An aging computer tempers your enthusiasm for PC gaming

[msduncan]

My laptop is nearing retirement age.    He didn't save up any money, so he's going to have to keep working well into his years.      As a result, I'm struggling by, with a sometimes overheating video card, on a 2+ year old laptop that was purchased JUST before the leap to dual core processors.

So it's single core.   It can't run the latest games except on low rez and low details, and it's a real bummer.

It really does affect how psyched you are about PC gaming.    I find myself wanting to buy games (sometimes even buying them) and then not doing much with them because one or two crashes from my aging video card overheating, and I get cold feet and stop playing.

I just have to struggle by until February when I will have clearance to buy a new one.    Next time I'm definately NOT going laptop, because I wouldn't be in this fix if I could upgrade a little at a time.....

[Daehawk]

Ive been having to skip stuff due to old hardware. The last thing was Age of Conan. Ran like crap inbeta and crashed constantly so I didn't buy it.

[EngineNo9]

Yeah, I've been struggling along with the same crappy computer for nearly 5 years or something.  After trying to run Age of Conan (and even things like LOTRO where I see texture corruption) I finally broke down and ordered a new box that should arrive this week.

And yeah, I have several friends who have bought laptops only to regret it when they can't really upgrade it later.  They can be handy at times, but considering the cost overhead and the lack of expandability I can't see myself ever getting one as my main machine.

[Pyperkub]

Same boat.  Last new PC game I bought was Rome: Total War, as I recall.  The 360 has kept me busy, and satisfied most of my gaming urges.  I'm hoping I can play Starcraft 2 on my aging P4 1.5 Ghz, though my wife and I have been idly tossing about the idea of a new computer. Mostly me, as she has a buffet and a fridge higher on the list :-)

[msduncan]

Yeah I would definately recommend against a laptop as someone that has been there and lived to regret it.   It's great for the first year -- then it gets out of date and you can't just pop new components in to get you by.

[Ironrod]

My desktop pc is 5.5 years old now and there's no replacement on the horizon. Last game I bought was 1701 AD. I could only bear to play it once, it chugged so badly. I am just grateful that they keep flogging CIV and GalCiv2 with expansions and mods, cuz that's pretty much all I can play.

[Blackadar]

There's an upside to everything, and Ironrod touched on it.  Sure you can't play the latest and greatest, but that's not always a bad thing.  First, you get more enjoyment out of the products you have purchased.  You can grab mods or play Indie games (that cost less) that would otherwise go unnoticed. 

[Ironrod]

It's really astonishing that a 5-year-old PC is still usable at all. In the early days of computing, machines were hopelessly out of date after 2-3 years. This old machine is still fine for everything except 3D graphics or action gaming. The rate of obsolescence has certainly slowed down. I can't play the Latest & Greatest (tm), but to be honest with you there's nothing out there that really appeals to me (as a strategy gamer) anyway...except the upcoming Colonization, which ought to run adequately on my old computer!

[Creepy_Smell]

There's an upside to everything, and Ironrod touched on it.  Sure you can't play the latest and greatest, but that's not always a bad thing.  First, you get more enjoyment out of the products you have purchased.  You can grab mods or play Indie games (that cost less) that would otherwise go unnoticed. 

This is what I'm doing. Newest games I could run were ArmA, Bioshock, Two Worlds and STALKER SoC on a mix of med/low settings.

I've been spending my game time finally finishing up good games that I stopped playing due to getting other games. Even my bargain bin pick ups are low since I've got most of what I want. I'm also replaying my old favorites especially ones with mods that add new content or update the graphics/change gameplay, etc.

I'll be doing this a awhile as my next rig will be a laptop to replace a really old one so my gaming rig upgrade will have to wait awhile. Still unsure if I'll update it or just go with a 360 or PS3. Whatever I do I'll still be playing the games I have and modding them up when I can.

[Huw the Poo]

I've been spending my game time finally finishing up good games that I stopped playing due to getting other games.

That's exactly why I took my time replacing my last PC.  When it got to the stage where I could no longer play new games, I went through my backlog and played the hell out of all the old games I'd bought but hardly touched.  It was great, almost like getting a load of new games for no cost!  And now I finally upgraded, there's a whole load of games I missed out on before that are now cheap, patched and modded.

I can't imagine rushing to upgrade this PC for exactly the same reasons.

[JayDee]

I was in the same situation a year ago. I added up the cost of stuff I would need to upgrade, looked at the 360, and said to hell with it and jumped to the Console world. I haven't looked back except for the occasional WoW session or the upcoming Starcraft 2.

[map]

NO, paying for two daughters in college curbs your enthusiasm for PC gaming.

[Skylark]

NO, paying for two daughters in college curbs your enthusiasm for PC gaming.

Heh, I hear you... In my case, it curbs my enthusiasm for console gaming too ('cause those current-gen games all have text so small that I really need an HDTV to be able to read it, so I'm in the same boat as with upgrading a PC really...) So I'm screwed both ways...

Sorry, I just had to vent a bit. 

[Canuck]

My laptop is nearing retirement age.    He didn't save up any money, so he's going to have to keep working well into his years.     

LOL I love this quote.  It made me laugh the first time I saw it a couple of weeks ago and it made me laugh again tonight.  For me, my laptop is actually saving PC gaming.  I've completely lost the urge to sit at my desk and play a game.  However if I can snuggle up in my chair and put my feet up on my ottoman and play then I'm all for it.

[Ridah]

It's the opposite for me, I love upgrading and modifying my PC. It's fun!