When did the PC hardware scene get so crazy and stressful?

[Richdog]

Well, I think the 6800 launch is a final **** you to the consumer in 2020. Every major launch this year has been terrible. Instead of just a hit to the wallet, consumers now face a hit to the dignity and self-respect in the process of trying to get one. You sit there refreshing a page , put something in your basket, hope you are quicker than someone else... only to find you weren't and it went to someone else instead? That's the new normal... intense feelings of frustration for hundreds of thousands of people when truing to part with their money for what should be a mass-produced product releases with the proper stock and supply to at least stay in stock for more than 15 minutes? We are not talking about an exclusive Rolex or a rare car here... it's a damn piece of PC hardware.

Add in all of the dodgy stuff such as price gouging and employer-grabbing of stock from unscrupulous webshops and sellers and I think I will never buy a product at launch again unless large stocks are guaranteed and well publicized in advance.

 

[4k4uNuNu]

In other words, I'm getting too old for this sh**

 

[Richdog]

In other words, I'm getting too old for this sh**

Hah maybe so... definitely less tolerant to being screwed around with things like this! it saps a lot of the fun out of a hobby, especially when it's the time you really planned on upgrading.

 

[deusexlumina]

pepper thy angus.

It's only gonna get worse.

 

[Richdog]

pepper thy angus.

It's only gonna get worse.

Can it actually get worse than the 2020 launches? Serious question.

 

[Frubeling]

Absolutely everything seems unavailable
I was lucky to even get the fans I wanted yesterday before they sold out. Power supplies are in short supply, the case I want is out of stock until mid january

And that's just the little things

 

[Derek W]

Think the op needs to put down his monster / relentless / red bull / sunny d if it's stressing himself out so much. Bigger things in the world to stress about.

 

[Bassmansam]

Think the op needs to put down his monster / relentless / red bull / sunny d if it's stressing himself out so much. Bigger things in the world to stress about.

yea its quite pathetic.

 

[Richdog]

Forward note: when I say "stressful" it is all in the context of a hobby. This isn't life or death or something that I spend my time worrying about and this is more of an amusing reaction to what I've seen over the last few months.

Think the op needs to put down his monster / relentless / red bull / sunny d if it's stressing himself out so much. Bigger things in the world to stress about.

yea its quite pathetic.

Do you guys suffer from any particular reading difficulties? Or it a more of a general IQ thing.

 

[Frubeling]

Do you guys suffer form any particular reading difficulties? Or it a more of a general IQ thing.

Tiny font right at the top makes the eye skip right over it tbh

 

[Richdog]

Tiny font right at the top makes the eye skip right over it tbh

Ahh, the challenges life throws at us...

 

[GravyMonster]

A lot of stuff seems to have got aggressively more expensive in recent years, cashing in in the ‘enthusiast’ markets.

100%. I remember back in 2015 when the GTX980 was released for £500 and people kicked off about nVidia price gouging as it was so ridiculously overpriced for the time.

Can you imagine now having a top line GPU for £500? Even with inflation I'd guess that's ~£550 today. But because people still bought them it fuelled a race to the top for prices. Now we're all paying the price for it, literally, on every component.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

When did enthusiasts start selling perfectly good high-end cards BEFORE they’d actually got their shiny new one in their hands?

This time around, there appears to be a bunch of people who’ve managed to find themselves without an GPU...

 

[SonicSW20]

When did enthusiasts start selling perfectly good high-end cards BEFORE they’d actually got their shiny new one in their hands?

This time around, there appears to be a bunch of people who’ve managed to find themselves without an GPU...

Probably couldn't afford to buy the new one without selling the old one, which does make me wonder if they can really afford it in the first place.

 

[chrcoluk]

For me it is quite simple, prices too high, no stock, keep what I have.

My GPU doesnt suddenly become rubbish just because a new one has been launched.

 

[ianh]

I mean seriously, when did generational hardware reveals become this draining?

Once we were given a choice again added to the increased product cost. From 2010 until 2018 the obvious choice was Nvidia and Intel regardless of what products they put out and regardless of the cost. Then since 2018 Intel/AMD was now a choice and now in 2020 it's Nvidia/AMD & Intel/AMD. All this has lead to so much choice that people are now stuck because they don't want to make "The Wrong Choice!!!!!" due the significant price of most of these products when, in reality, we as customers are at the best point to buy right now, because it makes virtually no difference what you buy as the brands comparative performance levels and costs are so close that you'll be getting the peak of performance no matter who you buy and no matter which cost level you buy at.

But for some unfortunate folk in the back of their mind they'll be forever stuck thinking "what if......." over their purchase, and that leads to "stress".

Seriously, its a great time to be someone looking to make a new PC, well in Spring it will be once the brands sort out their crappy stock levels anyway!

 

[Vince]

It's not stressful at all - Simply sit back and watch the people buying day 1 get bent over. Smiling safe in the knowledge you can buy slightly down the line at a nice reduced price. Economics doing its thing!

 

[Richdog]

It's not stressful at all - Simply sit back and watch the people buying day 1 get bent over. Smiling safe in the knowledge you can buy slightly down the line at a nice reduced price. Economics doing its thing!

I would argue that the statement "it's not stressful at all", in the specific context of these PC hardware launches, is patently false.

I was really, really looking forward to upgrading at launch due to building my first desktop in years. While I have quite a few hobbies to keep me happy both indoors and outdoors, seeing and experiencing the palaver to try and get something at launch was definitely an eye-opener! I have never experienced this kind of launch shennanigans before, it was both hilarious in its absurdity and of course a bit disappointing in seeing how cynical companies are nowadays with this stuff vs the last time I upgraded like this.

Probably couldn't afford to buy the new one without selling the old one, which does make me wonder if they can really afford it in the first place.

What kind of crappy comment is this? It's no business of yours what people can or can't afford without selling their old stuff... some people are on a very tight budget and the PC is one of their primary sources of entertainment, especially during a pandemic.

 

[bakes0310]

Its still a very enjoyable hobby for me, i really do enjoy reading about new hardware and seeing peoples builds, and youtube videos. But i have learnt to be very patient over the years, and while i do plan on getting a 5950x with a 3080/6800xt i am happy to wait another 12 months for it.

 

[SonicSW20]

What kind of crappy comment is this? It's no business of yours what people can or can't afford without selling their old stuff... some people are on a very tight budget and the PC is one of their primary sources of entertainment, especially during a pandemic.

People can do whatever they want, and likewise I can commment with my opinion on anything I want. Read the full context of the message I was replying to before you get salty, specifically the part referring to "perfectly good high end cards". If you currently have a high end card (which for the previous generations really means 2080 variants in the enthusiast space), then you definitely don't *need* to upgrade to thoroughly enjoy any games currently available. If you absolutely cannot "afford" to buy a new card without selling your old one first, then that suggests you have **** all in the way of savings, disposable income, or short term credit lines which IMO means you cannot really afford it.