Is computer gaming is expensive?

Is computer gaming expensive?

  • Yes

    Votes: 292 68.2%

  • No

    Votes: 30 7.0%

  • Only if ur stupid

    Votes: 106 24.8%
  • Total voters
    428
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magoo said:
If you have children you spend way more to upgrade them than to upgrade the PC
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Triple that if it's a girl :D



Isn't this something like deminishing returns? The closer you get to cutting edge, the more exponentially the cost goes up. A good gaming rig costs about $700. The next level costs $1500. The one after that is $3000. So just settling for "almost" cutting edge, settling for a rig that's 10fps slower, 1 resolution lower, 1 monitor size slower and 200mhz slower, might actually cut the total cost in half. Might be a bit of exaggeration but this is the reason i can't go past a certain budget, i keep having to wait for some of the high end cards to trickle down to my price range. I'm not [H] enough to buy a component that costs twice as much but only 25% faster. Maybe $600-$800 is the sweetspot for a regular gamer?
 
Computer gaming is very expensive. First part of the cost is the hardware. To stay on a good curve with hardware you need to spend at around 500 to 700 a year on hardware. of coerce this can me more if you are into the mega high-end.

With software at 50 to 80 dollars a game this stuff just adds up fast... Also with online games you have the cost of internet. and with games like WoW and Everquest 1/2 you have online cost per month.

I can see someone spending a 1000 dollars or more a year just for gaming...
 
While it is expensive when you have to save up and don't have a job that pays you every week, you still cut costs in the long run.

I paid about $900 for this rig (see sig), and I love it. I'll be taking it to college with me in three years, and it won't change for the most part.

I cut costs a lot; firstly, I shopped around for parts to make sure I got the best prices. I didn't go extremely top-of-the-line, since I scale down graphics and eye-candy when my PC becomes closer to the obsoletion point. I also made sure I compared different models to see what was the best and fit into my budget easiest. That's why I have a 6800GT rather than a 7800--I can run everything fine with my 6800, and the 7800 was just too expensive compared to the 6800. I also had room for SLi, so I can always pick up another 6800GT and run SLi. I'm content until my planned upgrade in 2008.

The only reasons I bought my own PC rather than using the family PC was 1) it's mine, and mine alone, 2) the family one's dying, 3) the family one's really obsolete now. That one's gone since 2001, and it's been pushed past its limit, so it's been retired from hardcore gaming.

So in three years I'll be complaining again, but until then, game on!
 
pissboy said:
Or you could buy an Ariel Atom and get supercar performance for the price of 2 civics. ;)
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Is the Ariel Atom street legal?
 
Zardoz said:
Computer gaming is very expensive. First part of the cost is the hardware. To stay on a good curve with hardware you need to spend at around 500 to 700 a year on hardware. of coerce this can me more if you are into the mega high-end.

With software at 50 to 80 dollars a game this stuff just adds up fast... Also with online games you have the cost of internet. and with games like WoW and Everquest 1/2 you have online cost per month.

I can see someone spending a 1000 dollars or more a year just for gaming...
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That sounds bad on the abstract level, but compare it to consoles...software costs are the same (nothing costs $80 unless its the WoW, HL2 etc. collectors edition). Internet - well yeah XBox Live needs that. Per month costs? Yeah XBox Live needs that. Also a computer doesn't just play games. Even a modded console...nevermind, what's the point of arguing? Either people are ok with it or not. Owning a car is expensive too, but you don't see people giving that up ;)
 
Here are you guys, talking about how a 600$ computer isn't that expensive :eek: . I'm up to 400$ on mine and think that I spent too much on it :D (I'm not a 1600x1200 gamer obviously). The specs are...

1.8 Duron Modded to XP2200 @ 2.4 GHZ
Shuttle AN35N-Ultra Mobo
2 x 512 PC-3200 Mushkin Memory
BBATI 9800 Pro
WD 80 Gig HD
DVD+RW/-RW
Turtle Beach S.C.

Someone should make a poll, "what do you do for a living...." :rolleyes:
 
Seongmin said:
Here are you guys, talking about how a 600$ computer isn't that expensive :eek: . I'm up to 400$ on mine and think that I spent too much on it :D (I'm not a 1600x1200 gamer obviously). The specs are...
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That's really what it's all about. If you are like some of the newer breed of gamers that has to have a huge Dell/Sony/Apple LCD then you migh need at the very least 1 7800GTX if not SLI just to keep the native res good with FPS in games, but for those of us still using CRT's we can just raise, or lower resolutions and not have to have so much graphical prowess. I regularly game at 1280x1024 with full AA-AF and that allows me to get superb frame rates at all times and not have to have such an expensive rig. I also don't need or want more than 2 fast HDD's at a time and i usually reuse those HDD's through 2 system builds instead of buying new ones every time (keeps cost down). I also get the case i really want and also go though at least two system builds (also keep costs down). I have been using a Sony CRT through two builds already and it's still a superb monitor overall and it too has kept costs way down.
 
