I think I have a problem......

[jhatfie]

So lately, at least in the past couple months....mostly out of boredom I think, I have become mildly addicted to testing and flipping/upgrading hardware while trying to do it as cheap as possible. Sometimes I get no gains, other than the enjoyment of playing with something new, sometimes there are some benefits. Graphics cards have gotten the most attention lately, since they seem to have the most flexibility in pricing/bonuses. Thankfully I research a bit and buy/sell so my upgrade/sidegrade costs are very low or I come out ahead...sometimes way ahead.

For instance for CPU's. Sold my E8400 for $90, bought a Q6600 GO for $85 to upgrade my son's computer to a quad. Picked up a Phenom II X4 965 for $75, sold my unlocked X2 555 for $75. Sold my i5 750 cpu/mobo setup as well.

Graphics cards are more detailed.

HTPC: Sold my HTPC HD5850 for $180, bought a 6870 for $115 AR and selling free games.
Son's Computer: Sold HD 5770 for $80, picked up a 6850 for $95 AR and selling free games
My gaming rig: Originally picked up my reference 6950's for $580 at launch, sold 6950's for $540, picked up used Asus Matrix GTX 580 for $410. Played with it and Traded Matrix 580 back for 2x6950's (reference). Sold them for $480, picked up (2) 6870's for $225 AR and selling free games. Now thinking of selling them and trying something else new.....I must be stopped. lol

At this point it has nothing to do with performance, since I switched from eyefinity to a single 30" display, for most games a single card like unlocked 6950's or 570/580 play most games very well at good detail levels. They all do leave something to be desired in certain games, but overall give mostly satisfying experience. My wife thinks that I am crazy though.....am I?

 

[digitalgunfire]

Yes

 

[mhenley]

Yes. That's a lot of work for little-to-no gain.

 

[jhatfie]

Well like I mentioned, I am aware there was no performance gain (backwards on my gaming rig actually since I am on 6870's instead of 6950's like I started with). My reasoning for the madness is in the enjoyment I receive from the ability to test and OC new parts since I have little gaming motivation since there is nothing out at the moment that I want to play that I have not already beaten. I think the origin of the issue is because I used to play WoW and now I have this thing called free time at nights that I am yet not fully used to.

All is not bad though, through my parts shuffling I have actually pocketed about $200 in my paypal and have $140 more coming in rebates.

If I sell my 6870's, I have seen the last two used ones like mine sold for $158 and $171 on eBay (yes people there are crazy) + shipping. So lets say $320 minus fees = $293. I paid $225 for them so I pocket $68 (estimate) and am geared up to try something else. Although I must admit that at this point I am running low on the crazy motivation to test hardware. So I may be done for now.

 

[kuyaglen]

My wife thinks that I am crazy though.....am I?

You are not crazy, you are [H].

 

[Cowboy420]

Yes. That's a lot of work for little-to-no gain.

+1 to this.

 

[digitalgunfire]

Don't get me wrong, if it's fun, go for it. I do the same thing with paintball guns.

 

[Aditlojs]

I have been doing similarly in all of my hobbies for years.

Watercooling has put a damper on my eagerness to cycle through computer parts though...

 

[jhatfie]

I have been doing similarly in all of my hobbies for years.

Watercooling has put a damper on my eagerness to cycle through computer parts though...

Seriously, I used to watercool for a long time. Got sick of draining my system and cutting tubing every time I put in a new motherboard or video card. Performance of a custom watercooled setup is awesome, but oh so tiring if you swap hardware on a regular basis. Thus my use of a Silver Arrow now for my CPU now, much easier to swap in/out while still getting great cooling performance.