Over 30 age group please. About video cards.

Shit, I upgrade my vid card every 6 months to a year max...the "old" card goes into my second box or a friends box. It's all about being a gamer, and age has nothing to do with it, other than the fact that some of us older, more money making guys, can afford better products...unless mommy and daddy are paying for it....heh.


I am 35 yrs old and love to game, in fact, I am going to Q-con 2004 and loving it :rolleyes: ;) I have not been since 2002...
 
Klync said:
Dang you guys still young, Im turning 36 by this month of 17th. Shit, for my 1st computer, it WAS a ViC-20, remember those? .
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Dude, my first PC was a Mac Classic, the ones where the whole pc was a little monochrome monitor, had a floppy drive built in right below, a handle in the top, and Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0 was the baddest boy on the block hahahhah...bck when MS and Apple were in cahoots :p
 
Thank you for all your feed back. I just finished a far cry this morning and I found was a sence of oh well, it ended. The high point of the game was the slight digital eye candy while val was showering in the water fall.

I've lost that lov'in feeling for laughing while someone frags you from the back. Or they shoot you out of the sky in some flight sim.

Am I being a snob when I say, I was just not impressed anymore or is it that I just don't care.


Good Luck, I think I'm going to hang up ther controllers for a while. Perhaps another degree in education or something.

Sincerely, Celsius
Phoenix, Arizona
 
You'll learn to love again, my friend.

You got D3 and HL2 to look forward to. And on the horizon, Duke nukem 3d! :D
 
Celsius said:
Am I being a snob when I say, I was just not impressed anymore or is it that I just don't care.
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i kinda agree, nothing has excited in the computer world lately. this changed with SLI, this is something that im looking forward too, now i actually have to work 20+ hours a week at my second job so i can save up for it :rolleyes:
 
I agree about the lack of excitement ... but then maybe we are just grizzled veteran of this thing, so it does not excite us anymore ... I can still remember upgrading on a 6-month cycle ... my rig is going 2 years old ... and I am not in a hurry to upgrade ... my last upgrade was a 9700Pro to a 9800Pro ... but this was free courtesy of RMA from Gigabyte...

We'll see when the new games come out ...
 
Celsius said:
Hello All,

I'm 33, married just sold house and building a new one.

So, for all of you in my age group, how often do you upgrade. I purchased the ATI 9800 Pro 128 meg about a year ago (I think) and often look at the reviews and I can afford to buy the bleeding edge but I often don't because I don't believe and feel that the gains are enough to warrant the purchase.

I wonder if our age group is the target group that they think about when these $500.00 cards come out. To be honest, not once did I but the most up to date card 5 years ago. I always wait a 1 1/2 years to upgrade.

Is this normal?

Backround, I game about 5 hours a week. Thats a 7 day week.

Thanks, Celsius
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If you were a hardcore gamer...say 20+ hrs a week,, you would prob upgrade more..

myself I like to upgrade every other cycle..if possible...

older than you btw
 
I am 43 years of age and I upgrade every 6 to 12 months. I have found its more cost effective if I can sell my current hardware while its still viable in the market.

The notion that buying video cards that cost 500 or more is money well spent can be debated by those that dont think so however if you stipulate that the decision has been made to persue this hobby in a manner in that brings you happiness then do so.

I upgrade as often as the opportunity arises on all my hardware.
 
jacuzz1 said:
I am 43 years of age and I upgrade every 6 to 12 months. I have found its more cost effective if I can sell my current hardware while its still viable in the market.
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I can agree wholeheartedly with this. I just think it makes more sense to sell your video card (or any other piece of hardware for that matter) when you can still get good money out of it. I'll probably sell my x800 Pro when the new wave of cards comes out and still get $200 or so for it. That's a good way to offset the cost of the latest and greatest.
 
I'm 33, married, no kids, and a gamer. I game anywhere from 20-35 hours a week in addition to a 40 hour a week job.

I tend to upgrade my video card about 3 months after they have been released and prices calm down. I always end up selling the old card either as an upgrade for someone else or as part of a whole PC (as in my gaming rig gets sold wholesale to someone).

