How many have sold up or gone GPU'less?

[DELETED_195422]

I'm not selling anything. I bought a Ryzen 5 2400G for the second rig i'm building for work, that chip came at the perfect time. I said in a previous thread prices/stock won't get better until at least 2020, by that time i'll be looking to upgrade my whole gaming/media rig.

I was thinking of going the console route, but who am i kidding, i'm never going back to a closed platforms as:

1. i'm too invested in the PC ecosystem (404 games on Steam, 18 on Origin, 4 on Blizzard, 10 on Uplay), plus the PC has far too many benefits just to give up on i.e. free online, an open and competitive digital market, unparalleled backwards compatibility, mods, great I/O compatibility, it's got more new IP than i can keep up with and has a Strategy genre you can't get anywhere else, plus the system does everything i throw at it.

2. i don't play many AAA games now, most of which are mediocre crap anyway. Next gen, microtransactions, loot boxes, etc will be even worse in AAA titles. In fact, i could see many jumping to the PC platform to get away from the nonsense that comes with AAA. Also, i'm just waiting to see Sony/MS/Nintendo drop the ball next gen, it's inevitable, one of the three always **** up somewhere.

3. At some point, i want to buy into VR and the PC has the best experience/hardware for it and i know when Valve drop those 3 VR games they're currently working, it'll blow people away (judging by their previous history for setting the bar). I'll immediately want to play them.

4) I prefer to concentrate on one platform. It has it's many benefits. Sure, i'll miss out on some games, but i'm not going to play everything and neither are you.


So aye, that's where i currently find myself at the moment.

 

[DarkMatter]

I've sold up some stuff but considering selling the rest and just leaving myself with a desktop with a IGPU or a 1030 or so which have not been effected by the price increases.

The world of games consoles is so much better value at the moment with the Xbox one X at £350 combined with a Wii (£25?) for retro games its hard to beat.

 

[Boomstick777]

Sold up as much as I can as resale prices right now are too good not too. I game on Xbox One X and Switch these days. PC has really lost it's appeal for me. If you still game on PC and have a decent gaming PC already, why consider selling? Just enjoy it.

I did this as I only really play one game on PC which my Ryzen 2400G can handle.

Things to consider are Ryzen+ or 2 whatever, and Nvidia 2000 series are just around the corner. Great time to sell up and see how the market / upgrade options are in a few months.

If you use your PC for gaming though, just try and enjoy it? I'm much happier with a mid spec APU that can do all my tasks and use very little power. I most likely stick on APU route now and get the next incremental upgrade next year. To keep my PC reasonably modern and ok for running some games (If I ever get the urge to game on PC).

 

[Psycho Sonny]

depends entirely on what games you play.

cs:go plays brilliantly on a 5 year old machine. if you want to play the latest and greatest then IMO you should get yourself a console if you can't afford it on pc. the thing that really gets me is the price of g sync monitors. i mean i can get a 55" tv for the price of a 27" g sync monitor. then add to that the inflated gpu prices and inflated ddr4 prices. it's really expensive compared to a console.

i've played on both and sold my xbox as i never used it. i still have my ps4 but not played on it for like 6-8 months. i might get rid of it. i've just gotten back into pc gaming after a 10 year hiatus on consoles so i know both sides well. pc gaming is much more expensive but it always has been. at least with a 55" tv you can use it for other things like netflix, sky tv, etc. with a monitor it's for pc use only.

i feel sorry for anyone wanting to build a pc with these prices. i would strongly suggest getting a ps4 pro or xbox one x. no you aren't going to be playing 4k @ 60fps but you can't do that on pc anyway. 1080p and 60fps is the target for those machines with upscaling to 4k. some games will play at 30 fps but tbh you can't tell after a while. i played destiny for 3 years at 30 fps. i now play on a 144hz gsync and it feels really fluid but i wouldn't know how much better it is unless i was to go back to destiny on the ps4.

 

[britain4]

I can’t help but think this whole mining thing (and RAM prices) is going to end up killing PC gaming if it goes on too much longer. More and more people are going to start switching to consoles instead of upgrading their PCs to run the latest games and if the games aren’t selling on PC devs will stop putting the effort in.

