Why is everything so cheap?

Now I don't usually follow PC hardware news at all, but just browsing around it seems that things have gotten much cheaper (correct me if I'm wrong about this). I'm hearing people saying that they're buying computers that can play Crysis maxed out for only $500-$700 (excluding things like monitor, KBM, and OS).

Has the technology gotten cheaper, or did this only start to happen after the economy began to tank?

Should I buy a computer while the economy is still hurting, or has the technology just become cheaper to create?

Also, does anyone have any good sites that clearly explain what the technical information actually means. Now, I can usually look at a specs list and make out whether or not I'm looking at a good machine. But I don't really understand everything completely. I just have a very basic understand of what cards are popular, and what numbers = good. A hardware site that talks about the newest cards and has some clear guides on what everything means would really help me in the future when I decide to upgrade.

really its all depending on if you want to make the change now if you feel its not necissary dont bother period. if you want a technical spec breakdown all you had to do was ASK PEOPLE WILL HELP YOU OUT :) we all arent a bunch of 15year old who hate their PC is if it cant run crysis farcry2 or gta4 on high res. imo i could price you out a PC that could run the latest of games just find while leaving room for some expansion. all withint a range of $400+ canadian.

Thanks for the responses, I guess I'm not just going crazy. It seems like companies have put more emphasis on budget cards that help to increase their consumer bases. Which probably means more PC gamers which probably means even more sales.

Core i7 cpu's are still not really cheap, neither are the boards.

Core 2 stuff has been around a while and so it has dropped in price, as for crysis.. you need at least a gtx 260 or even 280 to play that decently.

Crysis is 1.5 years old. The high-end hardware required to run the game back then is no longer high-end and a lot cheaper now. New hardware costs about as much as it did back then.

Crysis is 1.5 years old. The high-end hardware required to run the game back then is no longer high-end and a lot cheaper now. New hardware costs about as much as it did back then.

Gog

I guess that's true. But isn't Crysis still about as demanding as the games that are being released this generation, or am I mistaken?

[QUOTE="Gog"]

Crysis is 1.5 years old. The high-end hardware required to run the game back then is no longer high-end and a lot cheaper now. New hardware costs about as much as it did back then.

RearNakedChoke

I guess that's true. But isn't Crysis still about as demanding as the games that are being released this generation, or am I mistaken?

[QUOTE="RearNakedChoke"]

[QUOTE="Gog"]

Crysis is 1.5 years old. The high-end hardware required to run the game back then is no longer high-end and a lot cheaper now. New hardware costs about as much as it did back then.

General_X

I guess that's true. But isn't Crysis still about as demanding as the games that are being released this generation, or am I mistaken?

Now I don't usually follow PC hardware news at all, but just browsing around it seems that things have gotten much cheaper (correct me if I'm wrong about this). I'm hearing people saying that they're buying computers that can play Crysis maxed out for only $500-$700 (excluding things like monitor, KBM, and OS).

Has the technology gotten cheaper, or did this only start to happen after the economy began to tank?

Should I buy a computer while the economy is still hurting, or has the technology just become cheaper to create?

Also, does anyone have any good sites that clearly explain what the technical information actually means. Now, I can usually look at a specs list and make out whether or not I'm looking at a good machine. But I don't really understand everything completely. I just have a very basic understand of what cards are popular, and what numbers = good. A hardware site that talks about the newest cards and has some clear guides on what everything means would really help me in the future when I decide to upgrade.

RearNakedChoke

Core i7 cpu's are still not really cheap, neither are the boards.

Core 2 stuff has been around a while and so it has dropped in price, as for crysis.. you need at least a gtx 260 or even 280 to play that decently.

perfect_chao

I run crysis with a 9800gtx decently.... so no.

I just spent 500 bucks on a video card lol i wouldnt say everything is cheap.

Now I don't usually follow PC hardware news at all, but just browsing around it seems that things have gotten much cheaper (correct me if I'm wrong about this). I'm hearing people saying that they're buying computers that can play Crysis maxed out for only $500-$700 (excluding things like monitor, KBM, and OS).

Has the technology gotten cheaper, or did this only start to happen after the economy began to tank?

Should I buy a computer while the economy is still hurting, or has the technology just become cheaper to create?

Also, does anyone have any good sites that clearly explain what the technical information actually means. Now, I can usually look at a specs list and make out whether or not I'm looking at a good machine. But I don't really understand everything completely. I just have a very basic understand of what cards are popular, and what numbers = good. A hardware site that talks about the newest cards and has some clear guides on what everything means would really help me in the future when I decide to upgrade.

RearNakedChoke

[QUOTE="RearNakedChoke"]

Now I don't usually follow PC hardware news at all, but just browsing around it seems that things have gotten much cheaper (correct me if I'm wrong about this). I'm hearing people saying that they're buying computers that can play Crysis maxed out for only $500-$700 (excluding things like monitor, KBM, and OS).

Has the technology gotten cheaper, or did this only start to happen after the economy began to tank?

Should I buy a computer while the economy is still hurting, or has the technology just become cheaper to create?

Also, does anyone have any good sites that clearly explain what the technical information actually means. Now, I can usually look at a specs list and make out whether or not I'm looking at a good machine. But I don't really understand everything completely. I just have a very basic understand of what cards are popular, and what numbers = good. A hardware site that talks about the newest cards and has some clear guides on what everything means would really help me in the future when I decide to upgrade.

Tyson8earzz

Here is where I originally saw someone claim that they could run Crysis for that cheap. He's got everything maxed at 1680X1050 for $577.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv9d9EyysQ0&feature=related

I've heard a few people on this forum say that it could be done as well. I am out of touch with PC hardware right now though.

[QUOTE="perfect_chao"]

Core i7 cpu's are still not really cheap, neither are the boards.

