SPEAKING OF POWER SUPPLIES

I was looking at a new video card for my regular computer (that was before getting Dudette a new machine).  The one I have won't handle the newer games available, that was the reason for the search.

I was floored by what is out there.  When I got this machine, it had close to the top end of the video cards available (two + years back).  Today, it isn't even on the lists.

OK.  Changes and improvements happen.  I can handle that.

What I wasn't prepared for was the fact that even a non-top-of-the-line vid card will not work in my system as it is.  They all want a 400 to 600 watt power supply to juice them up.  Mine is rated at 350.  So to change cards (to one that won't be obsolete in under a year, and therefore not able to run any newer games), I also have to upgrade the power supply.

I was shocked (no pun intended).

I talked to one of the guys I work with, he builds his own computers.  He told me about the new system he put together.  It has a VERY top of the line card in it.  Even with a massive power supply (1K watts), he had to hook up a booster to get his card to run (the supply delivery was .1 volt shy of meeting his cards requirements).

Now, I like playing games.  And I know it's been a while since I did any real playing and looking at the newer stuff out there.  And, I know they have made great strides in the speed and presentation of the graphics to make it smoother and more realistic.  But not to the point where I have to hook up a turbo/super-charger to the box to get them to play.

I can now see why the sales of the newest "gaming" machines are so hot.  It has gotten to the point where you almost need a dedicated machine, with dedicated resources, to handle the new games out there.

Makes life difficult.  Though I don't like the idea of playing "PONG" for the rest of my life, they are making it rough to keep up with the changes to play anything else.  And even playing "PONG" is getting tricky.  With the faster processors, you have to upgrade THAT too to play it on a current machine.

And they call it progress.  *sigh*

Changes and improvements happen.

Comments

[martie]

Hey WD- GREAT to see you posting again! And I am enjoying reading your posts. Congrats to Dudette re the new machine. Good luck to you. I switched to Mac last year and haven't looked back once -- LOVE it! Ms C has a MacBook and loves it, but still does gaming her Dell!