Is this the glummest home computing has ever looked?

Storage prices are high.

GPU prices from all vendors are high.

RAM prices are high.

Software continues to utilise more PC resources, while those resources have become considerably more expensive. To the point where some games Devs are revising spec requirements down.

And all this is having a knock on effect on the used market, raising prices there as well.

It isn't the end of the world by any metric, but I think it's fair to label it a glum time given how it's all coming together the way it is. Especially given some of the predictions for availability in the coming months/years.
 
I think it's glum and the outlook serves to lower morale and aspiration around the genre.

Whilst I accept that there are ups and downs in pricing / supply / demand, I think the blatant AI cash grab attitude of big players at the expense of the enthusiast PC market is a shame. I know that companies are out to make money ... but the current scene looks like a turning the back on a group which arguably did a lot to put them where they are. Where's the return on the loyalty shown ? and why should any loyalty be shown in the future ?

I don't know if it will pass to be honest in a few years. I can see AI continuing to hoover up the scene. Even if the bubble bursts, you'll still be left with uses for AI technology which become profitable and will continue to need ever more tech thrown at it.
 
Things are bad but it’ll pass. There’s been plenty of bad times, hard drive prices when there was flooding, gpu stock and prices in mining craze, covid, etc.

The only difference this time is I believe this will be the longest period prices will be bad.
 
I think the scene is a dying breed. Nobody on here will want to admit that, but the writing is on the wall. Nobody buys desktop PCs anymore unless you game. It's been propped up by gaming for years now and the problem with that is:

1. The gaming industry is currently in a very unhealthy spot (poor quality games, subscription models, toxic online communities riddled with cheaters etc)
2. Hardware costs to stay current are so high that the majority of people can't keep up now

Also there's:

3. Very incremental improvements in hardware performance each generation. This causes a lack of excitement and interest in the scene.
4. Overclocking has become almost obsolete.
5. Customization of hardware and innovation has faded away.

We've peaked years ago basically.
 
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I think this is the worst I've seen it as it's not a case of consumer level products being bought up by bots as in COVID but more like less consumers products are being made of favour of more profitable enterprise products or in Western digital care allocating vast amounts of if not all of their 2026 products to enterprise users

Thankful I upgraded last year
 
Yeah its all a bit poop.

It's not going to do businesses any good really either, hopefully OCUK are doing ok but I can't help but think this will start to have a knock of effect.

It's going to put a lot of people off buying PC hardware, it's putting me off.
 
pallys said:
Microsoft have announced an xbox that will play pc games so its even less worthwhile to build a gaming pc?
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It will still be limited by the hardware, so those that want to run at higher settings etc will still want to build a higher-end PC. I would say the same applies to the Steam box, but for some gamers as opposed to hardware enthusiasts they could be attractive options.

I timed my upgrade well (full system overhaul a year ago, not that the previous one was a slouch), but the situation is certainly grim ATM, and the forecast doesn't show anything hopeful.

I completely agree RE shrinking generational gains and overclocking being replaced by undervolting (which can achieve impressive results, but isn't as exciting as decent performance gains).
 
Going to be a while till i think about upgrading, the AM4 rig will do me for now and hopefully the return of normal pricing
 
PC scene isn't dying. It seems more and more young people are building one or having one (maybe just the videos I see on shorts), compared to what we had before I feel.

It's bad right now but not so much that it's disappearing. However if the hardware prices keep rising (relative to income like GPU prices) then it'll go that way but can't see it happening yet.

It's just a bad bump and can be ridden out. We had it with storage prices in 2010's (I think) and with GPUs it's been one crap sandwich after another (mining, and now AI) which has now taken it into memory issues.

Just have to find another hobby to spend the time whilst it's rubbish is the only way to cope.
 
Too me it feels like we're just continuing the same journey that started during the mining crisis. EVGA showed us companies that put enthusiasts first can't survive in this market. The only innovation we see now is financial...

I miss the days when a new gen meant something exciting rather than "buy our subscription model".
 
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I shifted to laptop gaming a long time ago as I lost my home office to the kids. Meant I fell out of the desktop upgrade cycle.

Current laptop had a 3060 and Ryzen 5 in it. Was the cheapest bang for buck in COVID era. I think that was worst time until now for buying computers.

Worse than all was at the start my first 486 was really expensive.
 
Theres no excitement anymore for me.

Back in the days of the San Diago 3700+ and onto the dual cores id upgrade pretty much most generations. Buying an nvidia 5700 and unlocking it to a 5950 was great. As was getting an athlon 2500+ and modding it to a 3200+.

I remember the X-fi being the best thing on the block. Buying the expensive one to get the X-RAM.

Ive thought about upgrading my current rig, but for the proce id be paying theres just no urge to do so anymore.


Im 50 next week, and if it wasnt for the fact that ive had a desktop PC for the last 35 years ( and an Amiga before that ) then id just get rid.
 
jaybee said:
I think the scene is a dying breed. Nobody on here will want to admit that, but the writing is on the wall. Nobody buys desktop PCs anymore unless you game. It's been propped up by gaming for years now and the problem with that is:

1. The gaming industry is currently in a very unhealthy spot (poor quality games, subscription models, toxic online communities riddled with cheaters etc)
2. Hardware costs to stay current are so high that the majority of people can't keep up now

Also there's:

3. Very incremental improvements in hardware performance each generation. This causes a lack of excitement and interest in the scene.
4. Overclocking has become almost obsolete.
5. Customization of hardware and innovation has faded away.

We've peaked years ago basically.
Click to expand...
I agree with this, plus laptops can do basically everything 99% of people want with ease now, and with recent advances in Apple Silicon etc. and price rises on the Windows side, (plus the dire state of windows itself), the writing is on the wall for desktop pc's.
 
I think the reason it's so much worse now is because it's absolutely everything that's rocketing upwards. Even if I want something new *not* for gaming, that's a big middle finger from the market.

They aren't going to bring it back down any time soon. I'd imagine many PC stores will be downsizing over the next while, or just shutting their doors completely.

The number of slightly older laptops/desktops that are going to be scrapped over the next while will be rough too. Memory/SSD failure? Bin. :(

They're saying 2030 now for this to improve.
 
Ooft, I'd have to have been hit quite heavily in the head, to give up a PC from even the last 10 years, for the consoles.
Things are glum, but a trash-tier X79, with 4 sticks of DDR4 and a 1080 could still run some serious stuff.
Consoles are not the answer to this one. Play different games (they are probably better).
 
A PS5 has the same power as a 1080TI from 2017. Only 2% of Steam users game on hardware that low and they're probably Mac users. I doubt real PC gamers would take such a hit, they would rather live off Ramen and tap water for 6 months to pay for a new GPU.
 
I have gamed on my Tesla P40 before which is about 1080ti performance, and it was a was a positive experience. I'd certainly be happy to solely play games that it can run.

Edit: Things are glum, but I guess we can cast our minds back to the older hardware. It's important to own stuff.
 
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Mr-White said:
A PS5 has the same power as a 1080TI from 2017. Only 2% of Steam users game on hardware that low and they're probably Mac users. I doubt real PC gamers would take such a hit, they would rather live off Ramen and tap water for 6 months to pay for a new GPU.
Click to expand...
PS5 Pro and PC have basically the same graphics. What exactly are you getting on PC when you spend £2000 extra?
 
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