Climate change, pandemic, war and economic crisis – all of this should be enough to focus on the essentials and live more economically. In such times, the gaming PC becomes a luxury item. And how is the PC industry reacting? With more and more extreme features, more accessories and more LEDs at significantly higher prices.
If you want to switch to the new desktop PC platforms from AMD and Intel today, you have to dig deep into your pocket. The CPUs deliver a lot more power, but compared to their predecessors they are more expensive and draw more power from the socket ex works. The competition for the longest bar in the benchmark charts takes its toll here. In times when money is tight and energy is expensive, this doesn't fit into the picture.
It looks even worse with the mainboards and graphics cards of the new generation, because here there is only one direction for the price: steeply upwards.
At the launch of the AM5 mainboards there is hardly a model for less than 300 euros and the situation is no different with Intel's Z790 boards. Admittedly, the boards are bursting with fast interfaces such as PCIe 5.0, USB4 or high-speed networks (wireless with Wi-Fi 6 or wired with 10 GbE). All of this increases costs, no question about that. Electronic components have become more expensive anyway – like everything else.
An OLED display on the board? Awesome, must have! But one size larger please!!!
But apart from the still logical further development with practically usable features, the trappings with optical bells and whistles or extremely inflated overclocking equipment take on proportions that do not fit in with world events with ever scarcer resources. This does not even stop at the weight due to the use of gigantic coolers in less sensible positions or backplates. But the customer should also have something in their hands for 700 euros, so a lot of metal is just right.
How can you even start the computer with only 10 VRM phases? I now want at least 26 of them to then undervolt my CPU in eco mode because of the high electricity costs!!
Are we all professional overclockers who pour liquid nitrogen into their coffee in the morning?! Honestly, who really needs all this?
For me, the PC components are now often beyond all reason. Extreme prices, extreme frills, extreme waste of resources – what's the point?
And even without more RGB LEDs or extras in the scope of delivery, the prices continue to rise. Nvidia's flagship RTX 4090 now costs almost 2,000 euros as an FE, not only because the euro is weak, but also because the RRP in USD has continued to rise. At the same time, the graphics card does not consume as much as previously feared, but with up to 450 watts still more than an entire gaming PC 10 years ago. It's no different below or with the competition.
The RTX 4080 follows with a price of almost 1,600 euros, while the old 80 was officially available for well under 1,000 euros (RRP in USD: 1,199 vs. 699 USD). And AMD leaves the price of the top model, named Radeon RX 7900 XTX, in US dollars before taxes at the level of “only” 999 US dollars, but the second card in the stable is now called 7900 XT and no longer 7800 XT and costs in Future 899 instead of 649 USD like the 6800 XT. The 6900 XT and 6800 XT were closer in terms of GPU expansion and memory than the 7900 XTX and 7900 XT will be in the future. “Upselling” as far as the eye can see.
Who is going to pay that? I don't want that and I'm far from the only one, as a recent Sunday question about the price pain threshold for a gaming PC on ComputerBase showed.
What is your price pain threshold for a graphics card?
- 250 to 350 euros
- 350 to 500 euros
- 500 to 750 euros
- 750 to 1,000 euros
- 1,000 to 1,500 euros
- 1,500 to 2,000 euros
- 2,000 euros and more
- Abstain (show result)
Please vote log in!
My 200-euro RGB keyboard, my feather-light pink carbon mouse and my 150-watt TV-sized monitor are still shining not bright enough, so maybe there could be a few more glow strips in my decadent glass-aluminum tower??
So the signs of the times were not recognized? Is development bypassing the market? Or does the manufacturer's response to the economic crisis have to be the same? Because if less hardware is sold, then what is sold should at least bring high margins. For me personally, the calculation doesn't add up.
However, as is well known, hope dies last and at least somewhat cheaper mainboards with “smaller” chipsets and less pipapo have arrived. You could also do without DDR5 elsewhere. And a graphics card from the last generation of sales is reasonably affordable and frugal. On the other hand, I'm out of the topic “current high-end components”.
Note: The content of this comment represents the personal opinion of the author again. This opinion is not necessarily shared by the entire editorial team.