When did the PC hardware scene get so crazy and stressful?

Agree - it's crazy at the moment, but the best thing to do in my view is to just sit it out until the hype has all died down.

Looking forward to my next build when I can hopefully just log onto a site and order the parts I want without the risk of stock issues.
 
^this

When I upgrade, i go for upper midrange specs - and buy the best I can for the money at the time, simple as that. Don't care about bleeding edge tech as its overpriced and diminishing returns.
 
dowie said:
I've still got an i5 and a 980ti.... zero ****s given here, I don't game much and that PC is still capable enough. Will probably get a PS5 though, they seem to be quite decent value for money.
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I think i am going to go this route as well, I tend to like CRPG when i have the time so my trusty old banger of a rig will keep on going. (I do need a new cheapo PC for the pain cave though and everytime they come up in MM some one beats me to it)
 
mattyfez said:
^this

When I upgrade, i go for upper midrange specs - and buy the best I can for the money at the time, simple as that. Don't care about bleeding edge tech as its overpriced and diminishing returns.
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I'm starting to suspect people are upgrading to cpus they don't need and games will never make use of them before they are obsolete but benchmarks.

you don't need 16 cores for gaming and by time games need 16 cores there will be way better cpus for cheaper.

same as people who need 32gb of ram to only play games.


to me it feels like hardware is moving along way faster than software/games need especially with consoles holding everything back as always
 
If you're referring to the gpu scene (and I think you are) that what happens when you have marketing spin hyping things to the stratosphere and then not providing enough product to satisfy demand because either a) limited supply pushes up prices or b) they screwed up.
 
as commented, out of apples playbook, clever marketting to make products appear more valuable, increasing their margin,
so they can make the same profit with reduced output, .... and, marketting department budget increases, a bit.

Gaming has been taking more mind share ? to the detriment of netflix et al, too, during lockin.
 
dowie said:
I've still got an i5 and a 980ti.... zero ****s given here, I don't game much and that PC is still capable enough. Will probably get a PS5 though, they seem to be quite decent value for money.
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If you do, hit me up so I can drag you in to our Friday night shenanigans :D
 
Cooper said:
Its why I'm getting out of PC gaming, TBH. I'll be getting rid of my current rig in the new year.

This hobby has become populated with morons who seemingly have more money than brains & common sense, who are willing to throw absurd amounts of money at it, just to be able to say they have a new shiny toy on day one.

Normally I wouldn't care what idiots like that do, in any walk of life, but their stupidity affects everyone else's purchasing options, by creating the current situation we find ourselves in.

I mean, there are posters in the 3070 thread who have paid nearly £700 for one...£700!!! for a 70 class card and the worst part is they are actually grateful that they got one at that price. Complete morons.
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And this stops you from enjoying PC gaming how?
 
Frubeling said:
And this stops you from enjoying PC gaming how?
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If you somehow weren't able to grasp the message of his post, it's that he is annoyed with people willingly paying silly money (above MSRP) for hardware and so fuelling ever-higher prices of hardware which then presumably further impacts his wallet when he wants to upgrade. It's reasonable assume that he is going to console-world where hardware prices are more predictable.
 
Richdog said:
If you somehow weren't able to grasp the message of his post, it's that he is annoyed with people willingly paying silly money (above MSRP) for hardware and so fuelling ever-higher prices of hardware which then presumably further impacts his wallet when he wants to upgrade. It's reasonable assume that he is going to console-world where hardware prices are more predictable.
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Again, that impacts his enjoyment how? It's still possible to enjoy the thousands of games that ostensibly do not require up to date hardware in the slightest.
 
Felt bummed out having bought a 2070 Super this year for £470 and the 3070 released last week at the same price but in reality it would appear that whilst the 3070 is better, it's not so much better that I'll want to sell my current card and add the rest for a 3070... Let alone find one of the 15 or so allocated UK stock units in stock (lol).

I guess the main thing going for me is I don't game at 4K with masses of AA in games but instead 1440p 21:9 and low AA settings where available meaning performance is often really good anyway. Next gen games are changing things though with raytracing making realistic lighting effect more compelling but luckily my card handles that fine too for now so until I come across a total challenge for the card I think I will keep as is and not get drawn into the supermarket sweep currently created.

I am one of those that do prefer ultra settings in games though. Having a big 34" UWA screen means games often look more immersive with the higher settings. HBAO is more obvious, shadows, lighting effects etc even when engrossed in the game. You do not need the most expensive cards to realise them though, certainly don't need 4K!
 
I only go for last gen stuff now and second hand if I can. My pc is sorted for a good while now. CBA with any of the new stuff. While I do have an RTX card it doesn't interest me in the slightest.
 
Agree with the sentiment - I used to upgrade every 12 - 18 months or so, back when hardware was advancing at a pace which software (games) was keeping up with.

In the last 7 years I have only done two upgrades, the most recent being three years ago (excluding my GPU which I purchased a year prior as a standalone upgrade) and I see no reason to upgrade anything over the next 2-3 years at least.

Everything I have runs AAA games at 130+ FPS in 1440p, load times are minimal, reliability is excellent - Upgrading would offer no noticeable difference to my gaming experience, which these days is a fraction of what it was 15 years ago anyway (and I will add that I seem to be "casual" gaming on console more and more these days rather than more serious PC gaming).

