What would happen if the high end went to 999 USD?

What we are missing here is new technology and innovation. Remember that AMD/ATI merger? Maybe one day we won’t even need separate CPU’s and GPU’s, they’ll become integrated. That will probably drive the cost down of both and perhaps offer performance benefits.

Also, there will come a point where more and more and computational power every year in GPU’s is going to lead to diminishing returns, just as it has with most computer applications. As much as people have debated this subject, even something like Windows Vista runs well on three and four year old hardware, even with Aero on. GPU’s will eventually begin to last longer and longer I believe simply because they have become some powerful that it’s just going to harder and harder to use the power.
 
phide said:
You're right: income and the concept of disposable income is totally irrelevant. That is, if you're in some other alternate dimension in which money is not earned. I assumed that you lived in this dimension, and I admit that was a tad insensitive of me. My apologies.


Again, you're right. Buying $2000 shower curtains and $1000 video cards is very immoral.


Then why are you here?
Click to expand...

I'm here because this is a fun hobby, but its not my LIFE. And yes, damn straight that buying $2000 shower curtains and $1000 video cards in a world where people are sleeping in the streets and eating out of garbage cans IS immoral. I almost drowned once, a very long time ago. I've actually DONE the whole "life flashing before my eyes" thing, and guess what? Not one thing that flashed before me looked like a commercial of me enjoying some retail product.

If you find it offensive, tough. There is such a thing as moderation, and people willing to buy $1000 video cards, regardless of their income should do a little self examination.

Then again, you're probably the same type of guy who would defend the new CEO of Ford getting 28 million dollars in 4 months while the Ford company tanks with a 12.7 Billion dollar loss, and the little man on the assembly line gets screwed.

You have to draw lines in the structure of your life somewhere on what you think is right and wrong. I damn well know where mine are.

I would love to find out what the markup is on the current high end cards across the board, but I bet that kind of info is heavily guarded. I bet there is a completely inordinate number of people here making 30-35k a year routinely buying $600 video cards. What the market will bear is being dictated by people letting overzealous impulses over-rule their better judgement.

John Carmack had it right a long time ago: id.
 
Tutelary said:
And yes, damn straight that buying $2000 shower curtains and $1000 video cards in a world where people are sleeping in the streets and eating out of garbage cans IS immoral.
Click to expand...

You fail to realize that higher disposable income allows you to give more to the unfortunate as well as indulge in more luxury products. The same people who can afford $2000 shower curtains are from the same pool of people that contribute large sums to charity. So your argument is pretty ridiculous.
 
Prices are already pretty high. It hit like 800-ish when the 8800 first came out. But I think a single card to be jacked to 999 would be a good thing, as there will be a trickle-down effect on all of the other video cards in that same line of products. Prices go into free-fall for the previous generation, and you can buy once expensive cards for a song.

If you must have the latest and greatest, this isn't an issue. But 99% of people will have a more than okay gaming expensive with something which costs half as much. If you want bleeding-edge, you're gonna have to pay.
 
I theoretically have the money to buy $1000 pc hardware, but I don't. I don't want to as the cost/benefit ratio is not there for me.

I consider myself an enthusiast, but I choose to spend my money elsewhere- I have a family that I enjoy spending time with more than sitting in front of a PC. I do that all day at work anyhow, just not on things I enjoy.

My current PC is almost 4 years old. I'll replace it this year with a quad. For 99% of what I do it's still fine. Some games however are taxing on it but I've really gotten my money out of it. I've been playing Crackdown more than anything lately anyhow.
 
trinibwoy said:
You fail to realize that higher disposable income allows you to give more to the unfortunate as well as indulge in more luxury products. The same people who can afford $2000 shower curtains are from the same pool of people that contribute large sums to charity. So your argument is pretty ridiculous.
Click to expand...

You're making an untrue assertion, that everyone who is rich gives large sums to charity. A great many rich people give nothing, and go tremendously out of their way to avoid even being taxed if they can. Theres nothing I "fail to realize" about having a larger paycheck, and more disposable income.
 
Some people spend thousands on high end home theater systems. 20,000 USD for what essentially is a TV too much? And let's not get into how much audiophiles spend tweaking their their stereo systems. And car enthusiasts....

It's all relative.

People are already spending more than 999 on GPU's alone "today" - that is the price of the GPU's alone for a "cheap" SLI setup.

Your typical 30 to 40 year old male professional with an active interest in electronics is likely to have significant disposable income. If he (and it's almost always a he) has already managed to ensure the family has clothes/house/food he may sometimes prefer to spend his money on his hobby in (pick the appropriate area) stereos/cars/TV's/PC's rather than on more boring groceries/clothes/etc.

