Yeah, I’m with you anon. Here’s my rough upgrade path (dates are approximate):
2009 - built PC w/o GPU for $500, only onboard graphics; worked fine for Minecraft and Factorio
2014 - added GPU to play newer games (~$250)
2017 - build new PC (~$800; kept old GPU) because I need to compile stuff (WFH gig); old PC becomes NAS
2023 - new CPU, mobo, and GPU (~$600) because NAS uses way too much power since I’m now running it 24/7, and it’s just as expensive to upgrade the NAS as to upgrade the PC and downcycle
So for ~$2200, I got a PC for ~15 years and a NAS (drive costs excluded) for ~7 years. That’s less than most prebuilts, and similar to buying a console each gen. If I didn’t have a NAS, the 2023 upgrade wouldn’t have had a mobo, so it would’ve been $400 (just CPU and GPU), and the CPU would’ve been an extreme luxury (1700 -> 5600 is nice for sim games, but hardly necessary). I’m not planning any upgrades for a few years.
Yeah it’s not top of the line, but I can play every game I want to on medium or high. Current specs: Ryzen 5600, RX 6650 XT, 16GB RAM.
People say PC gaming is expensive. I say hobbies are expensive, PC gaming can be inexpensive. This is ~$150/year, that’s pretty affordable… And honestly, I could be running that OG PC from 2009 with just a second GPU upgrade for grand total of $800 over 15 years if all I wanted was to play games.
Yeah, I’m with you anon. Here’s my rough upgrade path (dates are approximate):
So for ~$2200, I got a PC for ~15 years and a NAS (drive costs excluded) for ~7 years. That’s less than most prebuilts, and similar to buying a console each gen. If I didn’t have a NAS, the 2023 upgrade wouldn’t have had a mobo, so it would’ve been $400 (just CPU and GPU), and the CPU would’ve been an extreme luxury (1700 -> 5600 is nice for sim games, but hardly necessary). I’m not planning any upgrades for a few years.
Yeah it’s not top of the line, but I can play every game I want to on medium or high. Current specs: Ryzen 5600, RX 6650 XT, 16GB RAM.
People say PC gaming is expensive. I say hobbies are expensive, PC gaming can be inexpensive. This is ~$150/year, that’s pretty affordable… And honestly, I could be running that OG PC from 2009 with just a second GPU upgrade for grand total of $800 over 15 years if all I wanted was to play games.