Hmm several things actually..
1) I had a Pentium IV with an MX400 and 256MB RAM. The Sims 2 was released, and I couldn't play the game. So I took my entire tower (!!
) to a large popular pc franchise outlet so they find out what was wrong with it. The tech there suggested I buy a 512MB RAM stick, I remember it was some €70... and as the best bang for buck graphic cards he sold me the FX5500 :shadedshu for €95..... Now everyone knows that the FX5500 is crappy for gaming, and was a flop even on release..
2) Oblivion (the game).
By then it was 2006 and I had started reading and lurking on a lot of forums, and getting to know computers more. I immediately knew there was no way I could play this awesome game with these out-of-this earth graphics on a Pentium @ 1.5Ghz and an FX5500 which barely ran the Sims 2. So I did some research on how much a new pc would cost....
3) The prices.
I found a German ebay shop, and asked them for a quote on an aeroengine jr (I just chose the 'prettiest' cheapest case on offer since I never heard of air-flow!
), a 550W PSU (lol as long as it was 550W I didn't care about the brand
), an E4300 (was cheap and I had already read that it would overclock like hell, so I planned to try that next
), a 'good' cpu cooler, 2GB of whatever RAM, a 320GB HDD, dvd burner, an 8600GTS 256MB and any motherboard as long as it was compatible.
I was adamant not to buy from abroad since if something happens it's easier to go 2 miles to the shop rather than ship it etc etc.
Anyway these guys told me the parts would cost €800 (specifying the PSU would be LC Power, zalman 9500 led for the cpu cooler, the DVD burner LG and the HDD Seagate Barracuda and remember this happened 5 years ago).
So I promptly went with the same specifications to that same large franchise which has the best prices in Malta...
The price they gave me for the same hardware was €1400
and I had to add €23 if they assembled the pc for me.
Sure the
assembly costs were a bargain, but I had no choice except get the bits and pieces from abroad and go forth from there.
Anyway to cut this short, lurking and reading on TPU I managed to get the E4300 to 3Ghz, which I felt was an awesome feat then
After buying Oblivion, I realized I hadn't exactly made the right graphic card choice, so barely 6 months later I put the 8600GTS on a shelf and got me a new 8800GT 512MB on release. This was November/December 2007. The 8800GT made my games fly - especially since I was gaming on a 19" 1280x1024.
The next step was a bigger monitor, so I got the LG 22" 1680x1050.
Later on in 2009 a new pc was needed at work. For warranty purposes and the like
dad wanted a pre-built. So we agreed that on this pre-built they put my old E4300 and I get the new E8400 (E0 stepping
) and I pay the difference. So I got the cpu dirt cheap, and immediately oc'd it to 4.2Ghz
2010 came and I realized that although I had a fast cpu, my 8800GT couldn't keep up with maxing out games like Fallout 3 with full anti-aliasing on the 1680x1050. So I did a crazy thing and splurged out on a Corsair HX 850, and HD5970 graphics (totalling like €800!). I wasn't sorry for the splurge though, fraps couldn't even keep up to count the fps at 1680x1050 (ok I'm exaggerating that a bit).
Come Oct/Nov 2010 I started thinking that a powerful card like the 5970 was wasted at 1680x1050, so I did my next crazy thing and spent a fortune on a 2560x1440 Dell..... What makes me feel a tad guilty is the fact that I have no regrets on spending so much money on this stuff!
All my games run perfect now, from Sims 3 to Fallout New Vegas, maxed out resolution, maxed out AA..
Well, nearly all. Metro 2033 leaves to be desired but wait a sec my E8400 a quite old core 2 duo now and probably is bottlenecking the card from reaching its full potential...
So guess which upgrade is next?