Discussion Bright Future for PC Builders?

[IDProG]

I swear I said this in 2020 and 2022. But this time, it's probably really it, chief.

The dark age of crypto mining is over. The GPU shortage has ended. The GPU prices have gone back to what it should cost.

From the CPU side, Intel is finally fighting back and is catching up to AMD. It may take years, but I believe Intel can get back and re-challenge AMD so AMD does not turn up to be the new monopoly. When multiple companies compete, consumers become the winner.

From the GPU side, I know some people have a pessimistic view on this, and I get it. However, there are two ways you can look at this.
One, pessimistic. AMD will join Nvidia to establish a duopoly.
Two, optimistic. First, it is not wise to challenge two bigger companies at the same time. Second, Nvidia is, like, 100 times harder to defeat than Intel, because they're not as complacent. This is the company that is willing to release a 600W GPU so that they don't lose the gaming crown. The "Zen" strategy of putting aggressive prices worked against Intel because they were too complacent at that time. The Zen strategy won't work against Nvidia, especially not after they saw how AMD wrecked Intel using it. They WOULD put aggressive prices and outlast AMD.
It is not good news, I know, but perhaps AMD is building up their Zen moment against Nvidia. Hopefully, that is what's happening.

From everything else, I am digging it a lot. The new PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 are exciting. I am glad the tempered glass case era is over. And I am liking the rise of ITX builds.

As for me, I am planning to build a PC in 2024, with specs that can hopefully last until games stop being released for PS5/Series X. My target is not that crazy, just 1080p 120FPS High settings. Maybe something like a 16-Core CPU, 16-24GB VRAM GPU, 32GB DDR5, 2TB PCIe 5.0 SSD.

What do you think? When do you think consumers can really feel like they are winning from the competition?

 

[kanewolf]

I swear I said this in 2020 and 2022. But this time, it's probably really it, chief.

The dark age of crypto mining is over. The GPU shortage has ended. The GPU prices have gone back to what it should cost.

From the CPU side, Intel is finally fighting back and is catching up to AMD. It may take years, but I believe Intel can get back and re-challenge AMD so AMD does not turn up to be the new monopoly. When multiple companies compete, consumers become the winner.

From the GPU side, I know some people have a pessimistic view on this, and I get it. However, there are two ways you can look at this.
One, pessimistic. AMD will join Nvidia to establish a duopoly.
Two, optimistic. First, it is not wise to challenge two bigger companies at the same time. Second, Nvidia is, like, 100 times harder to defeat than Intel, because they're not as complacent. This is the company that is willing to release a 600W GPU so that they don't lose the gaming crown. The "Zen" strategy of putting aggressive prices worked against Intel because they were too complacent at that time. The Zen strategy won't work against Nvidia, especially not after they saw how AMD wrecked Intel using it. They WOULD put aggressive prices and outlast AMD.
It is not good news, I know, but perhaps AMD is building up their Zen moment against Nvidia. Hopefully, that is what's happening.

From everything else, I am digging it a lot. The new PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 are exciting. I am glad the tempered glass case era is over. And I am liking the rise of ITX builds.

As for me, I am planning to build a PC in 2024, with specs that can hopefully last until games stop being released for PS5/Series X. My target is not that crazy, just 1080p 120FPS High settings. Maybe something like a 16-Core CPU, 16-24GB VRAM GPU, 32GB DDR5, 2TB PCIe 5.0 SSD.

What do you think? When do you think consumers can really feel like they are winning from the competition?

All of those things, like crypto mining ending are negatives for manufacturers. They have inventory they can't sell without dropping prices. So what do the manufacturers do? Cut production. There may be a short "golden time" but it won't last, IMO.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

When cutting production doesn’t matter anymore because nobody’s buying then, we’ll see about price reductions

 

[IDProG]

All of those things, like crypto mining ending are negatives for manufacturers. They have inventory they can't sell without dropping prices. So what do the manufacturers do? Cut production. There may be a short "golden time" but it won't last, IMO.

What do you think is going to happen after the "golden time"?

 

[kanewolf]

What do you think is going to happen after the "golden time"?

Manufacturers will either consolidate or go out of business.

 

[hotaru.hino]

It's important to remember one thing: DIY builders are a tiny percentage of the entire computer userbase. Most people who use computers see them merely as tools to get a job done. For instance, I can count the number of people who have gaming PCs who built it with maybe two hands at best. And the others probably don't even know what CAS latency is or where it pertains to.

DIY builders are always going to get the shaft, because they're vastly outnumbered by people who just want to take a computer out of the box, maybe plug in one or two things, press the power button, and boom, they have something to go pooppost on Twitter.

 

[Deleted member 2838871]

I just built a new rig and getting parts was a lot easier than it was in late 2020/early 2021 with the last build. That was a nightmare I don't care to ever experience again.

As for hardware manufacturers I just go with what I feel is the best at the current time. I've always owned Nvidia GPUs because IMO they are better. My new AMD CPU is the first one I've owned since 2001. Been with Intel for nearly 20 years... but with the new build I went with AMD's AM5 for the upgradeability down the road. A new platform made more sense than going with Intel's 13th gen.

 

[IDProG]

I just built a new rig and getting parts was a lot easier than it was in late 2020/early 2021 with the last build. That was a nightmare I don't care to ever experience again.

As for hardware manufacturers I just go with what I feel is the best at the current time. I've always owned Nvidia GPUs because IMO they are better. My new AMD CPU is the first one I've owned since 2001. Been with Intel for nearly 20 years... but with the new build I went with AMD's AM5 for the upgradeability down the road. A new platform made more sense than going with Intel's 13th gen.

GTX 1070 has been a fantastic experience. It is a very fine GPU. Pascal is easily Nvidia's best generation, and I regretted nothing about buying the GPU.

The CPU (Ryzen 1500X), however, has been full of disappointment. Now that I have a decent-paying job(s), I basically have no budget for my next upgrade next year (well, barring the greedy Nvidia pricing of 80 and 90 cards). Can't wait to ditch it for a nice 16-Core CPU (hopefully Zen 5 has a 16-Core CCX design).

I like Nvidia, but I am not a fan of their VRAM gimping practice. VRAM does not cost much. Game developers have been warning that you're going to need at least 16GB VRAM for next-gen games. If Nvidia fails to deliver a 16GB RTX 5070 (not Ti or Super), I am switching to AMD.

By the way, make it absolutely certain that your SSD has a minimum speed of 3000MB/s (basically peak of PCIe 3.0 SSD) with a consistent sustained read speed (meaning it doesn't go down in speed until its death). Game developers have been warning many, many times that you're going to need it. Do it, and the moment they remove the support for PS4/Xbox One, you will not regret it. I am going to buy a 2TB PCIe 5.0 SSD myself.