

Now he has had his gtx780 for 16 months (Sept. 2014) and once again he was reading Anandtech about a new $550 low power superfast card called the gtx980. ( http://www.anandtech.com/show/8526/nvidia-geforce-gtx-980-review/14 ) He still has $162.50 left over from his last card, he sells his gtx780 for a cheap $250 and still has been saving his $.75 a day for the past 16 months ($360). Total money for a new card $772.50. He buys the gtx980 for $550.
He enjoys top notch performance once again and has $222 left over.

He hears of a new AMD card the 390x, it only sells for $429 but sees its not an upgrade from his card.
He also watches a gtx980ti card sell for $650 but is happy with his performance because he finds that the gtx980 overclocks like a champ.

Now 20 months after he bought his gtx980 a new card called the $650 gtx1080 comes out , its much faster than his gtx980 and he needs the extra power because his wife bought him a 1440p monitor for Christmas. Happy is moving up in the world.
He takes the $222 he had left over from the last purchase,he has been saving $.75 a day for 20 months ($450), and sells his gtx980 for a cheap $250.
He has $922 dollars for the $650 gtx1080. At 1440p resolution his gtx1080 serves him well he is happy and still has $272 in his pocket and will save $.75 a day for a new Volta card in about 18 months when he sells his gtx1080.

the end.

That's how you always play games at the high end for $.75 a day.

Now can we please stop the walls of text about how we paid too much for our cards now or 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 years ago?
Anyone!, even a 12 year old can save $.75 a day for a video card, and play at the high end. AND have money left over.

Why do I have a gtx960 4gb? because I game on a big 1080p TV 7 feet away, and I'm happy with the games I play at high settings 40 to 60 fps but I'm getting ready to upgrade my entire system soon. I just bought Deus x mankind and its killing my gpu.

I could have used the gtx670, gtx770, gtx970 and gtx1070 and had over $900 left over and still been in the high end.

I don't know about you guys, but if I look at the same video card in my case for more than 2 years I start getting a nervous tick, start foaming at the mouth, I need a new card.

So what do you think? Can anyone afford $.75 a day?
How do you buy cards?
Do you sell your old cards ?
DO you just take the money out of the bank and say F it, I work hard, I deserve it?

Would you rather have a card with the latest features, lower power draw , better overclocking, that comes with always having a "newer" card or the same card sitting in your case that's always a little slower, hotter, but cheaper.
Why settle for cheaper,? for $.75 a day you can be at the top!

What's your method to stay at the high end without breaking the bank?

 

[jackstar7]

You started with a $500 480 that you made last for 2 years.

I'm not saying your strategy is bad or your results are wanting, but you're skipping the part where you have to not game for two years to save up for that first card...

I think people who complain about the cost of a high-end card often have valid reasons. It is their money and they want what they purchase to meet or exceed that value that money could have towards other things.

You can choose to be dismissive of their complaints, but as consumers, they get to be satisfied or dissatisfied if that is their experience. You can't just wave a hand and say those experiences are invalid.

 

[happy medium]

You started with a $500 480 that you made last for 2 years.

I'm not saying your strategy is bad or your results are wanting, but you're skipping the part where you have to not game for two years to save up for that first card...

did you miss these parts?
"
First you need to start with a good gaming rig. Mabe mommy bought it for you, mabe a gift from your wife/girlfriend, or you got a good tax return. Anyway you need to start with a good rig.
Lets say 6 years ago you bought a 2600k system and you know how to overclock and you got it to 4.6.
Nice 500 watt psu, cool case, 8gb memory, a nice all around system."

"He was disappointed with the $500 gtx480 power hog his wife bought in March 2010"

 

[jackstar7]

did you miss these parts?
"
First you need to start with a good gaming rig. Mabe mommy bought it for you, mabe a gift from your wife/girlfriend, or you got a good tax return. Anyway you need to start with a good rig.
Lets say 6 years ago you bought a 2600k system and you know how to overclock and you got it to 4.6.
Nice 500 watt psu, cool case, 8gb memory, a nice all around system."

"He was disappointed with the $500 gtx480 power hog his wife bought in March 2010"

I didn't miss them, but I feel like you ignore how that starting point isn't just a snap of the fingers for most people.