Or would you rather he spend his money on refurbishing the kitchen (for the 3rd time) or buying or something similar instead?
 
JackAshley said:
You have to realize, that though many people on this website may have the greatest and latest video cards, we are a minority (as a community). 90% of the population who own computers will buy a new 250 dollar video card each year or two, and will never really justify spending more than that.
Click to expand...
Seriously?

I think the average person here buys a new $250 card every year or two, and 90% of computer owners will never buy a $250 graphics card for their PC.
 
Remember about 3 years ago the 6800's launched, it was the first time we could SLI.....
Availability of the cards was low, especially the Ultra versions.
Many people did actually pay over $1000 retail for a single 6800 Ultra, in fact they were selling for over $1000 and being sold as soon as available.....
I paid $500 for a 6800gt Agp and $130 for a Danger Den block for it, I felt crazy....
Remember that crazy time people????
Perhaps there is production problems with the new cards and there won't be many available.....
 
Tutelary said:
I'm here because this is a fun hobby, but its not my LIFE. And yes, damn straight that buying $2000 shower curtains and $1000 video cards in a world where people are sleeping in the streets and eating out of garbage cans IS immoral. I almost drowned once, a very long time ago. I've actually DONE the whole "life flashing before my eyes" thing,.
Click to expand...

I'd be careful of judging other people. Unless you're lilly white and clearly morally superior to others, it is a bit unbecoming to judge others least you be judged yourself. It is your right to feel morally superior and provide a view that buying a $1000 is immoral, meaning you consider it an evil act. I'll respect your right to that view, but you'll have to respect the rights of others to have different views. For example: I personally do not believe that buying a $1000 GPU is evil and find it highly amusing that some people think so.

So morale arguments are not going to convince someone like me to spend my hard earned money (and I work hard for a living) refurbishing the kitchen for the 3rd time for my family, or give it to a random homeless person sleeping in the streets on the street (or some similarly worthy cause) rather than spend it on my hobby.

I will buy a $1000 GPU if it is worth it to me.
 
I think the same people paying $600 for graphics cards would glady fork over $1998 for two of them and a few more people will be priced out of the highend market.
 
Lord of Shadows said:
I think the same people paying $600 for graphics cards would glady fork over $1998 for two of them and a few more people will be priced out of the highend market.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry too much about that. High end market will always be tiny and vendors tend to cater to the larger markets. And I think most people, including me, think that's a heck of a lot of money.

And I think that most people in the high end market are middle class people who have the disposable income "and" the willingness to get their hands dirty building/tweaking computers. Rich people don't mess around with building computers. So it'd have to be worth the money.

But "IF" it is worth the money, there will be buyers.
 
Tutelary said:
And yes, damn straight that buying $2000 shower curtains and $1000 video cards in a world where people are sleeping in the streets and eating out of garbage cans IS immoral.
Click to expand...
That's a fair opinion, but I'd much rather indulge myself than give to a homeless person, but that's just me. Selfish? No -- I deserve it for being an upstanding (read: not derelict) citizen. Immoral? Unfortunately, no.

Frankly, I'd rather shatter an 8800 GTX into thousands of pieces than give that $550 to an undeserving vagrant.

Tutelary said:
There is such a thing as moderation, and people willing to buy $1000 video cards, regardless of their income should do a little self examination.
Click to expand...
No reason to. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Tutelary said:
Then again, you're probably the same type of guy who would defend the new CEO of Ford getting 28 million dollars in 4 months while the Ford company tanks with a 12.7 Billion dollar loss, and the little man on the assembly line gets screwed.
Click to expand...
Is the man on the assembly line forced to work on that assembly line? What stops him from becoming a CEO of a Fortune 500 company? Race? Sex, or sexual orientation? Upbringing?

Tutelary said:
I bet there is a completely inordinate number of people here making 30-35k a year routinely buying $600 video cards. What the market will bear is being dictated by people letting overzealous impulses over-rule their better judgment.
Click to expand...
Very few graphics card purchases are the result of "overzealous impulses". How, why and for what reason people purchase products is absolutely none of your business.

Tutelary said:
John Carmack had it right a long time ago: id.
Click to expand...
John Carmack is a self-made model of this industry. He deserves everything he has earned, and his obligation to the poor and "downtrodden" is precisely zero -- the same obligation as any American.
 
I'd bitch and bitch and bitch


and then probably drop the 1000 when it came time to upgrade my graphics :p
 
I'll let you guys buy the first cards and see if the drivers work properly, if they work, I wait a month for supply and the price to reach recommended retail, then I'll place the order on newegg and check every 30 minutes for fedex tracking. It'll get home at about 1:30 to 2:00pm then I'll skip out of work and speed home to check out the box.
 