 

[Devlish]

When my 970 blew I balked at spending 500 od quid on a replacement. I shoved my ancient 8800GTS in and I am currently LOVING going through old content - replaying Half-Life 2, WoW, Terraria, Day of Defeat, old school CS and all kinds of games I havent looked at in yonks because of all the shiny graphics. Dont think i'll be getting another card soon, but currently not caring. I have a 7970 I could put in there bit dont need to yet, maybe when i move onto the 'next generation' lol.

 

[Davanius]

I went gpu-less once before and bought console games and accessories. I lasted 3 months before needing counselling from my other half.

Now every time I suggest breaking down my pc even just for short term, I get a stern warning.

 

[varkanoid]

I just dont get why people think that high prices of GPU's and therefore lack of sales means less PC games ! Its just ludicrous. FACT. You dont need a new GPU to come out this year to play any games. There has been NO games for quite a few years where you needed to buy the latest GPU just for that game. If you have something like a 780ti and it might struggle in some AAA game you just turn down the visual a bit and then no probs. You cant do this with a console and you dont need to. Its not like the consoles where hardware drives sales of games. As an example I bet when the 1080ti came out there wasnt a sudden burst of games sales.

 

[40Four]

It's PC or nothing for me. I would rather stop gaming altogether than go back to the console market.

I'm fine for a few more years on my current setup and rarely play AAA games anymore due to the utter rubbish being served up these days. AC origins for instance, as soon as i got on a camel and realized pressing a single button makes it ride itself to the objective i turned it off. Seriously, how anyone can enjoy that sort of thing is beyond me. There is literally no game play in AAA any more.

 

[FredFlint]

KB/mouse support is a big thing for some games but I find myself using my Xbox One pad for most games now. I need a good PC for work so adding a good GPU was an easy way to game but now I am looking at the Xbox One X as I will not pay the crazy prices, let the miners have them.

 

[jigger]

The R9 290X in my gaming system (sig) died and I replaced it with a used R9 290X. If I hadn't got that card I would have just sold off the system. No way would I pay current prices for a replacement graphics card for gaming. The Xbox one X is my main gaming system now.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The thing keeping me tied to PC is the keyboard and mouse for games like Planetside 2 and the RTS ones,and modding in games like Fallout 4 and Skyrim.

The main thing holding back consoles is the CPU part,but once the next generation ones move to Zen or the Intel equivalent,I can see MMOs like WoW getting console ports,and more RTS games.

 

[TallPaul1878]

I've said this before in another thread but I think we PC gamers are always demanding to be at the cutting edge of technology. We want the latest GTX 1080Ti or Intel 8700k with all the bells and whistles on top. We want high capacity M.2 NVMe drives and water cooling and VR and 4k screens or 144Hz refresh rates.

That stuff costs top top dollar and all of it just basically went up a whole lot more. If you're targeting better than console performance I don't think it is prohibitively expensive. You can get better than console performance on a Sandy Bridge system from 7 years ago coupled with something like a GTX 1060.

If you have to bite the bullet with GPU prices then don't stiff yourself with the rest of the system. You don't really HAVE to have 3200MHz DDR4, you don't HAVE to have a Noctua or AIO cooler, you don't HAVE to have that Samsung 960 Pro SSD.

 

[opethdisciple]

Yea. These days it makes more economical sense to buy a console.

 

[Spike_UK]

I haven't giving up the PC or gone to console, but I am starting to rationalize the spec of the machine I actually need for the games I play.
I've moved from Desktop/Office setup to a gaming laptop, which is ridiculously over the top for my needs.

I mostly exist in the Blizzard or Indie Steam games, yet for some reason when I bought my Alienware I opted for an i7 6700, GTX 1070 and a 120hz G-Sync display.
Lovely, don't get me wrong, but for playing WoW at 1080p (or 1440p) it's way overkill!

