How Does Everyone Afford to buy a $2000 Dollar Computer Every Year?

Baal

Baal

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Honestly....I mean my computer isn't that bad at all, 2.1 Barton 2800, Geforce 4 TI 4200, 512 PC 3200 DDR ram, runs things great...but everyone here has like 3.4 Pentium, Radeon X800, 1 GB PC 3200 Ram, Raptor 74 GB 10,000 RPM....it's just insane!

So much money...how does everyone afford it? If I upgraded my video card (which I could do, but I see no reason to as of yet) my Computer would be awesome too...

My friend is stuck with a 900 Duron Geforce 2 MX 500...cry for him.
 
Umm take a look at my sig. And if you build your own you can get a good gaming rig for $1000. I don't see too many sigs here with Pentium 4's over 3ghz or X800's. The majority of the sigs are Athlon XP's 2500+'s or higher, 512 or 1gb ram, and 9800 pro or something. And then there are worse rigs.
 
My computer, like most hardware fanatics, is decent but not mind blowing. Athlon 2500+ 1gb RAM and 9800pro. Runs game fine, I'm happy with it (will upgrade my CPU soon though). How do I afford it? I have a job. If you can't afford a decent PC, don't bitch about it, get a job like the rest of us. I don't exactly have an extremely high paying job (I'm a mechanic), but computers don't really cost all that much.
 
Most people have jobs, but me being 13, I have a hard time coughing up the money. Since last Christmas I've been saving for my new PC, so now I have about $1400 from holidays and birthdays, and my mom is willing to lend me an extra $150 to afford the rest of my PC and HL2. I'm getting a pretty nice system I suppose, Athlon 64 3000+, gig of Corsair XMS, 6800-GT, etc. No fancy sound system though.

But since, as most know, I'm turning into a PC geek (already am), I want to get a job as soon as possible so I can start upgrading some parts easier.

Also, after Christmas I'll be upgrading few parts of my PC like my PSU, heatsink, mouse, monitor, gaming headphones, etc.
 
One of the reasons why I upgraded my system so far, is due to I won't be upgrading for a few years, I won't have the money, especially when I start modding my car adding cams+cam gears, thats about $100 for 3-6 pulls on a dyno to tune it. A lot of money....Thats where my money will be going in about 2-3 months ;)
 
The key is reusing the components that don't need to be replaced. After the initial purchase you won't need to buy a new case, DVD/CD Burners, CD/DVD-ROM drives, certain cables, perhaps not the PSU, etc.

Really though, it isn't neccesary to buy a brand new computer every year. That's overkill to the nth degree. I've had my computer, which I put together from scratch for about $1200 all parts from NewEgg), for about a year and a half, without upgrading, and it runs everything at silky smooth framerates. I will be upgrading in about 7 months time, and then it'll only be the graphics card. The motherboard, CPU, RAM, etc. won't be replaced until they must be replaced (and that won't be for a good while). You don't have to upgrade as often as you think, and it's probably better not to jump all over the latest and greatest hardware when it's fresh and cutting edge because of 1) The price and 2) The fact that hardware, like software, can have bugs. Unlike software, some of them cannot be fixed.
 
I don't buy one every year, so far only probably every 2nd year, I do little else and try to save money so I can buy computers and games every so often. I wouldn't say I purchase many games I've probably only bought 3-4 games this year.
 
also for the fact that you can sell your old parts at a resonable rate that you bought them in the first place
 
Hehe I love living where I live because when I upgrade I can put the extra parts and some cheap ones into a computer and sell it for more then all the new parts I bought. For example of how computer stupid this town is, a local shop sold a P4 2.0 GHz, 256mb ram, 32mb onboard video, 15 inch monitor for $1400. Stupid, stupid people.
 
I have a job. I've been working all summer at $9 an hour doing yard work. It wasn't all that bad, my PC pwns my old one by a long shot, and I feel like entitled to it, like I earned it. It's not like momx0r or dadx0r ran out and bought it for me. I'm not saying that's bad to anyone who did, I'm just saying it's a different feeling of ownership.
 
Illegal Amigo said:
I have a job. I've been working all summer at $9 an hour doing yard work. It wasn't all that bad, my PC pwns my old one by a long shot, and I feel like entitled to it, like I earned it. It's not like momx0r or dadx0r ran out and bought it for me. I'm not saying that's bad to anyone who did, I'm just saying it's a different feeling of ownership.
Click to expand...

momx0r/dadx0r

Hahahaha!

Yeah, my friend basically had his mom pay for his whole PC, while I had to save (not really earning since I only got money from holidays and my birthday) for a year, and I finally have enough.
 
Ya I have been working my ass of to get a new computer. I have only been working two days a week though. Whats the point in earning enough money to buy a new computer if your never going to use it. But I have been collecting parts for my computer for the last 2 months and all im waiting for is the graphics card.