 

[happy medium]

I didn't miss them, but I feel like you ignore how that starting point isn't just a snap of the fingers for most people.

I know I started with a Quantex Pent II 233, with a 4mb Riva 128 card. I think?

Credit card, tax return, second job for a month. you need a good starting point.
Most grown adults can afford $1,200 for a good starting rig.
Or find a new hobby.

 

[nFen]

You can make a card last quite a while by turning off useless settings. It isn't difficult to play games at near max settings with mid-range cards. Just need to wait a bit while they optimise the games better or turn down some post processing. IMO it is poor optimisations that is making it "seem" difficult to game at higher settings and forcing people into the upper echelons of GPU tiers. I understand why some people are vocal about price hikes in the high end which is why I myself bought both a 480 and a 1060. Prices where I am from (Australia) are ridiculous.

 

[casiofx]

You can make a card last quite a while by turning off useless settings. It isn't difficult to play games at near max settings with mid-range cards. Just need to wait a bit while they optimise the games better or turn down some post processing. IMO it is poor optimisations that is making it "seem" difficult to game at higher settings and forcing people into the upper echelons of GPU tiers. I understand why some people are vocal about price hikes in the high end which is why I myself bought both a 480 and a 1060. Prices where I am from (Australia) are ridiculous.

Very true.
There are so many games where changing the settings from ultra high to very high and resulted in 30% more fps or more, and very little difference in visual quality

 

[happy medium]

You can make a card last quite a while by turning off useless settings. It isn't difficult to play games at near max settings with mid-range cards. Just need to wait a bit while they optimise the games better or turn down some post processing. IMO it is poor optimisations that is making it "seem" difficult to game at higher settings and forcing people into the upper echelons of GPU tiers. I understand why some people are vocal about price hikes in the high end which is why I myself bought both a 480 and a 1060. Prices where I am from (Australia) are ridiculous.

I don't see much difference from high settings to ultra settings.
I don't need 80fps or 4k resolution. I can't tell the difference between 50 and 80 fps. I game 7 feet from my TV , I don't think 4k will look much different than 1080p to me either.

I currently play Forza Horizon 3 at 60fps high settings, Deus X Mankind ~ 50fps med/high settings, Call of Duty Infinite Warfare 50fps+ high settings.
I recently finished Rise of the Tomb Raider high settings ~ 60 fps.
I will play BF1 @ 50fps+ at high settings, my next purchase.
All good games that play smooth and at a good level of detail.

I'm going to buy a gtx 1060 card soon, that should get me by for another year or so @ 1080p. Then I'll buy a Next gen card, Volta. Mabe then move to a 4k TV in 2018.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Incremental upgrades are generally not super-expensive.

The full-platform replacement/rebuild will be pricier. Also this assumes that the rest of the rig is still 2012-spec (no SSDs, 8GB of RAM, etc.)

Honestly, I've probably spent more on progressively faster storage over the years than on GPUs.

And, no, "anybody ought to be able to afford ____" is not how you address that. That's some "why can't poor people just buy more money?"-level stuff.

Finally, $0.75 a day is $22.50 a month, which actually does matter to people. (Phone or electric bills are a similar order of magnitude. Or it's a drug copay. Etc.)

 

[happy medium]

Finally, $0.75 a day is $22.50 a month, which actually does matter to people. (Phone or electric bills are a similar order of magnitude. Or it's a drug copay. Etc.)

In New York it cost $22 for a ticket to see a movie.
I dont think people should be gaming if they can't afford to save $.75 a day for a video card .
They have bigger problems.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

In New York it cost $22 for a ticket to see a movie.
I think that people that can't afford to save $.75 a day for a video card should be gaming.
They have bigger problems.

Affordable gaming rigs (like the one in your sig) are, overall, pretty cheap entertainment.

Simplest explanation here is that you're trolling.

 

[casiofx]

Even a full set of computer (excludes perioherals) is not that expensive, you don't need to get high end computers to play games. For example you could get a computer with i5 and gtx1060 for less than $700.
The incremental upgrade for this system is even more cheaper

 

[XavierMace]

Finally, $0.75 a day is $22.50 a month, which actually does matter to people. (Phone or electric bills are a similar order of magnitude. Or it's a drug copay. Etc.)

