I just impulsively bought the crowdfunded NCASE M1 case. While searching arround for all the cool stuff I would cram in there to make it a decent gaming rig, something dawned on me : I have no idea what my long term strategy should be to get the most out of my money. You see, my strategy up to this point was to buy stuff that was somewhere between mid and high end, hoping that that would last me about 4 years, after which it got too old to play the newest games. After that my old rig either ended up on my folks desk, or worse, sat there gathering dust. I never overclocked anything either.
So instead of whining to you guys about what parts I should put in my new rig, I was wondering if you could do a little INBOX segment on how to make both me and my wallet happy in the long run. (I'm being vague here - jump to my reply for a more to the point question)
Thanks in advance. Original Gamer Dumass.
P.S. Wendell, I never wanna see you on camera man ! I'm serious dude ! You are kinda like that mysterious briefcase in Pulp Fiction. Samuel L. Jackson goes all biblical and psycho over that briefcase, so you know it's gotta be awsome. But never getting to know what's actually in it makes it even more awsome. Same thing applies to you. Cheers to you and your awsomeness dude !
You shouldn't really be asking someone to make choices for you, in 4 years you could be running a 8800 series card, and if you're running a 660Ti in four years you could run the most intensive games at Low/Medium settings in 1080p. All that really matters is that you're happy with you're stuff. (B.T.W try to re-use you're old components)
Just realised my question isn't exactly to the point. I'm not asking "Logan! Tell me what to put in my rig!". Let me try to rephrase. I want an adequate gaming experience. When my rig is brand new I have nothing to worry about, but when it gets older I need to change parts or maybe build a whole new system. Thats gonna cost me money. So now the question : how do I keep my costs as low as possible over a significant period of time (say 10-15 years) when taking into account that would like to play games at medium settings at least.
I don't know how to break down that problem and turn it into a practical set of rules that I have to keep in mind when choosing the quality and price of my components. I'm kinda looking for tips like 'Don't go for the high end stuff, buy medium end and overclock the hell out of it.' or 'Buy low end and build a new system every 6 months.' for example.
Build a balanced system, where everything has sufficient power for all the interdependent functions. e.g don't buy a $500 GPU if you're only running a CPU that cost $50.
With a gaming system, most of the money will be placed in your GPU. I see people purchasing the GTX Titan claiming "it's all I will ever need for a while!"... then the GTX 780 came out three months later, for half the price, offering all the gaming performance of the Titan. So be careful not to overspend. Just build something that meets your current needs.
Better to spend little and often. Refreshing your GPU once every couple of years will provide a better price/performance ratio than an expensive long-term solution. Newer GPUs will be augmented with updated tech.
If you stick to the "build a balanced system" ethos, everything will fall into place. Either that, or you don't know what you're doing.
The current method you use for builds is what I have done for nearly 20 years. I prefer to be able to play new games on high settings with a very fluid experience. When I am working I will have several programs open concurrently and switch between them often. I have taken a glimpse at my usage, chrome will be somewhere in the ballpark of 2GB, with other programs filling in the better part of 1.5GB. The trend I have noticed over time is the 1-2 tier below flagship is where I have gotten the most value for my money.
Example, last computer I was using before it was retired.
Purchased -> Highest available
Intel i7 920 -> Intel i7 950
Radeon HD5870 - . Radeon HD5890
This may not sound like a big deal, but really it is. By using the 920 just days after the 950 was available the price was reduced. I also got the 5870 a week after the 5890 was out. Not only did I get great hardware for the time period I saved about $700. My total cost for that pc was under $1800. Configured with the higher level components it was well over $2500. That machine was purchased (buying was cheaper than building) in the fall of 2009. It was just put out to pasture this last week. Now it is serving as my formidable HTPC.
Thanks Berserker and M_Bohde. I don't see you guys mentioning overclocking though. Is it an option to stretch the 'game-span' of parts or even an entire system, or is do you end up spending roughly the same ammount thay you gain by doing that (or even worse) ?
Well, I think when it comes to purchasing the right parts at any given price point, reading supporting reviews is a big help. Choosing the right reviews is important, too.
The best example I can think of is the performance difference betweeen the GTX 760 and the 7950. Out of the box, they have similar performance, but the 7950 is much more overclockable. After overclocking, the 7950 it is comparable to an overclocked 770. The 770 competes with the 7970, typically. So overclocking certainly offers additional bang for buck. Not every review site offers overclocking performance results.
Overclocking can be a double edged sword. You're gaining performance at the cost of heat and power. Overclock too far and you can reduce the lifespan of your hardware. You will have to ensure that your chassis has adequate airflow. It can often mean purchasing additional fans, optimised for both sound and cooling.
It can depend on the two products in the comparison. Take the 8320 and the 8350, as an example. They are the same chip, but the 8320 is sold with a lower clock speed. You can easily overclock it to the 8350 speed, and save cash.
To conclude, I definitely recommend overclocking. If you buy the correct kind of chassis (a good chassis is an investment!) then overclocking won't be an issue. Always choose quality parts, GPUs with good aftermarket coolers, et cetera.
Ok cool. I'm deffinately gonna try my hand at overclocking then. Never done that before, so maybe I'll start with something not too expensive (because the chance that I end up frying something is quite real). And while doing that maybe I'll learn something more about actual specifications and what they mean, because not knowing them is my biggest problem I think. Thx very much for the advice :D
Just be sure to post a build in the "build a PC" section. People will optimise it and give advice. Typically, AMD offer more bang for buck, because their CPUs and GPUs are much more overclockable. Trouble is, AMD have less up-to-date sockets. So there can be other trade-offs.
If you pick an AMD build and an Intel build, people will scrutinise each one and give you the things you need to consider. Can't go wrong putting things like that to the community.
Overclocking has it's merits. If you are on the edge of a game being playable it can make the difference. Only overclock if you have spent the money on a good PSU, motherboard and cooling solution. I ran an overclock on my i7 920 and was less than impressed. Due to the extra fan noise I put it back to stock. The last CPU that I kept an overclock on was an AMD Duron 600Mhz @ 927Mhz. The performance was more than 5% better than my friends PIII 1Ghz. That machine ran for at least four years overclocked. It eventually died from being struck by lightning.