I'm considering downsizing to a more portable laptop with something more like a GTX 1060 (or if the right model comes around a 1070 Max-Q for longevity).

I personally feel that with the price of PC parts these days, and with most companies focusing on low-power, high-performance parts, it's looking more and more like Laptops are the future for PC Gaming (within 5-10 years). Coupled with Thunderbolt for external monitors (and perhaps eGPU) we're not far off from laptops being a complete replacement.

It's already starting to happen to some degree, with devices like the Surface Book 2 coming equipped with a GTX 1060. Although not the best example as it's expensive, but the point is, what was once considered low end or entry level cards can now give better than console performance.

Custom PC's and desktops aren't going anywhere, but it'll be classed as for enthusiasts more than mainstream as it is currently. As time goes on, more and more people will be using laptops for gaming.

 

[DELETED_195422]

It's PC or nothing for me. I would rather stop gaming altogether than go back to the console market.

Came to the same conclusion myself after a recent experience. I bought a PS4 last year to see what all the fuss was about, played some exclusives (these so-called masterpieces ) hated it, sent it back within 14 days and got my money back. It was the first console i'd purchased in over 10 years and it'll be my last. I won't make that mistake again.

I'd rather find another hobby than game on consoles, if that was my only option for gaming.

I personally feel that with the price of PC parts these days, and with most companies focusing on low-power, high-performance parts, it's looking more and more like Laptops are the future for PC Gaming (within 5-10 years). Coupled with Thunderbolt for external monitors (and perhaps eGPU) we're not far off from laptops being a complete replacement.

It's already starting to happen to some degree, with devices like the Surface Book 2 coming equipped with a GTX 1060. Although not the best example as it's expensive, but the point is, what was once considered low end or entry level cards can now give better than console performance.

Custom PC's and desktops aren't going anywhere, but it'll be classed as for enthusiasts more than mainstream as it is currently. As time goes on, more and more people will be using laptops for gaming.

I feel it's going this way too. I stated in another thread (a wee while ago) because more components are getting integrated eventually desktop PCs will become niche at one point. The Intel/AMD collaboration is just the start, plus with AMD doing their own thing with integrated CPU/GPU it'll get to a point where you won't need to purchase a dedicated GPU as performance will be so good from one single chip.

 

[silvagti]

My intention is that my current rig will be my last ever desktop computer. By the time I need to upgrade hopefully external GPU's will be common along with thunderbolt and GPU enclosures. Needing a decent graphics card for gaming and driving my 1440p monitor is the only thing currently stopping me from making the switch.

Once I can do that it's bye bye desktop.

Though having said that I may still upgrade my GPU this year depending on what the new NVidia cards bring to the table and how much they cost

 

[andy_mk3]

I was lucky to get my 1080 before the prices went crazy, and the rest of my system is old and often used parts. I have no intentions of selling or upgrading right now really. I've not even played a PC game for weeks for one reason or another, but I like having it there for when I do feel like using it.

 

[Relentless81]

Some very interesting opinions and experiences thanks.

I think personally I'm going to keep what I've got as I like Steam and Origin too much and the spec plays most modern titles well, I just hope my GPU doesnt fail because that will force me to either sell up or drop from 1440p to 1080p to be able to afford a replacement as there is absolutely no way I am paying for a mid to high end GPU currently

I dont believe in the comments about having to buy high end kit every time, personally I'm mid range so 1440p instead of 4K, a Fury instead of Fury X, a 1600X instead of 1700 or 1800 etc etc but even mid range spec demands far too much money at the moment

 

[40Four]

Came to the same conclusion myself after a recent experience. I bought a PS4 last year to see what all the fuss was about, played some exclusives (these so-called masterpieces ) hated it, sent it back within 14 days and got my money back. It was the first console i'd purchased in over 10 years and it'll be my last. I won't make that mistake again.

I'd rather find another hobby than game on consoles, if that was my only option for gaming.

The word masterpiece is thrown around far to often these days, seemingly for every new junk third person console game.

Another thing i find is that people complain about the cost of PC hardware but are quick to forget that the lower cost of games tends to offset this.