… Component pricing is already under significant pressure , with DRAM costs climbing and GPU prices showing little sign of relief. With Zen 6 on the horizon, patience may be the more defensible position, particularly when competitive alternatives exist at substantially lower prices. …
… If there's anything such as a "healthy duopoly", then it certainly has its hallmarks too, which manifests in the form of a constant tug-of-war, wherein each player forces the other to sharpen its product, justify its pricing, and respond to competitive pressure. …
… The value proposition is there, the loyal fanbase is waiting, and the pricing might not be as big an issue as it seemed. …
… Faster RAM still matters for competitive gamers But then again, you're chasing a 5-10% improvement at best Competitive gaming at very high refresh rates is one area where faster RAM gets to truly shine, even if you have an X3D CPU. …
… The PS5 Pro has touched $900 already, so the Steam Machine arriving at around $1,000 won't be that far off from the new normal in terms of console pricing. …
… That said, if Nvidia gains traction with its high-end RTX Spark laptops, it could increase the pressure on Team Red. …
… The question worth asking, therefore, is whether AMD would have moved at all without that sustained pressure. …
… What exacerbates the problem further is that GPUs with higher VRAM configurations have been steadily sliding out of reach for many consumers month after month, given the pricing pressure owed primarily if not only to the DRAM crisis . …
… Mass-market ambitions, enthusiast-tier pricing? …
… Without the healthy competitive pressure from second-hand game stores and retail clearance bins, platform holders gain total monopolistic control over software pricing, locking baseline application costs to premium tiers without consumer recourse. …