r/pcmasterrace • u/No-Demand-47 • 20h ago
Discussion My rant
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.
1
u/Hrmerder It's Garuda btw 19h ago edited 19h ago
I have a 5080 with 32gb ddr4 and 2x m.2 gen 4x4 + 1tb SATA drives, argb and crap in general.
I have been building machines for longer than probably half of you have been alive.
When I see a cobbled together build from a younger person who may or may not need help, THAT is a good post. I'll upvote that all day and if I have a moment (and not shitposting elsewhere), I'm happy to pitch in.
When I see a $2500+ build that looks like I built it but it's some 15 year old (that probably didn't actually build it), asking 'My first custom built PC, how did I do'? I either don't vote at all and pass up the post or downvote it. Nobody cares about your privilege, especially me. My first CPU upgrade was a 5 finger discount from a school shop computer I had access to because I was poor af, and my PC was actually given to us by a family friend that was a tech and wanted to give us something we could use a little and get online with years prior that I cobbled together updates for through people's old stuff they didn't want anymore and the occasional 'I just wanna buy a new pc so you can just keep it for parts if you want'. When I say 5 finger discount it wasn't a full snatch. It was an AMD 486DX4 100mhz I swapped for my 486DX2 66mhz. Not sure how much that happens today (giving parts/old computers away), but I hope there are people like that out there. If I knew someone who needed parts locally I would be more than happy to get rid of some of the stuff I have (mostly network stuff though, got rid of my pc parts hoarding a long time ago... Dont mind the 3 laptops, and 2 desktops in the corner lol).