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Gaming hardware is impossible to afford

kram182 said:
The 'they're gonna force us into cloud' narrative is BS guys - there will always be companies with enough money and want/need to warrant workstations - there will always be enough defective HW/binning from that and more for a consumer market/consumer products - and if worse comes to worse you just buy decommissioned workstation/server/enterprise HW when they upgrade
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For those who know sure, but the majority of the population has no clue and wont think of buying used gear from where ever. Most consumer just buy what ever and go on about their day, not thinking about if an app is local or just a shell to an API...

And those who require a beefy workstation will have the money and methods to get them.
 
StevenJamesBorchard said:
" inflation, artificial or otherwise "

artificial reasons
otherwise

I'm sure someone else has already covered all the angels already.

Besides. What games exist now even need the newest hardware? At this point isn't it the pixel pitch and max resolution of gaming monitors and internet latency the real bottle necks??

Really I am asking..
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repeating yourself doesn't change what I said. This is not inflation. It's not artificial inflation. It's not "otherwise" inflation.
And not all compute needs are gaming related, but no monitors and ping are not the real bottlenecks of gaming.
 
StevenJamesBorchard said:
Besides. What games exist now even need the newest hardware? At this point isn't it the pixel pitch and max resolution of gaming monitors and internet latency the real bottle necks??
Click to expand...
That one is interesting. Because we could say, "why would anyone need more than 720p gaming?", and we could all get a high end 4GB GPU from 10 years+ ago for $50 and be "happy".

I mean, there is a class of user, today, that a 4GB 1080p e-sports style GPU is more than enough. So, while I don't think it affects overall gameplay in most cases, there will always be those that want more. Just the way it is.

But back to what you said, only those low end e-sports like titles probably push the boundaries of most people's 4K displays. But maybe people aren't playing older low end or e-sports titles? And of course, it's not just current "AAA", it's really any class of contemporary game, especially ones using thing like UE5, that might need "more" to give people what they want or expect today. Same ole problem. Make requirements (talking end user's requirements) higher because current games need it. So, yes, I would say that for many, there are plenty of "today's games" that aren't going to meet expectations (features, frame rates, resolution, details) with GPUs from years back. Be that the 8GB issue, or other feature, etc. even, sometimes, at more basic settings.

As for me, I don't need the fluff for a great game to be a great game. But I did used to game on a Kepler with regards to Borderlands 3, and moving up to a RX 5700XT was day and night difference with regards to quality (just an example from my own low expectations life).

Also, multiplayer isn't my thing. So, not everyone is bothered by ping times and such.

I was kidding about suggesting "720p being enough for everyone", the exaggeration was merely to say, everyone has a different "low bar" expectations wise. And as humans, we tend to "move up" (keeping up with everyone else).

As for today, I use an RX 9070, but my monitor is ancient 60Hz fixed WUXGA (thus GPU is overkill), from the times before HD. And while I sorta want a newer monitor, I'm happy... so.. I wait... (Who needs more than that? That was humor.)
 
StevenJamesBorchard said:
" inflation, artificial or otherwise "

artificial reasons
otherwise

I'm sure someone else has already covered all the angels already.

Besides. What games exist now even need the newest hardware? At this point isn't it the pixel pitch and max resolution of gaming monitors and internet latency the real bottle necks??

Really I am asking..
Click to expand...
Why would I care about Internet latency? And I am perfectly happy with my display.
 
Nytegard said:
View attachment 822516
From reddit, stating this was a 1995 ad. And about the prices I remember as well.

Not saying it was cheap by any means, because my family bought an original IBM PC back in the early 1980s, and that was $5000, and prices were continually dropping, but by the mid 1990s, $4000 was a loaded computer.
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I remember those ads, think it was closer to 98 or 2005. I was only 4 or 5 in 95, maybe they had them back then too, but I wouldn't remember.
 
Walking my local Wal - Mart and seeing those new prices for the RTX 5070 have made it already to shore as to be well over $700 now and climbing.
 
