How many points down should you resign?

Losing, on the other hand, is an easy skill to master.

Maybe I resign a little more than I should (based on these comments) when I have a losing game down 3.5-5 points of analysis.

But I also agree with some other opinions that have been shared. Twice I had blundered and ended up losing the game; the time of learning was past and checkmate was eminent (4 moves in one game, maybe 12-15 in the other, but nothing I could do to prevent it, though maybe I could have pulled a draw by stalemate?...). After these two games, I challenged my opponent to an unrated game starting from the position from each game where I had blundered the first time, with the message that I wanted to learn better how to play correctly to the end to maintain my advantage and not lose the game. Once of those opponents played until I reached checkmate, but the other resigned after one or two moves once i skewered his queen to his rook. I was a little disappointed that he didn't let me play out a little more into the endgame and then resign once checkmate was forced within 5 moves or so.

Resigning has nothing to do with beings points down. There are several famous games, where one players is lots of material down and still completely crushes his opponent. For instance Lasker vs George Alan Thomas, nearly all of Morphy's games, Tal's games, etc.

You play on till you could atleast draw, and you resign only when you have absolutely no shot at winning and the path to victory for your opponent is so clear that he could not miss to spot it.

Answering the original question from way back in February:

1) When you have no realistic chances for holding a draw

AND

2) You won't really learn anything by continuing.

After h8=Q and taking the N on e8 (and which do you do first?), how do you proceed?

"After h8=Q"

nope

Sometimes I resign when it is equal with points. Any other means of evaluating the position I completely dead

I had an opponent resign today when it was equal points. Although, computer did have me up 11 points. That evaluation surrpised me, but I knew I was crushing.

Yup, I agree with @pfren.

In fact, I go one further and say if you have to ask, and you ask it in that way, you should never resign. 

Point count chess has its uses, but it is also a severely limited way to view chess. 

I don't resign unless mate is unstoppable in a few moves.  I had one game where I was down like 9 points due to some obvious blunders from trying to play too fast, and thought carefully and pulled out a draw.

All depends on the position and the opponent, right? Assuming an otherwise even position and a reasonably strong opponent (1500 or better rating) I'd say a rook down is where I'd draw the etiquette threashold.

It has nothing to do with "points"; it's a function of what position you're in, what mood you're in (the extent of your fighting spirit at the moment), and maybe who you're playing and what country they're from, and how much else non-chess work you have to do.  I've resigned games immediately after hanging a knight or a bishop, and I've also hung on to win after being more than a rook down.  It also depends on what time of day it is and what the drug balance is (caffeine versus tobacco versus alcohol versus cannabis).  I am a stronger player in the morning.

Don't resign if you can still win on position, but if you're just hoping to win on time, then unless you're a Central Park hustler it's a bit dickish to not quit.

I hope I'm not drawing this away from the main topic and focus on myself. For my earlier comment, I guess what I meant is that if I feel cramped with no mobility or available sacrifices to open the position or create pressing threats that force my opponent to react and not enough time to checkmate me while my pieces fly to the other side of the board, I will resign to focus my attention elsewhere, and the computer confirms that my position was lost by 6-10 points of combined material and position. I do not judge a game based solely on material; sometimes, I feel ahead when I'm behind a minor to a pawn or down an exchange because I feel I have attacking chances. Sometimes, after the game, the computer confirms I was ahead; other times, it shows I was wrong.

How would you know the engine's evaluation without using it to help you make the decision to resign?

The first few lines in the paragraph explain why. Having analyzed other completed games and seeing various threats that are forming, I feel that the game is lost and checkmate is imminent, or else I will suffer major material losses. The last few lines in the paragraph further explain that sometimes, I don't recognize that I am actually in a worse position.

Ahh...everything is related to the position. No wonder opponents take up so much time, that they run out of time before their next move! And the whole time they were thinking of resigning or not. Mystery solved.

Except for the one time where the guy couldnt move because he had closed his acct during the game.

That closing explained why his clock ran for 3 min then out of time.