Awesome article! I really couldn't agree more with you on this issue. Alot of the power has been taken from out of our (the enthusiasts) hands these days. Options really are dwindling in terms of the high-end hardware available. There is an advantage though: Many people just getting into building their own systems have it relatively easy (after they get over some sticker-shock, of course) when looking into what hardware to buy. They really can't go too horribly wrong. I think alot of us in the bit-tech community and elsewhere have resorted to looking for the best (read: most cost-effective) boards out there and making them stretch theri legs. The P35 chipset is an excellent example of this, and as long as there's boards like that out there, we will always have a nice reliable, refined, and tweakable platform. Sure, it's not like the old days by a long shot, but man is it more forgiving if you don't get something right the first time.
I always thrive on buying up the 'just behind the cutting edge' hardware at bargain basement prices. I just love it. To think; I just bought a new system to game on for under $1000 that absolutely spanks the tar out of my current 4-year-old system, and can hang with the latest and greatest out there too. To me, that's what being an 'enthusiast' is all about.
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I always thrive on buying up the 'just behind the cutting edge' hardware at bargain basement prices. I just love it. To think; I just bought a new system to game on for under $1000 that absolutely spanks the tar out of my current 4-year-old system, and can hang with the latest and greatest out there too. To me, that's what being an 'enthusiast' is all about.