Is this computer worth $550 ?

  • Thread starter ronzer
  • 37 comments
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Well ronzer, I wish you the best of luck. If you wait for the latest and greatest so current gen hardware comes down in price, you will be waiting for ever because there will always be cheaper, faster, stronger hardware down the road. It's the nature of the beast. Not pushing you one way or another, but unless you already have a setup, waiting for the next gen hardware to become more affordable, means you will not be racing any time soon. On the other end of the spectrum, waiting and buying new grants you full warranties, in some cases free games with your hardware purchases, time to save up more funds and there by giving you more of a future proofed system that could last 3-4 years without any major upgrades.

I'm a bit of Horse Power junkie as it comes to computer and more times than not have been on bleeding edge of this tech. Although it's great for a while, my bro's tend to have equal systems within 6 months of mine at a fraction of the cost. I am currently waiting on the GTX880's to come out so I can pick up a couple 780 hydros to replace my two 590's.

So, get what you can afford today and start racing, or save up a few more $$$ and wait for the prices of current technology to come down and be better prepared for future proofing your system.

Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and pull the trigger. :D

:cheers:
 
He said it has never been overclocked but who knows and he wont come down from $550.
It seems like a very good price for what it is as long as it works and is not a scam. Even a few years time, it will probably cost you that much to get the same performance.
 
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If you wait for the latest and greatest so current gen hardware comes down in price, you will be waiting for ever because there will always be cheaper, faster, stronger hardware down the road. It's the nature of the beast. Not pushing you one way or another, but unless you already have a setup, waiting for the next gen hardware to become more affordable, means you will not be racing any time soon.
Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and pull the trigger. :D

:cheers:

Normally I would agree with this but we are currently at the end of an extremely long cycle for graphics cards. The 7970 came out last January and its replacement will likely be seen early next year or late this year. Normally a cycle is closer to 8-12 months not 2 years. It is highly likely you are missing out on bang for the buck if you buy today. Especially since you plan to use the system for several years.
 
You are always missing out on the "bang for your buck" cards if you buy the latest greatest. It will never pencil out but if you have the money to burn, go for it. If not, buy used or get into a last gen top card. Run a second in SLI/Crossfire and call it a day. Decisions used to be easier when you needed a certain gen card to support specific flavors of DirectX for example. This will change when DX12 comes out. That should really drive the price of all our DX11 cards down.

Do you need 144fps or is 60fps good enough? Running one monitor or six? Running 3D?Setting up a system for 4k Displays coming? So many configurations and options. You can always get into minimum requirements for your goals, or build in a little headroom in anticipation for new games coming out or for more graphically intensive configurations. Either way, trying to future proof your rig comes with larger price tags and all of a sudden cost to performance ratios don't work any more. That's where SLI/Crossfire is nice. It at least gives you one more shot to squeeze more time out of your rig by adding a second card if your mobo supports it. To me, this option makes sense for "bang for your buck". Get a single card today, make sure your mobo supports SLI/Crossfire and in a year or two, add a second graphics card at a fraction of the cost for up to a 60% boost in performance.
 
You are always missing out on the "bang for your buck" cards if you buy the latest greatest. It will never pencil out but if you have the money to burn, go for it. If not, buy used or get into a last gen top card. Run a second in SLI/Crossfire and call it a day. Decisions used to be easier when you needed a certain gen card to support specific flavors of DirectX for example. This will change when DX12 comes out. That should really drive the price of all our DX11 cards down.

No one said buy the latest and greatest. As you said yourself waiting for the next generation is where the largest price drop occurs.

As an aside, up until this week crossfire was broken so it is actually viable now.

Bottom line is you should wait until the next generation of GPUs arrive and then pick a card.
 
Well, the mobo that ronzer is looking at in the PC supports SLI. Add a second 660 down the road to give a scalable boost to performance. Seems like a pretty solid budget way to get into PC gaming without having to take out a second mortgage.
 
That is a good deal I honestly don't know why you haven't pounced on it. But dont worry...hesitate long enough and someone else will.
 
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