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Just realized that I forgot to post two big purchases I made in the last few weeks. Finally decided to upgrade to some proper speakers + headphones for my setup. In both cases, they're models that I've been wanting for years but that I couldn't afford until now. I needed smaller speakers that would fit on my desk without compromising on sound quality and decent headphones that won't give me a headache when I wear them for an extended period of time. The ones I already have sound good but they're so tight that they become uncomfortable really quickly whereas these basically feel like I'm not wearing anything. They're not as good at blocking out ambient noise but I'm only planning on using them in my room at night so that shouldn't be a problem. And even if it does come up, then I can just use my old ones. Oh and I got a magnetized PUCK™ so that I can hang them on the side of my case! It's hollow so it's useful for cable management, too. The cable on these is super long so I just wrap it around most of the time and only take it out when I wanna go lie down in bed with them. Not the worst twenty bucks I ever spent!

So at this point I'm starting to understand that when I tell myself "I'm gonna wait", what I really mean is "I will not, in fact, wait. I will buy it on a complete whim in the near future." I wanted to wait for the RTX 40 series but as the 30 cards have been slowly coming back in stock and dropping in price, the temptation to just get one while I can has been steadily increasing. This one was basically the exact amount of money I have saved up and then Amazon randomly dropped its price by like 100$ while it was sitting in my cart. So I took it as a sign that I should just pull the trigger. Then there's the white theme I've been going for on this build. There's no guarantee that ASUS will do another run of white editions for the 40 series, so this might actually be my last and only chance to get a white GPU. The only one I had been seeing in stock up to this point was the 3090 and lmao. I'm not paying 2.5K$ for a GPU.That this one came back in stock at all was a pleasant surprise. I'm also kinda nervous about the rumored power draw of the 40 series. I just bought this PSU so I really don't wanna have to replace it already and 850W was the best one I could find that fit my white theme anyway. So that could've been another component that breaks the white theme. I'm only doing 1440p up to 144hz anyway, so getting a stronger card would be for future proofing rather than because I need the extra GPU power. So yeah, this one should be fine for the foreseeable future.

*looks at the 4k TV my computer is connected to...* Nah, but my tolerance for low framerates is higher than a lot of people, and I play with a controller, so as long as I can keep them north of about 40 I'm happy. Also upscaling has gotten good enough that outputting a lower res is less of a problem than it used to be too.

That's true, I keep focusing on the "3060" part and not the "Ti" part, but based on benchmarks my card is basically on par with a 3070, so it's not low-end (for the generation) like I keep thinking it is.

Oh right, it's technically unknown when they'll be announced. I'm assuming the rumors of a fall release are accurate but they might not be. Which would make me really glad I decided not to wait. But yeah in your case you'll probably be good until the 50 series. Or at the very least until something like the 4080Ti comes out so that you can get a more meaningful upgrade. Then I'll be the one with graphics cards envy.

Yeah, that's why I say it's a weird middle ground, because while the main gameplay goal has been achieved, the main narrative goal (finding out wtf is going on with your mom) has not.

I've been watching this Youtube channel recently that does practical walkthroughs for some of the hardest retro games ever made and it's made me want to fire up the NES Classic and try my hand at a few of them to see if I can beat them myself. I wanted a better controller for it though so I got this on eBay for about 13 bucks. Now I'm playing with power.