Habitual big time upgraders, how do you justify your purchases?

I used to upgrade without a care in the world. Money didn't really mean much to me and I spent like it was water. Then I lost my job and my new one pays **** but it's all that's out there at the moment. Suddenly money means more to me so I can't upgrade at a whim and I wish I'd made a savings pot. Everyone lives to their means, if you can afford to run the latest and you enjoy it then why not?
 
SB-IB is a bit of a pointless move unless the early reviews we have seen have been literal NDA cover ups and there for IB actually overclocks a lot better at lower voltage and heat than SB does. Which I can't wait to see actual results for :)
 
I used to spend a fortune staying top of the range. I'd always give my old stuff away to family as well to the point that my mum's got a watercooled gaming rig.

Now I have to be a little more sensible and although I may get a new gfx card and monitor <at some point> my current rig will be with me for a while.
 
i say to myself
do you really need it = no
can you really afford it = no
can you use the money else where = yes
would it be better to wait = yes

then i go buy it anyway then when it arrives im like yeeeeeeeeeee
 
King Damager said:
Yeah but you get like 300% of the heat and noise.... I wish I'd gone for a 570 rather than a 480...
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I read all these stories of extreme heat and noise before I bought my 480. Everyone must be really sensitive to heat and noise is all I can say as mine really isn't bad at all. Only when it is stressed to the max is it really noisy/hot. The 570 was a fair bit more money than the 480 at the time if I recall (about £80 I think) and offers the same performance with less VRAM.
 
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I rationalise it, by selling my 'old' hardware at the right time and the right price.

For example I bought my sandy bridge kit (cpu, mobo, ram) near the time of release in Jan '11 for £461, but I managed to sell my skt 1366 as an overclocked bundle on the bay for £335 (after fees). Therefore it's only cost me £126 for something I plan to last 2 years (I only upgrade every new architecture).

Over 2 years that's what...roughly 5 quid a month? The key is to keep recycling your stuff while it's still worth something and sell as soon as possible.
 
How many hours do you have to work to afford it? You just need to think of that and whether it's worth it or not to come to a decision.
 
I rationalise it because I want it and I can afford it without going into debt. It's no different to me from spending money on some other thing I'm going to use for enjoyment. e.g. PS3, new car bits, fixtures and fittings upgrades in the house... etc.
 
Interesting thread, years ago when the pc used to get some exclusive titles that would only run in there full glory (doom 3, crysis, half life) on pc i was constantly upgrading cpu and always the latest and greatest gfx card.
Since i realised that all the pc was getting is ports of xbox 360 games i stopped why spend all that money when i can i play the games easier and cheaper on the console.
Although i have got into gaming in 3D so have got 2 X 460 gtx running which just manages it running with a dual core amd 64 bit 6000 cpu, so you can tell how long ago i abandoned my upgradeititus!!
All that said im waiting to get solid specs of the next xbox and ps4 so i can build if i can afford it a rig with 2 and half times the power so i can game comfortably for the next 5 years at 1920X1080 (or will they go 4k?) even then its only because i dont think that backups (dont judge me lol) will be playable on any next gen console for a good while but i think games will be cracked on pc so in the long run not having to fork out 49.99 for new games should quickly cover the cost of the build, and thats without taking into account all the other uses i will get out of it.
 
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I find the best way to justify most purchases of expensive components i make is to think about how much life I will try to get out of them. For example if I spend £1K upgrading my computer but it lasts for 4 years before needing any more major upgrades then it is only costing me about £250 per year which I consider good value for the entertainment that it gives me.
 
Krono5 said:
How many hours do you have to work to afford it? You just need to think of that and whether it's worth it or not to come to a decision.
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This is how I would justify all my potential purchases, when I was working. But now I'm a student I usually just cave in on loan day and buy a load of pointless stuff, just cos...
 
jaxter said:
Interesting thread, years ago when the pc used to get some exclusive titles that would only run in there full glory (doom 3, crysis, half life) on pc i was constantly upgrading cpu and always the latest and greatest gfx card.
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Could easily replace that today with BF3, Project C.A.R.S., Skyrim. In fact any of the Bethesda RPGs I'd say consoles simply can't compete because of the graphical mods that are out there.... And it's not like they take ages to install now with steam workshop....

kd
 
Priorities change over time and sometimes it is easy to justify a purchase, other times it isn't. I personally find it hard to spend money, I just can't bring myself to hit checkout. It seems that if I hold off buying something a few weeks later the desire to purchase has completely gone and I breathe a supply of relief that I didn't waste the money.

Partly this is because the last few years I have had a lot of financial commitments that meant my disposable income was accounted for. Now the house is done, I've been selling all my random gadgets and downsizing to decent, but minimalist stuff, that I will get good use out of. So a new PC has been justified as part of that, but I still couldn't buy that cheap 7970...
 
King Damager said:
Could easily replace that today with BF3, Project C.A.R.S., Skyrim. In fact any of the Bethesda RPGs I'd say consoles simply can't compete because of the graphical mods that are out there.... And it's not like they take ages to install now with steam workshop....

kd
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I see where your coming from but in all honesty the jump in quality to what you would get from a mid specced gaming rig or xbox 360 (2nd hand £100 probably less) just isnt at the moment worth the £1000 plus you would have to invest to get it.
Its all good and well Nvidia and Amd saying our latest gfx card has 4X the power of the latest games console but whats the point if after the investment your getting the same old game that a console that costs many times less is giving you granted you will probably be able to play at a higher resolution and get more fps but at what price?
you named 3 games there to my mind only skyrim really needs the heft its just not enough for me, but i of course understand it is for some as i have been one of those people.
I really think what the pc gaming format needs is a killer app something with eyecandy that just cant be had anywhere else,unfortunately i cant see it happening its all gone multiformat with a general mantra of cater for the lowest common denominator. This i also understand as a game like that would cost a hell of a lot to produce and you would just not recoup that money with a pc exclusive game, alas this is where we stand but of course thats just my opinion :D
 
jaxter said:
I see where your coming from but in all honesty the jump in quality to what you would get from a mid specced gaming rig or xbox 360 (2nd hand £100 probably less) just isnt at the moment worth the £1000 plus you would have to invest to get it.
Its all good and well Nvidia and Amd saying our latest gfx card has 4X the power of the latest games console but whats the point if after the investment your getting the same old game that a console that costs many times less is giving you granted you will probably be able to play at a higher resolution and get more fps but at what price?
you named 3 games there to my mind only skyrim really needs the heft its just not enough for me, but i of course understand it is for some as i have been one of those people.
I really think what the pc gaming format needs is a killer app something with eyecandy that just cant be had anywhere else,unfortunately i cant see it happening its all gone multiformat with a general mantra of cater for the lowest common denominator. This i also understand as a game like that would cost a hell of a lot to produce and you would just not recoup that money with a pc exclusive game, alas this is where we stand but of course thats just my opinion :D
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PC gaming is more competitave and harder to do than Console gaming. Which is something you forgot about.
 
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