Response to LFP’s Modern Convince
Buying a toaster online can be quite time consuming I’m sure. But so can buying anything online. There are just so many reviews that if you aren’t careful you will become consumed by it all.
The past three or so weeks I have been trying to put together all of the parts that I need to build a new PC. The problem is that when building a PC there are constantly new parts coming out, some better than others. A brand that I trusted two years ago might be not the best choice now. Some of parts that go into building a PC are… First you have to figure out what processor you want, are you going with Intel or AMD. (I’m going with AMD for their price/performance ratio. Plus it will be replaced, that is inevitable, so why spend more than you have to.) Then your Motherboard, Ram, Power supply, Hard Drive, and Graphics card all have to be selected.
There are also combos that if you buy, say, a case, power supply, processor and motherboard you get fifty dollars off. Usually combos are a great way to save money but trying to select the best one that is in your price can be very, very time consuming. There will be things you like about some of the parts in the combos and other parts you wish you could replace all together.
The main thing I try to keep in mind is there will be things I replace in two years because they are out of date. But this is why if you do it smart, and build it yourself, you can save money by just replacing what you need. Just buying a new motherboard and processor in two years, spending maybe one hundred and fifty dollars is better than throwing out a thousand dollar HP or Dell. There is no worse feeling than using a old, slow, gunked up computer because you spent all of that money and it can’t be upgraded.
Overall building a computer is a time consuming process and it’s hard to stay up to date on everything. Although as of right now I feel so up to date it is outrageous. It is so easy to put together a computer, and quite fun. The hard part is selecting the right parts.
Well said. I used to stay current with that stuff as I was constantly updating and tweaking my own rig. It was kind of a competition, as I lived with a couple of other friends that had home-made rigs and if one guy got the latest graphics card, then the rest of us were wanting to upgrade ours. It was a vicious cycle, but I was always up-to-date on the latest components.
ReplyDeleteNow, I don't really bother. I am using a home-built computer that is about 5 years old. I replaced graphics card and CPU fan a couple years ago and I might have upped the RAM. But, if I was going to build one from scratch, I'd probably have to spend a week or two researching the latest and then the not so latest and figure out where my sweet spot of cost/performance is.
I feel for you. Most of the time, unless I need something for gaming, I find old computers that are a couple years old and buy them for cheap, or just drop the $350 for a Dell or other disposable brand. They still usually last for 5-7 years without much problem.
Building computers is one of my favorite things to do. Wish I could afford to do it more often. So to get my fix I tend to tinker. Actually the machine I'm using now came from a guy who salvaged it from the dump. It's a P4 but perfectly suited to my needs. A new graphics card and a bigger hard drive will probably give it another decade.
ReplyDeleteDo you use yours for gaming? Or some other resource-intensive task that demands the latest hardware?
The problem with building computers is that I go into a sort of hyper-research mode where I obsess equally over every single component, and drive myself absolutely batty. And since I don't game or otherwise have specialized needs, I've come to the conclusion it's not really worth it for me at this time, though I understand the appeal.
ReplyDeleteI do love my clicky keyboard, though....
Buying a typewriter:
ReplyDelete1. Find good looks.
2. Find a brand.
3. It will outlast you. ;)
Haha, but building computers can get crazy!
LFP. So do I... So do I... But I do game a lot and is the only reason I stress over each and every part. They just go obsolete so quick, all I want is my moneys worth and good performance.
ReplyDeleteBuying typewriters IS so much easier
Do you do the parts research based on what you need or based solely on what is the fastest/best/up-to-date? I would think that if it was the latter it would be impossible to settle on anything.
ReplyDelete