I'm not sure I can remember all the video cards I've had, but here's a try and a guess on the dates:

Matrox Millenium 8mb Oct '95 (recall this one as I got my Win95 box then)
nVidia Riva128/ZX 1997
GeForce (1) 32mb 1999
GeForce2 GTS 32mb 2000
Radeon 8500 128mb Feb 2001
GeForce4 Ti-4600 Nov '02
ATi 9800 Pro Jan '04

I'll go to a 6800GT or X800Pro in a couple more months.
 
I'm 30, been gaming since C-64, used to dial up BB services and download the pirated games... friends used to freak & download from overseas. I had every single game, and all the cracking utilities... cracker jacks, etc.

Anyway, programmed some on 8086's in highschool, but didnt get back in to PC's until my Pentium 166, then really in to them around the time the 133FSB was just coming in on Intel. OC'ing then, etc.

I have a 5900 (non ultra).

Anyway, I usually have fairly cutting edge stuff, but $500 is TOO much. I got a ti4600 when the first came out at I think $325. I also had the first GeForce 256 sdr and GF2 GTS when those came out. Currently I'm thinking about the 6800GT, but the price is a little more than I want to pay and I want to see if I can sell my 5900 for a reasonable price first.
 
I'm 32 and have been playing games since I was 7 in the old Apple 2 days. Been buying vid cards since the 3dfx and TNT1 days. I buy every single top end card that comes out, but I bench more than I game now. Having cards to go through get's me closer to the numbers I'm looking for in my benching. After I'm done with a card, it usually goes into my gaming machine and/or on the for sale forums. In all honesty I think I buy too many vid cards a year, but then again, it's my only hobby atm...
 
I'm 35 - starting playing back in the Apple II days... <sigh> Then an Amiga, then an IBM from way back when.

I'm on a 4-10 month upgrade cycle depending on the part - I'll only upgrade CPU/MB/Memory when I get fairly outclassed or there's a great deal. Right now I'm running a P4 2.4c, 1 gig Kingston Value Ram at CAS 2.5/3/3/7, Retail ATI 9800 pro with 128m ram, 120 gig WD HD 8 meg on a P4P800 Deluxe.

I'll probably move to a Nvidia 6800GT once the availability gets a bit better and the price normalizes.
 
39 here, My first "RIG" was a computer made by commodore called the "PET" I then upgraded to the VIC 20 then the 64. The floppy drives back then were more expensive than the PC. I now upgrade about every year and a half on the Video card, and every Ghz on the processor side of things.
My first IBM type PC was a "PC CLONE" made by Packard Bell, it had a smokin 100mhz processor. I even upgraded the video ram from 1 to a whole 2 meg, It even had a 2X burner "lookout".

I still am waiting for storage device speeds to catch up with the rest of the system, and be cheap enough to buy.
 
CoasterG said:
I'm 35 - starting playing back in the Apple II days... <sigh> Then an Amiga, then an IBM from way back when.

I'm on a 4-10 month upgrade cycle depending on the part - I'll only upgrade CPU/MB/Memory when I get fairly outclassed or there's a great deal. Right now I'm running a P4 2.4c, 1 gig Kingston Value Ram at CAS 2.5/3/3/7, Retail ATI 9800 pro with 128m ram, 120 gig WD HD 8 meg on a P4P800 Deluxe.

I'll probably move to a Nvidia 6800GT once the availability gets a bit better and the price normalizes.
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I'm 27, but I just wanted to point out the 5950Ultra is still close to $400 on newegg, and the asus+chaintech cards are preparing to retail the highest ever (asus close to $600). I too would like to wait for a lower price... but I have a feeling we may be waiting until geforce 7 for a worthwhile break. Maybe newegg will do another $10 off the GT, for $389 I'd jump on it... especially with a free game.
 
I'm 31, married and a harc core XBOX & PC gamer (20hrs+/week) but a somewhat frugal one. I get into a game and play the crap out of it if I really like it, WC3 and Riddick for example. I try to budget my upgrades and dont always buy the latest CPU & GPU becuz thats just plain retarded. I own a 4400Ti and milked till I absolutely needed something new and thats why I'm buying the 6800GT (CompUSA scam).
 
I'm 19. Now I hope my opinion is valued in this thread, because I don't believe age should be the end all and be all factor in the credibility of an opinion.

I purchased my Ti4600 for ~130USD used. I was and still am extremely happy with this purchase. It can play Farcry at medium/10x7 and basically any game I want to throw at it.

