"With millions of workers and students forced to stay home owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, sales of personal computers shot to their highest level in six years. Sales of laptop and desktop computers exceeded 302 million in 2020, a 13% increase from the year before and the most since 2014, according to market tracker International Data Corp. Chinese tech giant Lenovo led the market with a 24% share, followed by American sellers HP and Dell. Apple ranked fourth. That prompted a wave of PC buying, from the most expensive laptops to the least expensive Chromebooks. Some PC makers suffered shortages of key parts, particularly processor chips, as factories in Asia also shut down owing to the pandemic, or sales might have been even stronger. But analysts said the shortages should be resolved this year." It's clearly bad news for the gaming industry about the sudden increase in demand for computer parts and accessories that lead to price hikes because of this pandemic. Here's my silver lining, you now have the time to save more than ever to get an even better build than you would have before. Keep putting your money aside for your build and instead of the part you want, you might be able to get the next level up. Get you a fancy 2k 144hz monitor. Get yourself a comfy chair! Or a nice table! Now is the time to save my friends. It sucks but there's always a positive side to all of this. How about you, did you get anxious deciding on buying that pricey videocard? When do you think these absurd price tags go back to normal? Your thoughts.
This is the new normal ... way north of £500 for mid-range. Until people stop paying the prices, that's where they'll stay. Now of course, there seems to be a little crypto surge every time new cards come out, so miners also want them. Agree with you that upgrading such things as chair/desk and peripherals can make a huge difference to the whole "PC" experience. Hell, sometimes it can make for more enjoyment than 16% better FPS from a new graphics card. It really sucks for people that last bought 10-series or older Radeon cards and have held off upgrading until there was a big old performance jump though.
This is supposed to be the normal method of upgrading. Generational improvements is generally 30-40%, it's best to wait until at least 60% to really make it worthwhile. Unfortunately I agree that £500 mid-range will be the norm. I bought GTX 970 4GB for less than £250, then a few years later, a 2070 Super is £500. Now the standard 3070 is north of £500. On the bright side, it is possible to claw back a bit of the cost by mining. I've clawed back a bit over half of the £510 2080 Ti I bought last September.
2080ti for £510... those jumping on that new card band wagon must be kicking themselves.. second hand 2080tis have been north of £1k for a good chunk of the last year!
There was a short period of panic selling before 3000 actually came out, after nVidia did their presentation saying 3070 for £500 at 2080 Ti speed. New generation doesn't feel like a generational jump. 220W for 3070 8GB 256bit vs 250W on 2080 Ti 11GB 350 odd bits...... the 970 was 150W. So I second OP, if you can hold out, put the money into savings for the next generation. It will most definitely be better buy than buying a 1 year old card now.
Its lunacy. I managed quite happily on a GTX 950 @ 1440p for quite a while , granted was only for WOW classic and some CSGO .. but its was equally as enjoyable. Its the 6600XT that got me with prices . Tier 5 card with a 128bit bus for £400 - £480. Tier FIVE. ok it performs ok . but what does the future hold if thats the normal for a card thats aimed at budget gaming. Im fortunate to be a member of this forum and Andrew above cut me a really sweet deal on a Titan Pascal.
Most reliable cards I have ever owned those Titans. OEM quality out strips third party it seems by some way. This new card has that same premium feel. A little like when you buy a Logitech folio for your iPad and then see the smart case by Apple and realise the Logitech is actually garbage ... Anyway back on point, 1080p for £400+ lmao... No.
I can't remember where, I've read/heard the theory that the prices are creeping upwards is because we no longer have SLI/crossfire to tempt big spenders. So previously was 500w 980 Ti SLI for £1500, it's now 500w 3090 at similar price. By that logic, 6800 or 3070 would be the previous top-end and 6600XT or 3060 could be considered mid-range........ But by the same logic, they haven't improved performance at each tier at all over the years.
