General Topic: So how much should you spend on building your PC?

[melorock]

In my opinion, electronics is generally a bad idea to heavily invest in as the likelihood that it will become outdated or obsolete in a matter of a few years or even a few months.

So basically, is there that much difference in performance between spending $1,500 or 3,000 to build a pc? What is a good cap that will bascially give you everything you need and anything else will be sugar coating? Best bang for your buck, and I'm talking about computing performance, not monitors or etc.

I'm curious to see what you guys thoughts and opinions are on this.

 

[Slaymate]

I always spend as much money as I can and as frequently as I can. The way I see it is, if I always have the best then I can always sell what I have for a decent price and upgrade to the next best thing to hit the scene.

 

[Yami]

I always spend as much money as I can and as frequently as I can. The way I see it is, if I always have the best then I can always sell what I have for a decent price and upgrade to the next best thing to hit the scene.

^ This.

 

[hikaricloud]

The only reason you should spend anywhere near 1500 bucks is if you are building an i7 rig. Which I still say is worth it in the long run.

Otherwise, keeping under 1000 bucks is a general rule of thumb for me.

 

[TheOtis]

In the past I've spent stupid amounts of cash on my rigs. But I'm done with that now. I go with what hikari said.

 

[Hefemeister]

It all depends upon your disposable income.

I like a new build around every 3 or so years and generally spend around $1500. Any more than that is spending a ton of money for a small increase in speed.

Now if I had the cash I would drop 4K on a build no problem.

but I do not.

 

[melorock]

I always spend as much money as I can and as frequently as I can. The way I see it is, if I always have the best then I can always sell what I have for a decent price and upgrade to the next best thing to hit the scene.

Makes sense. But if you don't mind me asking, what's usually your budget?

 

[saltynay]

My original build was £1400 and given a week that will all be in a htpc build I think since then I have spent another £1000 on upgrades..... I built my first pc 2 months after joining here which is 2-3 years ago

 

[Slaymate]

I've been upgrading the same system for years now actually. I've replaced every part more than a few times. I have a thread over at PCApex.com titled "New Parts Coming" that I started in June of 2006 that's 20 pages long (most of the older pictures are now missing thou).

I don't really have a Budget, if I want it I buy it. I just spent a $1000 on a New Custom Case from MNPCTech.com if that gives you an idea of my Budget. http://www.techist.com/forums/f10/slaymate-s-saga-200179/

 

[tastegw]

money means different things to different people.

some people find it hard to drop more than $500 on a pc
some people find it easy to drop over 5k on a pc

its always the users budget that is king.

if i was a millionaire, i would most likely sport a i7 extreme with dual 295's and a 285 as a dedicated phyx card all water cooled. that setup would be chump change for any millionaire. whats a $5,000 pc when your driving a lambo?

now if your a 1989 civic, chances are your not going to be rocking anything over $1500.