Preachers thread: Prices are outrageous...

[Boze]

Originally posted by: obes4k
You clowns need to stop spending so much on vid cards. The more people who buy into these rediculous prices, the steeper the prices are going to be in the future. You guys are shooting yourselves in the feet. Looking at newegg, I see they have ATi / Sapphire x850 xt-pe for a mere $800. Anybody stupid enough to pay that much for that card should be roped to a bumper and taken for a cruise down the interstate (I take no responsibility for anybody who ties their neighbors leg to the car and speeds down the street, after finding out they spent $700+ on a video card, you are a sick person, possibly a post office worker).

I paid $525 apiece for my BFG 6800 Ultra OC PCIes from MonarchComputer.com, and I thought it was a hell of a deal for what I got (which is essentially the best possible performance available on any platform to date).

Originally posted by: obes4k
ATi & NVidia are getting so filthy rich off you enthusiasts (idiots) that they'll likely never drop their prices back into reasonable ranges, and are even now bumping up the prices on their mid-range cards as well (after all, they don't want everybody abandoning the high end range).

So I'm an idiot because I can (and will) spend $5,000 building myself a new machine? Or because I'll pay a premium to get premium performance? You need to change your reality. The world caters to people who are willing to pay premiums for the best possible experience, regardless of what area of life you're speaking about. You're probably upset that 'idiots' like myself will pay $1500 to $3000 for a first-class ticket on an airline; or either you think we should just do away with first-class and everyone on the plane ride coach?

Originally posted by: obes4k
I feel sorry for the newbs, just getting into the comp scene and spending a small fortune on these cards... it makes me wish I had the power to do something about it... It seems anymore, if you want a decent rig, you have to wait for atleast 30-60 days for that killer deal, otherwise you're dropping unprecidented money on a card.

I used to be one of these newbs... I forget the exact year, but I remember that I had only built about two computers when I was building my third and Nvidia's RIVA 128 4MB came out. I bought it for, I think, around $200, and that was just to drive Windows. I also bought two 3dfx Voodoo2 12MB cards and SLI'ed them together so I could play Quake and other games more enjoyably. I got them for around $350 each with a $50 mail-in rebate IIRC... I was around 16 or 17 I think, and I worked my ass off to afford those cards.

Originally posted by: obes4k
Take a look at mobo's. 2 years ago the top end mobo would sell for $120, they've doubled the pricetag since then, and thats with even more competition on the market. CPU's are even worse... $1000 for top end cpu's is gut wrenching to say the least.

Are you truly, honestly, stupid? I can remember when I first was interested in computers, reading PC World at age 13 and the cheapest computer available with a monitor was around $2000. That was nowhere near the highest end performance. A completely tricked out Pentium 60 machine with a ridicuously gargantuan 128 MB of RAM was easily around $4500 with a 17" monitor. My, my, how much has changed in just 11 years. Now $4500 will get you two 24" widescreen LCD monitors, a huge tower case, two 10,000 RPM hard disks, and... well, you can read my system profile for yourself.

Originally posted by: obes4k
This post, wont cause any riots or boycotts, and I know fully well I'm going to get flamed by more than a few individuals who don't like being called an idiot.

Maybe, but you're gonna get flamed by me because it sounds more to me like you're upset that you can't afford the latest and greatest anymore. If high prices on cards on pissing you off, then I suggest you handle things the old-fashioned American way. You either boycott the company or do what 95% of the American population does and try to find a better job.

Don't flame me because I can afford (and will pay for) an $800 video card... or an $1100 set of video cards. You could ask, "How is it this person can afford a $5000+ new computer?" Unfortunately, you can only do that if you're willing to step outside of your reality and see the reality I live in. In my reality, $1100 for video cards means a week's worth of passive income. In my reality, a $5000 computer with two 24" monitors makes me more productive in my business and allows me to kick back after work playing games.

Try expanding your limited reality some, instead of whining about higher prices on video cards and corporations being in bed together to maximize profits.

 

[Jeff7181]

Take a look at mobo's. 2 years ago the top end mobo would sell for $120, they've doubled the pricetag since then, and thats with even more competition on the market. CPU's are even worse... $1000 for top end cpu's is gut wrenching to say the least.

