Is PC Gaming dying? Or is it even worth it anymore? This is a popular topic in our Discord Server. We see too expensive graphics cards with high-power needs and generally costly products. Decent basic gaming PCs priced at $500-600 are not an option anymore if you want a dedicated graphics card. And talking about gaming, the graphics card is an essential part. EVGA, one of the top graphics card manufacturers, stepped down from the GPU industry. Nvidia offers overpriced products, while AMD struggles to make its share in the GPU market. Driver issues, low-quality products, and beta games are things to consider. Intel has a long way to go to be a menace in the GPU game. However, it overcame many issues in a short period.
Games prices are usually unaffordable for the average user. And all of these without adding the extra cost of decent peripherals for the best user experience, such as monitors, keyboards, etc. Steam and Epic are a pleasant note in this game. And I believe that Steam is why PC gaming has re-introduced itself to consumers back then. Peripheral manufacturers offer overpriced products that have only more RGB. And no, adding more RGB in your Build won’t get you more FPS or make you more successful, popular, or a ladies-man. What still bugs me is Nvidia’s “policy” to gamers. Of course, it is a private company, and profit is its primary goal. But it doesn’t seem to care about PC gamers. There was a time when we had to blame mining, or Covid-19, or suppliers, or whatever. But even now, things didn’t get any better.
GPU prices are still high, and who should we blame now? TSMC’s monopoly, the car industry, high electricity prices, or AI? Salaries are still the same or even lower, but prices go up constantly. That makes me dispute that mining and all those mentioned above were the actual problems—more like cheap excuses. AMD, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to care about competing Nvidia. Considering all the facts, it tries to offer decent products at a reasonable price, but… its efforts are still inadequate to earn a better share of the market. I don’t have something to add about Intel, but I get the feeling that I have to expect way more from the blue team than the red. That is just my perspective, tho.
Some might say that features such as Ray-Tracing, DLSS, and FSR are welcome features. Of course, they are, but do they justify the price? Another popular topic is VRAM. I mean, OK. Of course, this is something that should be taken into consideration. But VRAM alone doesn’t mean much for a well-written game or for those who still play at full HD displays (according to Steam surveys) or FPS games, etc.
Moreover, there is something that I might not be allowed to write, but I feel I have to. Nowadays, the price you must pay for a powerful gaming PC is justified only if you profit from it. I don’t know if paying more for less is a good practice if you don’t need to.
The last thing I have to mention is console gaming. Yes, if you are a gamer, consoles are a solid option. Season passes, etc., are decent options, as well. Even if games might not be cheaper than their PC version, still the cost is justified. It is also a hassle-free option because it is way easier, e.g., to apply fixes to a “locked” environment like a console rather than a PC that might have different combos, as a developer, etc. You can have a decent PC for your needs and a console for your gaming sessions. But still, there is a caveat. Console gaming is still not PC gaming. Whatever that might mean for you is a fact. And facts can’t be ignored, can they?
You mention a monopoly by TSMC (it’s more like a oligopoly by TSMC, Samsung and Intel), but the thing you haven’t mentioned (not knowing, not thought about it?) is another duopoly. A Stackelberg-duopoly by AMD and Nvidia in the GPU-space, for at least 2 decades.
There is no real, legally- and market-fair competition.
The choice is fake. A farce. A lie. Just as with Pepsi and Cola which are both run by the same company’s execs. Just as with the majority of common goods who are in fact run by a dozen of global elites/conglomerates/enterprises/alliances.
AMD and Nvidia are 100 % a Stackelberg-duopoly (search the term what it means), and very likely even with direct/indirect collaborative agreements/talks, illegaly price fixing the market for two decades.
This competition of the two rivals is pure show; price-performance-wise they are all the same.
Understanding what a Stackelberg-duopoly is, it’s immediately understood how both Nvidia’s and AMD’s execs and board members, are playing their dirty game.
And that already since min. 2006 (AMD’s takeover of ATI).
