PC Gaming and the Money Trap

[DGFone]

I keep seeing this even on MLK, and I've been told plenty of times, again, also on MLK, for being an idiot for not doing it, but I just saw this great video about the PC disease known as hardware upgrading. I still remember all to well telling a member how to create a great rig and to get a GPU that is the best for its level, of which the next step would require more than just a GPU upgrade, meaning that for a 10 FPS gain, the cost is close to a couple of hundred USD. They went ahead and got a beefier card just because it existed. Same goes for Overclocking. How many people here on MLK do it just because they can.

So about PC gaming and hardware:

YOU DON'T NEED THE BEST HARDWARE. Even a mediocre rig can max out many games and run many others at a very reasonable and good looking settings. After all, console versions always run the same games as though on "low" settings due to hardware limitations. So about that video. Just watch.

[Regulus]

Have you ever heard the story of the fox and the grapes? You might find it interesting.

[quote]Once upon a time there was a fox strolling through the woods. He came upon a grape orchard. There he found a bunch of beautiful grapes hanging from a high branch.

"Boy those sure would be tasty," he thought to himself. He backed up and took a running start, and jumped. He did not get high enough.

He went back to his starting spot and tried again. He almost got high enough this time, but not quite.

He tried and tried, again and again, but just couldn't get high enough to grab the grapes.

Finally, he gave up.

As he walked away, he put his nose in the air and said: "I am sure those grapes are sour."[/quote]

[DGFone]

Hmm... Must be those French $1000+ / wine bottle grapes, which translates roughly to 8 British pounds per individual grape. Very good grapes indeed if that's their price, but the whole point of that video: Do you really need them?

Guess you didn't watch the video then.

As that video told: Yes, it's nice to be able to run Last Light at 100 FPS on Ultra, but then you think about it: At best, your monitor can only render 60 FPS tops. Even if your GPU can handle more, you won't even see it because the monitor becomes the bottle neck. A 60 FPS refresh rate is a 60 FPS max rendering speed.

Your eyes will still be very pleased even with 30 FPS, which is the default console frame-rate. 30-60 FPS might look nicer, but 30 is still fine. Movies are rendered at 24 FPS.

So if you did watch that video, I guess you are part of those 90% who don't know how to save a buck nor stretch the hardware for all its worth, and for which adding new hardware is crack within itself. In that case you might want to seek help.

[Regulus]

The point is, you don't have a high end graphics card, and you seem to be doing everything you can to justify your decision not to purchase something a little more beefy. For some reason or another, I have a feeling you really, really wanted something with better performance.

If you were actually looking for facts, you would know why movies can have low frame rates. You would also know that many people, including myself, can very easily perceive differences in frame rate during fast scenes, even above 30fps. It's like the difference between cutting butter, and cutting melted butter. Do a bit of research. You'll see the truth, and it'll be a very different truth from what you just claimed.

Before you keep going around like this, stop and take a look at the facts. High end cards exist. People buy them. There must be some reason... no? Or is everyone a blooming idiot in your mind for even considering such an option?

Oh, say can you see, everyone is dumb but me. I'm never ever wrong, and my GPU is the only one that's worthy.

This thread is really no different from Xbox or PS fanboys raising their fists and screaming on about how their console is the best. The sooner you wake up and realize that arguments such as this are pretty stupid, the better off we'll all be.

[KingCub]

Haha, that video is true. Buying new parts is addicting, and I love the feeling of it! Is it a trap? Hell no! You can get addicted buying just about anything out there! Its just most people know how to save money and pick out the best parts for the money. Thats the same with me. I will spend weeks looking and reading peoples reviews about parts before even thinking about buying one, just so I know what is the best. I would never sell my 660 for something like a 670 ( this is just saying I would not spend the money to get a small upgrade like that). Its not a trap if your smart. I have never lost money or have parts just laying around that I never use. I know how to buy, how to sell, and how to make money from doing this.

It is very easy to tell the difference between 30 FPS and 60 FPS. And anyone who says they look the same is blind. Its a huge difference. Even 10 FPS I could still see a difference.

The one thing that separates the PC gamers from the Consoles is laziness. People who have consoles just do not want to spend the time building, taking care of, and keeping a PC up to date. Hints why they just buy a console and plug it in and play. And thats what I hate about most new PC builders. They get all there parts within a week, slap them all in there and play. Then they complain to game developers when the game runs slow or something. Most new guys spend hundreds on a state-of-the-art GPU and get a cheap little CPU to go with it. Its the same with a monitor. If you do your homework when buying one, then you can get one that can run higher FPS.

Why have that extra 30+ FPS when buying a new GPU? Because I can. If I can sell my old GPU, get a new better one, then why not? Ya, it take a little bit of money and effort, but thats why Im a PC builder. Not a console player.

[OuRaion]

Do you know anyone personally who agrees with you on this DGFone?

[Woeler]

You know, this reminds me.

I've been running my own company for about 6 months now, and one of the services people can get from me is building a pc for them. Now somewhere in August this woman came to me. She told me she needed a new computer for her Bed&Breakfast. She told me she wanted to use it for email, word, excel, internet and facebook games (which she referred to as 'gaming').

I have a catalog with different pc-classes. I recommended the standard +-€300 pc with some decent storage and an APU. You know what she told me? She told me she needed the €1200 one because she played facebook-games for which --she told me-- she needed a strong graphics card. No matter how many times I tried to convince her, she didn't give in and in the end she bought a €1200 gaming pc.

This is how stupid people can be when it comes to computers.

But to come back to the topic,

I upgrade my pc from time to time. Not because I'm ignorant or because I don't know what the benefit is. It's because it's my hobby, I work hard and I have a lot of money that I don't spend anyways.

[KingKivuli]

if i had the money i would still upgrade my pc today, a couple years ago when i got it, it could NOT run games at all. I remember trying to play civ5 on it lowest settings, vs 1 easy ai on a duel map. It freaking LAGGED and was pixelated. It wasn't my net connection cause everything else was fine. The desktop wouldn't even load up League of Legends, yet my laptop which was 2 years older, could play it at mid level quality. So i left it for so long and just 7 months ago i got a new graphics card RAM and power supply, the best I could get. Everything now works but I know I can still pump more out so at some point I will, including getting a better monitor. Why? Cause I can.

I am a gamer, and I want to experience the games I play the best I can. I would have to disagree that most desktop towers DO NOT support games, older ones yes but not the ones coming out, even so who wants to play on low graphics and 5fps? no one, and there is no point asking for a set built PC for gaming cause then your stuck with how it is, unable to change it fully, so when a better generation of games comes around you have to buy a whole new tower again. I'd rather buy my new parts here and there rather than have to throw my old machine away and get a new one which would cost even more.

[Woeler]

[quote="KingKivuli"]I'd rather buy my new parts here and there rather than have to throw my old machine away and get a new one which would cost even more.[/quote]

Just adding here that building a pc from scratch is way cheaper than buying a pre-built machine.

[KingKivuli]

i was still a total noob at pc building at the time, it was ok though the tower i go was only like £200...so...about $250, it was price reduced hell yeah for new year sales