Players discuss the purchase of gaming hardware. And many realize: Those who invested heavily in their PC many years ago have very little left today. Because PC hardware becomes outdated in just a few years.
A gaming PC is not exactly a cheap endeavor, at least not if you want to see games in the best quality. Especially for graphics cards, prices have surged in recent years: For a mid-range graphics card, you now have to spend at least 500 euros.
Many players are now looking back at their spending on their hardware and realize that much of it is worth significantly less today than it was before.
High investments in hardware that is hardly worth anything years later
A player reports on Reddit that he built a new gaming PC during the Corona pandemic (around 2019 – 2023): He invested around 3,000 US dollars and bought only the best of the best. Just to find out that he can now get at most 800 US dollars for it:
I spent about $3,000 on my PC at the height of the pandemic. Specialized water cooling, the best of the best, everything. I could maybe get $800 for it now? Computers are not an investment. Have fun with them and use them as long as possible.
Other users also express similar experiences, explaining that they have encountered the same issue. A player who spent 1,800 US dollars on his gaming PC at the time stated that he could sell his gaming PC today for at most 1,000 US dollars.
Hardware evolves very quickly, and today’s products are outdated tomorrow
Rapidly evolving hardware: The problem is that hardware is constantly evolving: Almost every year, manufacturers like AMD, Intel, and Nvidia release new graphics cards and processors, and new standards regularly change what hardware is allowed for specific tasks: While DDR4 was still standard for RAM a few years ago, today it is already DDR5.
Moreover, certain features are only available exclusively for new hardware models, and one would have to forgo these on older hardware. As a result, prices on the used market also drop. Hardly anyone is willing to spend thousands of euros on a graphics card that lacks important features like FSR or DLSS: For example, you can only use FSR 4.0 with AMD’s RX 9000 series, while certain functions of DLSS 4.0 are reserved for the RTX 5000 series.
The rapidly evolving hardware also raises the question for players of how frequently they need to upgrade or enhance their hardware to keep up with technology. You can check with us at MeinMMO how often you need to upgrade your graphics card: How often should you upgrade your graphics card if you want to play all the top titles on Steam?
