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PCGaf - if midrange hardware becomes consumer and cloud becomes premium, how will you react?
- Thread starter cormack12
- Start date
HerjansEagleFeeder
Member
lol no
TintoConCasera
I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
If [scenario I made in my mind] happens, will you [whatever the fuck]?
No.
No.
Tobimacoss
Member
I would react by staying subscribed to Gamepass Ultimate with xCloud running Magnus and both PC and Console games.
Hawk The Slayer
Member
That would be great if midrange becomes consumer level again so the price are actually reasonable again.
Midrange cards like the rtx 6070, 6070ti, 7070, 7070ti, 8070, 8070ti being like 400 to 500 dollars.
I'll go buy a 8070ti for a 500 dollars brand new. I still won't be buying a 6070ti or 7070ti cause I got a 5070ti and it's too soon to upgrade so gonna wait for the 8070ti to see a big difference.
Midrange cards like the rtx 6070, 6070ti, 7070, 7070ti, 8070, 8070ti being like 400 to 500 dollars.
I'll go buy a 8070ti for a 500 dollars brand new. I still won't be buying a 6070ti or 7070ti cause I got a 5070ti and it's too soon to upgrade so gonna wait for the 8070ti to see a big difference.
Glass Prison
Member
You mean, if midrange hardware is accessible to the consumer, and premium hardware becomes cloud?
If so, midrange will be the new premium. Cloud can get fucked.
If so, midrange will be the new premium. Cloud can get fucked.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
Well, thats the irony of "cloud"..
If you are "rich", you got the money to be "enthusiast"; you will have a "PC Master Race" anyway. If you are "poor" you ain't gonna have the most expensive Internet plan anyway.
If you are "rich", you got the money to be "enthusiast"; you will have a "PC Master Race" anyway. If you are "poor" you ain't gonna have the most expensive Internet plan anyway.
ReasonBeing
Member
I'm ok with mid-range
simpatico
Gold Member
I will play the games that make me open my wallet. I stopped preemptively opening my wallet for these goons years ago already. I think back to when I used to enthusiast cards, and I didn't have to force myself to buy those. I was fiending for those things like crack. It took my until just a year ago to upgrade from my 1080 just because there wasn't a game pulling me to Micro Center.
CentralScrutinizer
Member
I have a dirty secret for you that people refuse to believe on this forum.
Consoles (PS5 and XSX) ARE mid-range hardware. Nintendo is low end. High end PC is high end.
If the scenario was you either buy a console or subscribe to a cloud based high end PC, I'll choose console every day of the week.
Consoles (PS5 and XSX) ARE mid-range hardware. Nintendo is low end. High end PC is high end.
If the scenario was you either buy a console or subscribe to a cloud based high end PC, I'll choose console every day of the week.
uncreativename
Neo Member
I'll take hardware and games that go back in time technology-wise if that's what's affordable for most people. I'll never cloud game lol
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rm082e
Gold Member
We all have significant backlogs at this point. We can just wait a while longer and work on our backlogs and wishlists. It's not like we have to have the latest and greatest kit to play most games.
We can also focus on upgrading peripherals. I just spent my upgrade fund getting a new QD OLED monitor. RAM and GPUs may be expensive, but the monitor I was eyeing for years has come down in price.
We can also focus on upgrading peripherals. I just spent my upgrade fund getting a new QD OLED monitor. RAM and GPUs may be expensive, but the monitor I was eyeing for years has come down in price.
GHG
Member
He said PC gamers, not whatever the hell you are.
The Cockatrice
I'm retarded?
Midrange hardware is already and always has been dominating PC market my guy. Cloud will never surpass it. Dont compare gaf's elites with the average consumer. Steam hardware survey speaks for itself.
Fess
Member
Are you thinking about data caps? There is no expensive internet plan needed where I live, unlimited data and 100/100 is cheap.
Problem with cloud for me is that it can't scale to deal with popular game releases. I used GeForce Now during Cyberpunk launch but the queue times were insane and GFN is still fairly small. If millions jump in it'll crumble and become unusable.
