The crude realities of PC Gaming

[dchurchw]

It all starts with the framerates. Lets say you have a GTX 950 and a Pentium G3258, you play games at Geforce Experience sertings and always get 60fps in games even if its at lower setting. But one day, one day, you start playing a AAA game, like Witcher 3, you cant get 60fps for some kind of reason, so you start OverClocking your GPU and CPU, but discover that you GPU brand (Asus for example) OverClocks like shit. So you get a GTX 970 to play AAA games at 60fps lock. But now your CPU is bottlenecking your GTX 970 and you get an i7 4790k. Now you are getting above 60fps on all AAA titles on you 60hz monitor, but for some reason, you discovered G-Sync. Now you have a 144hz monitor with G-Sync and 1440p resolution. To match the 1440p/144hz combo, you OC your i7 and your GTX 970 to max clocks. Now you are all fine and dandy. But now you have overheating problems and your CPU/GPU are throttling, so you get a custom watercooling loop with 2x 360mm rads.

Now you want 4k resolution and textures, so you get 2x 980Ti s and an i7 5960x all OCd to max.

And thats how you go from an entry level build, to Enthusiast grade PC in less than 3 years.

Welcome to the master race.

[Mayaa]

TL:DR we have too much technology available to us

[zlolslavez]

Reality,

 

Say you have a GTX 950, and a Pentium G3258, you are broke af and keep it and can't play AAA games.

[Irodo_BSMD]

or be poor like me and stay with a x50 card for life 

[DaltonM]

Sounds about right. But really you can apply this logic to any hobby. Started with a $50 guitar until I started noticing how shit it sounds. Right now I only play a $300 guitar but I have around $1000 of gear total. 

[iamdarkyoshi]

Here I am with a 3930k and 390x under watercooling and my most demanding game is rocket league. And I want a faster PC.

[A Guy Eating Cereal]

It all starts with the framerates. Lets say you have a GTX 950 and a Pentium G3258, you play games at Geforce Experience sertings and always get 60fps in games even if its at lower setting. But one day, one day, you start playing a AAA game, like Witcher 3, you cant get 60fps for some kind of reason, so you start OverClocking your GPU and CPU, but discover that you GPU brand (Asus for example) OverClocks like shit. So you get a GTX 970 to play AAA games at 60fps lock. But now your CPU is bottlenecking your GTX 970 and you get an i7 4790k. Now you are getting above 60fps on all AAA titles on you 60hz monitor, but for some reason, you discovered G-Sync. Now you have a 144hz monitor with G-Sync and 1440p resolution. To match the 1440p/144hz combo, you OC your i7 and your GTX 970 to max clocks. Now you are all fine and dandy. But now you have overheating problems and your CPU/GPU are throttling, so you get a custom watercooling loop with 2x 360mm rads.

Now you want 4k resolution and textures, so you get 2x 980Ti s and an i7 5960x all OCd to max.

And thats how you go from an entry level build, to Enthusiast grade PC in less than 3 years.

Welcome to the master race.

My dreams in a nutshell! 

[Ghostay]

TL:DR we have too much technology available to us

TL:DR - We are bankrupt.

[That Norwegian Guy]

And this whole failure came to light because the original purchase wasn't smart.

 

I bought an E8400 in 2008, and was playing Skyrim with mods in 2012.

 

Then I got a 3570K, overclocked it to 4.8Ghz, bought a used 290x for peanut change, and am playing Star Citizen at 50-70 FPS.

[Stuff_]

Your entire scenario can be solved simply by doing a bit of research before buying components, and knowing what you actually want.

[xAcid9]

Crude realities for Console gaming too, they can't spend more for better gaming experience. Maybe a little.

[Arwanell]

once you go masterrace, you never go back

 

and once you're here, your wallet is screwed!!!

 

[SirRoderick]

PC gaming a hobby is a STEAL compared to car, guns, audio etc. It's frankly pretty cheap to be an enthusiast in the PC world compared to a lot of other hobbies, you need what, 2000 for a super good rig? Now go and get into custom cars and see how long that lasts

[dchurchw]

this scenario sounds awfully specific, did this happen to you?

Not yet, but i have a gtx 970 and i5 4690k OC... Now i want i7 and 980ti with EKWB

BUT A SINGLE 980ti CANT PLAY 4k MAX SETTINGS 60FPS MINIMUM!!!

[dchurchw]

PC gaming a hobby is a STEAL compared to car, guns, audio etc. It's frankly pretty cheap to be an enthusiast in the PC world compared to a lot of other hobbies, you need what, 2000 for a super good rig? Now go and get into custom cars and see how long that lasts

I can relate, my dad got into the Baja 1000 and met some guys that lost their marriage due to doing custom cars.

[Iron couch]

Lets see...

 

Upgrades to my PC since purchase:

 

MSI radeon R9 380 4GB 300€ (i know finnish prices are shit)

1 TB seagate barracuda HDD 50€

Razer kraken Pro 60€

kingston Hyperx cloud II 75€

 

485€ gone so far

 

Upcoming upgrades:

 

Skylake i5/i7  approx. 300€-400+€

new mobo 100-200€

new cooling 30-60€

 

430-660€ gone within half a year

 

can confirm PC gaming is a pit where i throw my fortune

[Klerk]

Well this is the reality for any hobby. The more you get in to it, the better stuff you want.

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Well, I wonder where's my 980 ti?

[Vivilacqua1]

Illuminati confirmed?

[PlayStation 2]

Or you're like me contemplating "how the fuck do I manage to get 15fps on Grand Theft Auto V at low 800x600 on a shitty APU?"

[MEC-777]

So, you're complaining that we have the ability to upgrade our gaming rigs for better performance and visuals? Yeah, that a real problem...

 

And honestly, an i5 + 390x or 980 is enough to pretty much max out most games at 1080p and run high settings at 1440p which is more than enough for most people.

 

You also have to separate "needs" vs "wants".  

[Headshot_]

Well this is the reality for any hobby. The more you get in to it, the better stuff you want.

PC building hobbies are like train model hobbies.

 

You stop after a couple an entire room of them. 

[typographie]

It almost boggles the mind how I seem to do so well with $200–400 video cards and $250 CPUs once every console generation or so. Must just be luck.

[MEC-777]

PC building hobbies are like train model hobbies.

 

You stop after a couple an entire room of them. 

 

Some people don't.

 

That's a good point though. PC's and PC gaming is a hobby for some - like myself. With hobbies, you can't really tag a cost limit or justification of cost to. For some, it's worth spending a lot of money on their hobby because it's what they enjoy.