Like every thing else, vid cards will cost a grand when the market can support it.. And not a minute b4 then...

Tutelary: No one is obligated to give to charity regardless of income.. Ohh, wait.............
I give to charity, they are called taxes.. All so that some ho can sit on her fat ass in an apartment paid for with my taxes, with her 5 kids from 5 different daddies fed with my tax $$$. Never once trying to better her situation..

$1000 vid cards, I, and many others would buy one if we were not too busy working our asses off to support the above mentioned ho and her mongrels... And I didn't even get to screw her either, so why I gotta pay???... :eek:
 
Im also be willing to pay a grand for it if its a good performer and leaves others eating dust.
 
will never happen, maybe in 30 years but I doubt it, or unless the card is capable of running DX11 graphics at 3000x1900 with 16xAA and 16xAF
 
That would just mean that my decision to do most of my gaming on a $400 xbox 360 would go from a good idea to a GREAT idea.;)

edit- unlike the gentleman above, I don't think a 1k pricetag for a high end videocard is either far fetched or that far in the future..
 
People will buy it. If you asked me 10 years ago if I'd buy a 600 dollar video card, I'd say hell no.
 
Tutelary said:
I'm here because this is a fun hobby, but its not my LIFE. And yes, damn straight that buying $2000 shower curtains and $1000 video cards in a world where people are sleeping in the streets and eating out of garbage cans IS immoral. I almost drowned once, a very long time ago. I've actually DONE the whole "life flashing before my eyes" thing, and guess what? Not one thing that flashed before me looked like a commercial of me enjoying some retail product.
Click to expand...

Well, remember every time you buy a 2000$ shower curtain or video card you're giving people jobs. If the rich didn't buy those things, middle income people who make those things would loose their jobs. The extra cash flow from the stupidly expensive items helps development of useful items for the rest of us and keeps people productive. In the end the rich person has exchanged something a bit stupid and unfulfilling for what a much poorer man needs to support his family. Be glad the rich waste their money on high profit-margin items. They don't come out on top of the deal.
 
Obi_Kwiet said:
Well, remember every time you buy a 2000$ shower curtain or video card you're giving people jobs. If the rich didn't buy those things, middle income people who make those things would loose their jobs. The extra cash flow from the stupidly expensive items helps development of useful items for the rest of us and keeps people productive. In the end the rich person has exchanged something a bit stupid and unfulfilling for what a much poorer man needs to support his family. Be glad the rich waste their money on high profit-margin items. They don't come out on top of the deal.
Click to expand...

that scenerio only matters when most people are buying $600 cards. Since this is obviously not the case...
 
blade52x said:
I'd go console
Click to expand...

Yea... and they say that a PS3 with a blu-ray drive, card reader, hdmi, and all that stuff that will last for the next 5 years is expensive.

Gaming on console is cheaper. No wonder people are saying that PC gaming is dieing.
 
Yeah, it was great timing for this thread :-p

Seriously... if it's a 7950 X2 again.. that's scary.

Its like two 8800s GTX's taped together to form a GIANT 8800 GTX!!!
 
More like 2x 8800GTS together.

But the $1k market is still pretty good as evident by the amount of 8800GTX SLis out there.
 
Fox_T said:
Yea, especially that it already happened:p
Click to expand...

Really? I assumed we're talking USD and not including things like Quadro's or special limited edition overclocked 8800GTX's with built in water-cooling and the like.:D
 
joemama said:
Really? I assumed we're talking USD and not including things like Quadro's or special limited edition overclocked 8800GTX's with built in water-cooling and the like.:D
Click to expand...

It was in USD... I bought 7950gx2 for just under 1K (~900$). so thats why I said it already happened(buying one card for around one thousand us dollars nomatter if its two cards combined into one - its not like SLing two gtx's;) )
 
Fox_T said:
It was in USD... I bought 7950gx2 for just under 1K (~900$). so thats why I said it already happened(buying one card for around one thousand us dollars nomatter if its two cards combined into one - its not like SLing two gtx's;) )
Click to expand...
Well, in my way of thinking there is "high end' that will perform well with any current and near future game software and then there is "ridiculously over the top high end" which is pretty much overkill. However...I remember shortly after the 7950GX2 came out I grabbed a second 7900GT Superclock (at a good price) and was able to post similar or better 3Dmark scores than a lot of people with GX2's. (for just under $600 total;) )
 
Star Fox said:
Seriously?

