It's hard to believe that it has been three and a half years since I built my desktop computer. It was kind of a surprise that I built any computer. Shortly after building it, I did add a second monitor and a second SSD, but it has otherwise not changed.
That's not interesting in the context of computers today, as we've been able to get as much as eight years out of computers around here. CPU capability, memory requirements and drive space finally exceeded the growth needs of regular people. That's different from the old days where I continually upgraded my computer, at least one significant component every year. I don't know if I needed to keep upgrading, but it felt like I should.
I'm at a point now where I am running up against one constraint, and that's disk space. I haven't made that much video in the last few years, but that 4K stuff adds up fast. I probably need to invest in a 4TB drive, which I imagine will be good enough for another few years at least.
I have to admit to thinking about new speakers, too. I've had the same Altec Lansing speakers, with a subwoofer, since 1997-ish. They were a gift from Stephanie when she was still working at CompUSA in grad school. They still work OK, but they're a little noisy. They've been near three lightning strikes. That's straight up a want, not a need.
What's remarkable is that I definitely don't need a new video card. That was the biggest money suck back in the day, as there were new cards every few months with incremental improvements. I'm not gaming much these days, but even still, I can't see much difference beyond 60 fps.
There is some calculus around using parts to build Simon a computer, against my better judgment (peeling him off the machine is hard). But certainly he can use a slightly used hard drive, and maybe even the CPU and motherboard, given how little the new generations matter.
I do most development on my laptop, I guess because sitting at my desk would feel like work. It's not the fastest thing, but the thin-ass laptops I like are not quite desktop strength. But video work definitely benefits from some muscle. A lot of that even is handled by the GPU, which as I said hasn't significantly been out-classed yet. All this to say it's really only video that demands a lot of computational power.
I want to be disappointed that a solid state, 4TB drive is almost $300, but I'm so fucking old that I remember spending that for a single gigabyte. 4000x is a crazy multiplier.
No comments yet.