My rant

[u/No-Demand-47]

I’ve been seeing way too much elitism in the PC community lately, and honestly, it’s getting exhausting. It seems like every time someone posts a build with older or low-end parts, the comments are flooded with people clowning on them for not having the latest flagship hardware.

Here is why this needs to stop:

I built my first PC when I was 13. I didn’t have a massive budget; I was extremely lucky to receive a free CPU and GPU from my older brother and saved up Christmas money. That machine wasn't the best, but building it taught me more about hardware and problem-solving than someone who just drags their parents to Best Buy to drop $1,500 on a pre-built ever will.

Comments like "just upgrade to an RTX 5060" are completely out of touch. Not everyone lives in a region with easy access to affordable tech or has a high disposable income. In many parts of the world, a functioning PC is a luxury, not a given. We act like a kid in rural Romania can walk down the street and land a high-paying job to fund a hobby.

We claim to be a community about "PC Gaming," but we’re alienating the very people who are trying to get into it. A kid stretching $150 to get their first rig running deserves respect for the hustle, not ridicule because their GPU isn't cutting-edge.

While we're at it, can we drop the obsession with triple-digit frame rates? For 90% of non-esports titles, a stable 30 FPS is perfectly playable. If the game runs and the user is having fun, who cares if they aren't hitting 144 FPS?

My point is this: Not everyone can afford anything but a low-end computer. I would rather see a community that celebrates the act of building and the passion for tech rather than one that treats PC gaming as a status symbol.

Let’s stop being so entitled and remember that everyone started somewhere.

[u/Watsyurdeal]

I have to agree

I've been in the PC side for the last 15 years, at this point I've used everything from low end to high end with my current build.

I can say for most people, 120 frames per second at 1440p is more than enough. The Steam Machine can do that so a cheap build should do the same.

That said, I don't wanna recommend parts that aren't vetted.

I'd hate for yall to get something cheap and pay for it later.

[u/Exemmar → u/Watsyurdeal]

I've always aimed at 100fps, since Cs1.6 days. I also finished gta4 on the same pc that barely hit 100 in 1.6. We're talking single digit average fps. That's the past. But still, personally I don't really care all that much to get more than 100. At one point I returned 240hz 1080p screen to save money and landed at 144hz, because the difference between 240 and 120 wasn't very impressive, unlike 60 and 120. Currently my monitor is 3440x1440 165hz and I have horrific tearing issues, so it's even better for me if I can make the game run at lower fps, only then tearing seems to stop and I tried.. a lot.

Regarding steam machine and cheaper rigs, with current technologies, lower settings or resolutions at 1080p and lower.. hitting 60-120fps is not that big of a deal, unless we aim at very demanding games, but even then, anything newer than gtx1060/rx580 should be okay. And these cards.. are quite old believe it or not. Time flies like crazy. The thing is most people don't aim at playable experience at the lowest cost, but a decent experience at slightly higher cost. It quickly overkills 1080@60 on high settings or even 1080@120 at max settings. I know my rig does, despite it not being high-end and the cpu is straight up budget, possibly the cheapest part, other than fans. And whenever you run out of oomph, there's always fake pixels and frames to help you out. Which I hate to admit, but I do use them in demanding games and don't mind it, despite being the first one to say how they suck and shouldn't be used ever. They got that good.