Affordable gaming rigs (like the one in your sig) are, overall, pretty cheap entertainment.

Simplest explanation here is that you're trolling.

Where are you living that your electricity is only $22/mo? I'd kill for $22/mo electric bills. I get what you're saying but to an extent, I'm with the OP on this. Most of the people I know complaining that "PC Gaming is too expensive" stop at Starbucks on the way into work every day. And their phone bills aren't remotely close to $20/mo. If $20/mo is a deal breaker, you may need to reconsider your life choices. I've worked fast food in the past and even now I'm not ATOT baller status, but I've never been at a point where there was no way I could come up with $20/mo for my hobby/entertainment save for a stint of unemployment at which point gaming of any sort isn't a priority. I know no shortage of people under the $15/hr line that manage to buy gaming PC's. No, they aren't upgrading every year but lets be honest, that's not necessary. I'm still running my 3770K and as of yet haven't had a pressing need to replace it. I built my first gaming PC when I was still in high school.

I'm not completely unsympathetic to less fortunate people. But I also know several people in the "computers are too expensive" category that are on welfare and spend 16 hours a day playing MMO's. Poor life choices are why they can't afford $20/mo. Even if you have a legit reason to be on welfare, you could find ways to supplement your income if you really wanted to.

 

[Bigbadwu]

If you upgraded to a 290x and started mining in 2013 you would of had free yearly upgrades plus extra cash to spare.

 

[happy medium]

Affordable gaming rigs (like the one in your sig) are, overall, pretty cheap entertainment.

Simplest explanation here is that you're trolling.

SO your saying if I whipped out my Amazon card and bought a 6700k and a gtx1080, I wouldn't be trolling? Whats your point?

I think your thread crapping and derailing a light hearted thread.

 

[happy medium]

If you upgraded to a 290x and started mining in 2013 you would of had free yearly upgrades plus extra cash to spare.

I never tried the mining stuff but that's a very good point, thanks for the input.
I don't know much about mining but I would guess it uses plenty of electric.

 

[Borealis7]

But what about us poor 3rd world (read: non-US) dwellers? a GTX1080 costs 1050$US where i live...
I apply a similar strategy to yours in my hardware buying, except I don't buy fresh and sparkling cards. I go for the used and abused ones i can pick up on the street and bring them home, give them a nice bath and a warm PSU to plug in to. Then i tie them down and not let them out of my case for several years! haha!

 

[Erenhardt]

He should have gone with 7970 and keep digging cryptos. After 4 months he would be sitting on two 7970 raking $100+ in profit each month.
The 780 would not even blip on his radar. By the time 290x releases, he would be sitting on a fat pile of $, which should be enough to bump him up to 2x290(x).
For the next years all these cards would mine a Fortune in Anandtech GPU enthusiast terms (fps/¢)
He would also enjoy $1000+ that he was saving 0.75$ daily.

Some decisions are not obvious. But looking back I see how you could make such a bad mistake.

 

[RussianSensation]

That's how you always play games at the high end for $.75 a day.
Now can we please stop the walls of text about how we paid too much for our cards now or 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 years ago?
Anyone!, even a 12 year old can save $.75 a day for a video card, and play at the high end. AND have money left over.

It has nothing to do with it. It's a matter of principle and financial circumstance of the firm selling the said goods. Do you see the prices of automobiles or houses increase in value at the same pace as the pricing of GPUs from 2010->2016?

Let's go along with your logic. In Russia, it might take someone 1-2 months to save up for a GTX1080. In Ukraine, it might take someone almost 2 years to save up for an iPhone 7 Plus.

Using that logic, if I earn $10,000 a month, it should be reasonable for me to pay $20,000 for an iPhone 7 Plus and $10,000 for a high-end GPU? After all, in relative terms, Russians and Ukrainians would be doing exactly that if they earn an average salary in their home country. Would you be willing to pay 1-6 months of your entire salary for a graphics card or a smartphone? Guess what, millions of people around the world do.