I think the average person here buys a new $250 card every year or two, and 90% of computer owners will never buy a $250 graphics card for their PC.
Click to expand...

With all due respect to this argument, but considering just about everyone owns a computer these days, given the number of people I meet that do not understand the concept of the floppy drive being the "A:\" drive, I'm not convinced that 90% of computer owners aren't so ignorant that they'll even understand what a graphics card is...

Considering the number of people that still call the case the "box" or the "hard drive" and such, explaining to them the added advantage of HDR, AA options and such, and a higher frame rate? Too many actual GAMERS I meet still run their machines on a 5200 (I shit you not...) When I try to explain how even (PC) Halo would improve from an X800XT over a 5200, I seem to not be understood... I think even for casual gamers you would need to install FRAPS or something to try and drive the concept of frame rate...

I'm seriously not convinced that even the majority (maybe not 90%, but who knows?) of GAMERS (let alone computer owners in general) understand the concept of frame rates...

FWIW, I cannot imagine trying to play a racing sim or trackmania with a low frame rate...


(and, FWIW, you have to realize the number of computer owners that only finally took the plunge and bought a DVD player when they realized the latest video release was NOT coming to VHS... I've had to explain to people to buy an RF modulator with their DVD player when their tv has only a coax connection, but the DVD player has "three output connectors")


But some people have never seen a game played on anything but lower hardware, and don't even understand that a game being herky-jerky doesn't necessarily have to be so... But relieving herky-jerky play to some just isn't worth a month or two (or more) of rent...


Lastly, FWIW, I will say that every hardware upgrade I have done since '04 has made Far Cry a fairly new experience... Actually, I might have waited until I had bought an X800PE (from my 5200) before playing it... IIRC, even the X800PE choked on Far Cry...


But seriously, take the average person, show them a game at 60+ FPS, then on a lower card doing ~20FPS, and you may have to argue that there's a difference... some will see herky-jerky as "ahhh, it's a computer game!"
 
a 1k card will sell but I won't buy one. I would rather buy the newest 3-400 buck card more often than drop 1k on one card (or two for sli/crossfire) and try to get enough life out of it to justify the pricetag

I hate the recent rush to price the top end cards so high but hopefully that trend will change in time.
 
Highendtoys said:
The title says it all. I want to know what you think about flag ship video cards going up to 1000 dollars USD.
Click to expand...

Well, if you mean something like: "What if they made a card for people to whom budget is no real issue, would they produce an interesting card? And would you buy it?", I might be inclined to say: yes. I already paid $600+ for a 8800GTX; if for a $1,000 you could get, say, the 8800GTXX, twice as fast, I'd buy it. But it would have to be a significantly higher-end card.
 
Weenis said:
Saying income isn't a factor is simply an uninformed statement, study basic econimic principles. Satisfaction or "utility" is directly relative to the cost of the product/service, thats why only people with larger amounts of money will continue to pay prices that are increasing, with relation to their income, for a good that only provides a fixed amount of utility.
Click to expand...

I read him as saying that there are products for which people will pay almost anything, regardless of whether their income can justify the expense -- and not that income never is a factor.

While people (the responsible ones, at least), will overall not spend more than they can afford, those folks will, however, allow themselves the occassional indulgance -- even if the price is way too high for their income. The rationale for those people is simple: "$600+ is already unjustifiable." Meaning, the decision of making a rational purchase was already let go of at $600. These people just buy the card because they want it. Period. And they'll find the money for it, one way or the other. And, indeed, pretty much regardless of income.

Well, that's how I read it, at least.
 
Tolyngee said:
Too many actual GAMERS I meet still run their machines on a 5200 (I shit you not...) When I try to explain how even (PC) Halo would improve from an X800XT over a 5200, I seem to not be understood... I think even for casual gamers you would need to install FRAPS or something to try and drive the concept of frame rate...

I'm seriously not convinced that even the majority (maybe not 90%, but who knows?) of GAMERS (let alone computer owners in general) understand the concept of frame rates...
Click to expand...
I would consider myself a casual gamer, usually 2-3 hours a day, and in my main rig im sporting an fx5200. The reason is because i have no money to spend on newer kit, hell id love a fancy new machine, with a c2d and 8800 series gpu, but just cant afford it, all my money goes towards putting food on the table and paying course fees, with the rest being made up from bank loans.

All the other people i play games with are computer competent and knowledgable with regards to gaming terminology. I would say "majority of gamers dont understand frame rates" is quite harsh, there again im attending an educational institute, all the people i play with are students, mabey in your line of work you just meet more average joes.

In no way is this post meant to offend anyone, im just making an honest observation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top