So "the death of the PC" - how does that translate for custom rigs?

Zion Halcyon

Zion Halcyon

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Just something I've been thinking of - with tablets becoming the new norm for most folks, I'd love to hear some opinions on the future of high end gaming.

I'm someone who loves building a kick ass rig to play games, but even I can see that gaming eventually in the next 20 years will likely go cloud and standardized tablets will be more the norm.

Which means dumbed down games and wii like controls.

So lets give it a scope of 20 years - how do you see the evolution, or perhaps extinction of the enthusiast market? Do we survive? Does someone out there come up with the idea of the upgradeable tablet or do we end up treating them like cell phones as disposable items?

Love to hear opinions on this.
 
They can have my PC when they pry it from my cold dead hands. Fuck the cloud, fuck social (read simple) gaming.
 
enthusiast market is what drives the next generation of consoles, tablets, smartphones etc...it will always have a place in gaming (albeit a much smaller place in the future)
 
Consoles are dying not PCs. Tablets and phones are going to kill the handhelds.

Consoles sales have crashed, while digital downloads for the PC keeps growing.
 
If you're trying to envision the future, don't start by looking at the limitations of today's technologies and saying "this is as good as it gets".

Tablets? Still very much in their infancy tech-wise. Cloud-based gaming? Sure, with the right infrastructure it can be done, but then you're just shifting the custom PCs to a data center somewhere. Wii-like controls? If I can own a tablet that can replace a high-end gaming PC then you better believe there will be some innovations in the controlling aspect as well.

We've been in a lull where PC gaming has taken backseat to consoles, but that has hardly spelled the death of the PC. Personally, I have a few friends that are "coming back" to PC gaming and realizing how much they've been missing...it just took an upgrade. There could be any number of turns that the industry could take that could change gaming as we know it.

One thing I'm fairly certain of: China is going to continue making throwaway devices for the world forever. There's a race to the bottom going on and eventually we're going to hit it.
 
Theres about 100x more PC players now than there was in the "golder age" in the late 90s. Not exactly sure how it's dying.

"Back in the day" with a small fraction of the market, games survied and flourished. Even if it does go "bad" theres still a market for it. Cloud gaming is a silly idea and more just a combination of buzzwords. Practical stuff like physics mean it's rather rubbish.

I could see a mainframe style computing, where a central house unit dealt to clients on phones/whatever, working. Then you go to the library or office and load another VM. But that would be more expensive and wouldn't be useful for things like studios. The PC fills a very needed purpose which isn't getting replaced any time soon. Tablets don't.

Tablets are a fad and it's not like they have really gone anywhere or have anywhere to go. It's unlikely that someone will buy $60 games on one. A smartphone can do all of the stuff they can do and is more transportable, tablets are a thoroughly crap form factor that are terrible to use. they shall become like netbooks once the novelty weears off (which it already seems to be doing). Touch is a horrible dated, inaccurate, slow way of doing things. With brain controllers (already availible) and HUDs (already availible), or some future tech, you wouldn't need any kind of interface or screen so carrying a 10" peice of glass around would be entirely pointless.

There are no good games on phones/tablets unless you like doing repetitive crap. No big game producer is going to blow a huge budget on a $1.25 title.
 
Theres room for both consoles and real computers. What does have me concerned is win8. Forcing us to use a tablet os. So, Im in the group that hopes win8 is a financial failure to MS.
Ive been using computers since 86. Have never owned a tablet or console. Probably never will.

Its what I grew up with. It works, it does what I need it to and its easily upgraded. I see no need to change. If the tablets or tablets os is forced.. Guess after 26years Ill have to find a new hobby.

One day Ill have to add up all the money Ive spent on this hobby in that 26years.
 
Even if PC gaming becomes niche, there is always going to be demand.

Just looking at the crowd funded titles of late, you can see there is a huge market void that needs to be filled. I see kickstarters working beneficially in two ways. 1) It gives smaller devs the ability to bring their games to the masses and 2) It shows the big publishers that there IS money to be made in the PC arena, so long as you're giving the fans what they want. Is it going to make publishers do a full 360? Probably not. But it will definitely be enough to grab their attention.
 
Funny, I remember hearing that the death of the PC was 10 years ago, 9 years ago, 8 years ago, etc. etc.
 
It'll be a long time before they can fit the power of a GTX 690 into a tablet. Just think how much power it requires and how much heat it puts out. Desktop PC's will be around for a long time.
 
