I am getting old, or boring, or both

[martin363]

After 30 years of PC building I decided today I no longer need GFX card..... a sad day, but I removed the 2080 that I have had no need to upgrade for 5 years (and couldn't afford to or justify upgrading)... switched to the iGPU in my 9700k, and hey presto, it has made no difference to me what so ever... unfortunately. Even the 9700k is probably overkill for me...

Don't get me wrong, I game but I switched to the Xbox about 3 years ago and haven't looked back, sacrilege I know, but it saves a ton of cash, and stress, it just works, as does my now much quieter and cooler PC.

Only really posting because after 30 years of owning and upgrading from probably a Voodoo 3DFX 3000, I have to admit I am no longer (or can afford to be) the keen PC hardware nut I once was. I still like the PC, but I don't like (and can no longer afford) the prices to keep up with things. I remember spending 170 quid on an Nvidia 270 in 2007 and thinking that was a wedge...

Just remember, we don't all need the latest and greatest, even if we want it!!

 

[martin363]

I am certainly not bored, I have lots of other things to do. I just realised that for my current interests and use case, a 9700k, running on it's iGPU is more than adequate to meet my needs. I don't believe at this time any upgrade would be sensible, or yield any benefits.

It was an interesting realisation because I was so used to excitedly awaiting the next tick or tock or GPU generation. There will obviously come a time when an upgrade is needed, but I also am now content to make my hardware last significantly longer and unless my needs change, or prices become substantially cheaper (which is unlikely unfortunately) then I join the ranks of many who realise that an old system can still be a great system - stable, tested, reliable and great value.

 

[martin363]

I for a similar point this year, to break it down

* was a semi pro gamer in my early years
* I created pcs for myself and friends
* done water cooling, tried liquid nitrogen
* I used to buy a new pc pretty much yearly
* if I could tweak something I did
* got my pc to sub <20Dba
* git my pc in top 5 of fastest rigs on various forums


I realised, my gaming went from
95% gaming
5% tweaking

to
95% tweaking
2% gaming
3% wasting time on Amazon/doom scrolling

Felt like I was working 24/7.
I unplugged my pc 5900/7900xtx

If I could tweak something I had too it’s addiction one day I’d want super quiet next day I want as many fps as possible I was chasing numbers
Got up to 240fps on some of my favourite games at 1440p uw

Also bought a new monitor every year I got 6 oled monitors now…

Bought a PS5, bought 20 odd games that are not on pc or coming later to pc bought ps5 premium
Bought a m3 MacBook Pro with 14c/18GB RAM

Last 3 months I’ve been
99% gaming
1% on MacBook doing what I need


Not looking back, looking to sell my pc to work people maybe or just cut it uff as big lose moved my Xbox series X next to my ps5 bought a year if game pass

Looking to face fun! Other great thing is how relaxing it is to not have windows annoyances and everything to just work

Last 3 months I’ve completed 5 games more games than a few years on pc

I agree, I was never heavily into games, but I was big into ITX, before it became a popular thing, the challenge for me was build it small and make it cool, literally. I was happily spending 300+ on a high quality ITX case, and the premium for the components, then tinker with custom fans, cables, and clocks to optimise the build.

Then Apple comes along with the M1, and completely blows anything small in the PC world out of the water.... both size and price wise... amazingly... (Think M1/2 Mac Mini...especially a refurb). Yes I know you can't upgrade it, but you don't need to for 5+ years... The PC build / enthusiast was never cheap (and was, is an annual cycle), but it was 'affordable' - too a point. Now though I can't say that, I think prices have generally doubled or tripled for key components, CPU's, GPU's & Motherboards... yes some would say performance has too, but in the past it was always 20% more for the same price, if you waited a month or 2 after launch.

As you say, I actually finish games on the Xbox, I don't think I ever did on the PC, always spent half my time tweaking the settings to get the extra FPS or graphics fidelity with a new upgrade etc... or reinstall to get it working with the new upgrade.