Hello my fellow PC Maniacs!
I recently got into the PC scene, actually last August a friend built a rig for me that many of you provided input and some great advice. Since then, I have been tinkering, updating etc. Today, I find myself purchasing newer components, faster processors, better memory etc. I feel like an addict in the pursuit of more power and better tech. I have been a console gamer all my life, I am in my mid-40's and enjoy gaming. I once was big time into the PC scene back in that Atari ST days, even running my own BBS. Even back then, wanting to tinker and upgrade from a 10gig HDD to a massive 20gig HDD was a big jump back in the day.
Anyways, as I enter the PC scene once again, I find myself wanting even more and more upgrades and more and more power ot of the rig. My main gaming resolution is 1080p and I game on my 60" HDTV. It is really f'n great, but even having a mighty 580 GPU, I still have the need for more power. To me and maybe to some of you that are reading this, when I see a graphic slider and I cant put it at the max due to it causing less framerate, I immediately want to do something about it.
I have been told by some here that adding a second 580 is overkill since I game only at 1080p. Well that is good and fine if every game I played would stay at 60FPS with every slider set to max, but the reality is that with some games it is not enough. For example, Crysis 2, which I get an average of about 56-58 FPS is nothing to sneeze at as at that frame rate at 1080p it is hard disern the few times it dips to to 56 from the constant 60fps. This is with everything set to max from the game settings. However, Crysis 2 is a DX9 title as of right now and a DX11 patch will be coming. Just based on assumption, I would think I would dip to mid 40's with DX11. My reasoning is Metro 2033 which kicks booty with DX9, but go DX11 and you do the bench marks, I hover around 44 or so, with several areas dipping to much lower than that.
This all with games that are out now or came out a bit ago. What will happen in the next 6 months with some high profile games coming out? I dont agree with the saying that gamers that play at 1080p adding more GPU power is overkill. If current games out now cant sustain 60FPS with the most powerfull single GPU card with DX11, then more power is definately needed if a user wants to go max settings and hit 60fps.
As I wrap this up, one of the points of my post is to ask some of you more experienced, long term PC enthusiasts, how and when do you draw the line at enough is enough? At what point do you say "I can live with not being able to run at max?". I feel like a addict addicted to some drug, but this drug only causes me to spend money in return for better visual fidelity, that ability to move that slider closer and closer to the max setting, the ability to hit that magical 60fps constant frame rate. I guess, I can look at this as any other hobby where the cost factor is impacted in the pursuit for better/faster performance. I guess it could be applied to how people buy new HDTV's since they want the better one that is coming or the R/C Car builder that is constantly buying new components to make it faster and better.
Do I need help?
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