Originally posted by: tdawg
Originally posted by: ShawnD1
Originally posted by: makoto00
those parts would still go into apple computers and consoles. as the demand shifts, the market will shift with it. consumers will still be happy in the end.
His point is that gamers are the only people who buy high end parts. I've never once seen an Intel i7 in a store like Best Buy, yet lots of people on this forum own one. OEM computers like Apple or Dell use low end video cards like the GeForce 9400, and game consoles use GeForce 7800 and Radeon 1800 video cards. Without Windows games, who is going to buy the GeForce 8800, 9800, GTS 280, Radeon 48xx, or any other high end video card? Who is going to buy the Phenom II or i7?
Even right now, most of the computers I see at Best Buy either use Intel dual core processors from the 5 and 7 series or AMD's old phenoms. You want a Q9550? Sorry but they don't sell those. You want a Phenom II? Sorry. i7? Nope. Will they even carry the i5 when it comes out?
I think both AMD and Nvidia would be fine not to have to maintain high end parts in significant volumes, since a large chunk of their total sales volume comes from the consumer realm, not the high end gamer. So they stop selling their Halo parts in any measurable numbers; they'll still have the low to mid-range priced pieces selling in droves.
The number of people here in the PC gaming forum and the overall "enthusiast" message boards make up a tiny sliver of overall PC sales. If there were no gaming on PCs, sales of Phenom II and i7 parts would still go to graphic designers, digital photographers and videographers, CAD developers, etc. The reason you see what you see at Best Buy is that there is basically no retail market for high-end, expensive PCs, in big box stores, since the vast majority of people that buy PCs at Best Buy and the like don't know the difference between the $400 PC and the $1800 PC, except what the salesperson tells them.