Anyway OP I don't think it will end up like that in another decade or two. And at that point I'm probably too old to see any details anyway so can just keep playing on what I already have.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
Both: to have "unlimited data caps"/ and the fastest internet is way too expensive, and it really doesn't make sense for the average user/household either.
P:axMagellanic
Member
I ain't throwing my hard earned money after complete shite. It's just not happening.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
I think people need to wrap their heads around thinking of this temporary halt in advancement as a great opportunity to continue to optimize for the HW we have and may have in a year or 2.
I don't like how prices are shooting up like a Viagra Hot Cheeto bender but I'm grateful we have good spec hardware which can hopefully be catered to longer now that we have the current climate.
That's my glass half full take.
I don't like how prices are shooting up like a Viagra Hot Cheeto bender but I'm grateful we have good spec hardware which can hopefully be catered to longer now that we have the current climate.
That's my glass half full take.
Hohenheim
Member
If someday, for some sick reason the only option to get premium performance would be cloud subscriptions, I'd much rather downgrade to a then mid-range setup without the latency (when the time comes to upgrade my current rigs).
But I don't think that will be a scenario. And the cloud gaming subscriptions will more likely target the mid range, leaving the high end to the few who wants to buy overpriced hardware instead of overpriced, shitty cloud services.
But I don't think that will be a scenario. And the cloud gaming subscriptions will more likely target the mid range, leaving the high end to the few who wants to buy overpriced hardware instead of overpriced, shitty cloud services.
Guardian Monkey
Member
What's the difference between mid-range and high-end? Because as far as graphics go we are well past diminishing returns as is. There would have to be something new that is interconnected with AI and physics that we haven't seen. Right now everything is just a graphics upgrade, there isn't anything this gen that couldn't not be made for last gen systems minus some graphical downgrades.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
If I had to (meaning I couldn't just plunk down an outrageous amount for something high-end), I'd still go mid-range local machine over cloud. Even if it's theoretically higher fidelity, the actual experience is still going to be substandard. Similar to how I'd generally prefer a standard blu-ray over a 4K Netflix stream, and that's nowhere near as onerous of a proposition as cloud gaming.
Never? No. These companies are 100% slowly moving to a reliance on AI. Either the models won't be feasible for consumer hardware or more likely highly protected code/models that they want people nowhere near (possibly mandated by governments). Meaning they will provide you the streaming image and not much else.
Lots of families have 500Mbps plans but won't necessarily want to spend $2k on a gaming PC.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
The Internet has become a necessity. At this point, you could own a high-end PC, but without Internet access, you could not even download a game, much less stream one.
And you might find this shocking, but the vast majority of "gaming PCs" are, at best, mid-range systems. They are labeled as gaming PCs simply because they happen to be capable of running games. In other words, many of these users own a PC primarily for work/school. Otherwise: gaming consoles. And by default, smartphones, which have also become a necessity. A $150 smarphone is perfectly capable of running the most popular mobile games
memoryman3
Member
These would all be high end cards.
8070tis would be closer to $1500 than $500.
Durin
Member
I know hardware pushing is part of PC, but the platform's biggest benefits are versatility/customization...and the vast majority on PC already just buy budget to mid-tier hardware anyway.
I'm not gonna give up all that openness to settle for some minor hardware gains during a time when graphic improvements are stagnating, and AAA game quality averages are down.
Not to mention renting your hardware from a corpo will get you an enshittified service over time, and they'll raise the prices just like every streaming service already has.
I'm not gonna give up all that openness to settle for some minor hardware gains during a time when graphic improvements are stagnating, and AAA game quality averages are down.
Not to mention renting your hardware from a corpo will get you an enshittified service over time, and they'll raise the prices just like every streaming service already has.
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Raytracing, other graphics, RAM for world size.
I would choose the midrange local hardware still no doubt.
ZehDon
Gold Member
It'll probably go the other way, frankly.
Data centres won't waste cooling, power, and space on high end gaming hardware when they can charge the same for upper-mid range and most gamers won't notice the difference once it's crushed to shit before being streamed to your PC at 1440p. The idea that somehow service providers are going to be able to give RTX5090s to everyone for a few bucks a month is the same idea Microsoft floated with Game Pass before they eventually broke their promises and changed the service.
