I used to have that policy but the waiting interval between upgrading was becoming too great. I only like to upgrade if I can get a significant diff. in performance.My reasoning is close to you on power but I would also add price on the table. I would never buy a GPU priced >$300. I usually set my max to $250 (or $270 if it's really that good a card or it includes a game or two that I would want). There's just been nothing on that front for about 3 years now.
I agree about the space heater aspect of high-end videocards, but how can you get around the greater TDP required for greater performance?Not looking for any new gen cards right now because I don't buy GPUs with TBP > 150W as a matter of principle.
Both NVIDIA and AMD have nothing in this segment right now and I refuse to have a heater in my PC thank you very much (which also necessitates a much more powerful PSU than I have right now).
Yeah, I know, I can limit the graphics card power consumption but I don't understand why would I overpay for something I don't actually use.
Maybe when the duo upgrades to 5nm we'll again have powerful midrange cards akin to RX 5600 XT or GTX 1660 Ti.
When I upgraded from my 980ti to 1080ti I had considered SLI'ing my 980Ti -- until I saw the power requirements.