I've finally got enough disposable income to spend on a mid-high PC but graphics cards at that tier are just ludicrously priced, especially from Nvidia. I remember building my first computer in 2013 and being flabbergasted that people were paying $1000 for a GTX Titan, the best card in existence back then, at launch—that was probably twice the price of my entire build back then (Radeon 7770/FX-8350... simpler times). Now this generation's equivalent, the 4090, is $1599 at MSRP, and often pushed up to $2000 by resellers and scalpers. The next rungs down aren't far behind either, with the 4080 at $1200 and the new 4070ti at $799. AMD isn't as bad, but their software game is so far behind and DLSS is very appealing for extending the life of my card as long as I can.

I was excited to make a new build and leap to 1440p/144hz but the expense has sucked a lot of the appeal out of it. I might just bite the bullet and shoot for a 4070ti deal to see if I can mitigate the tax at least. I know I'm part of the problem for buying new but I just want to be done with all this and have something I can keep for the next like 6-8 years.

  • frogbellyratbone_ [e/em/eir, any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    don't get sucked into that shit. 6 months your card is going to be outdated. it's like apple releasing a new phone every month. avoid whatever echo advert chamber you're stuck in and get off those reddits or whatever.

    i'm still running my 980. shit rules and plays whatever i want.

    also, rant:

    graphics are stupid. this is why every game is trash today. the entire budget goes into eye candy instead of content, gameplay, systems, story. every game is a stupid fuck marvel movie now

    no one ever says "YAH THAT GAME WAS SO GOOD BECAUSE THE GRAPHICS WERE GREAT." everyone has a favorite game that is because of content, gameplay, systems, story.

    for instance: minecraft has the shittiest graphics in the world and yet arguably the greatest game ever made.

    • Comp4 [she/her]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      I will say once in a blue moon I play a AAA game and am reminded how nice modern games can look. With that said I agree that its the least important part of the game, some of the best games I played in 2022 were Dwarf Fortess and Vampire Survivors which would be considered ugly by many people. While I get your point A LOT of people care about graphics...so its not suprising that its a selling point for more mainstream gamers. Not everyone is going to enjoy games that look like Dominions5 or Aurora 4x.

      • frogbellyratbone_ [e/em/eir, any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        A LOT of people care about graphics…

        People say this a lot, but I don't think it's necessarily true. If you change the subject and ask them their all time favorite games they always list stuff with shit graphics. Anecdotally, I was talking to a friend who was bashing the shit out of 7 Days To Die graphics, but then I asked him his favorite games and he said shit like Ultima Online, Railroad Tycoon, Tropico 4.

        dominions5 isn't that bad tbh. graphics should be utility based not eye candy based. i mean for anything we play there's always a certain threshold, right? but in reality that threshold never require a $500+ GPU.

        • Comp4 [she/her]
          ·
          edit-2
          2 years ago

          Sure their fave games might be older but that doesnt mean many of them wouldnt turn their nose at a modern game that uses graphics likes dominions5. Im ready for dominions 6 to use the same artstyle and I wont care (as long as the game is good)

    • RION [she/her]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      My goal is to say the same thing about my graphics card in 9 or so years. My last upgrade was four years ago from a 1060 3gb to a 1660 Super, so it's not like I'm chasing the latest card year after year. I just want to get something that's pogged so I can stay pogged clear through my 20s