Whos feels like they've had thier 8800gtx for like an eternity................

[jrodga2k5]

maybe you could upgrade your sound (depending on what you have at the moment), a good set of speakers and a high end sound card can add new life to a lot of games.

As a matter of fact my Audigy 2 ZS and a nice set of speakers is one of the best upgrades iv ever done great sound and no need to replace it for ages yet lol!

 

[Nullvoid]

It certainly sounds like the OP needs a 30" screen, or something like a dual 24" setup. That'll have a much much greater impact on the enjoyment you derive from your PC time than the jump from a gtx to an ultra, or from a dual-core to quad-core cpu. It'll also put a massive strain on your system due to the obscenely high native resolutions you'll be using, giving a worthy reason to upgrade and stave off this boredom that seems to afflict you so.

An alternative would be to start buying supposedly budget parts like the e21xx cpu's, and then overclocking them to within an inch of their lives. Or upgrading the cooling you have on your gtx and seeing just how high you can take its performance.

An even more radical solution would be to just kick back and enjoy the system that you currently have. There's no more effective way to remove any genuine enjoyment (as opposed to the 'false' buzz and excitement that accompanies a new purchase) from PC building and use than to always be scouting the horizon for whatever will be newer/better/faster.

edit - Scougar, have you ever tried out Titan Quest? I've always found the graphics to be more impressive than any of the first-person games I've tried, especially with the Immortal Throne expansion which added a few extra detail settings to apply. The Diablo2 hack and slash style of play might not be your cup of tea though...

 

[Reality|Bites]

Maybe your starting to realise that you need a new hobby as computers don't give you the same thrill anymore?

All the thousands of pounds spent over the years and for what? playing a few games and posting on forums?

 

[Scougar]

I got into Jap cars, and then spent all my money on that... loved it Then I got married and had to sell my 280bhp jap car (well my choice really).

What happened though was that the market had changed so drastically over that period of a year and a half and new products (C2D, 8800 etc) had come out and were refreshing to see. Got me all interested in PC's again.

Perhaps your right.. it's time for him to take a break from it all.

Matthew

 

[Sir Random]

It seems to me that the OP likes the thrill/smell of getting new hardware more than the hardware itself, and is now overdue for a 'fix'

We all have different reasons for wanting to build and bench our own PCs. It's not just about the hardware, or the performance, or the stats. Some guys are addicted to upgrading drivers, and eagerly await each new driver release, even if their card and games are performing perfectly well.

 

[easyrider]

I think the point here is that having a GFX 12 months is just plain boring regardless.


I love the smell of new hardware in the morning

 

[Andy]

I have a 7900GTX and have had it for over a year or so and it is still doing me well. Even on my 24" screen but it does struggle a little.

I am waiting for the next big card also, I don't want to purchase a 1 year old card now when another will be out soon.

There arn't that many new games to play anyway at the moment. I think the problem is due to a lot of things, DirectX10 requires Vista, Vista requires drivers, faster hardware etc also 3 new consoles have been released recently, developers are putting more effort into them but the hype will wear off. ATI releasing a poor card has not helped either.

When there is good reason to upgrade, probably Crysis and UT3 hopefully a new card will be out and Vista will be running more somoothly and if so I might have to buy 2 of them, some watercooling and a 30"er.

Just enjoy what you have and save up.

 

[Scougar]

I would 2nd going with a decent monitor. It will help 'immerse you' that little bit more

To NULLVOID: No, I haven't tried Titan Quest, but will take a look Have a tendancy nowadays to buy new games, play them for a few hours, then forget about them lol. Comes down to time I spend with my wife. At present I have, Oblivion, deux ex:invisible war, prince of persia (the latest one), bf2142, bf2, hl2:episode1, Stalker to name just a few. My habit is playing bf2 as my regular game lol. Personally waiting for tf2 to come out so I can get into that. I liked diablo, was a bit repetitive, but good fun, and being bitmap graphics, the detail was fantastic

The main prob with 3d games, is that it allows you to get right up close and personal with objects, and then the flaws are revealed

Matthew