It's not like momx0r or dadx0r ran out and bought it for me.
Click to expand...
I hate it when the kids at school are like look at that l33t alienware. My parent are going to buy one for me. I think nearly every kid in my school has said they want an alienware or have one. But to tell you the truth they dont even know what parts go into building a computer. Its news to me that a CPU is the big box that sits under your desk.
 
blackeye said:
Its news to me that a CPU is the big box that sits under your desk.
Click to expand...

:LOL:

I know, everyone thinks that because CPU sounds very techish.

Alienware's really aren't worth it. You can get pretty much the same hardware for half the price. Plus, you would think such a high-end system would have a nice plexyglass side window.
 
bliink said:
insurance scams! :D
Click to expand...

Pfft, insurance fraud is for n00bl4rsz j00 lam3r. cr3dit c4rd fr4ud is lyk, lyk omgwtfbqqsandwich ub3r kewl!!!11!!111!11!!!onefoureightychicken!!111 :afro:
 
I just upgrade my computer one bit at a time. Every few months or so I just take out the bit I think is lacking (or just feel like a change) and take it to the shop. They test it , and I come back an hour later and they give me some cash (or credit) and I use that money to help get a new one. My case has been the same for a couple of years as well as the DVD drives, but the insides have changed a couple of times. Sometimes its minor, like say a stick of RAM. Some times a major overhaul with a new motherboard and new processor. But it's always fun!
 
Not everyone has a leet gaming rig, it just appears that way because you're on a gaming forum ;)

Take a look at the stats that were pulled off steam, the powerful machines don't even represent 5%.
 
I'm not complaining, I have a good computer, it's just a lot of people I know from a local gaming forum I post on still have like 1 ghz geforce 2's, and worse.....I have one of the best computers there...

I've noticed pretty much everyone has a computer as good as mine, or better, that's all.

This is a privelidged forum for sure, feel lucky.
 
Its called a full time job, and an overdraft!

(Though I don't upgrade that often, once every 18 months...)

Got money set aside for a x800xt, just can't find anyone who has it in stock.
 
It's also called a lot of people probably lie so they can appear cool. Mine, too, is merely decent-XP 2400+, 9800 Pro, 512MB, etc, but I haven't had any problems with anything and until I do it'd be pointless to upgrade.
 
Illegal Amigo said:
I have a job. I've been working all summer at $9 an hour doing yard work. It wasn't all that bad, my PC pwns my old one by a long shot, and I feel like entitled to it, like I earned it. It's not like momx0r or dadx0r ran out and bought it for me. I'm not saying that's bad to anyone who did, I'm just saying it's a different feeling of ownership.
Click to expand...

Yeah I can't believe how much I've been able to do with my Dell this summer. I've upgraded the motherboard, found a 60gb hdd lying around the house, got another stick of 256 ram. And I'm gonna get a new case and psu soon, and MAYBE even a P4C 2.8ghz. And for xmas I'm getting a 6800. If I could get a new computer right now I'm not sure I'd do it after what I've put into this one.
 
People dont buy a complete new computer every year ;). They upgrade on parts they feel it needs a upgrade. BTW, ppl have jobs ;)
 
Well i go work for a month or more every summer vacation, wich allows me (if i want) to replace the part of my pc I want to replace: for example my processor or vid card.
 
Student loans, overdrafts, and money from doing work on-the-side for my Uni.

The rig I have now I bought in like january last year so its really old, had a few upgrades (cpu/gfx) since then to keep it ok but its due for an upgrade.

Im due another load of student loan money in sept so i'm going 64-bit as soon as ASUS release a nice nForce4 board :) And i've already got an X800 XT Platinum with my name on it, couple of weeks away.
 
Im plannin how building a whole new comp myself after I go back to work when school starts. Im gonna go w/AMD this time.
 
I built my rig especially for hl2. And for upgrading every year or what ever, I don't. The system I had before this one was a PIII 500mhz 128mb ram, matrox g400. I didn't upgrade it ONCE (well i think we got new drives for it, but i dont consider that upgrading). I knew I'd have to upgrade my computer for hl2 when the bink videos wouldn't run smoothly on my computer :0. I don't think I'll be upgrading my rig for a loong time (1-3 years) so no more money will be spent on it

As for paying for it, I have had numerous jobs and hustled plans so I have enough money to have top of the line rig right now (what ever the top cpu is now adays, x800 xt). If you want to upgrade, get a job and start putting money away. Start taking some percentage of your paycheck and put it away every time. soon enough you will have enough money to buy a good set up and price will have dropped.

if you're wondering, my rig (in my sig, haha that rhymed) ended up costing something like $1000. I planned on spending $900. I reused: keyboard, mouse, headphones, monitor, case, PSU, flopy, cd rom.
 
