I've been into computers for at least 20 years, so I had the chance to try a lot of stuff, from the first generation of 3D accelerators, to the latest and greatest CPUs, to legendary tech way ahead of its time.
I spent a ton of money on computers, and here are my worst and best tech purchases in the last 10 years or so.
I'm writing this in February 2019.
I bought this mouse in late 2014, expecting it to replace my aging Logitech G500. In a way it was better because the sensor was more precise but everything else about it sucked.
Newer iterations of the G502 have added internal memory, but the other problems are still there, so I still use my G500.
I bought this CPU at the end of 2010 to replace my legendary Core 2 Quad Q6600, expecting great performance thanks to the higher core count and higher clock speed. I was wrong. I admit, I was fascinated by the idea of having 6 cores.
When it died, I replaced it with an Intel i7 2600k, it was one of the best decisions of my life.
This was Samsung's first affordable (~700€) 4k monitor. I bought this in 2014 after years of 1080p. Unfortunately, the market just wasn't ready yet for 4k (and in my opinion, it still isn't in 2019).
I kept it for about 2 months then I bought a 1440p AOC Q2770P that I'm still using.
I bought this card at launch in May 2008 with one objective: play Crysis. It didn't quite go according to plan.
The 9800GX2 was basically 2 9800GT 512MB in SLI, sandwiched with a TINY cooler in between. Since I bought it at launch, it was the reference model, and it was a dual slot card with a cooler way too small to cool the 2 GPUs, especially when running games that supported SLI.
Incredibly, the card lasted over a year, and I eventually replaced it with an HD5870, it felt like heaven.
Clearly, I didn't learn my lesson with the 9800GX2, and in November 2013 I bought the R9 290X at launch. Being at launch, it was the reference model, and we all know what that became known for.
The 290x was so bad, there were memes on it, like this video
This other video gives you an idea of how loud this thing was
When the card died, I RMA'd it and got myself a GTX 770, an absolutely mediocre card but miles ahead of this garbage.
A completely useless toy, a hybrid between an underpowered PC and an Arduino. I got this as a gift so I feel kinda guilty to shit on it so badly, but if I bought this, I'd be pissed.
I tried very hard to find a use for this thing, but just like in the 4chan meme, it's sitting on a shelf, collecting dust.
If you need an SBC, I highly recommend something actually useful like the Minnowboard or the Odroid-H2. You'll have better performance, better drivers, and less proprietary garbage.
I bought these headphones in August 2014 and absolutely fell in love with them. They're lightweight, they sound great, they look good, and they come at a relatively low price of 150€.
Be careful if you want to buy these, there are many variants of these headphones and they're all different: make sure you get the original brown ones with 50 ohm impedence.
I love everything about this mouse, and now that it's out of production, I bought 2 spare ones in case it breaks.
After almost 8 years, I'm still using it. It will be a sad day when this mouse dies.
I bought this smartphone in early 2017 to replace my Moto G, and I absolutely fell in love with it.
I'm still using it to this day, and I think I'll keep it for another year at least, I really see no reason to change it.
The legend. The absolute dominator. The CPU that single handedly beat the crap out of AMD for several generations. This CPU was awesome. When it came out in 2011, Sandy Bridge was so far ahead of the competition that AMD couldn't match its performance until Ryzen came out almost 6 years later.
I bought this CPU in late 2011 when my 1100T died and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
I kept this CPU for about 4 years, until I replaced it with an i7 6700k, moving to DDR4 memory. If you still have a 2600k, give it a hug and a kiss, I wish I still had mine.
In the same way that Sandy Bridge beat the shit out of AMD, nVidia's Pascal absolutely mopped the floor with AMD's GCN and its successors for years. Not quite as many years as Sandy Bridge and its successors, but close.
I bought my GTX 1080 in 2016, an MSI Gaming X to be specific (this time I learnt my lesson and didn't buy a reference model) and I absolutely love it.
The only bad thing I have to say about it is that it doesn't overclock much.
It looks like I'll be holding on to my GTX 1080 until the next generation comes out.
Why include an UPS in this list? Well, before I bought this, I had to buy a new power supply for my computer every about 1.5 years, they just kept getting blown by voltage spikes caused by industries in my area. The Back-ups filters out these spikes and drops, and with its battery, it can keep my PC powered for a few minutes if the power goes out for some reason. It also has a USB port for monitoring, which is very useful.