the devalue of computer component hardware

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supershr3dder

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The last system I built was an i5 750. And before that a few pentium 4's, I even had a first edition extreme edition build.

My question is are these insane prices of components justified?

Since my hiatus with the computer technology field I got into analog synthesizers fiddling around with dawless setups. Now this is a hobby where tech holds its value, and can actually increase in value over time.

I am just having a hard time trying to justify jumping back into the pc hobby with such silly prices on cheap digital tech that will eventually be slow, dead, devalued by a huge margin, and pointless later on.

But I want to try the new Quake, Doom Eternal, and get back on Counter-Strike Surf map servers.
 
That’s the way this has always been. The last year has been an exception though. Prices are very high currently for all things pc related. This isn’t the time to build or get back into the hobby.
 
Bang-for-the-buck is usually off the chain for PCs, but rolling your own custom rig right now is either really expensive (due to scalping) or impossible (due to parts scarcity). If you are going to jump back into the PC space, this is one of the few times you would be generally better served by a pre-built system.

Also, an older processor and video card equipped machine can still provide a very nice gaming experience so buying a used machine from within the last 4 years or so can get you a fair bit of mileage.
 
I've never understood paying so much for a computer that essentially can be served by a cheaper game console. The amount of ridiculous money that is spent on 'gaming' computers totally blows my mind. I wish I would have seen it coming to capitalize on it somehow.
 
supershr3dder said:
jumping back into the pc hobby with such silly prices on cheap digital tech that will eventually be slow, dead, devalued by a huge margin, and pointless later on.
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Maybe but it will happen but the trend is a bit on the opposite.

Try to buy a top of the line PC gaming system of 3 year's ago right now, say a 1080TI with a 8700K, samsung SSD, it probably considering the current market holded is value extremely well, specially the GPU and Intel core CPU has historically had just ridiculous value retention has well.

PC devaluation is maybe not at the slowest it ever been historically but probably not that far.

You cannot really have an insane price of component (even on the use market) look at the current situation and a will get crazy fast devaluation/slow later on (if we talk about a short time), if a game run on a Xbox SeriesX it is probably safe to say it will run well on a high end pc of right now, so that mean game released in 5 year's should run well on them without much issue, like game that can run well on the older generation will run well enough on a PC with a 980ti from 2015 in them.
 
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supershr3dder said:
Maybe?

I have only seen computer components go downhill in value once they age. Same with mobile devices and laptops.
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Obviously after an amount of time it is certain to happen (I do not imagine that someone would make a point about the fact that in 15 year's it would be devalued by a huge margin), was talking obviously about a 5 year's type of windows. I mean that obviously has little to do with gaming, value, it is for actually play games that people would do it, it is not instrument or collectible.

If we can resales it an high price in 4 years, that it quite different than trying to sell your 1991 computer in 1995 or your 1996 computer in 2000, that didn't get any worse since the time you were doing it I do not think, it got significantly better (like you said the price right now feel silly, i.e. stuff maintained there value way too much, some things are more expensive even than 2 years ago). In the past after a couple of year's your system was quite obsolete (no cd drive in it for example, impossible to handle the newer OS or go on the internet realistically on it, everything got mroe than twice has powerful in 18 months, those days are long gone, lot of hardware keep relevance for extreme long time in PC gaming historical timeline, a 5950x bought now could stay a relevant cpu for maybe a decade who knows)

It didn't got worse since your P4 days, it got significantly better on that aspect, things slowed a lot since, people made 16 gig system for a decade now for example, 64 bits will be there forever, OS do not change much and so on.
 
supershr3dder said:
Maybe?

I have only seen computer components go downhill in value once they age. Same with mobile devices and laptops.
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There is a bit of bathtub curve where they do come back up in value right before they drop off forever. This happens with almost anything that becomes collectible, cars are another notorious example, and the prices are all based on nostalgia of a living user base. As soon as the user base all die, the prices drop forever. Like you can buy a pristine Ford Model T for well under $15k now, and why the 80s cars are increasing in value whereas prior it was the 60s and 70s.
 
these component prices are extremely high it is bonkers. i just saw this cutting edge 2080 gpu asus laptop at 6,500. xD!

asus mothership gz700gx

$7535.17

Xbox Series X

$541.24

Almost 14 Xbox Series X consoles. buwahahaha!!!!!!
 
supershr3dder said:
The last system I built was an i5 750. And before that a few pentium 4's, I even had a first edition extreme edition build.

My question is are these insane prices of components justified?

Since my hiatus with the computer technology field I got into analog synthesizers fiddling around with dawless setups. Now this is a hobby where tech holds its value, and can actually increase in value over time.

I am just having a hard time trying to justify jumping back into the pc hobby with such silly prices on cheap digital tech that will eventually be slow, dead, devalued by a huge margin, and pointless later on.

But I want to try the new Quake, Doom Eternal, and get back on Counter-Strike Surf map servers.
Click to expand...

Well, you don't need much for Counterstrike, It can run on a potato and looks like it would in the first place. I don't know what you mean by "new Quake." I hadn't heard of one. Doom Eternal runs pretty good on mid-range hardware as well. As for the rest, it's always been the case. Go all the way to the dawn of the PC through to today and it's always been that way. Any industry that sees rapid progress and advances in technology sees high initial value followed by rapid depreciation. Its a hobby where you have to pay to play. But you also can get quite a long life out of that hardware so you don't necessarily need to spend money on it that often. Beyond that, you don't have to buy $1,500 video cards and $1,000+ CPU's either.
 
supershr3dder said:
these component prices are extremely high it is bonkers. i just saw this cutting edge 2080 gpu asus laptop at 6,500. xD!

asus mothership gz700gx

$7535.17

Xbox Series X

$541.24

Almost 14 Xbox Series X consoles. buwahahaha!!!!!!
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Yeah, I honestly don't know where the gamer crowd gets their money, at least the younger ones. But the flip side is that it is 2x faster than your i5-750. :D
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i9-9980HK-vs-Intel-i5-750/3451vs772
 
supershr3dder said:
I am just having a hard time trying to justify jumping back into the pc hobby with such silly prices on cheap digital tech that will eventually be slow, dead, devalued by a huge margin, and pointless later on.

But I want to try the new Quake, Doom Eternal, and get back on Counter-Strike Surf map servers.
Click to expand...

Go for a mid-range build then. You don't need top of the line hardware to enjoy PC gaming. That being said prices are particularly bad now due to supply issues.

If you're still using a i5 750, will a new build be obsoleted really quickly? I would argue no.

I don't think hardware is getting obsoleted as fast as it did before in the 90's and 20's. When you built your Pentium 4s could you still get by using a 11 year old CPU back then?
 
SamirD said:
I've never understood paying so much for a computer that essentially can be served by a cheaper game console. The amount of ridiculous money that is spent on 'gaming' computers totally blows my mind. I wish I would have seen it coming to capitalize on it somehow.
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Me neither. I say this after buying a 5950x and 3080 custom WC PC. I wi probably still play my ps5 more lol.
 
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vegeta535 said:
Me neither. I say this after buying a 5950x and 3089 custom WC PC. I wi probably still play my ps5 more lol.
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Don't get me wrong, one thing that I really like is that the push for performance by computer gaming has made manufacturers 'stay on their toes' in the enterprise world. Otherwise, we'd probably still have ddr3 based servers and workstations as current product lines. :eek:
 
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