It's also a matter of marginal utility compared to other goods that deliver value to the end user. All you are discussing is the value of GPU 1 vs. GPU 2 but what about other goods? Most of us have more than 1 hobby and many other expenses, not just videocards or videogames. I have a much easier time buying a $1000 flagship headphone that will be top-of-the-line for 5+ years and still sound amazing in 10 years from now than buying a $1000 GPU that will be slow in 3 years, and worthless in 5. This item can be shared around the household with as many people and friends who enjoy music, while no one in my household plays videogames, making the GPU a selfish purchase. Same reason if a family shares certain activities, the marginal utility is far greater and the cost is spread across many members. High-end golf clubs, downhill skiis, tennis racquets, jet skiis, boat, sports car, mountain bike, etc. all of these items are often shared in the household.

A lot of people save a > $50 a day. The issue with flagship cards isn't that they are unaffordable for many of us but it's that they aren't worth the asking price. I can easily afford Titan XP SLI and i7 6950X. The reason I haven't purchased that is because outside of benchmarks, I don't think I'd notice the difference in gaming between that a GTX 1070 SLI paired with a 6700K. It often comes down to the fact that most AAA games are unoptimized console ports that require turning some settings down to High from Ultra to save hundreds or thousands of dollars in GPU power. The problem with modern gaming isn't only the fact that upper mid-range GPUs such as the GTX1080 cost $600-700, but the fact that most of the time it's not even possible to discern the difference in IQ while gaming between HQ settings that result in 60-80 fps and UQ settings that result in a 40-50 fps gaming experience. In the past it wasn't like this and changing different settings in PC games of the 1990s and 2000s made a huge difference in IQ. In the past it was also absolutely not possible to buy a $500 GPU and keep it for 5 years and play AAA games at close to 60 fps with adjustments in IQ. GPUs such as the HD7970 have proven that it's possible. IMO, the rate of depreciation of modern GPUs and the fact that flagship GPUs are no longer a necessity, means that for me they simply aren't worth the $.

I also don't like the idea of supporting the current trends/business practices in the GPU industry. Why should I pay $550-700 for a GPU class that used to cost $200-250 while NV rakes in record profits for its shareholders? It's not my duty to support their shareholders. I realize those prices need to be adjusted for inflation and higher cost of newer nodes and R&D, and I'd accept $400-450 GTX1080 but at $650-700, not a chance. Luckily, I haven't paid for a new GPU since 2009. But that only highlights my point even more -- I can get free Titan XP SLI from mining but why bother when modern AAA games are so poorly optimized that it feels like wasting $ to start.

When many of us criticize flagship GPUs, it's really coming from the angle of value. R9 295X2 wasn't worth its value to me at $1500. Titan XP/SLI isn't worth its value to me at $1200-2400. When I look at those prices, it's NOT that I cannot afford them, but rather I can think of other things that I can spend $1200-2400 on that I will enjoy MUCH more than owning that graphics card.

Worth is a synonym of value.
As nouns the difference between worth and value is that worth is (countable) value while value is the quality (positive or negative) that renders something desirable or valuable.

It ultimately comes down to how much value a person derives from a particular good relative to other goods he/she may choose to purchase that may have a higher marginal utility because discretionary income is finite. If gaming was the only thing I did and it was my go to hobby above all, I would easily spend $5,000 on a new graphics card a year. There is also the fact that the most impressive looking PC games of 2015-2016 also happened to be the best optimized PC games. Why should I support unoptimized console ports by buying these broken games at full price and then feeding the GPU manufacturers with my money again, after all these same GPU manufacturers "team up" with AAA developers on "next gen gaming features" that often obsolete my GPU without any tangible or impressive increase in graphical fidelity? Sounds like the AAA developers and GPU manufacturers, in particular NV, are a match made in heaven. If some gamers support these practices and the direction of this industry, then they are welcome to buy $700-2000 GPUs, but then they should expect opposing opinions too.

It's the same way with many other things. Most men in North America don't wear Mezlan or Magnanni shoes. Can they afford them? Sure, but they don't see the value in them. 2 of my friends just ordered 3 pairs of Nike Jordan 3 Retro OG True Blue for $295 Canadian a piece. I wouldn't pay $50 for those but I'd buy Mezlan or Magnanni shoes.

There are many things in life that matter a lot more than videocards, such as good all-season tires. Why? Because the stopping distance in the rain (or snow) could be the difference between a serious injury or even death and evading an accident.

