Why the current prices are going to kill PC gaming

LabR@t · 1 Oct 2022 at 23:19

I gave up with pc gaming, most games are built around consoles now and you get the intended experience on them.
I have a laptop and pc with apu that can play my back catalogue and Xbox for the newer stuff. Apu's can handle strategy games etc with ease

Justintime · 2 Oct 2022 at 00:04

Drollic said:
You can't compare that era in the same way. 120hz, 144hz+ gaming just wasn't a thing. 30 fps was widely accepted. 60 was a luxury. The performance you get per dollar/pound isn't going to keep on doubling for the same cost plus inflation over a decade later.

never accepted 30fps ever tbh. Every CRT i aimed for when they were available was at least 75/85Hz/100Hz. Flagship gpus used to be about 500 tops and 'lesser' gpus weren't miles behind either. The pandemic and mining mess made Nvidia see what people were willing to pay and now even with the mining crew gone they still want to artificially inflate prices to keep the shareholders happy. All sorts of things are coming to light now , i.e selling to miners in bulk and creating artificial shortages etc...

The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against Nvidia for unlawfully obscuring how many of its graphics cards were sold to crypto miners. The SEC claims that Nvidia misled investors by reporting huge boosts in revenue while hiding the fact that the success of said revenue hinged on the volatile crypto market. Nvidia now must pay $5.5 million to settle these charges.

https://thebusinessofesports.com/20...ust-pay-5-5m-to-settle-graphics-card-scandal/

etc.. and i'm sure more dirt will pop up, the CEO was basically recorded as saying they will create another supply bottleneck to manipulate the market.

Drollic · 2 Oct 2022 at 07:47

SpudMaster said:
Whilst Nvidia have you and any others conditioned into this way of thinking they will be able to charge whatever they want.

As far as I'm aware 30fps has never been accepted on pc other than pre gpu days. Try playing UT at 30fps! My Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 930sb would do 160hz at 800x600 or 1920x1440p at 73hz. Pretty sure I used to run it at 1280x1024 at 100hz

They don't have me conditioned into thinking anything apart from the new upcoming releases being terrible value. It's not an issue if you're not wanting 4k though. You can look at a huge list of products involving tech where your money now gets you less of an upgrade than what it used to. People seem to think the progress curve is linear with pricing. It never is. This is ignoring current climate. It's as if they should be entitled to the latest top end upgrade each gen for the same cost plus inflation.

Edit - should add, a lack of competition and huge market share of only one company is always going to make things worse.

SpudMaster · 2 Oct 2022 at 08:14

Yeah it's all self entitled people, nothing to do with Jensen trying to artificially keep prices high to maintain a 65% profit margin!

Darujhistan · 2 Oct 2022 at 10:58

Joxeon said:
Given we've seen a high end GPU increase from around £700 to £1700 in 6 years I wouldn't be supprised if the high end cards are topping 3k in another 6 years from now.

It won't take six years to hit 3K.

Darujhistan · 2 Oct 2022 at 11:03

Defintely looks like console/OLED for me in the future, will stay on AM4 and keep a PC going for internet, and older strategy games that don't require FPS etc. I can get another 5 years out of AM4 easy.

I'm not paying these prices. It's little more than a scam at this point.

aoaaron · 2 Oct 2022 at 11:44

Everything’s going up in price though. Rolex used to be 2.5k entry level. Now it’s closer to 6k.

The high end prices are sad but always going to increase.

What’s more upsetting is the lower end card prices. Budget pc gamers simply have no where to go.

However let’s also remember the cost of a launch price ps2 was about 250 to 300 at launch and now a ps5 is 500 2 years into its life span. Everything is more expensive. Normally the ps console 2 years into its life would be significantly cheaper. Instead it’s had a price hike.

Everyone in gaming is paying more. Game prices on Sony have gone from 40-50 to 60-70 for first party new releases

CuriousTomCat · 2 Oct 2022 at 11:55

20 years ago I had to buy a new gaming pc every two years because progress moved so quickly. These days a pc lasts many times that. So I find that pc gaming is now much cheaper.

I bought a used RX 6600 for £175 and I'm having an absolute blast with it. I was playing Cyberpunk all evening last night.

aoaaron · 2 Oct 2022 at 12:02

CuriousTomCat said:
20 years ago I had to buy a new gaming pc every two years because progress moved so quickly. These days a pc lasts many times that. So I find that pc gaming is now much cheaper.

I bought a used RX 6600 for £175 and I'm having an absolute blast with it. I was playing Cyberpunk all evening last night.

Exactly. If you game at 1440p or ultra wide, just lower the settings, lower resolution scaler or use FSR and most will get by!

harmattan · 2 Oct 2022 at 12:18

I've been teetering on giving up my normal upgrade cadence since Turing, and now decidedly against buying new hardware, CPU or GPU. Prices have just gotten outlandish, far above any incremental inflationary increase. Even with the craziness due to crypto over the past two years excluded, price/performance curve inverted around 2019 i.e. your paying more money for the same performance each generational -- and it's gotten progressively worse.