Core 2 stuff has been around a while and so it has dropped in price, as for crysis.. you need at least a gtx 260 or even 280 to play that decently.

goleafsguy

I run crysis with a 9800gtx decently.... so no.

Ditto on a 9800GT :P

[QUOTE="RearNakedChoke"]

Now I don't usually follow PC hardware news at all, but just browsing around it seems that things have gotten much cheaper (correct me if I'm wrong about this). I'm hearing people saying that they're buying computers that can play Crysis maxed out for only $500-$700 (excluding things like monitor, KBM, and OS).

Has the technology gotten cheaper, or did this only start to happen after the economy began to tank?

Should I buy a computer while the economy is still hurting, or has the technology just become cheaper to create?

Also, does anyone have any good sites that clearly explain what the technical information actually means. Now, I can usually look at a specs list and make out whether or not I'm looking at a good machine. But I don't really understand everything completely. I just have a very basic understand of what cards are popular, and what numbers = good. A hardware site that talks about the newest cards and has some clear guides on what everything means would really help me in the future when I decide to upgrade.

Tyson8earzz

You can't max Crysis on a 22" monitor? :shock:

[QUOTE="Tyson8earzz"][QUOTE="RearNakedChoke"]

Now I don't usually follow PC hardware news at all, but just browsing around it seems that things have gotten much cheaper (correct me if I'm wrong about this). I'm hearing people saying that they're buying computers that can play Crysis maxed out for only $500-$700 (excluding things like monitor, KBM, and OS).

Has the technology gotten cheaper, or did this only start to happen after the economy began to tank?

Should I buy a computer while the economy is still hurting, or has the technology just become cheaper to create?

Also, does anyone have any good sites that clearly explain what the technical information actually means. Now, I can usually look at a specs list and make out whether or not I'm looking at a good machine. But I don't really understand everything completely. I just have a very basic understand of what cards are popular, and what numbers = good. A hardware site that talks about the newest cards and has some clear guides on what everything means would really help me in the future when I decide to upgrade.

RearNakedChoke

Here is where I originally saw someone claim that they could run Crysis for that cheap. He's got everything maxed at 1680X1050 for $577.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv9d9EyysQ0&feature=related

I've heard a few people on this forum say that it could be done as well. I am out of touch with PC hardware right now though.

[QUOTE="RearNakedChoke"]

[QUOTE="Tyson8earzz"] Show me a complete system for $500-700 that can max out Crysis to the absolute fullest. Have you ever played this game before? Now my system isnt state of the art (see sig) but i can still play crysis on High but not ultra maxed on everything and the GTX295 still cost aprox $499 or so... thats just ONE componant in the system. So either you have your numbers mixed up or you live in a dream world with very high expectations of what current hardware can do. I do agree that in general, things like system ram and harddrives have gotten significantly cheaper, infact so much that you can afford to max out the ram on your mobo ect. But to get Crysis to run full max on any high end system, you either will have an i7/mobo/6gb ram combo +gtx295 (or any other variant in SLI) then maybe, just maybe you will have everything maxed in crysis. Check the price tag on your rig, when you achieve that feat... it will not be $500-700 bucks.Tyson8earzz

Here is where I originally saw someone claim that they could run Crysis for that cheap. He's got everything maxed at 1680X1050 for $577.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv9d9EyysQ0&feature=related

I've heard a few people on this forum say that it could be done as well. I am out of touch with PC hardware right now though.

I misread his comments, and I've only played Crysis briefly so I don't recognize the options menu layout. It doesn't really matter though, because I intend to spend closer to $800 excluding a monitor, XP, add-on fan, and perhaps PSU (which brings me to ask, is 560 Watts really going to cut it if I pickup some mid-range hardware? I have a feeling that the answer is no).

That video is a year old as well, so that price for those parts is higher than it would be now.

Dont worry buddy, trust me, 560 W will be fine, we just need to know the maker and how many A on the 12V rail.

And tell us ur monitor resolution. And thenn, we can put together a system (if you'd like) that can max crysis.

Dont worry buddy, trust me, 560 W will be fine, we just need to know the maker and how many A on the 12V rail.

And tell us ur monitor resolution. And thenn, we can put together a system (if you'd like) that can max crysis.

Tagerh

That would be great! It's a Thermaltake Purepower 560W, I have no idea about the amperage and I suspect you said that 12V rail bit just to confuse me. :lol:

http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/other_misc/Tt_Purepower_560w/index.html

I kind of thought that 560W would cut it, but I was also thinking about whether that would be enough if I was to stick a second GPU in (or/and CPU) 10 or 12 months down the road to increase the pc's lifespan.

My monitors resolution is 1680X1050.

sli/crossfire is still pretty much pointless at this point. when you need extra bunch your better off just selling and getting another decent card. as an example it took THREE 4870's 1gb each, and that still wasn't as good as one powerful card. the point is sli/crossfire does not use the full potential of the cards power. a rough guessamit is each card after the first only nets 50% of the cards potential, and im guess thats being nice about itmachiavell8x8

Really. I knew that you didn't get the full power of the second card, but I didn't realize you got that little. So is SLI only worth it if you buy two cards at once, or just never really worth it at all?

its never really worth it because 2 cards cost more than one expensive one, and in the benchmarks ive seen the expensive one has better performance. really the only time i could see sli or crossfire being useful is to buy a midrange card today, and then when your starting to see lag....maybe a second card would be really cheap by then and get you by for another year maybemachiavell8x8

Thanks, that's kind of what I had in mind. In fact when I purchased my current computer and threw in a 7800GTX, I intended to buy a second 7800 because my mobo was SLI compatible. But I never got around to it, so perhaps single cards are the way to go.