AMD Athlon 550 overclocked to 700
Outside Loop Manufacturers AFTERBURNER card
128 megs SDRAM
GeForce 256
13.6 Gig 7200 rpm Ultra DMA Hard Drive
6.4 Gig 7200 rpm Hard Drive
4x4x24 Hewlett Packard CDRW
48X CD-ROM
.26 dot pitch AOC 19" monitor
Razer Boomslang 2000 d.p.i. mouse
Logitech Force Feedback Wingman Extreme
Gravis X-terminator Gamepad
high-speed internet access

Not too shabby- but not stellar, either. But not too long ago my setup would have made some people drool- I know because I've seen said drool with my own two eyes. However, that was many days ago, and my also aforementioned eyes have watched my bragging rights fade faster than Dexy's Midnight Runners, as faster CD-RWs, GeForces, RAM, and CPUs come out. Bigger hard drives and sweeter monitors scatter across that infernal landscape that is the local computer store. All taunting me.

"See, Prae?" they mock, "If you had only waited 2 months, you could have spent the same thing and gotten SO MUCH MORE."

Now, a lesser individual might become frustrated by the imaginary tauntings of hardware, usually indicitive of an upcoming psychotic episode that can be remembered by such phrases as "It's worth WHAT now?!". For myself, I feel I have evolved past that stage. I have achieved inner peace. I am a Zen Master of Orion, so to speak. Listen now to what years of experience and hardware-induced poverty has taught a wisened gamer...

You can't win. It's as if the Borg were coming at you, not to assimiliate you but force you to have sex and eat Hagez Daaz Irish Cream Iced Cream- it's useless to resist.

What you can do is plan and try to spend as little as possible, but you can't win the waiting game. Because as soon as the technology you're waiting for comes out (GeForce2), well, "If you only wait a LITTLE longer," the newer and better technology will be out (GeForce2 with Hagez Daaz Irish Cream Iced Cream). Now, take that little scenario, multiply it by the number of computer products on the market, and repeat it as a loop every six months for the rest of your life. NOW tell me that you're just waiting for that slightly larger complimentary tub of sweet, sweet frozen goodness...

So yeah, I dropped a ton of cash my last major upgrade- new case, new MB, new processor, new HD, new video card... I don't want to do that again for a long while. So, I have a plan. I'm going to stay on top of things- and that's the only way to do it. Upgrade every OTHER new technology, and a good rule of thumb to go by comes courtesy of my buddy Skotos: for it, we'll use a video card as example. If you're buying a new $400 video card to upgrade from your existing one, it had damn well better be $400 better than the card you have. If you've got a Creative Labs Annihilator Pro DDR GeForce, do you really need to buy a $500 GeForce 2? If you have a 2000 Porsche Boxter, do you REALLY need a 2001?

So the goal, young grasshopper, is to find a common wallet (and girlfriend) friendly middle ground. Don't buy an Athlon 800 to upgrade from your Athlon 650... but maybe shell out and throw another stick of RAM into your machine. Don't buy a 2001 Boxter- but put some phat rims on your 2000.

This way, you keep your gaming machine a gaming machine instead of an expensive word processor, you've still got cash so your girlfriend is happy, and you've got the best of both worlds. Heed my experienced advice, otherwise you'll be doomed to playing Sacrafice with a lameass 18 or so frames per second while listening to the relentless taunting from your gaming-enabled friends. Either that or you'll find yourself enjoying a lot of single player action, if you know what I mean.

Anyways, I'm off to order my TV Tuner card and DVD-ROM now...

Resistance is futile.

originally posted at freakonit