Morning Ramble 375: Out of the Chase

I’m so glad right now that I have given up on chasing the perfect gaming PC. Not only is it an expensive hobby but at times like these, when there’s no clear leader, it can get downright maddening. Hunting for the best parts to eek out every benchmark can be a crazy undertaking. So is spending over $1000 on a single component just so you get a couple of FPS improvement under perfect conditions. When some of the parts that give you the “best” PC cost as much as an entire “really good” PC it’s also a hobby I am glad to have left.

A few years ago when I caught myself spending multiple $1000s on a new computer so I could get the “best” parts I was enjoying it. I could actually see how well my machine performed and could quote benchmarks that put my build over the top. I got the satisfaction of building my own beast and watching it tear through the games of the day. But then I started realizing…my $7500 beast was going to be obsolete next month when the new CPU or GPU or motherboard came out. I’d have to ante up another $1000 or $1500 to get the latest release.

And it was an never-ending story. Once I got the new part, I’d have a nice 4–6 week span where I’d feel like I was on top of the heap again until I’d have to get a new part.

And then, they started throwing in multiple core CPUs. Wait, is faster better than more cores? Yes for some stuff, but not for all games…argh!

I threw in the towel, but not before spending way too much money over the years.

Now I am happy to spend a decent amount to get a “good” gaming laptop that can also rock spreadsheets at top speed. Then I stop. Getting a laptop means I have to stop since there is a limited means to update the machine. I’m done. I don’t have to keep researching what the best of the beat CPU or GPU or memory or motherboard is. I don’t have to figure out how to keep funding such an expensive hobby. I can start actually using the PC I’ve got rather than chasing the one I want.

In any case, Intel and AMD are back at their CPU wars and I think we’re getting into the double digits in cores. I’m sure there’ll be some great advances in what can be done with all that computing power, but I’m happy with my i7 and my GTX 980. They get the job done and I’m sure will be good for another few years. By then, I’ll have saved up the money to actually afford the next generation PC rather than chasing it on a monthly basis.

And now we’re even seeing this competition in the console market – I’m gonna just stay with my original PS4 and XBoxOne. No need to upgrade now, just enjoy the games.