Very interesting article. I always had a curiosity for this subject since I do follow hardware occasionally just to see what technology can do and the price we pay for it. I think though, that unless your living somewhere where the price of electricity is through the roof of your average salary, or that you're hardly making any money and are counting dollar-to-dollar with your bills where the $ really seem to noticeably add up.
Still, it is worth looking at just how much your system can potentially use when you throw in a new card. I myself have stuck with ATI/AMD Radeon just because they are so much more efficient than the power hungry Nvidia cards and because I don't often drool over the latest graphic intensive PC game out there.
My old Radeon 4350 served my needs well enough for games like Neverwinter Nights and even Dragon Age (less some AA and resolution). My Radeon 5570 was enough for pretty much anything and can even run Crysis modestly since I didn't mind playing games at 1440x900 or lower. I recently bought a Radeon 6850, which is probably overkill for my needs and had more costs attached to it than the card itself, though I bought the card mostly just for the fun of it.
Was it worth it? Well, I don't really need something that can push 60 fps in graphics intensive games. In fact, my eyes can barely register anything above 30, so I'm indifferent when it comes to more fps than I really need (I still don't understand how some people need something more than 60, or 120... it baffles me... maybe we're just that much biologically different).
I guess it all depends on how much you want to maximize your hobby and how much money your willing to lay on the table. Some people gamble, some don't, and in the end, it all depends on what floats your boat. This article seems to highlight some of the miscellaneous costs associated with your purchase decisions of buying a particular card, and I believe it served its purpose well. It may not be relevant to some of you, but I'm sure it can be relevant to a lot of people out there.
Still, it is worth looking at just how much your system can potentially use when you throw in a new card. I myself have stuck with ATI/AMD Radeon just because they are so much more efficient than the power hungry Nvidia cards and because I don't often drool over the latest graphic intensive PC game out there.
My old Radeon 4350 served my needs well enough for games like Neverwinter Nights and even Dragon Age (less some AA and resolution). My Radeon 5570 was enough for pretty much anything and can even run Crysis modestly since I didn't mind playing games at 1440x900 or lower. I recently bought a Radeon 6850, which is probably overkill for my needs and had more costs attached to it than the card itself, though I bought the card mostly just for the fun of it.
Was it worth it? Well, I don't really need something that can push 60 fps in graphics intensive games. In fact, my eyes can barely register anything above 30, so I'm indifferent when it comes to more fps than I really need (I still don't understand how some people need something more than 60, or 120... it baffles me... maybe we're just that much biologically different).
I guess it all depends on how much you want to maximize your hobby and how much money your willing to lay on the table. Some people gamble, some don't, and in the end, it all depends on what floats your boat. This article seems to highlight some of the miscellaneous costs associated with your purchase decisions of buying a particular card, and I believe it served its purpose well. It may not be relevant to some of you, but I'm sure it can be relevant to a lot of people out there.
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