By the way, that's incorrect... I remember waiting for the Asus A7N8X Deluxe to drop down to $130 shipped before I bought it... and I remember some Pentium 4 boards of the time were close to $200.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: obes4k
the reset cmos on mobo is nothing, i thought that guy was talking about resetting 9800 cmos, i didn't know how the fvck to do that. anyhow, just forget this thread even exists, im just pissed off because i quit smoking a couple days back

Quit smoking what?
:roll:



anyway, thankls for coming back . . . . most posters will post something really controversial and then never return . . . .

perhaps you could "edit" your first post.

now that you've quit cigarettes you can afford a better GPU.

 

[Jeff7181]

LOL!

 

[obes4k]

heh, i look at my first post and think "wtf were you thinking?". been smoking a pack a day for the last 9 years, and I went cold turkey the day before that post, any of you smokers know what im talking about. good news, I passed the shakes stages, actually feeling pretty damned good today

i went postal, sorry all

 

[Fern]

Heh, I'm a smoker too. If I quit I'll change to a new pasword and lose it for a couple weeks. Lordy, I'd hate to see my posts!

Wait, that would mean withdrawal x 2 (cigs and AT). The thought of that makes me wanna have a bourbon

 

[DEredita]

X800XL - $245 (including costs of S&H) = A Very big deal

- Mike

 

[DEredita]

QUIT SMOKING!!! I smoked for 9 years and quit exactly 7 months ago today. The best thing I ever did for myself. Yes, I almost jacked a few people for the first month to vent out from the awful withdrawl - but I calmed down after a few months. The withdrawl made me very angry and very belligerent - I didn't yearn for a cigarette but I wanted to distroy evrything in my path :lol:

If you quit, goodluck and take something to take the edge off - I did it cold turkey.

- Mike

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Concillian
Video card prices are changing somewhat, but it's not like you can't still get decent performance from a $150 card. You can. Your rant gives the perception that you think the video card companies have MOVED the entire line upwards on the price scale, but I think that is NOT the case.

Well, that ties in with the arguments that I put forth on that subject in the other thread.

Originally posted by: Concillian
I think the entire lineup has EXPANDED to cater to more people. The bottom of the market is still the same, filled with neutered and stripped down versions for under $100. Price of entry in the TNT days was a little over $100, and it still is today for cards like 9600 Pros and 6200s. The 'midrange' tier is still squarely in the $200 range it always was.

See, that's the difference - actually, I DO think that things have changed, because I would have put a $200+ video card squarely into the "high-end" gaming-card category a few years back. Now, if you want mid-range, that's the price of entry that you are looking at. Before, mid-range was $100+, and low-end was under that. (And integrated was hypothetically "free" with the mobo, and you would get the performance that you paid for - virtually nothing, gaming-wise.)
If you look at the Radeon releases, and the GF4 Ti releases, I think that you will see those numbers are a lot more in line with what I suggested, than what is happening currently, that you need to pay more than $400+ (MSRP - tack on another $200 due to limited supply) for a "high-end" card, and nearly $300 for a decent mid-range one. So I think that the prices have gone up, but that could well be due to only a temporary bubble caused by the current supply issues that both mfgs have had, due to their transitions to smaller process geometries.

Originally posted by: Concillian
we're seeing additions to the lines to move them into an 'ultra-top' tier.

Yes, but the thing is, in terms of the level of software R&D needed, and market-share vs. performance that the game makers tend to choose, it tends to start at the estimated capabilities of high-end hardware at the estimated future time of the game's release, and then work downwards in terms of additional R&D needed to support lower-end cards, based on development resources available.

So the introduction of an additional tier at the high-end (past it, actually), will end up most likely reducing the level of support given for the low-end. So instead of low-end cards being able to play games at all (even at poor frame-rates), you will have to pay mid-range prices, and as they have been going up, that very nearly means that you will have to pay approx. the same price or more, than a current console gaming system costs, just to play your PC games at any sort of "playable" frame-rates. (Which, oftentimes, will still be lower, and offer a poorer gameplay experience than comparable console games, although if you are willing to pay the $$$ for top-end PC hardware, you can get more eye-candy out of the experience.)

Originally posted by: Concillian
As for your 9800 card purchase, you're equating a 'best deal ever' to current average pricing. $160 shipped for a real 9800 pro was never the norm.

IIRC, when the GF4 Ti series debuted, they were actually rather quite affordable. Not like today.

Originally posted by: Concillian
Newer technology will always bring more performance for same or less money

Long-term, yes, short-term, not necessarily, and I think that right now, the market is experiencing the latter state of affairs.