I have the means and extra cash to throw around. But there are so many other hobbies out there that get you substantially more for the money. To put it in perspective, I bought a complete home gym (power rack, plates, barbells, dumbbells, two cardio machines) used for last year for less than a single 4090. I bought two new kayaks and accessories for much less. These things I'll have for a decade or more; the 4090 I'd have for 3-4 years before it was likely outmoded. The math is clear.

Griffildur · 2 Oct 2022 at 13:13

CuriousTomCat said:
20 years ago I had to buy a new gaming pc every two years because progress moved so quickly. These days a pc lasts many times that. So I find that pc gaming is now much cheaper.

I bought a used RX 6600 for £175 and I'm having an absolute blast with it. I was playing Cyberpunk all evening last night.

Absolutely, I made a similar point earlier. I buy a new computer every 7-8 years sometimes they last even 10. I don't understand this attempt to say that you have to buy the latest and greatest every year or very 2 years. You really don't. My last computer upgrade cost me £800, i had it for 3 years and it will last far more. A new GPU upgrade is not needed often since most of us don't care about 4k with everything maxed. PC gaming is alive and well and it will stay alive and well

. I personally do not like consoles at all, can't game on them and don't see the attraction, but each to their own ...

throwaway4372 · 2 Oct 2022 at 13:14

parents should kill pc gaming tbh, just look at all the little fortnite crackheads, that ain't good.

~>Dg<~ · 2 Oct 2022 at 13:23

it all comes down to what you want from pc gaming. it can still be cheap if you at 1080. if you 1440 or above then it does go up. but being pricey isnt new or different over the years.

at 1080 a 1060 and a 10 year old cpu can still play most games.

NZXT30 · 2 Oct 2022 at 13:36

~>Dg<~ said:
it all comes down to what you want from pc gaming. it can still be cheap if you at 1080. if you 1440 or above then it does go up. but being pricey isnt new or different over the years.

at 1080 a 1060 and a 10 year old cpu can still play most games.

You could built a console beating gaming rig for roughly £800 while the £300 6700 was available. That's not bad at all to be honest.

azazl187 · 2 Oct 2022 at 13:37

Not for me as I'll be looking to replace my 3090 with the 4090

~>Dg<~ · 2 Oct 2022 at 13:39

NZXT30 said:
You could built a console beating gaming rig for roughly £800 while the £300 6700 was available. That's not bad at all to be honest.

yeah you can get a decent pc for 800 quid tbh. if you shop about. wait for deals.

Tired9 · 2 Oct 2022 at 14:15

Most of us that overspent for what they did wanted extra icing on top of an already awesome experience.
Lets be fair here, 60hz is completely fine, I still drop to it to save on power draw on games that don't require reflexes.

And in all honesty I think I have become a bit of a ponce due to exeriencing higher refresh rate monitors.
Also feeds into needing the next best thing... I have witnessed myself losing control in that regard and had a sanity check.

Jay85 · 2 Oct 2022 at 14:31

Justintime said:
never accepted 30fps ever tbh. Every CRT i aimed for when they were available was at least 75/85Hz/100Hz. Flagship gpus used to be about 500 tops and 'lesser' gpus weren't miles behind either. The pandemic and mining mess made Nvidia see what people were willing to pay and now even with the mining crew gone they still want to artificially inflate prices to keep the shareholders happy. All sorts of things are coming to light now , i.e selling to miners in bulk and creating artificial shortages etc...

https://thebusinessofesports.com/20...ust-pay-5-5m-to-settle-graphics-card-scandal/

etc.. and i'm sure more dirt will pop up, the CEO was basically recorded as saying they will create another supply bottleneck to manipulate the market.

Is there actual evidence of the actual recording? Would be interesting to hear it!

Bizarre · 2 Oct 2022 at 14:51

CuriousTomCat said:
20 years ago I had to buy a new gaming pc every two years because progress moved so quickly. These days a pc lasts many times that. So I find that pc gaming is now much cheaper.

The progress was in the software though, not the hardware. Back then the majority of pc games were developed solely for the PC, therefore maxing the hardwares potential at that time. We were forever chasing that 60fps holy grail, hence upgrading more often. Nowadays PC games are mainly developed for consoles with PC as an afterthought, therefore have become a bit stagnant, resulting in us not feeling the need to upgrade as we once did.

Tired9 · 2 Oct 2022 at 15:19

Bizarre said:
The progress was in the software though, not the hardware. Back then the majority of pc games were developed solely for the PC, therefore maxing the hardwares potential at that time. We were forever chasing that 60fps holy grail, hence upgrading more often. Nowadays PC games are mainly developed for consoles with PC as an afterthought, therefore have become a bit stagnant, resulting in us not feeling the need to upgrade as we once did.

I don't think this is fully true, 3D Graphics only truly took off with the advent of home games consoles like the Playstation 1.
Many a game that we saw move and transition to 3D were console ports of Tomb Raider, Resident Evil ect.
Back then no one was chasing 60 FPS at all.

No doubt though 3D was on the cards regardless of gaming taking off into new areas, 3D was a visual representation closer to reality.

The PC was also almost always 2 steps behind, the OG XBOX & 360 was the only place for a while where you could enjoy games that current cards did not have the tech to run.

This has since changed...

Nvidia NV2a (Kelvin) and the ATi XENOS (Terascale) chips were monsters for their respective release time.