Man... why is hardware so expensive nowadays?

[mazeroth]

Originally posted by: robertk2012
opty 144 is less than $140
1gb value ram $80
x800GTO $120
200 gb hd $70
Asrock mB $45
Powersupply $55

Not a bad computer for $510

Nice case

 

[robertk2012]

Originally posted by: mazeroth

Originally posted by: robertk2012
opty 144 is less than $140
1gb value ram $80
x800GTO $120
200 gb hd $70
Asrock mB $45
Powersupply $55

Not a bad computer for $510

Nice case

Who needs a case. Just lay that stuff on your desk. He was talking about upgrades. I was assuming he was keeping his old case. I was just pointing out that you could upgrade the entire system for 510 or less.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Originally posted by: iamtrout
I remember the good old days (at most five years ago) when the best bang for the buck CPU was around $150 and the best bang for the buck video card was around $150. Now the best bang for the buck CPU (Opty 165) is a whopping $300 and the video card is from $200-$350.

Eesh. What is a person supposed to do? I used to be able to significantly upgrade my rig for $150. Now it's more like $300... (actually more like $700 since I'm still on 754, IDE HDDs, AGP, and DDR... sigh... wtf.

Eh? $200 from $150 for video cards is not bad at all. And isn't the 3200+ the best bang for buck now, excluding dual cores? That's about $160.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: iamtrout
I remember the good old days (at most five years ago) when the best bang for the buck CPU was around $150 and the best bang for the buck video card was around $150. Now the best bang for the buck CPU (Opty 165) is a whopping $300 and the video card is from $200-$350.

Um, the Opty is a server grade CPU.

Eesh. What is a person supposed to do? I used to be able to significantly upgrade my rig for $150. Now it's more like $300... (actually more like $700 since I'm still on 754, IDE HDDs, AGP, and DDR... sigh... wtf.

Computers are cheaper than ever now. You can easily pick up complete systems for $500. I remember how about 10 years ago, the industry was excited when PCs broke the $1000 mark. The only reason why things are expensive to you, is because you're looking at the enthusiast market.

My first 14.4 modem cost me almost $400. My first 300mb HDD was $800. My first computer was over $2500, that was a 286, no HDD, 2 5 1/4 floppy drives... and a CGA monitor.

 

[J Heartless Slick]

Originally posted by: iamtrout
I remember the good old days (at most five years ago) when the best bang for the buck CPU was around $150 and the best bang for the buck video card was around $150. Now the best bang for the buck CPU (Opty 165) is a whopping $300 and the video card is from $200-$350.

Eesh. What is a person supposed to do? I used to be able to significantly upgrade my rig for $150. Now it's more like $300... (actually more like $700 since I'm still on 754, IDE HDDs, AGP, and DDR... sigh... wtf.

Compare apples to apples.

How does the level of performance of a $150 CPU buy available in the "good ole days" compare to a $150 CPU that is available now? And if you really want to be rigorous you should factor in inflation too.

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: iamtrout
I remember the good old days (at most five years ago) when the best bang for the buck CPU was around $150 and the best bang for the buck video card was around $150. Now the best bang for the buck CPU (Opty 165) is a whopping $300 and the video card is from $200-$350.

Eesh. What is a person supposed to do? I used to be able to significantly upgrade my rig for $150. Now it's more like $300... (actually more like $700 since I'm still on 754, IDE HDDs, AGP, and DDR... sigh... wtf.

I would recommend seeing a doctor. Tell him that the symptoms are long-term memory loss, loss of concentration, and what ever else is currently bothering you. Your memory has gotten selective

IIRC, top of the line chips were still more than $1k (Xeons were never cheap). Real video cards were $15k (those expensive video cards now are catching up to real graphics cards available now). Memory was $2/MB (10 cents now). HDD space was $10/GB (<50 cents now). Motherboards were over $100 for basic ones. And every bit of it kicks butt.

Also remember, back in ancient times, we wanted games that played well. Now we have added more requirements such as 5.1 audio, real-time HD quality video, and lots more objects in the space. Geez, I remember when Asteroids was the coolest thing ever.

 

[robertk2012]

In other news man complains that Walmart has caused a massive increase in the price of everyday items.

 

[allies]

Show me a point where high end video cards were less than $400 or whatever. You won't be able to find them.

 

[jlbenedict]

Originally posted by: allies
Show me a point where high end video cards were less than $400 or whatever. You won't be able to find them.

Original GeForce3 when it first came out was less than $400

 

[Matthias99]

Ok, I've edited my post to specify "the good old days." Apparently saying "when the best bang for the buck CPU was around $150 and the best bang for the buck video card was around $150" isn't specific enough and people feel the need to counter with "but 20MB hard drives and 2x burners were $900."

As other people have pointed out, the parts you selected as "best bang for the buck" are not the ones that most people would also select as "best bang for the buck" right now. Yes, there are no longer CPUs that you can OC to double or triple their stock speed; but that was basically a fluke occurrence due to how fast the CPU technology was changing in the P2/P3 days.

In terms of CPUs, S754 Semprons are WAY better in terms of performance/dollar than the dual-core Opterons. A $300 CPU that can usually be OCed to match an $800 CPU is a 'good deal', in a way, but that doesn't automatically make it the best bang/buck choice.

And in GPUs -- if you're willing to get lower overall performance, you can get some GREAT deals on cards like GeForce 6600GTs right now. People have been bitching lately because the high-end cards are now $400-500+ -- but the amount of performance at every pricepoint is still far higher than it was just two years ago. I paid $275 for a refurb 9800Pro a few years back, and now you can get that same card for less than $100, and that same $275 now buys you a 7800GT that is easily double the speed across the board, if not triple. People seem to think that ATI is under some obligation to sell you an X1900XTX for $300. This is unrealistic given the other constraints on the video card market and the high fixed costs associated with developing new GPU hardware.

Honestly, anybody bitching about hardware prices today really is just whining for the sake of whining. PCs have gotten much cheaper and much faster overall over the last 10 years, with only a few temporary exceptions.