[V]ad[H]atte(r);1039184581 said:
Funny, I remember hearing that the death of the PC was 10 years ago, 9 years ago, 8 years ago, etc. etc.
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Our memories agree.
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Okay. 2013 all desktops have ceased and we're forced to move onto something else. How many new kickstarters do you think would appear to make the most optimized games ever for Ivy Bridge and GTX 600/HD7000? The hardware we possess right now can still be developed for. Desktop PCs aren't disposable products like razor blades, Q-tips, paper towels, breath mints, etc. You can keep them as long as you please. And if hardware just suddenly stopped we'd still have development. There are many niche groups who still like to hack old Commodores, Amigas, Apple II's, etc. That would just expand to "desktop gaming PCs". So even if the "death" scenario occurred, it's not like they'd all become giant paperweights 2-3 years later. I will certainly have preparations so that no matter what I can play Baldur's Gate or Lucas Arts DOS adventure games in the year 2050.
 
PC gaming won't die, it's an open platform and so it will evolve like it always has, it's the only platform where that can happen, the users can choose both their hardware and software and with quick life cycles for hardware and easy to update software it's an environment where growth and improvement are accelerated.

The question really should be, how will the PC adapt over the next 20 years, what technology will arrive on the PC that keep people focused on it and going back to it for gaming, because while cloud gaming might become possible in some useable way there will always be something high end on the PC that enthusiasts will want to be part of.

My money is on VR, I think the Oculus Rift headset will kick this off and in 20 years time we'll have widespread adoption backed by all the major players, it will appear on the PC first, get refined in the PC space and while all the other platforms are scrambling around trying to work out how to leverage VR/AR the PC will be moving on to bigger and better things, raytracing, soft body physics in real time, god knows what else.
 
PCs will never be dead... all the current little justin bieberish tablet users will grow up and need real power and you just can't get it anywhere other than a homebuilt, water cooled PC.

Tablets will die before the PC will.
 
Call me when you get holodecks.

Two thoughts on the whole "holodeck" thing:

1) I'd need to know how to lock the door, soundproof it, and not have any cameras running for when I cue up the latest adult adventure program :)

2) you would have many more of us geeky guys getting buff and super fit inside of a holodeck, just imagine if you wanted to play something like Battlefield 3 in the holodeck, actually running/jumping/fighting, not only would you be getting an excellent workout, but you'd eventually turn into an expert marksmen :-p
 
Historically growth rate for a technology slows when the adoption rate in a society hits around 70% and we're far short of that. Currently there's more than a billion PCs estimated to be on the planet and that's expected to double by 2016. The PC will be as persistent as the printing press and probably last just as long.
 
dnottis said:
PCs will never be dead... all the current little justin bieberish tablet users will grow up and need real power and you just can't get it anywhere other than a homebuilt, water cooled PC.

Tablets will die before the PC will.
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This.

Also where do you think all the CGI graphics in all the movies come from? Certainly not a Tablet or Console.
 
Boxxy_Troll_Thread.PNG
 
collegeboy69us said:
Call me when you get holodecks.

Two thoughts on the whole "holodeck" thing:

1) I'd need to know how to lock the door, soundproof it, and not have any cameras running for when I cue up the latest adult adventure program :)

2) you would have many more of us geeky guys getting buff and super fit inside of a holodeck, just imagine if you wanted to play something like Battlefield 3 in the holodeck, actually running/jumping/fighting, not only would you be getting an excellent workout, but you'd eventually turn into an expert marksmen :-p
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I always wondered whose job it was to clean all the semen out of the holodeck?

I guess that's what the new Space Quest game will be about Roger Wilco: the Cosmic Jizz Mopper.

I sort of regret posting this. Could I get any more off topic?
 
Mayson said:
I always wondered whose job it was to clean all the semen out of the holodeck?

I guess that's what the new Space Quest game will be about Roger Wilco: the Cosmic Jizz Mopper.

I sort of regret posting this. Could I get any more off topic?
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Since part of the holodeck operates on the "transporter" technology of converting energy to matter and vice versa... I always assumed there was no jizz mopper. You just convert anything left behind after a hot sexy romp into pure energy and store it wherever you store energy.

Would be creepy firing up the replicator for some dinner and thinking the energy used to create the food came from converted wang sauce.
 
collegeboy69us said:
Since part of the holodeck operates on the "transporter" technology of converting energy to matter and vice versa... I always assumed there was no jizz mopper. You just convert anything left behind after a hot sexy romp into pure energy and store it wherever you store energy.

