Gimme some input on my computer choice

[--Pete]

Hi,

I used to be just like you, upgrading with the mid-range every two to three years or so, saving me on money while still getting decent enough performance to last me for a bit, albeit with sacrifices. Eventually, my needs began to outpace my computer's abilities, so I moved up the chain.
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While the choice of building the ultimate system at any given moment is attractive, it is usually also a waste of money. I've posted my analysis on this in the past, but to summarize: New technology appears now. Games that are well along in production cannot afford to jump on that technology because it means a schedule slide and they already have enough of those. So you can expect to wait pretty much six months to a year before anything comes down the pike that actually uses that technology. In other words, you are now using six month old hardware that you bought at bleeding edge prices. In one to two years, the new and improved technology that you can't live without comes along. But even a mid range machine from a year back will run all the available games, usually with all the bells and whistles. And, really, there's little difference between a year old and a two year old machine.

Also, some people like to swap out components and incrementally improve their machines. Others, like me, prefer leave well enough alone, and just start from scratch periodically. To me, upgrade path is a small consideration in putting a machine together -- I might add memory or a second HD, but that's about all I'll usually do.

And, practically, my experience is that things change relatively slowly. I've built new game machines in '97 for Diablo and 2000 for D2. I'm in the process of putting together the machines that I posted about a few months back. The last two cycles have each lasted about four years, and for the $1200 or so per machine, that's not too bad a yearly investment.

On the other hand, I fully agree with you on the power supply issue. Power supplies are one item that I always seemed to be replacing (fortunately the failures have been benign and I've not lost components to inadequate PSUs). On the principle that it is better to have and not need than to need and not have, this time around I spent a little extra and got a beefy supply.

--Pete