$1500 PC design challenge

[TinCow]

I just think the little increase in price to the new i7 860 is worth it, over an i5.

If you're not on a budget, sure... but given a price constraint, I don't think $80 is worth it for an extra 140mhz and hyperthreading. I've been very surprised at how much the gaming industry has slowed down in its hardware demands. There was a period from about 1998 through 2006 when I was doing major upgrades ($500+) to my machine every year. I've only done a single upgrade on my box since 2006 (to dual core w/ GF 9800) and it's still running pretty much everything at max.

I think SLI is the perfect example of unnecessary upgrading. Any hardware discussion on a gaming forum will inevitably end up in a discussion about whether to use SLI, and which mobos to get for best SLI performance. Yet only 2.4% of all gaming computers have an SLI setup. I feel like a lot of the hardware junkies have continued on buying the $300+ CPUs and GPUs, without really acknowledging that stuff like that isn't needed anymore. The same is true with overclocking, which is totally unnecessary now unless you're on a stupendously small budget. It's perfectly fine if you enjoy building 'hot rod' rigs for performance alone, but that's a pretty small niche market.

[pevergreen]

I spent a fair bit on my 3 month old computer, but I moved from a Dell XPS m1530 laptop.

Dad went and got two "gaming" computer (long story) back in 06/07. They cannot run L4D2 or The Sims 3 properly.

I think my timeline is correct, but we got them before the nvidia 8000 series and dual cores...

I sit in the camp of "If you're going to build a computer, build it properly."

That being said be smart about it. I could have spent less, but as long as the person is happy with what they end up with, does it matter?

[Crandaeolon]

I've been very surprised at how much the gaming industry has slowed down in its hardware demands.

It probably has something to do with console generations. These days, most (all?) AAA titles are developed for the current console generation first; the PC might get somewhat better resolution textures or other small graphical upgrades, but console hardware limits are the primary consideration.

[TinCow]

It probably has something to do with console generations. These days, most (all?) AAA titles are developed for the current console generation first; the PC might get somewhat better resolution textures or other small graphical upgrades, but console hardware limits are the primary consideration.

I never thought about that; you're almost certainly correct.