With the RAM-pocalypse (and GPU-pocalypse, SSD-pocalypse,
CPU-pocalypse, HDD-pocalypse, and basically a -pocalypse for every
component of your PC) firmly set upon us, it's no surprise that PC
sales would be going down. Everybody expected it. Who can afford a new
PC when components are so expensive? Even more so when prices for
necessities are skyrocketing as well.But there's a difference between
knowing something is going to happen, and actually being able to point
at data and say, "Yup, happening." And now, we have the data to do the latter.*
The actual decreases look small --2% down for Lenovo, %8 for HP,
etc.-- but considering how many PCs they sell, those single-digit
percentages represent tens of millions of computers. More, these
decreases are probably just the start, as the initial hurt from the *-pocalypse was buffered by in-house stocks of components that kept
prices from rising too high initially. But the warehouses are
emptying, and OEMs are either being forced to raise prices, slow
production, or reduce entry-level configurations. But the end result
is that people just aren't seeing the value in buying a new computer
now.
On a related note: it's been reported that Valve SteamDeck sales
plummeted by more than 80% after Valve increased the price**
But on the plus side, it ALSO means that nobody is buying these stupid "AI-powered PCs" that Microsoft was betting the farm on.
God knows that nvidia and Intel haven't really been providing value-for-the-dollar with their latest releases, as their hardware
hasn't been providing the same increase in performance as it has in
years past. Unable to provide more brute horsepower, instead the tech
giants rely on software trickery to imitate the speed-increases of yesteryear. So even when you can afford the newest-and-greatest,
you're still not getting the same bang-for-the-buck.
So, what does this really mean for gaming? Well, that's not entirely
clear but one effect is that developers and publishers betting on new hardware powering their Biggest Games need to scale back, because increasingly more and more gamers are going to be running on old tech.
Maybe we'll start seeing a return to optimization techniques rather
than expecting everybody to own $2500 GPUs and 20-core CPUs? Wouldn't
that be nice? Games that fit in a 20GB rather than 100GB? Dare we to
dream of such a utopia?
It's gotta be a terrifying time for developers who started their
projects three years ago, though, and only now are coming to the
realization that the audience --and the tech-- that they hoped would
get them smooth 100+ fps just isn't there.
On the consumer side... well if you were lucky enough to snag a
5080GTX last year, maybe consider selling it and using the money to
buy a 4080GTX for half of what you get. Almost the same performance,
and an extra $800 USD in your pocket! ;-)
Either way, it's a weird time for the industry. But it's all worth it
for the great things AI is bringing us, right? ;-)
====
* reported on here https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/fresh-evidence-from-independent-researchers-confirms-the-first-drop-in-pc-shipments-in-over-a-year-and-its-only-going-to-get-worse/
** says so here! https://www.techspot.com/news/113220-valve-steam-deck-price-hike-has-completely-destroyed.html
I wonder how long my old PCs can last. :(
On Sun, 26 Jul 2026 06:32:47 -0000 (UTC), ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) said
this thing:
I wonder how long my old PCs can last. :(
The hardware will likely last. The performance? Will, you can still
get by quite well with a ten-year old potato-PC, if you temper your expectations.
I'm always surprised at how well even low-end computers run modern
games. Twenty years ago, you'd have an ancient PC and there was no
chance in hell of running the (then) latest and greatest games.
Nowadays, the games will probably run on even an underpowered rig. Not
at full detail, of course, and with sacrifices to framerate obviously,
but you won't miss out entirely. And thanks to the incredible variety
of games available (and the fact that graphics have long past the
'good enough' stage), you don't NEED to run the triple-A
mega-productions to have fun.
Plus, there's a lot of smaller titles that will run quite well on less performant hardware. And if that's not enough, the solid backwards compatibility of the platform ensures thousands of older games still
remain playable. All that, and we haven't even started talking about emulation yet! But it all points to one thing: old PCs still have a
lot of life in them.
You know, if it wasn't for all the MTX (and the high prices... and the
AI slop... and the surplus of sequels/remakes... and the consolidation
of the major developers... and, you know, all the other awful stuff in
the hobby) I'd say we were living in a golden age of gaming. ;-)
Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sun, 26 Jul 2026 06:32:47 -0000 (UTC), ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) said
this thing:
I wonder how long my old PCs can last. :(
The hardware will likely last. The performance? Will, you can still
get by quite well with a ten-year old potato-PC, if you temper your
expectations.
I donm't play modern games since I don't have the resources. I have many
old games to play anyways. I am more concern my stuff still working. Some
of the parts are like a decade old.
Heck, my old PS/2 & VGA OmniCube KVM died after 25.5 yrs. :P
I donm't play modern games since I don't have the resources. I have many old games to play anyways. I am more concern my stuff still working. Some of the parts are like a decade old. Heck, my old PS/2 & VGA OmniCube KVM died after 25.5 yrs. :P
On Mon, 27 Jul 2026 01:04:33 -0000 (UTC), ant@zimage.comANT (Ant)
wrote:
I donm't play modern games since I don't have the resources. I have many old games to play anyways. I am more concern my stuff still working. Some of the parts are like a decade old. Heck, my old PS/2 & VGA OmniCube KVM died after 25.5 yrs. :P
I do have the resources but I prefer old games, remakes, and indie
titles to just about anything the major studios are barfing out. From
my point of view, you aren't missing anything.
Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com> wrote:
On Mon, 27 Jul 2026 01:04:33 -0000 (UTC), ant@zimage.comANT (Ant)
wrote:
I donm't play modern games since I don't have the resources. I have many old games to play anyways. I am more concern my stuff still working. Some of the parts are like a decade old. Heck, my old PS/2 & VGA OmniCube KVM died after 25.5 yrs. :P
I do have the resources but I prefer old games, remakes, and indie
titles to just about anything the major studios are barfing out. From
my point of view, you aren't missing anything.
Yeah, that too. Not just games too.
See, I disagree. It's not that I think that all new games are great.
They obviously aren't. But I do think that --on the whole-- modern
games are at least as good. There were A LOT of terrible games from
'back in the day' too, after all.
On Thu, 30 Jul 2026 13:10:27 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson ><spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
See, I disagree. It's not that I think that all new games are great.
They obviously aren't. But I do think that --on the whole-- modern
games are at least as good. There were A LOT of terrible games from
'back in the day' too, after all.
I know. I didn't mean to sound like I was saying games were better
then and now they suck because everything was better in the good old
days. It is just a personal preference thing. Modern day triple A
titles (many of them, maybe most) just do not appeal to me.
To go back to Ant's post, he said he lacked the resources to play
modern titles. I lack the desire.
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