Read this and search the web for the E-Mails http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-amd-ati-graphics,6311.html
More than obvious again since 2018 of the RTX 2000 release, when AMD’s execs simply priced the RX 5700XT next to the rtx 2070 (at the same time rx 5700xt offered no FSR 2, or raytracing-compabilities etc.)
AMD is NOT cheaper; only rarely ever was.
Cheaper means equally/higher quality at a lower/same price (a good offer), but AMD mostly simply costs less, but offers much less, in all aspects.
Just compare the RTX 4080 which costs 20 % more than a RX 7900XTX, but offers way more in every department.
Once that DLSS 2/3/3.5 is activated, it even achieves + 40 – 100 % higher framerates at the same image quality, while consuming 15 % less power! Those rasterization benchmarks showing the same performance +-5 % are outdated way of measuring performance. Nearly every new, graphically demanding game is using image-reconstruction or frame generation. And here Nvidia’s AI-based image reconstruction DLSS 2, frame generation DLSS 3, and now even ray-tracing reconstruction DLSS 3.5, is far far ahead. AMD will catch up maybe in 5 years!
And the tensor cores, RT, whole CUDA-ecosystem, Nvenc etc. offers so much even for the professional field.
Since it’s a Stackelberg duopoly with very likely direct illegal price fixing and market manipulation, AMD is unfortunately not a better recommendation. No it’s actually worse in most cases.
RX 7900 XT = rebadged RX 7800 XT (RX 6800 XT successor). RX 7800 XT = rebadged RX 770=XT and so on.
The same with Nvidia’s whole lineup, RTX 4090 = rebadged RTX 4080 Ti + 12 GB VRAM, rtx 4080 = rebadged rtx 4070 with AD103 gpu-die etc. is literally common knowledge by now.
This continues downwards (model range).
The prices are all agreed upon by both parties.
You pay 20 % more for a rebadged rtx 4060/4070/4080/4090, you get much more in return.
As a buyer, you unfortunately only have the choice between
1) Nvidia, good superior products, you pay more, you get more
2) AMD, inferior products in nearly all aspects, still overpriced as hell, only 10 – 20% less price because it offers less
It’s all the global elite’s agenda pushing everyone into owning nothing (You will own nothing – the WEF’s main slogan), and thus only renting things.
Microsoft’s gamepass clearly shows where it’s leading too. They’re part of the globalist gang (in fact a major key player).
Nvidia is doing the same with GeForce Now, renting a RTX 4080 somewhere in a server for 20 bucks a month.
You mention console video game prices – it’s the same, with games selling for $ 70 becoming a new normal, for both Sony and Microsoft. Further pushing everyone into owning nothing, renting, and thus going towards game subscriptions or game renting.
Once one understands what the “New World Order” is about, what the global elite started 3+ years ago full throttle with the virus scam and lies (it should be obvious by now it was all lies, media manipulation and psyop, to shut down the globe and start their Agenda 2030 aka “Great Reset “in full effect) that nearly every big global finance/player/corporation/company/politics etc. is on board, it all becomes very clear.
They all think it’s all for the better, for everyone. Lets’s wait and see. Maybe it is. 🙂
I dont say it with bad intention, although it might sounds rude. But believe me, I am not. But written might sound a bit rude, although I dont mean to. First of all, thanx for your comment, and I apologise for the waiting to be posted because of anti-spamming. Did u actually read the article, or u just write what u want, just to say sth? About TSMC’s monopoly there is a reason that it was mentioned (high prices for Nvidia). The article referred to what worries gamers, about the future or not of PC gaming. So, I cant understand what is your actual point. About the “New World Order” I dont have sth to say, cause I am not the suitable person to say about sth. If u know sth more feel free, but I dont believe here is the right place. Thank u once again for your comment and your points. Maybe should have been better fitted in another article, eg oligopoly in tech, etc. I take all comments and suggestions in consideration, especially those that are for the best of this Site, good or bad, agreeing or disagreeing with them.