Video Purchase Comparison: Middle of the Road vs Latest and Greatest

Radeon 9200 256MB £40 - This was my first graphics card. It was all I could afford at the time. I stuck with it for 18 months, until I decided that, with the rest of my PC, it was time for an upgrade.

GeForce 6600LE 256MB £75 - This was the next card I bought. Again it was all I could afford and it seemed to be a better card than my 9200. I enjoyed the improved graphics, and better gameplay for all of 6 weeks.
After these 6 weeks, I decided to throw caution to the wind and go all out for a newer, better graphics card after realising that this one wasn't all that good.

GeForce 7800GT 256MB (PCI-e) £230 - I bought the best I could. And my god, was it worth it. Much better than both previous cards put together. Had this card for a few months now, and can't see myself upgrading it anytime soon. Very happy with it.

For the first two cards I bought all that I could afford. But with the 7800GT I bought the best I could, mainly because I had more money coming in than I did when I bought the first two cards.

When it comes to my computer, I generally buy the best I can because I want my system to be good, and to be up-to-date and able to handle the latest games without struggling with them.

Jam it back in, in the dark.