As the plans of this year's live competitions are being unfolded, the ever-returning question and complaints of the large capital investment needed for even participating in the qualification phase of the competitions are becoming a topic as well. In an attempt to provide vendors or organisations with a statistical argument to lower the entry cost for the live competitions, we are hosting a voting poll which allows you to speak your mind on the cost to participate. The question is simple:

"How Much Are You Prepared To Spend On Hardware For Live Contest Qualifier?"

Please only include the necessary component cost when you cast your vote. This includes: motherboard, processor and graphics card. It excludes: binning hardware, memory, liquid nitrogen, electricity, food and so on. For example if you would be willing to spend EUR €500 on hardware, you could be looking at a Core i7 3570K (€190), Z77A-GD65 (€140) and Radeon HD 7850 (€170). We ask you to only include these components because those usually define the minimum requirements to participate.

You can find the voting poll on your right-hand side in the sidebar on every page. In order to vote, you need to have made at least five submissions at HWBOT and of course be logged in. Also feel free to provide feedback and other insight as comment on this newspost. The more info, the better!