what do you all think about this card

[SirKenin]

$70 isn't going to kill the guy. You guys sound like he's been saving his allowance for the last 10 years of his life just to buy himself a computer.

What does $70 buy? One of the following:

A tank of gas
Two boxes of beer
Two video games if you're lucky
A couple of DVDs
A couple of ink cartridges for a printer
A toner cartridge for a laser printer
A carton of cigarettes
A reasonable power supply
A pretty nice case
A router
Maybe a week's worth of junk food
A quarter of dope

Not much in other words. Even less when you break it down in terms of $35 a year.

But think about what another $300 will buy. He could buy a CPU and motherboard for that price.

You think like a successful business, you will be successful. You think like you're rich, you will be rich. Simple. Going around scrounging for pennies for your next fix isn't going to get you anywhere.

And yes, every dollar has to count. Thus the logic of my argument. You're too narrow minded in your thinking. You're thinking like most people do. You think in the present. You think for the moment. Satisfaction right now. That's not the way to think. That's not the way to plan. That's not the way to do business. You have to think for the future. Sacrifice now to gain later to put it in extreme terms, but you get the point. It's not really rocket science. I don't understand why this concept is so difficult to master?

 

[ceewi1]

Who cares if it's only 10% faster on today's engines? We don't know what tomorrow will bring, except we know one thing for sure.

So you advocate spending 30% more because the difference might be more significant in the future.

512MB will pretty much be a must.

Whether that 512MB can be effectively utalized on todays hardware is a completely different matter. Of course 512MB will become the standard, but it will do so in conjunction with more powerful GPUs.

But spending that money will extend the half-life of the product at least a year hypothetically.

This is the part I disagree with. There is absolutely no way that the 512MB version will last a year longer than the 256MB edition. We can already see these cards struggling on max settings on games like FEAR and Oblivion, and we can clearly see that there is not that much of a difference between them.

You can't just look at it as 30% more expensive for 10% more performance. If you're going to do the job, you do it right. You don't do it half-assed. You consider what will give you the longest half-life. The 512MB card is the clear choice. Say you have the card for two years. That's being conservative. That card will last a ton longer than that. That's $35 a year. $2.92 a month. A down payment on a Starbucks coffee. But spending that money will extend the half-life of the product at least a year hypothetically. Of course there are some unknown variables there. Ok. So we have $23.33 a year. $1.94 a month. A bottle of pop. It goes on from there. If he manages to keep it for five years which isn't exactly unrealistic (I've done it), he'll probably spend more giving change to peddlers.

After two or three years what will the card be worth? You can't break the cost of computer components down linearly. Most of the value is expended quickly.

You think like a successful business, you will be successful. You think like you're rich, you will be rich. Simple.

Or in mountains of debt. One of the two

I would wager that most people here would rather save the money, and get the card that they need, rather than spend it willy-nilly with the excuse of '$70 isn't that much anyway'. Since superfreak wasn't willing to be without the $150 for the time the MIR on the X1900XTX would have taken, it's safe to say that the money is important to him.

And yes, every dollar has to count. Thus the logic of my argument. You're too narrow minded in your thinking. You're thinking like most people do. You think in the present. You think for the moment. Satisfaction right now. That's not the way to think. That's not the way to plan. That's not the way to do business. You have to think for the future. Sacrifice now to gain later to put it in extreme terms, but you get the point. It's not really rocket science. I don't understand why this concept is so difficult to master?

You have yet to prove that the more expensive card would be worth the extra money, either now or in the future.

It's always easy to recommend the most expensive option, but it rarely results in the optimal solution for the user in question. I've found that working to their established budget is usually preferable.

 

[SirKenin]

Like I said, it doesn't matter to me. It really doesn't. I don't make a nickel. I have nothing to benefit. I'm not gaining a client, referrals or anything. It's not my money being spent. He can believe me or not. I gave my recommendation based on what is going to last longer and give him the longest half-life. 256MB cards are already wimping out, which you appropriately acknowledged. Recommending one, then, makes absolutely no sense. 10% performance will carry him longer. If he is a consumer where every nickel has to count then I guess he will have to go with your recommendation. I just have trouble thinking that way.. Unless it's something like toilet paper or ketchup or something. Or dog food. I don't care what the dumb dog eats.

I would MUCH rather be straight up front and honest with someone and tell them like it is. That empowers them to make an informed decision. If they decide against it it won't hurt my feelings any.

Using the angle "it's cheaper" doesn't work in my books. It works in yours. It works for whoever you sell your computers to, it works for this kid.. Fine. lol. Whatever works. I value my reputation too much and I know from experience in this industry that the cheap angle may work for a while, but it will bury you in the end. Don't believe me? Did you know that Michael Dell went bankrupt three times before he finally made it into the big leagues?

I just can't believe I'm still awake.

 

[PC eye]

Precisely! The "latest" is always the seemingly ideal until the next one comes by. Finding what suits who the best for what type of application is the endless variable. "Bells and Whistles anyone?" was the thought when the first 128mb card came out. Most games will still run on a 128mb card. The difference now however is PCI-E 8x/16x over AGP 2x/4x/8X.

The present AMD64 was equivalent to the 2.2ghz seen on the old 32bit cpu while now supporting the higher 64bit. $109 wasn't bad for a 64bit model when the 32bit was $180 then. When the Opteron 185 drops to $180 the Quad core model will be the one at $1,100. In two years time "any" case you put together will have lost 80% of it's retail value. How much do you think the $500+ card will be worth then?to do the same thing the $239 card did?


aaaahhh yaaawwwnnn.... I already told you to GO TO SLEEP!

 

[SirKenin]

Either I'm really tired, or you're rambling, because that post didn't make any coherent sense to me at all.

All I can say is this isn't about bells and whistles. This is about getting the most life out of a product and saving as much money as possible. You don't just count savings by considering the initial outlay. That's where you two are going wrong in my opinion.

And besides.. .I'm waiting for someone to come home from work because they promised me a special treat. I don't want to miss it..

 

[PC eye]

I bet it won't be any new $500 card for sure. You just happened to cross post at the same time there. But I don't seem to have too much trouble leaving room for later expansion and upgrade. I very close to maxed out the last case which only quit due to something added later not because of not planning. That should have lasted for the 3yrs. due date for upgrading. Fortunately the current board will handle some expansion here for the time being.

 

[tweaker]

Alright people, game over.