Opinion: The Real(istic) Cost of Being a Gamer

[psyphurr lock]

Not sure if someone may have mentioned this, but most gamers don't build brand new rigs every time they upgrade. That's stupid and most of us don't have that kind of cash unless we are donating our monry via interest payments to some big banking firms kids college tuition. What we really do is piece meal it. Graphics card this month, new MB/CPU next month, new case once a year or so, etc. The cost is no where near as expensive when its spread over the course of months.

 

[dconnors]

[citation][nom]psyphurr lock[/nom]Not sure if someone may have mentioned this, but most gamers don't build brand new rigs every time they upgrade. That's stupid and most of us don't have that kind of cash unless we are donating our monry via interest payments to some big banking firms kids college tuition. What we really do is piece meal it. Graphics card this month, new MB/CPU next month, new case once a year or so, etc. The cost is no where near as expensive when its spread over the course of months.[/citation]

You're absolutely right. Personally I upgrade my CPU and motherboard every other generation (so every 2-2.5 years), and my GPU gets replaced in the years inbetween.

-Devin Connors, Tom's Guide

 

[billybobser]

Certainly proved the point, and I believe even that setup would only scratch a top 5%, not even touch the average of those who call themselves 'gamers'.

Hell, I bet some 'gamers' probably just have an xbox, a hd 'ready' tv and set of games from a second hand store.

 

[Guest]

I'd rather spend in that price range for a computer to run BOINC workunits - this uses much of the same hardware but can actually help medical research instead of just entertaining one person. If you're not familiar with BOINC, a good starting point would be:

https/secure.worldcommunitygrid.org/index.jsp

Click on each of the small pictures under the big picture to see the various types of research you can currently help.

 

[therabiddeer]

[citation][nom]shin0bi272[/nom]Your PC choice on page 3 isnt bad but your video card is sorely lacking. A 560ti is not going to be able to "handle any game you throw at it in 2012 and beyond." It is a 225 usd video card that's about 2-3 months from being a last gen card. If you want to build a game rig right now A) that would be a good PC if you were planning on upgrading asap. You can also get a HannsG 27.5" monitor with 3ms response time for 265. Personally the keyboard and mouse are overpriced as well. While yes you want a good one there's no reason to (unless you are trying to go pro) pay 100 bucks for a keyboard and 60 bucks for a mouse. Wasnt it Toms that ran a contest a couple of months ago that required the newest intel cpu and an asus mobo that combined cost ~900 bucks out of a total pc build cost of 1500? And to counter an article about spending on gaming hardware you present with this 1200 dollar machine and some overpriced extras? Seriously? You could have taken your own contest winner's pc build and posted that and had something better than what you selected here. Lastly Gamers build their own boxes they dont buy OTS rigs.[/citation]
560ti will handle any game at reasonable graphics settings until 2013, no doubt about that. My 460 is still handling current gen games pretty well. I just cant have everything maxed. Also, that $900 cpu/mobo setup was the extreme end. You would likely be spending MORE than 3300 on the system if you wanted to spend that much on a CPU and mobo.

Really, you can get by with spending $1500-2k on the full setup really easily, as long as it isnt a setup that you intend to use with other people.

 

[livebriand]

Seriously, a FX-8120 for a secondary gaming PC choice? Are you crazy? A 2500K will be a lot faster than that!

 

[jimmyjohnz]

For me, video games offer a very nice $/hour of enjoyment. Some people spend thousands of dollars on plane tickets to spend maybe two weeks in another country. I could spend a thousand dollars on a decent pc and Diablo 3 and be entertained for a hell of a lot longer than those two weeks. Some may say that's just wasting your life away, but is life really wasted if you're enjoying it? As far as video games go, they are among the cheapest hobbies to have in my opinion.