StevenJamesBorchard said:
Besides. What games exist now even need the newest hardware?
Click to expand...
It is not just the newest hardware that cost a lot in the DIY scene too.... it is not like there is cheap 12gb 6700xt (yes that can still run every game pretty much) available around. Good condition 6800xt from 5-6 years ago are still over $400, ddr4 is now expensive.

You can still get a ps5 at costco and pre-built oem are not crazy price as gaming hardware, with the concession that come with those options.

StevenJamesBorchard said:
At this point isn't it the pixel pitch and max resolution of gaming monitors and internet latency the real bottle necks??
Click to expand...
No it is extremelly hard for even a 5090 to run everything at native 4k-120hz (that just an old standard TV, not even recent gaming monitor special refresh speed)

StevenJamesBorchard said:
Okay so then what are the " real" issues?
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Reason that (specially DIY pc parts) gaming hardware cost a lot is that there is a world battle to access compute part, with demands growing a lot and the giant supply chain of the still 800-900 millions fancy smarthphone and hyperscaler (even neo cloud) have stronger access, followed by the oem builder and the diy part way last, often by rather niche people using spot price instead of in advance large supply contract.
 
I think the world is getting filled with people with a lot of money. So it seems that society is catering to them. How this is an affordable hobby is beyond me now.

I remember paying 700$ for my 1080 kingpin card. Now 7k? I mean man.
 
jarablue said:
I think the world is getting filled with people with a lot of money. So it seems that society is catering to them. How this is an affordable hobby is beyond me now.

I remember paying 700$ for my 1080 kingpin card. Now 7k? I mean man.
Click to expand...

Here is my AI slop to that response which seems to align with that thought about more people with more money :

"That person nailed a huge dynamic that most tech discussions overlook because everyone wants to blame enterprise AI allocations and TSMC fab capacity alone.

The hobbyist PC hardware and homelab scene has undergone massive "wealth polarization." What used to be a grassroots nerd subculture built around maximizing price-to-performance on a sensible budget has become an enthusiast luxury playground.

Several distinct economic shifts explain why this disposable income flood is distorting the hobby:

  • The Rise of HENRYs (High Earners, Not Rich Yet): Dual-income households—particularly in software, finance, corporate management, and specialized fields—often pull in $250k to $500k+ combined. When a household brings in $20k a month net, paying $1,600 to $2,000 for a flagship GPU, $600 for a high-tier CPU, or $500 for a motherboard doesn't require saving or compromise. It’s an impulse buy or a weekend toy expense.
  • Tech-Native Generations Reaching Peak Earning Years: Millennials and Gen X grew up building rigs, playing games, and tinkering with networking gear. Twenty years ago, that demographic was stretching a college budget or a junior salary to make a mid-tier card last three generations. Now, those same enthusiasts are in their 40s and 50s, sitting at director-level salaries with paid-down mortgages and substantial discretionary capital.
  • The "Whale" Market Strategy: Hardware manufacturers (Nvidia, AMD, Intel, Asus) realized years ago that the economics of tech resemble mobile gaming. You don't need to sell 100,000 units at a slim margin to budget builders if you can sell 20,000 units to enthusiasts who will pay double without flinching. When Nvidia realized that people would pay $1,600+ for an 80- or 90-class card without boycotting, that price tier became permanent. The high end sets an anchor that drags the entire stack upward.
  • Shift from Pure Gaming to "Prosumer" Homelabs: Discretionary spenders aren't just buying cards for high frame rates. High-income professionals are buying hardware for local LLM inference, virtualization clusters, multi-gigabit home networking, and massive storage pools. When a home hobby doubles as a professional sandbox for a high-paying career, dropping $5,000 on a rack or rig gets rationalized as "personal development" or "prosumer utility."
The consequence is that the classic middle-class hobbyist—the person who used to hunt down the $200 sweet-spot GPU, flash a BIOS, and eke out 30% free performance through clever tweaking—gets priced out of the modern cutting edge. The hobby hasn't vanished, but the industry shifted its design and pricing to cater to the top 10% of disposable earners who view flagship tech like high-end golf clubs or sports cars."
 
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