In a few months (probably 6) I will get rid of my Ti 4200 and buy a nice new shiney Vid Card... MMmmm.
 
its called buying the parts your self (with money you earn (job)) and upgrading bits at a time... e.g last september i bought a graphics card... 9800 following month i bought a a 2500barton ABIT NF7-S and 512 meg of ram = ~£450 (900$ or something like that) last month i bought another 512 for some dual channel gig of ram action... grand total £520 for a pc that runs the VST at 66fps ;) next month i might just upgrade my cpu to AMD64 dunno yet... its a case of see how it goes!

Andy
 
Work is your friend if you want a new computer. I enjoy working with my friends and thats probably the only reason I have a job still but it pays for my computer and my bikes so im happy. New egg is a lot cheaper then any retailer in canada. (NCIX sucks). What would cost me $1500 on newegg would cost me $2000 on NCIX.

Also some of the people that bough EVGA graphics cards probably know that they can upgrade their cards within the first 3 months of buying it. So I can buy a 6800GT right now for $399 and then if I see the ultra extreme comes in stock at evga.com for $549 then you cross ship the cards and pay the difference and you have a brand new ultra extreme.

Well I have an athlon 3500, MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum motherboard, 1 gig of ocz ram , And I am waiting for a 6800 ultra (Decided to cancel order for x800 xt. I have had preorders at 10 different places and still nothing. I dont really care if it runs HL2 10-15% slower because its still at 60FPS)

Also I think if SM3.0 games start coming out in 2005 then I would rather have a 6800. The tradeoff is though that the X800 XT supported 3DC which improves performance on ATI cards. But the 6800's overclock like mad compared to he X800 XT which is what finally turned me to NVIDIA after loving ATI for so long.

I dont plan on buying a new system untill spring of 2006. I might upgrade a few parts between then but nothing major. Dual core processor will be out in the next 12 months which will bring prices down on the athlon 4000 or 4200 (whatever is out come december) and then I will buy one of those if they are around a $150. But I think the rest of my system will last me untill longhorn comes out with DX10.
 
Well someone here said he saved 1400$ in a year form birthdays and holidays, well that's a load of cash for me :) You must have some good rich uncles or something :p
I just bought an Athlon 3000+ and will buy an ASUS A7N8X-X mobo for it, still have 256 RAM (if selling my old processor and motherboard goes well I'll upgrade it to 512 MB) and an old GeForce 4 MX440 :(. Right now I'm wondering were to get the money for a new GPU but don't think it will be any better than an 9600 PRO (XT is more expensive and is only slightly better), maybe an 9800. I just hope this PC will run HL2 quite well on medium details as my CPU exceeds the recommended specifications and my GPU meets the minimum :p
 
muhaha i got the best job a 17 yr old can get. I work at a game store :p Sit my ass down and play until a customer comes in, a quick pause and ask if they need help. Sometimes i work in the back to help spraypaint ppl stuff which get me xtra cash :thumbs:
 
a game cover on a box to make it look like ablank box... you give them a free blank box which has a real game in... they give u £20 saving them a tenner onthe game giving you £20 ;)

Andy
 
blackeye said:
what would you need to spraypaint at a games store?
Click to expand...
at the back of the gamestore its sort of like another shop. There ppl come in and request their stuff to be spraypainted in their desgin of choice. we spray sneakers,hats,bandanas,t-shirts etc.
 
If you use parts from your previous PC and sell the other parts as combos with good value to the right people then you can easily save and make up the money you spend on the new parts.

The newest parts in my PC are CPU, GFX card and mainboard.
My memory and harddrive (Raptor) was from my previous AXP 2800+ machine. While my case, fans, TDK 48x CDRW, DVD drive, WD 80gb, and PSU was from my old AXP 1700+ machine.

I sold the combo barebone parts to some people who needed replacements for their old machines, running Durons. They also gave me their parts that they didn't need nor could sell and I can sell those for low cost desktop boxes now.
 
stinger.aim92 said:
Well someone here said he saved 1400$ in a year form birthdays and holidays, well that's a load of cash for me :) You must have some good rich uncles or something :p
I just bought an Athlon 3000+ and will buy an ASUS A7N8X-X mobo for it, still have 256 RAM (if selling my old processor and motherboard goes well I'll upgrade it to 512 MB) and an old GeForce 4 MX440 :(. Right now I'm wondering were to get the money for a new GPU but don't think it will be any better than an 9600 PRO (XT is more expensive and is only slightly better), maybe an 9800. I just hope this PC will run HL2 quite well on medium details as my CPU exceeds the recommended specifications and my GPU meets the minimum :p
Click to expand...

That would be me. :E

But, nope, not really. It was just because my grandma got a lot of money for some reason (I forgot) and she gave my brother's and I $500 each. :rolling: Didn't ask for any gifts, just cold hard cash.
 
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