New computer

I'm hoping we can build/buy a new desktop for the house. The laptop is starting to get dated and the desktops we have are several years older than the laptop. I've been looking at stuff and it's just so expensive now to get something worth having. The days of the sub-$1000 gaming computer are gone.

Video cards are the biggest reason for the increased cost. The best video cards used to be no more than a couple hundred dollars, but now that's a mid-range graphics card. The high end cards can cost more than $500. Forget trying to get a laptop with great gaming performance unless you want to pay $2000-$5000.

Right now, I'm looking at possibly gutting my desktop for reusable parts (i.e. - power supply and CD-ROM) and then building a new computer by buying new guts. That's going to probably cost me $700-$1000 to get something that will last a little while. Now that we have a car payment, that might not be possible.

We're going to need a new computer before long. The Command & Conquer 3 expansion will be coming out and StarCraft 2. We need something we can use to play those games. The laptop might do it at really low settings, but that takes away half the fun. I have to start saving my pennies.