I don't consider myself a hardcore gamer, because funds are not readily available (lotsa things to pay for first... tuition, etc etc).

I think it's all a matter of priority.

If you have all the money in the world, I don't know why you wouldn't buy the best of the best. For me, I don't think I'd ever buy a top of the line video card, even if end up in the career I'm working hard for now. (hopefully six digits, but that's after years and years of working)

First, you must learn what the cards are capable of. Is it worth the price tag? I wasn't going to go out and buy a $250 9800Pro if I could get a $130 Ti4600. The $120 difference is more worth it for me than the beauty of the games that I could play.

I'd rather spend it on a few night outs with friends, etc etc. It's your own money, you decide what to do with it! I think in the end, if you're happy with it... then all the power to you!
 
Brent_Justice said:
age has nothing to do with it

if you are an enthusiast, or a hardcore gamer (5 hours a week aint much, hardcore gamers do more like 5 hours a day) then you want the bleeding edge, no matter how old you are

your wallet also does most of the talkin concerning what you can afford though :D
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I feel sorry for someone who plays video games 5 hours per day. I couldn't imagine having nothing better to do than stare at a game that long. I can play about 45 minutes in any given day and this thing called "outside" calls me. I'd love to see the physical fitness of these people, lol. They'll be fine when they're kids, but when they hit adulthood and their metabolism goes down, heh.
 
I'm 55 and play about 1 hr per day, and I'll upgrade when new games I like need more speed to play. This year it's Farcry,Painkiller,UT2004,and Battlefield Vietnam .
 
I upgrade probably once a year.

I'm married, 33yrs old and no house yet (still looking for one i can afford in LA) haha.. I don't plan on getting below the once/year routine unless i get another muscle car, and then all upgrades essentially stop.
 
31 here and big time gamer. If I didn't have a new house, new sprinkler system, new deck, new Explorer and a bunch of other things to pay for right now I'd be buying the latest video cards too. Right now I'm on the 9800pro. My "community" of gamers (www.allaboutnothing.net) are mostly about my age too and someone is always upgrading.
Yes I think we are a good target market but I think there are a lot of gamers older and younger. We play with a bunch of guys that are 40, 50 and even in their 60's as well as teenagers and college-aged guys.
 
Well am 29 here, wife and a 10 yr. old that goes through more $$ then i like to spend. I get my parts that I need/want, just takes ALOT of time to get it... I play games and such, not alot since I gave pops my P-4 rig for x-mas, been piecing together a new one since....and so far just ram and vid card to go till its complete. My computer spending is dictated through others wants/needs, so that realy cuts down on my "bleeding edge" factor.
 
Inside_line said:
I'm 27, but I just wanted to point out the 5950Ultra is still close to $400 on newegg, and the asus+chaintech cards are preparing to retail the highest ever (asus close to $600). I too would like to wait for a lower price... but I have a feeling we may be waiting until geforce 7 for a worthwhile break. Maybe newegg will do another $10 off the GT, for $389 I'd jump on it... especially with a free game.
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Like every video card before it once you get enough of them being made the price will start dropping. Its red hot right now, but when DDR3 becomes more easily available the price will start dropping - and I'm sure Nvidia has a few new cards on the horizon also which will effect price as well.

As for the current crop still maintaining price, there's no reason for them to reduce it right now - the newer cards are in short supply so the "high end" older ones will maintain their prices for a bit more then take the plunge.

George
 
i am not over 30 but i do own a house and am paying with it on one income ( medical issues prevent me from working for awhile) and i upgrade every 8 months .. its not easy i have to really give up things like movies , games and since i live in vegas ..shows. I think its worth it , upgrading every 6 months would be too hard for me. When i had a job i would upgrade every other months for fun . There is no reason to really upgrade every other month and upgrading every 8 months to 1 year is the smart and best way to go i believe.
 
32 years old and single (for now). First video card was the GeForce ti4600 that came in a Dell desktop. Built my own computer and got the Radeon 9800 Pro when it first came out.

I'll probably upgrade to the x800xt. But for right now, like others, I'll probably wait until the prices go down, and there are more reviews and feedback from owners. Since the demand exceeds the supply the artificial pricing is a bit steep. I can afford it, but knowing that the card I have now isn't worth half of what I paid is a bit discouraging.
 
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