Most consumers don't think videocards have such a large marginal utility which is why their perceived value above $300 price point diminishes greatly. It's why the highest end GPU segments comprise such a small portion of total GPU market share year after year, despite a lot more people actually able to afford them. I bet on our forum alone, a large portion of PC gamers could buy GTX1080 (SLI) / Titan XP but chose to go with an RX 480/1060/GTX1070 (or similar) because the perceived value for the higher end cards just isn't there compared to all the other things they could be spending that $ on in life. I didn't even mention kids or travel or sports or investing the savings into cash generating/capital growth assets, etc.

He should have gone with 7970 and keep digging cryptos. After 4 months he would be sitting on two 7970 raking $100+ in profit each month.
The 780 would not even blip on his radar. By the time 290x releases, he would be sitting on a fat pile of $, which should be enough to bump him up to 2x290(x).
For the next years all these cards would mine a Fortune in Anandtech GPU enthusiast terms (fps/¢)
He would also enjoy $1000+ that he was saving 0.75$ daily.

Some decisions are not obvious. But looking back I see how you could make such a bad mistake.

This post is golden. The OP ignored mining since HD4870/4890 days and yet he is advocating gamers save $0.75 a day to afford flagship GPUs regularly. Right now a PC with 6xRX 480s is earning more than $200 USD a month after electricity cost, or $2400 on an annualized basis. HD4890 came out April 1, 2009, or 2802 days ago. @ $0.75 a day = $2,102 USD. The mining system with RX 480s could possible earn that much in 1 year and yet the OP has not once shown interest in building a mining rig. Why bother saving $0.75 a day if for the last 7 years it was possible to get free GPUs and earn extra $ on the side?

 

[greatnoob]

In microeconomics, your supposed guide to "finance a high-end gaming habit" is nothing but a 5 year old's budgeting-101 tips & tricks article only worthy of being published on a Geocities site. Also, you should be the last person to be writing this considering you own a low-end PC. Do yourself the favour of not posting about rational buying decisions in these forums, because this only serves in showing how you have no idea or experience in the field of budgeting and microeconomics decision-making.

 

[casiofx]

My way of solving the bad console ports: getting a gsync monitor

No need to fiddle too much graphics settings to control the minimum fps. Now I'm fine with fps dropped to 40, won't look as smooth as with 60 but 40 isn't interfering with my gameplay experience too much

 

[whm1974]

In microeconomics, your supposed guide to "finance a high-end gaming habit" is nothing but a 5 year old's budgeting-101 tips & tricks article only worthy of being published on a Geocities site. Also, you should be the last person to be writing this considering you own a low-end PC. Do yourself the favour of not posting about rational buying decisions in these forums, because this only serves in showing how you have no idea or experience in the field of budgeting and microeconomics decision-making.

Probably doesn't have kids either.

 

[Piroko]

Eh this is such a created example that only works well in hindsight (launch date, upgrade performance, resale value).

Also, at the end of your example you're sitting on an aging Sandybridge system with an aging 500W PSU and you have nothing in the bank to replace that, because all of your 0.75$ a day went into GPUs. So,

...will save $.75 a day for a new Volta card in about 18 months when he sells his gtx1080.

... little Happy would be in for an expensive surprise by then. Actually, he's already getting a bad return with that 1080, isn't he.

 

[whm1974]

Eh this is such a created example that only works well in hindsight (launch date, upgrade performance, resale value).

Also, at the end of your example you're sitting on an aging Sandybridge system with an aging 500W PSU and you have nothing in the bank to replace that, because all of your 0.75$ a day went into GPUs. So,
... little Happy would be in for an expensive surprise by then. Actually, he's already getting a bad return with that 1080, isn't he.

With a system that old, I would replace it before installing a video card that expensive. And unless said gamer is gaming at 4K, the GTX 1060 and 1070 are fine for normal use cases.

 

[showb1z]

Also, at the end of your example you're sitting on an aging Sandybridge system with an aging 500W PSU and you have nothing in the bank to replace that, because all of your 0.75$ a day went into GPUs.

Obviously his wife will just give him a new system as a gift And somehow this doesn't count as spending money.