If games could keep up with the capability of this new gen hardware and some seriously good AAA titles were released, then it *might* tempt me into something, but it just isn't happening - The games industry has been quite stale for a number of years and unless a new engine is released which blows away what there is now, then old hardware is still plenty good enough for 99% of gamers.
 
mrk said:
Felt bummed out having bought a 2070 Super this year for £470 and the 3070 released last week at the same price but in reality it would appear that whilst the 3070 is better, it's not so much better that I'll want to sell my current card and add the rest for a 3070... Let alone find one of the 15 or so allocated UK stock units in stock (lol).

I guess the main thing going for me is I don't game at 4K with masses of AA in games but instead 1440p 21:9 and low AA settings where available meaning performance is often really good anyway. Next gen games are changing things though with raytracing making realistic lighting effect more compelling but luckily my card handles that fine too for now so until I come across a total challenge for the card I think I will keep as is and not get drawn into the supermarket sweep currently created.

I am one of those that do prefer ultra settings in games though. Having a big 34" UWA screen means games often look more immersive with the higher settings. HBAO is more obvious, shadows, lighting effects etc even when engrossed in the game. You do not need the most expensive cards to realise them though, certainly don't need 4K!
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It's a shame, but if you bought it earlier in the year then you couldn't really have known. :)

Frubeling said:
Again, that impacts his enjoyment how? It's still possible to enjoy the thousands of games that ostensibly do not require up to date hardware in the slightest.
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The context of what he meant is obvious and you are interpreting it far too literally.
 
Bought in feb, so I guess so, it was a time when everyone expected the new cards later in the year to be stupidly priced lol but how the turntables...

I might consider one of the new AMD cards in the new year however once the third party benchmarks come out. Bit cheaper than nVidia whilst they appear to be comparatively matched.

Let's see!
 
Still on a 2500k from 2011 here and last upgraded to an RX 480 in 2016 I think? At 1080p nothing that I've been playing has really made upgrading necessary, but I am starting to need the fans running very high in more demanding games.

Upgrading has been something I've wanted to do for the last couple of years though, as I have an interest in technology as well as the games I play. I suppose that's a bit of the 'new shiny' syndrome talked about here. I'd like to think I can avoid a lot of the fanboyism though and go for bang for buck at my budget level, although that immediately puts me more in the AMD camp for both CPU and GPU. Doing a lot of research is something that I enjoy and will happily sway one way or the other if the evidence points to either 'side' being a better fit for my needs.

I've been quite content to sit and watch from afar while putting money aside but every time I get near to spending there's been more important stuff that I've spent the money on instead (most recently a house which means I'll have a dedicated office :D). I've just bought a 1440p 144HZ ultra wide monitor which I suspect will push me over the edge into upgrading in the new year - so it's about now that I'll dip back into the relevant sub forums looking for some sense amongst the noise... Wish me luck!
 
arknor said:
you used to be able to build a top spec pc including the case for like 1k with spending like a 100 on a case.

I think it was about 7 years ago that everything suddenly got covered in RGB leds and tripled in price,

even motherboards are ridiculous prices these days.

if ram went up in price as much as everything else we would be spending like 300-400 on decent ram.

barely any games come out to even make it worth upgrading for me as well.
I'm still on a i5 4670k @ 4ghz and a 980ti..

I'll probably just wait until next year or so
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Motherboards are cheap.

You can pick up one for like £100. The msi promotion offers a 3600x and b550 for £350 iirc.l even at today's inflated Covid prices.

MSI tomahawk have been a good buy and only around £100.

Ram decent stuff is around £70.

CPU you could at one point get the 3600 for like £130 pre Covid. You don't need any more power for gaming.

Covid hasn't helped as prices have risen dramatically. I had a spare PSU I tried selling it on eBay a year ago and the best offer was £35 I sold it this year for £150.

Was a platinum PSU 1000w still sealed.

That shows you how much of an effect Covid has had on prices.

Gpu is the most expensive part but again if you stick to 1080p you can get a top gpu for £150 like a 1650 super.

I bought a 2070 super a year ago on black Friday for £440 new with the best cooler on it.

I need a 2070 super for my res and refresh rate. At £440 I got a good deal and is the most I've ever spent on a gpu.

The previous gen people were paying £600-£1200 for the same power thanks to the mining boom. I know my mate bought dual 1080ti for around £900 each if not more. So I waited a couple of years got the better card with the equivalent power that runs cooler and more efficiently for half the price. So waiting and not buying at launch is key.

Stick to 1080p and you can build a very high spec gaming pc for like £800.

Go chasing higher resolution then yeah you can spend an additional £500 for 1440p and an additional £1000 for 4k.

Resolution isn't a huge deal IMO when it comes to the experience. You can still get away with 1080p on a 27 inch screen.

I switched from 1080p to 1440p and the res difference isn't that big for fast action FPS. I'd have no issue dropping back to 1080p if I had to.

My mate was going to get a 3080 at launch I told him to wait for amd announcment then wait for the Nvidia refresh cards.

He's now glad he took my advice our other mate who didn't bought a 3070 for over £700 and he was laughing at how bad a deal that is however he was prepared to pay more for the 3080 until he took my advice.

Always wait for the refresh cards now.

The 1070ti proved to be a good buy and the 2070 super even more so.

However the best buy is the 1650 super and stick to 1080p and you will be fine.
 
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