Local compute will likely be the place high-end hardware lives, and it'll cost five times what it costs today. State of the art real-time is going to be for the wealthiest in the not-so-distant future.
Data centres won't waste cooling, power, and space on high end gaming hardware when they can charge the same for upper-mid range and most gamers won't notice the difference once it's crushed to shit before being streamed to your PC at 1440p. The idea that somehow service providers are going to be able to give RTX5090s to everyone for a few bucks a month is the same idea Microsoft floated with Game Pass before they eventually broke their promises and changed the service.
Local compute will likely be the place high-end hardware lives, and it'll cost five times what it costs today. State of the art real-time is going to be for the wealthiest in the not-so-distant future.
Wildebeest
Member
Fools are going to selling kidneys to stream games at 4k using the latest graphics cards and will pretend not to notice all the compression and latency. Just like they pretend to not notice the flaws in all the half baked "premium" graphics techniques.
WhamBamThankYouMaam
Member
Cloud will forever be the peons choice for me. I know there are people who swear the added latency means nothing, who says the graphics are good etc, but it will never be equal to a good rig and direct connection.
People that say this is the shit are the same people that claim the human can't see above xxyy fps etc.
People that say this is the shit are the same people that claim the human can't see above xxyy fps etc.
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dgproject
Neo Member
It's hard to achieve,
Netflix and Spotify are already the market leaders for quite a while, far above the non-cloud counterparts,
and yet they didn't increase quality (resolution, bit rate, sound, etc) compared to the past non-cloud version.
Perhaps running a powerful server is highly expensive, not to mention the need of energies; I don't think it's economical to just cater to premium subscribers, they need economies of scale.
Netflix and Spotify are already the market leaders for quite a while, far above the non-cloud counterparts,
and yet they didn't increase quality (resolution, bit rate, sound, etc) compared to the past non-cloud version.
Perhaps running a powerful server is highly expensive, not to mention the need of energies; I don't think it's economical to just cater to premium subscribers, they need economies of scale.
Was there a discussion about affordability of smartphones and consoles that I missed?
High end will definitely always exist just at an ever increasing cost it seems. Even right now though GFN cloud has 5080 hardware when most on the steam surveys run mid range 3060/4060 gpus.
I would say midrange has already become consumer and cloud premium in terms of hardware specs but I would say in terms of experience cloud sucks still in comparison.
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KungFucius
King Snowflake
There are always going to be people who get shit latency. These companies are out to make money and to do that they marginalize customers who bring in marginal value. Anyone at the furthest distance from a server due to geography or just population are not going to get a good experience.
I live in a relatively dense area of MD between Baltimore and Annapolis, but its on one of the many peninsulas straddling the Chesapeake bay. We get the worst wireless and are at the end of any cables. It doesn't matter how many houses there are, the network infrastructure is going to always be just good enough. Streaming for Xbox cloud is fucking terrible. I can't imagine how bad it is in the Midwest on the outskirts of the major cities or in the Mountains in New England or the Rockies. Even if people live in a good area, they won't be able to game on vacation.
Zathalus
Member
I'm saying that mid range is more than sufficient for PC gaming. If mid range components ever become unaffordable than we face bigger problems than just PC gaming.
Little Mac
Member
Yeah but I don't think anybody said midrange will be unaffordable. I think they were saying lower spec midrange would be what is made available to consumers and the higher spec stuff would be cloud.
DeltaPolarBear
Member
"Cloud becomes premium" is stupid.
Cloud Premium is like renting a supercar. Expensive, and you get a horrible driving experience.
Enough with pushing cloud. It is NEVER the cheap option. Microsoft lied, they just want to make use of the cloud infrastructure they already built. Microsoft could never actually build enough servers to serve the mainstream, but they know that already. They just need enough idiots to believe it is cheaper to rent.
For that matter, do you know there are businesses that rent computers, fridges and sofas? The only reason you have never heard of them, is because it costs you more to rent than to actually buy, That only idiots who doesn't do math would choose rent.
People like Cormack12 are either mathematically illiterate or being paid to advertise Streaming. I am never sure which they are.