Would be creepy firing up the replicator for some dinner and thinking the energy used to create the food came from converted wang sauce.
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Holo Jizz mopper. His name is steven and he hates his hololife.
 
LordVampyre said:
Theres room for both consoles and real computers. What does have me concerned is win8. Forcing us to use a tablet os. So, Im in the group that hopes win8 is a financial failure to MS.
Ive been using computers since 86. Have never owned a tablet or console. Probably never will.

Its what I grew up with. It works, it does what I need it to and its easily upgraded. I see no need to change. If the tablets or tablets os is forced.. Guess after 26years Ill have to find a new hobby.

One day Ill have to add up all the money Ive spent on this hobby in that 26years.
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I'm in the same boat as you lol. But thankfully I think will be bailed out if M$ and Apple start heading for more of that casual tablet os crap. We always have linux. Steam is heading to linux, lots of devs are talking about how they hate win 8. So we could see a crossover. I'm psyched about steam linux I'm a l4d2 player mainly and I'll finally start seeing some good support instead of always working to get things working lol.
 
Considering that the virtual headset is gaining some traction in the hype department, unless they pair them with low power tablets...look for some interface changes. PC's will not die. Tablets are a convenience to mobile cubical workers, a tablet is only good for the small stuff. Power users will always require more horse power.
 
I think people who believe that tablets are where gaming is headed, shouldn't be allowed to use a full size pc.
 
Goodluck trying to play Crysis, CSGO, and any game that requires a mouse/keyboard & co ordination on a tablet.

Tablets are also too damn small, why would I ever want to play games on a small screen when I can play them on a 24" + monitor of much higher quality. I think that even 10 years from now tablets wont be able to handle games such as Metro2033 maxed out and they'll still be using the small screen and crappy controls.
 
Sovern said:
Goodluck trying to play Crysis, CSGO, and any game that requires a mouse/keyboard & co ordination on a tablet.

Tablets are also too damn small, why would I ever want to play games on a small screen when I can play them on a 24" + monitor of much higher quality. I think that even 10 years from now tablets wont be able to handle games such as Metro2033 maxed out and they'll still be using the small screen and crappy controls.
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You are not looking at it right, in the future as chips get more powerful it will just be more like you drop your tablet in a dock and it connects to a keyboard mouse and much bigger monitor. We already see a little of that. the whole point is your phone becomes everything, your tablet, laptop and desktop if it is powerful enough to pull that off.
 
The custom PC won't be dead for a very long time & even IF it does via the mainstream markets, it will become a niche market that will never die.
 
rudy said:
You are not looking at it right, in the future as chips get more powerful it will just be more like you drop your tablet in a dock and it connects to a keyboard mouse and much bigger monitor. We already see a little of that. the whole point is your phone becomes everything, your tablet, laptop and desktop if it is powerful enough to pull that off.
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Except the full size computer will be much more powerful then the tablet, just like today. The smaller size always comes at increased price and decreased computing power.
 
darkstarcow said:
Except the full size computer will be much more powerful then the tablet, just like today. The smaller size always comes at increased price and decreased computing power.
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Nailed it right on the head. Even 10 years from now full sized computers will still be more powerful than phones/tablets.
 
Ya but if the mass market loses interest in the full sized computer then the price will move up and eventually that might reach a tipping point where it is just not worth it anymore to target that market. When most people can do 4k gaming from their phone they arent going to drop $5000 into some custom server setup to go faster.

If you don't think this can happen just look at CRTs, there are still people who would buy them brand new due to their superior performance but the companies stopped making them due to decreased volume. Just look at techbargains and slick deals and see how the number of deals and options for desktops is dwindling already. It used to be I could find a hot deal on a whole good desktop build any day of the week no I hardly ever see what I would consider a good deal on a decent system.

Yes a larger device will always be more powerful but can you afford it?
 
rudy said:
Ya but if the mass market loses interest in the full sized computer then the price will move up and eventually that might reach a tipping point where it is just not worth it anymore to target that market. When most people can do 4k gaming from their phone they arent going to drop $5000 into some custom server setup to go faster.

If you don't think this can happen just look at CRTs, there are still people who would buy them brand new due to their superior performance but the companies stopped making them due to decreased volume. Just look at techbargains and slick deals and see how the number of deals and options for desktops is dwindling already. It used to be I could find a hot deal on a whole good desktop build any day of the week no I hardly ever see what I would consider a good deal on a decent system.

Yes a larger device will always be more powerful but can you afford it?
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Once again you are working off of an ASSumption that people will stop wanting to buy hardware that is 1000x more powerful then the phone, while being much cheaper.
 
