Are we seeing the beginning of the end of PC

[Jaymoss]

Today we see the launch of the Valve Steam Machine and it has basically priced its way out of the market. The reason for this is RAM costs that have exploded all due to AI and AI is growing at an exponential rate . The companies getting priority is Nvidia Open AI and other hyperscale data centres

as someone who has been a system builder since 2000 I have seen spikes in sales drops in sales now to it is very rare I build a machine for anyone other than myself and I do not get the repairs in any more because almost everyone is on some sort of mobile device instead. For now I think there will be the hard core gamer but with AI only getting bigger and console gaming as well as cloud gaming I think PC is in real trouble.

GamersNexus on youtube has a few videos on all these subjects if it interests anyone

[Carth]

I used to build (and upgrade) my own PC too, as do probably many others.
I've done no upgrades for a few years now . . and by upgrades I mean small jumps not massive performance hikes.

My GFX is still a crappy 750Ti on a B550 Gen 3 mobo with a Ryzen 5 5500 CPU and 16 Gig of DDR4.
It works, it plays some games. It won't play the games I'd like to play, even if I could afford the damn games.

Prices have left me behind, I could go second hand but don't want to go down that rabbit hole. I keep considering a PS5 for the gaming but probably couldn't handle using a controller . . and again the price of games is crippling.

I may change my name to Dude 2

[thenry]

Long live an office desktop

I tried farming simulator on my Zephyrus but I couldn't remember all the keys

[Jaymoss]

Originally Posted by Carth

I may change my name to Dude 2

you are years away from being dude 2 haha

next xbox is going to run windows and should work with keyboard and mouse which could be another nail it PCs coffin

[Carth]

Big no no to an Xbox, Microsoft can take a hike on that.

Do you think the huge rise in E-Sports also has an effect on the price of components and the push for bigger, better, faster and more expensive?

Those that play must be loaded . . or heavily sponsored

Originally Posted by Carth

Big no no to an Xbox, Microsoft can take a hike on that.

Do you think the huge rise in E-Sports also has an effect on the price of components and the push for bigger, better, faster and more expensive?

Those that play must be loaded . . or heavily sponsored

No, it's nearly all down to the AI companies pre-buying up all the memory (including SSD drives).

Originally Posted by Jaymoss

Today we see the launch of the Valve Steam Machine and it has basically priced its way out of the market. The reason for this is RAM costs that have exploded all due to AI and AI is growing at an exponential rate . The companies getting priority is Nvidia Open AI and other hyperscale data centres

as someone who has been a system builder since 2000 I have seen spikes in sales drops in sales now to it is very rare I build a machine for anyone other than myself and I do not get the repairs in any more because almost everyone is on some sort of mobile device instead. For now I think there will be the hard core gamer but with AI only getting bigger and console gaming as well as cloud gaming I think PC is in real trouble.

GamersNexus on youtube has a few videos on all these subjects if it interests anyone

Not just PC - my older 2 kids both got MacBooks for uni but the third preferred an iPad with keyboard. The form factor (a notepad she can read scripts or music from) is of more utility to her than a general purpose computer.

For myself, I still own a very old MacMini and an even older iMac but I’ve not powered either of them up in over a year. I use an iPad Pro day to day and it does more than what I need. Plus, like offspring no.3, what I substantially use it for is a replacement for printed paper, in my case from a lectern.

I used to tell myself I’d buy a new Mac of some description when I knew I needed it, but I’m wondering now if I ever will.

[Taf]

I remember work going ahead with a WinChip loaded with Windows that had a processor, RAM, video and sound all in one chip, with all the connectors for all peripheral devices and internet. And a simple PSU and HD all on a tiny mobo. Then it vanished.