Is PC gaming becoming too expensive?

Casdawer

Casdawer

Casdawer

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I know this will be a slightly biased conversation due to the nature of these forums but I wanted to ask this question off the back of NVIDIA's 40-series announcements and the prices associated with those cards and even the 30-series cards.

As a result of the crazy 2080ti prices, graphics cards have become even more expensive with no real signs of changing in the near future; the same can be said for CPUs, though they're not as bad.

Along with the increased power draw of new-generation CPUs and GPUs, the cost of running them will also rise.

As someone who's had a PC for two decades, after recently purchasing a PS5, the value proposition of PCs is just not there any more.

You could purchase 4 PS5's for the price of the 4080 card but you wouldn't get 4x the fun out of it.

Although you gain some benefits such as modding and overall graphic quality is better on PC, no one can deny that PS5/Series X games look fantastic (Ghost of Tsushima is an example).

I am sorely tempted to dismantle my PC, sell the parts, enjoy the PS5 and either wait for NVIDIA/AMD to reduce their prices or just throw in the towel altogether and just play the PS5/Series X.
 
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Only if your standard is 4k gaming at playable framerates on an OLED monitor.

As above, the vast majority of PC gamers are on setups worth a fraction of the cost of just one new halo component.
 
You only need the new cards or the highend stuff if you want to game @ 4k and high fps to match a high hz monitor/TV. As an enthuisiast forum it will feel that the majority all aim for this. UW 1440 resolutions in the same bracket.

That said the ONLY reason I'm pinned to PC gaming is the keyboard and mouse interface for FPS shooters.

Problem with today's PC gaming is that game servers are centralized, without much option for having maximum pings to be set so the game feel somehwat LAN like. Sadly shooters today either have crossplay as an option (Big Nope) with consolers having aim assist, or PC gamers not understanding setting game regions in the settings correctly - so PC players with massive pings end up making play laggy. Those who gamed on dial up back in teh day knew what we were aiming for though as everything is broadband some feel a 400 ping makes no difference but have never probabaly played on a LAN.

That said recent shooters haven't been great quality and popular shooters don't need a new card past the last series, to play at high fps @4k - serious shooter players turn DOWN the settings for advantage anyway.

More into combat fps sims than twitch shooters these days due to age, I have considered a PS5 more recently, you could even get both top consoles for less than 408016GB upwards.

Depends what AMD does, and depnds if people buy the top end of the 4000 series.

I'll pay top dollar - but I need to see decent perfomance games across similar cards. So 33080-4080 I need to see AT LEAST 50% uplift in pure raster performance for about the same price to bother upgrading.

3080 / 6800XT + gave decent framerates at 4k - perfectly playable across nearly all games.

The new pinnicle for 4k PC gaming seems to be 90fps+ with an ultra preset and RT ON. I am old school so I like custom settings to get best performance and IQ from what I have.

What with some of the new cards requiring PSU's as 1200W minimum for spec then yes, high end PC gaming is becoming too expensive. DLSS 2.0 and FSR was a gamechanger for giving longevity to current cards.

If next gen consoles start to do 90+FPS for 120hz TV's I'll get a console for other games and keep my old PC for popular shooters. Recently, AAA shooters have been dribble.
 
Series X can be had for £449.99. Until recently you would be lucky to get an RTX 3060 for that price. Which is nuts.

NVIDIA have made yet another monolithic GPU, that sucks power, heats up your home and costs the same as three holidays abroad! The RTX 4090 FE...The joke being it can't do 120 FPS at 4K unless it uses tech like DLSS 2/3. But we will have to see reviews before that is confirmed.

My first GPU upgrade from NVIDIA cost £112 (2005). My GTX 970 from MSI cost about £389.99 (2015). My RTX 3070 £799.99 (2021)!

I don't think inflation can account for these cost increases. Or R & D costs. Just greedy cash grabs to make up for loss of mining profits.

Especially when you compare CPU, motherboard and RAM prices combined. Not nearly as high an increase.