No I am making the assessment that is most likely right that the price of phones will come down so far they will be cheaper to produce than desktop components. And they will get powerful at a steady rate and most people will say hey thats good enough for me. A decade ago most people bought desktops because laptops were much more expensive. Now even to this day a desktop is more powerful than a laptop, but most people are now buying laptops or smaller (netbooks, slates etc..) And saying thats good enough for me and the price difference has closed down to the point that you can pick up some laptops as cheap as any desktop. The mass market does not care as much about power as you think. They dropped CRTs for LCDs that were horrible without a problem and the price of LCDs went down below CRTs. Most of them are buying laptops now with integrated graphics, and most of them buy consoles. Most of them are choosing lighter laptops over more powerful ones, making the price of the powerful laptops a niche extremely expensive product, anyone who tried to game on laptops knows how true this is. The major holdout for desktops is not power as you contend but rather price. To this day if you want alot of power you can only get that at reasonable prices in desktops. But if the price advantage goes down then the whole game will change.

The thing you have to look at is this. Any product has a potential price decrease associated with the raw materials that go into it. Sure due to IP and the novelty phones are currently very pricey for what they can do, but it wont be that many years before the raw materials advantage of SOCs and compact devices like phones and tablets starts to show its cost savings. And while full sized desktops might still be way more powerful the focus in development will shift to the larger market, it becomes a feedback mechanism. What happens when companies like Intel decide that phones are more profitable than servers / desktops and they shift their latest state of the art fabs from producing the premium desktop chips to producing the phone SOCs. Everything we see in the desktop market is part of the desktop legacy and past market conditions. Look at atom for Intel when they first made it and moved forwarding the soon admitted not focusing on atom on and putting it on the latest process was a mistake. Intel will put the most profitable or highest volume chips in the best fabs. And desktops may soon be removed from that position.
 
dnottis said:
PCs will never be dead... all the current little justin bieberish tablet users will grow up and need real power and you just can't get it anywhere other than a homebuilt, water cooled PC.

Tablets will die before the PC will.
Click to expand...

Joke post? They don't call this the post-PC era for nothing. PC sales, including laptops and desktop computers have plummeted over the last 3 years whilest tablet devices are souring through sales wise.

People are replacing old laptops/desktop with tablets and not looking back. If taking pot shots at the vast majority of consumers makes you feel better about wrapping your hands around your expensive and overpowered, cluncky and huge desktop machine .. then so be it. One thing I can guarantee to you is this, I dont know a single teenager who has a tablet. Every person I do is in their 30s or 40s and has been a lifelong PC enthusiast. Many of them are highly educated and highly trained engineers, others simple help desk nerds who like to build PCs and play PC games. None of them are quote "little justin bieberish tablet users". Tablets are not a fad, they are reshaping computing as we know it.

You are wrong, most people in this thread are wrong and denying the winds of change now will only make it harder to deal with in the future when its right in your face. Best bet? Keep being that PC enthusiast but embrace change and start opening your eyes. Go buy a tablet and see what all the fuss is about.

I've been building PCs since the 80s and I have to be honest. The ONLY time I sit down at my custom desktop rig anymore is just to play a game here or there, and thats like 1 hour a week at most. 99.9% of all other computing.. serious computing is done on either of the several tablets or even on my smart phone.

Nobody here probably wants to hear it, but times are-a-changing and while PCs are not dying (don't try to spin that angle against me)... we are now in the post PC era. Enthusiast gamers building PCs aren't going anywhere but the mass market is abandoning traditional PCs as we know it and not looking back. Hell even look at Microsoft, the father to the PC (pretty much) and in some regards.. even the spawn of the internet is leaving it behind as well with Windows 8. Windows 8 is a transitionary OS that is hybrid in form, allowing for modern computing interfaces and solutions but still supporting legacy x86 infrastructure to that people don't get all pissy inside.

In time, x86 and the ways of old will be pushed to the side to make room for bigger and better things. Some of you in here sound like old men shaking their fists at the clouds. Seriously, snap out of it. Remember 15 years ago when you were on the bleeding edge and it was 'cool' to build a PC or rather, KNOW how to do it? Not anymore.

Mobile computing is bleeding edge, get with it or get left behind old men.
 
Does mobile computing have a 30" screen which has the vivacious acreage of pleasant viewing of any medium? I thought not. Of course, if mobile computing had even a 24" screen - without squinting - then it wouldn't be called mobile, would it?
 
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