How many of you...tweak your computer more than playing games on it?

[diesel604]

Heh, something I just realized....I spend more time now with my computer tweaking it than I actually do playing with it!

How many of y'all fall into the same category?

I mean what started out with a minor speed bump to get decent performance has turned into an obsession. Complaints from the wifey about screws, fans, panels all over the place?

-=[D]=-iesel

*Hopefully I ain't the only one!

EDIT: not only games but 3D Apps, Graphics, etc...

[OpK Chowdy]

I tweak it to play games. So once my games run fast enough or whatever i don't tweak until i want to later.

[killer_teddy]

My main use is the internet but I fiddle with it whenever possible. I spend much more time tweaking other peoples.(dunno if that counts.)

[Spaceman_333]

Hi diesel,

I started out innocently enough. Bought a new computer to be "READY for the Y2K" problems....a 433i eMachine. Then got a cable connection....then added all the ram it would hold...then added the biggest CPU it would hold and tweaked it until it was the fastest 'puter in the neighborhood (that was before they started capping the throughput).

Anyway, rebuilt my wife's HP and my old Acer...then the family and neighbors started bringing their's over for me to "fix". I was hooked! Long story short---in the past 3 years I have built 14 computers and repaired dozens. People have given me every kind of busted computer and boxes of used computer parts. Plus, I have scavenged everyplace from the curb to the Salvation Army.

I have networked 4 computers in our home and we all have great rigs. I decided to learn something about computers when I was charged $82 for the installation of 16MB of ram for my wife's computer 3 years ago. I've found a better way!! Do it myself!!

My wife is thrilled because I'm 59 and retired when I was 50---this has given me something to do and keeps me out of her hair.

My hobby now is get 'em, fix 'em, and give 'em away!!

It's amazing what you can build with zero money......and I should get a warehouse for my spare parts.

Regards,

Spaceman

[Brytak]

verry noble!

Originally posted by Spaceman_333
My hobby now is get 'em, fix 'em, and give 'em away!!

It's amazing what you can build with zero money......and I should get a warehouse for my spare parts.

i started self building when i saw how much markup pc stores charge and how much it'd cost for a "profesional" to build one!

i mostly tweek when i get a new part for my system and every few month's...when i hear about improved driver's
it get's me to thinking ..how much faster can i get this thing to go?

i also have to think of money! if i burn out a cpu i'd have to wait till i can afford a new one

[AlexGee]

Here's how it goes:

1. You get a new system and all you can think of is tweaking and OC'ing and benchmarking to see how you are doing?

2. You finally tweak it just right. Meanwhile a new crop of CPU's is out and you are no longer cutting edge. So not much fun tweaking anymore.

3. So you play games again and get back into doing things ON your PC.

4. New games come out you can't play on your old system, generations of CPU's and Vid cartds go by, you can't stand it and you upgrade again

5. repeat cycle endlessly until you have spent your retirement and must take an early death

[mcool61]

I don't game much. Too short an attention span. I'm reliving my terrible 2's.

[diesel604]

LOL AlexGee you summed it up there for my situation!

although I did stop upgrading once I saw that the computer was just a big black hole for $$$! I then put my 3 year rule...no major upgrades for 3 years until everything crawls like a turtle (or if you get parts free or dirt cheap!)

I'm happy with my 1800+ XP (well who ever is?) and that'll be it for another 3 years. I ain't so nitpicky now about graphics quality as long as the essence of the game is still there..Gameplay.

I started out ... with A Sinclair Spectrum 48K of memory!....Atari 1024 STE (1Mb of memory)....486DX33.....486DX133 (with a big VESA slot!).....AMDK6-2 500Mhz....AMD Duron 1100Mhz....AMD Athlon XP 1800+. My fave was always my Specy! Gotta love them cassette tape drives!

[AlexGee]

I had a Timex-Sinclair too! With tape (cassete) drive .

[Aznmask]

I dont OC czu OC your PC just for 10% faster but spend over $50 on cooling. IT doesn't worth it..

[XtReAmTwEaKist]

The name tells it all i tweak and peak every thing until it dies when it dies i get new and better and TwEaK and PeAk again but family has broghten comps in for me to fix and what ever but YEA im stick in the tweakin

[j.m@talk]

I use this thing mainly for office duties

However my mind can't seem to bend towards gaming "I just don't get it"

The only reason I tweaked my machine was to get more seti WU's out of it...................... Well I say tweaked added a new Processor & O'clocked it.................... Which in its self I think is really sad

Must get a life

[causticVapor]

My rig is seriously pimped out.

I managed to get an R300 from... Tojo for a rock bottom price, and so now I have 2.5GHz, 200MHz, DX9 capability and a whole lot of other goodness. Too bad I'm running on only one memory channel.

The difference, however, would not be that noticeable -- I like the firewire, separate-clockgen busses and memory prefetch. It's just that dual channel DDR is half of what the nForce2 is about.


As for tweaking, well, 20% of my computer time is spent on it, 15% on programming, 10% at sysopt, 50% on schoolwork, and the remaining 5% for gaming.

No girlfriends either in the span of an entire lifetime -- all I've asked out have refused.


Partying? Hell no... and have I drunken and smoked? No. The first sentence is bad, and the second/third is not so bad.

Another person who needs to get a life...

[j.m@talk]

Originally posted by causticVapor
My rig is seriously pimped out.

[causticVapor]

Thick to the American sayings eh mate?