I foresee a lot of PCs being built with integrated graphics from AM4 and 13th gen Intel being used. And users buying older GPU's or saving for an RTX 4070 12 GIG (THE RTX 4080).
 
Consoles aren’t even an option for Flight Sims. Whilst a new Xbox does (allegedly) run MSFS it does it badly but even a 3080/3090 will struggle so what hope does a console have.
 
Sadly OCUK and other retailers will still sell all their stock within a day or two I reckon. Not quite the instant sell out of 3000 series. Some people have more money than sense and have a real want to have the best and fastest.
 
High end PC gaming (4k, high refresh, RT and everything else on full in the latest titles)? Yes, absolutely silly money.

Enough to play a wide range of (old and new) games at acceptable settings? It's a'ight for now!

I've got years worth of games I've never touched in my steam library and so far my 3060ti has handled everything I've thrown at it, would be fine with a much lesser CPU too but I also use it for video/audio editing and it didn't cost me that much so I treated myself :)
 
I feel it has become to expensive, if your old GPU breaks the cost of a new lower end card like the 3060 is still steep for many people. Some might say buy second hand but that has its own issues.

It feels there must be a large group of people either from poorer countries or just not well off in western countries that would pick up a series s/x it it had full mouse and keyboard support and was useable as basically a PC. Problem being it would need access to other stores like steam etc but doubt MS would except that.

I just can't see an APU system coming to market that is powerful enough that wouldn't cost a fortune. You see the prices of some of these mini PC's or NUC's and for the power you are getting they are way overpriced.
 
MissChief said:
Sadly OCUK and other retailers will still sell all their stock within a day or two I reckon. Not quite the instant sell out of 3000 series. Some people have more money than sense and have a real want to have the best and fastest.
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Exactly this, lots of people complaining about the price of the new cards but they will have no problem selling them. I can't imagine many businesses pricing something below what they are able to sell it for.
It is a shame though, I've long since accepted that I can't afford the latest and greatest card, but at least mid-range used to seem affordable, that's not even the case now.
I guess if we're being generous to them, we could say there are a lot of factors coming together to push up prices at the moment, but it's still pretty crazy.
 
Is it still the case that at least the gaming once you have the system is cheaper on PC? Or has that advantage been diluted?

It was always possible to guy the games for less on PC than any console.
 
just wait for sales
but if you want to play on day 1 release then still be prepared to pay over the odds

benefit is that there is a large catalogue of older games that can be had for peanuts on pc whereas not possible on consoles
so depends on what your playstyle is
 
It's true that graphics cards are too expensive - but it's perfectly possible to put together a mid-range system that can play most things. It's expensive vs console, but always was.
 
bazzabear said:
Is it still the case that at least the gaming once you have the system is cheaper on PC? Or has that advantage been diluted?

It was always possible to guy the games for less on PC than any console.
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it still is as long as you're prepared to wait past the initial buzz. For example Horizon Zero Dawn can be had for £14 on PC if you look around. It's around the same price on PS4 I notice. But even newly released games can still be found cheaper on PC as well. BF2042 could be grabbed for around £40-45 on PC from a key site. On console it was hard to find even a moderate discount.
 
Brazo said:
Consoles aren’t even an option for Flight Sims. Whilst a new Xbox does (allegedly) run MSFS it does it badly but even a 3080/3090 will struggle so what hope does a console have.
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Or other genres. I like building and management games like PC, PZ, cities skylines, frostpunk. They’re just no fun on consoles and still too clunky. Can you imagine trying to direct an intense Total War battle on a console!?!
 
Well there's no point in being a console peasant when you have the money to own a high end PC and can afford the increased electricity costs.

That said, the last PC I put together for myself last year cost around £2.5k and I've only used it 4 times to run benchmarks before getting bored. Actually, I've spent hours upon hours with the steam deck in the last 6 weeks and that was much cheaper.
 
buying pre-owned can be surprisingly reasonable (or expensive depending on availability of warranty ofc)
i just completed a 8700k + 3060ti build for the gf - total cost was £620 for the whole tower
 
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