Frankenstein

I need a new computer; that much is clear. My current ABS Bravado “Erebus” has worked phenomenally since I got it in November of 2001. I paid about $1150 for it then (but that money also bought a Logitech Elite Desktop and a set of Creative 5.1 speakers), which makes about $1247 in 2005 money. For that price, I got a computer that was fairly top-of-the-line for its day… Athlon XP 2000+, half a gig of RAM, 80GB/8MB hard drive, a GeForce4 Ti4400, and a Creative Audigy 1. It could play anything, run anything, do anything I threw at it… and in a shiny blue metallic case with a side window, it looked tons better than my family’s older ABS beige box. Being the first computer I bought for myself, it also carried with it a certain panache as “my own computer”. There’s no way I could buy a similar computer now for $1250 :-/

Over the years, I’ve thrown a few extra components in it… a second hard drive, an Audigy2 ZS Platinum, and a little more RAM. (Oh, and some glowing blue fans and lights ;) ) However, it’s growing increasingly bottlenecked, both by the aging processor and video card, and simply in general by the outdated architecture.

I plan to wait until Windows Vista is released and generally available before making a move. I did the same thing with Erebus by waiting just two weeks after the release of Windows XP to make the purchase. It’s worthwhile not to have to pay for two operating systems, the one Microsoft forces onto your computer, and a second one to upgrade. However, what to do after that point? I had always planned on making another boutique purchase just as I did before… but I fear that won’t be cost-effective. I’ve Frankensteined so many new pieces onto my current computer that it wouldn’t be worth it just to toss them! I had planned to just minimize the cost of those components in a computer I ordered (buy just a CD drive and then swap in my DVD-RW, get onboard sound and install my Audigy2)… but that really defeats the purpose of buying boutique! In that case, you’re paying for the support and stability they can ensure, knowing that all the components work properly together.

I grow more and more tempted to just build a new machine myself. It’s not as though I’m not familiar with systems, nor do I lack the knowledge of which components work best together. I don’t need a new keyboard or mouse, or a new sound card, or new optical drives, or a new monitor. I’ll have to do some totalling up to decide how much I would save by just doing it myself (I suspect it might be a lot, with the kind of components I’d want to put into a system).

Dewdles by Sam