Out of Pod Experience

I'm running an old Core 2 Duo rig. 8GB RAM, 9800GT, 120GB SSD.

Runs EVE on low just fine. Just saying, you don't need much to play. High settings, yeah, you need more. Not necessarily an $1895 machine, but if spending $1895 gives you economic utility and in both EVE and other games, go for it.

I've seen people spend $1895 or more in much, much worse ways. An $1895 computer is a savvy investment if you feel it benefits you, and you can afford it.

I don't mind the low settings graphics, again, I'm in it for the gameplay. The only other games I've played in the last few years are EUIV, Stellaris, and Planetside 2. Stellaris really, really sucks on my machine in the late game due to lack of computing power for my huge empire. Abominably slow. PS2 on low, is just fine, and I'm a tanker who plays for the gameplay and not GFX.

If you wait until the Nvidia 1100 generation to come out in a few months, you might save $100 on your 1070. The Kaby Lake i5s should also come down by that time, as Intel will keep lowering the price as they progressively skim the cream from early adopters and mid-cycle adopter, in stages, who are willing to pay more. Other parts may become more affordable, or better parts for other components you're looking at for the same price while the 1070 and i5-7600K get cheaper may become available. If you're not price sensitive, there's no sense in waiting, just go for it.

I'm personally waiting until systems with earlier generation i5s, with a PCI-E slot, a Windows 7 Pro license key, and a full size ATX mobo to become available for sale, newly off-lease from former corporate owners, for under $200, sold on eBay or the few local computer shops still around in the US, before I get rid of my Core 2 Duo machine. I would recommend the off-lease buying strategy to anyone who is price conscious, you get something a few generations old but more than adequate, for hardly any money at all. They're also new enough where used replacement/upgrade parts are inexpensive and widely available. If you buy too old of an off-lease, the replacement/upgrade parts become more expensive as they become rarer as they get consumed/go bad, and manufacturing has long since ceased. These parts are still in demand for obsolete machines with an ever-shrinking supply.

It cuts both ways though, my 12GB DDR2-800 I've got on hand, sold on eBay, will pay for 50% or more of the off-lease i5 I'll eventually acquire.

The 240GB Samsung 850 EVO at $100 is a good bargain. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a best-bang-for-the-buck quality SSD. I've purchased and installed one myself and it scores only 0.1 under the top rating on Windows Experience. I'd recommend RAID 0 on two 850 EVOs. But if you've really got the money to spend, the PCI Samsung 900/1000 series SSDs will blow away anything you can connect to a SATA 6.0 cable. A Samsung 800 series SATA SSD is the Pinto to the Samsung 900/1000 PCI SSD Mustang.

Can't give any recommendations on the BENQ. BENQ made the 2nd LCD monitor I purchased in 2005, a 4:3 19". It lasted for 10 years between 2 owners, but I don't know what BENQ's manufacturing quality is now, as these things can drastically change with electronics manufacturers within the space of even months due to supply chain changes, and management increasing short-term profits by sourcing from the lowest bidder. It's just that I've never really heard of them being a major player anytime recently. Could be that they're the high-end premium market segment for all I know.

Right now I have a PCI-E 1.0 slot, so geez, the 9800GT is sufficient, is operating perfectly fine, and geez, I'll wait until I get a mobo with a PCI-E 2.0/3.0 slot until, geez, I get PCI-E 2.0/3.0 card.

Something like a used and tested GTX 650 will be my first choice when off-lease i5s become available with full-size mobo, PCI-E 2.0 slot, etc. There's also issues of throttling in the backwards compatible PCI-E 1.0 slot, and CPU bottleneck. I'm using an e8500. One doesn't attach 747 jet engines on a 727's wings.

I am a system builder and a network/computer technician as one of my several current lines of work in my semi-retirement.

It's not a question of whether I can afford it or not, or whether or not I know what's a good idea or not.

Right now I'm capable of easily purchasing the components for a $5000 build. I choose not to for a variety of reasons.

I choose to re-use for environmental reasons, rather than purchase brand new and dispose. I'll also ensure all of my components get re-used to the maximum extent possible.

These components are extremely toxic, and usually end up getting shipped to China for recycling, where millions develop cancer and thousands die each year, due to the toxic electronic waste recycling that's completely unregulated, with toxic chemicals entering drinking water and the food chain.

It's like Love Canal x 10,000.

I'd prefer to kill or inflict cancer on as few people as possible in my electronics consumption, as well as other forms of consumption. I do feel that I need a computer, so I try to purchase and sell components and systems in an ethical way.

Because my needs are few, several generation old technology is perfectly OK with me. I recycle and pay it forward as much as I possibly can at all levels of my consumption, acquiring several year-old technology that works just fine for me, and re-using my old omponents, or donating them and installing them in the machines of friends and family.

Secondly, I can find a more optimal path of consumption, or re-use, or alternative forms of consumption, or non-consumption, I'm actually inflating my purchasing power parity, potentially several times.

If I need a computer right now, and considered only a $2000 computer which would satisfy me to a level of 100% economic utility, but I found an alternative so that a $100 one ($200 - $100 for selling the DDR2) would give me 90-95% utility, my income has increased by ~$1800 that year.

When there's a more optimal path for consumption patterns where you get the utility you want/need ways other than what most people simply accept as a fait accompli, taking it for granted, one is increasing their actual income. You're force multiplying your money.

I think outside the box and consider much less expensive and wasteful ways to save, get utility I want/need, and increase nominal income into 2x - 20x higher actual income, depending on what I'm purchasing. I've even reached a 200x multiplier in which I've spent $10 to gain $2000 in utility, outside computers.

Everyone is different, has different perspectives and needs. I do what works for me and what I feel is ethical.

Don't get me wrong or anything - I wasn't trying to criticize anybody's consumption patterns as unethical or immoral. If they buy brand new and take care to pay it forward, re-use, recycle, or donate/sell to someone who has need for those parts when they become obsolete, I see them as being ethical in their consumption, even if they're the early adopter at the leading edge.

Since you've given me more context on what you're purchasing, and what your strategies are, I think we're more or less on the same page. Unfortunately for me, the i5 system with the whole package I'm looking for - mid-sized case, regular-sized mobo, PCI-E 2.0, 4 RAM slots, ~6 SATA connectors, <$200 -- hasn't quite made its appearance yet.

Instead there are micro PCs and low-end, low-capability earlier generation i5 systems entering the market, which, if purchased, leave little latitude on my end for upgrades. What I'm looking for has much higher value, and accordingly with the laws of supply and demand, haven't reached the $<200 range yet. Perhaps for not another year.

Edit: Just like I missed the advent of DDR-4 in its bleeding edge phase when it was first available, by several months, I could be several months out of date on my knowledge of the availability of i5 systems with the features I'm looking for. Don't take my word for it. I sometimes let 6 months - 1 year, or even longer to pass on certain technological updates/inventions, and become aware of them when they're more leading edge/mass market. I tend to conserve my memory and skill set for the most common implementations I'm working with, and sometimes I can skim right past an article regarding a new software/technology while I'm getting information regarding better implementing an existing or older one.

Right now even, I'm 6 years out of date on Linux and all of its forks, and the newer/current software commonly used on Linux OSs. It'll come back to me like riding a bicycle though. A newer, better bicycle, but only when I need it again. It's just that IT is such a broad field that it's hard to keep up-to-date on everything.