I hate the march of Technology...

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Kilmatead
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I hate the march of Technology...

Post by Kilmatead »

A few years ago I had a bit of "extra" money to waste on building a new computer... I decided for once in my life to just buy the "best" of everything, regardless of cost.  So I did.

As it happens, my graphics card, an old GTX Ultra, died yesterday (after 2.5 years of faithful service)... now, unfortunately these days I don't have much money to burn, so I just went out looking for any cheap-and-cheerful card as a replacement.  I would have been willing to settle for total $£#%, but decided anything under €100 would do.

So I found a Gforce 250 for roughly that amount (€80), and figured "it would do", so I bought it, not expecting much.

As it turns out, spec-for-spec, it's actually exactly the same thing (and just as powerful) as my old Ultra, which 2 years ago was the king-of-the-hill.  Also, happily runs 20°C cooler.

The bugger part is my GTX cost over €400 at the time, and I've never seen a game it couldn't play fluently at 1900x1200 resolution (usually the thing that brings cards to their knees).

So the new card (which runs everything "just fine") is now considered "budget gaming".

Bunch of scurrilous old tosh, if you ask me, this "newest is best" idea with technology.

It was nice, I must say, to be the "first kid on my block" (or cabbage patch) just once, but ultimately it really is nothing more than a vanity.

I give up.  I'll just invest in some bank shares instead... oh... wait...

:roll:
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nikos
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Post by nikos »

it's all the fault of the bankers
Kilmatead
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Post by Kilmatead »

Blaming finances aside, I just ran across what could only be described as a rather insane approach to fixing a dead graphics card.

Check out this, with video here.

Once one gets over the initial weirdness of it, the rationale is actually sound enough - though generally not recommended as anything other than a last try before final consignment to expensive-paperweight status.

Just for the fun of it, I'll be giving this a spin sometime soon, though I'll need to pick up some more thermal paste first for reattaching the GPU heat-sink on the after.

Gives new meaning to the term Oven Chips.  :shock:
Kilmatead
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Post by Kilmatead »

...and, come to think of it, for those with a malicious streak (which, at the end of the day, is all of us with needy non-tech family-members) this would be a great suggestion the next time your sister's laptop goes on the fritz.  She'll never bother you with stupid questions again.  :twisted:
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