When I first started getting into the hardware world, graphics cards had, at best, a single slot heatsink with two fans. Now we have coolers with three or four PCI slots with three fans or even some models with four. I even remember my Gigabyte GTX 770 Windforce3X with blue LEDs it was funny and now to look at the graphics card you have to wear sunglasses.
Please graphics card makers stop adding stuff to it
Undoubtedly the product for which worse the years pass it’s for graphics cards. You have significantly increased their volume and, consequently, their weight. Admittedly, this increase implies more power, beware, even without so much power and with better game optimizations, one could live.
Already in case graphics cards have become a luxury item, with unrealistic prices. But it is that he the problem is accentuated with the additions of manufacturer customizations graphics cards. By making eye-catching products, what is achieved is make the final product more and more expensive, making it inaccessible to many users.
We started the thing with a bit of RGB and now the the amount of RGB in a graphics card is mind-boggling. Later some models to have large heatsinks, they started adding the backplate. This element has been designed to prevent the graphics card from bending and to improve cooling, something unrealistic, since the one that suffers the most from the weight is the PCIe port. In the end, it is very rare to see a graphics card devoid of this element.
The extravagance that comes are the LCD screens integrated into the graphics card. If I remember correctly, the first to set it up was KFA2 (Galaxy) like GTX 1080 Ti HoF. So it was a simple colorless digital display that showed frequency and temperature (and I can think of little else). Now LCD screens are added that allow customization and a thousand other stories, what for?
A whole set of elements that only serve to make more expensive, already in itself (sorry if I repeat myself) expensive graphics cards. As I’ve seen before, what starts for very high-end models eventually expands to high-end and mid-range.
If you’re poor, play on consoles or in the cloud
I believe we need to start thinking deeply about where we are headed. It makes no sense that entry-level graphics cards are priced at 300 dollars, at least. It’s starting to look like a way to exclude certain users from the PC gaming segment and send them to play on consoles or in the cloud.
I like to play on PC, the last console I had was the first PlayStation and since then I’ve only played on PC. But I have the impression that we are heading towards a market where if you don’t have 2000-3000 dollars to build a gaming computer, you don’t have your place. They throw you headlong into buying a PS5 or Xbox Series X or using services like GeForce Now.
I want to clarify that I have nothing against consoles and those who play them, it’s as legal as playing on PC. Everyone has their preferences and I understand anyone who says they play on a console because they can’t afford to spend a lot of money on a computer to play a decent game.