I've been using the same Gateway EV700 monitor since my first computer in 1999. Granted, it's a bit beaten up, but it's gone from playing early games to the games of today with no problems. It's also seen two different houses and three different PCs.
 
I have the 19" HMD A400 monitor from a two year old Sony VAIO and it looks perfect with the Antec Lanboy. It's an AG Trinitron so it's a very good monitor.
 
Yes. If you buy a console, that's $400 every 4-5 years for the platform.

You can't tell me that $400 gets you through 4 years with a PC.
 
Just to get this out of the way:


Sure as hell a three year old Radeon or Nvidia card will play HL2, thats all good and well.

But once you've played the said the games with the likes of a 7800GTX or a x800xl you realise how much different the game looks and plays.
So really who cares ifa game will just about play on a gfx, it's more of a case of playing the game how it was meant to be played by the creaters.


A ford will get you from A to B, but god damn give me a ferrari anyday.
 
PCJ said:
Yes. If you buy a console, that's $400 every 4-5 years for the platform.
You can't tell me that $400 gets you through 4 years with a PC.
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> For me no. I change mobos and processors every year. I may keep the GFX card depending on how good it is. It's more like $400.00 every year :)
 
Depends on how you define expensive i guess.

if you think of it in a $ per hour of entertainment then, not really.
 
Anything in life is expensive. You can't wipe your ass for free really. Unless you go to a public bathroom, but even that would require you to walk in order to not waste gas. ;)
 
[BB] Rick James said:
Anything in life is expensive. You can't wipe your ass for free really. Unless you go to a public bathroom, but even that would require you to walk in order to not waste gas. ;)
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ur wrong, the sex I had between my girlfriend and I are 100% free.
 
gtx4u said:
ur wrong, the sex I had between my girlfriend and I are 100% free.
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How much did it cost to get her in bed? :D


I bet a dinner...maybe a movie....possibly some snuggle time :D

It cost ya somthing..... ;)
 
Compared to what people spend on cars and other hobbies - it's one of the cheapest things you can get into. I have a friend you just bought $2,000 in ski equipment....
 
trinibwoy said:
Compared to what people spend on cars and other hobbies - it's one of the cheapest things you can get into. I have a friend you just bought $2,000 in ski equipment....
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Crap.....

And how much does he use it a year?
 
Yea there are alot of expensive hobbies. My Dad is a huge Civil War buff and the guns to pewter soldiers he buys to setup mock battles of the famous ones it all adds up. He also collects baseball cards and has it insured because it's worth a few hundred grand due to some very old cards.
 
I'd say a nice gaming rig is pretty expensive compared to "gaming consoles"... The only reason why I'm building a gaming rig is because I use my computer for 50,000 other things that consoles aren't capable of (video encoding, surfing internet, etc). That's also why I'm going dual core instead of single.
 
Well Im one of the people that only upgrades when, my system will no longer play games. Then I go with the top end. I only gave up my Voodoo5 card and old GF card after I could only get slide shows on games, I wanted to play. Right now Im good till next year so, upgrading every 3 years isnt expensive. Also I dont upgrade until I see the 2nd run of the newest components, first runs usually have some problems.
 
Even though I voted yes, I will say that its from each persons point of view. I find $225 to be the max I would spend on any one part. Some ppl only have $225+ each parts in their comps.
 
Footer4321 said:
Im still running a geforce 4 ti4200.... and it plays HL2 pretty nice.... what really makes gaming expensive though is a nice connection!
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dude. sig. WAY TOO LONG

And yeah, it's expensive if you're keeping up with technology. It's still fun if you don't. I upgrade once every year and a half or so.
 
.::MAGE::. said:
I feel pretty much like what Astaroth stated. You can go midrange and with some upgradability and game fine for a long time.
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Midrange won't run CSS smoothly in any situation you get into in that game, same goes for BF2 and other games. You really need to drop around $1500 to play the most currents games (if that is what you're into). You could get away with a $500 computer if you're a very casual gamer playing older games (i.e. Q3 and some other games). But, the things is that these older games die out to newer ones, so really, PC gaming hardware MUST evolve with the games, or you're not going to play them. So yeah, it's expensive as hell.
 
hi there Threedd :)
Uhm.. i've played CSS on a AMD 2100 with a Gefore4600 TI and 512mb of ram, it ran fine at 1024x768.

And now i have a Athlon 64 3000? or there abouts, and a geforce 6600 and 1gb of ram.
I can run quake 4, dear, and most other games just fine :)

and that system set me back.. mmm maybe 1000k max?:)
 
A PC is not a console, Games are higher standards and there used for so many more things.

So a to answer your question, no.
 
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