February 2025 PCG Article Discussion

[Colif]

The federal gov in the US doesn't have VAT taxes because it doesn't have a sales tax. A few individual states charge extra tax on tobacco, but that's about it. The situation as it stands in the US right now would make any attempt to bring on extra taxes disastrous. None of those politicians would ever be elected again.

But apparently most people don't care about tariffs, which basically have the same result.

I have my doubts that these tariffs will actually go into effect, though, because it could cause huge inflation. We have almost no chip production right now in the US, and just about everything has chips in it.

Trump just says crazy stuff to start conversations. I don't think he's really serious about a 2000 percent tariff. I'm guessing he wants a conversation with China.

Tariffs are a bargaining chip. I don't think it will negatively effect the population, a lot of it is scare tactics to make you think it will effect you. Bad news sells better than good.

I don't think we should be discussing politics, no one agrees. Its the best game not to play

 

[Pifanjr]

No, I am, too! This one has me confused. The first game was pretty fun (and plenty pretty) but hardly top notch. It's strange to me that it would have such good sales figures. This was a game that made it difficult to save the game and had a fairly complex melee combat system - it wasn't what I would expect most gamers to want.

Souls-likes also have complex melee combat and no ability to save whenever you want and those seem to be doing very well too

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

You don't need to spend a lot on a gpu. A 4050 is better than a 1060 and a 1060 is still a really good gpu at 1080p which I prefer as many games I play are only 1080p anyway. I rather not fuss with ever other game just to add a little better resolution that to me is not needed on a 28 inch monitor. When you scale up to a 65 inch tv and run 4k They actually are quit similar.

Besides, just think about any high end unbelievable graphics game that has ever been released and look at them today and you realize it was not all that great really. All these unbelievable eye candy games of today are going to be sub par in 10 years, so don't trick your self into some eye candy hype gold. It's not, and you'll see it's not, when you compare it too what ever is great eye candy in 2030 and you'll think how on earth did I think it was that great?

I'll be interested in seeing what the 5050s do, but there is also intells battle mage cards which are like 250-300 and are also really solid little cards. Raytracing is way over rated anyway..

I see it, especially if youre not looking to play the latest multiplatform AAA games you can get away with a lot less GPU. Its just that current budget CPUs are much closer to the top end for gaming than new budget GPUs are.

There isnt a desktop 4050, and probably wont be a 5050 but for 200 you can get a new Radeon RX 6600 which is about a 3060, 250 an Intel B580 or 300 an RTX 4060, probably a bit up and down from there depending on sales or exact model. Any one of those would probably be above minimums for AAA games for a few years.

 

[ZedClampet]

Steam now warns you if that early access game you're eyeing up has been abandoned by its devs

But there might be some kinks to work out.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[ZedClampet]

No, I am, too! This one has me confused. The first game was pretty fun (and plenty pretty) but hardly top notch. It's strange to me that it would have such good sales figures. This was a game that made it difficult to save the game and had a fairly complex melee combat system - it wasn't what I would expect most gamers to want.

Just a guess, but they did a bunch of video development diaries all through-out the development of the first one and had significant hype around it by the time it launched, but it still took about 6 months to hit 1 million sales. Plus, I think people liked the marketing that you weren't "the chosen one". Also, there aren't a lot of big RPG's like that: in first person, open world, etc. Seems it's also not unusual for the first sequel to be a big hit sales-wise. Happened with Sons of the Forest and a couple others like Dying Light 2, although Dying Light 2 didn't maintain that initial burst of sales very long. For some reason people didn't like it as much, though I loved it.

 

[ZedClampet]

Tariffs are a bargaining chip. I don't think it will negatively effect the population, a lot of it is scare tactics to make you think it will effect you. Bad news sells better than good.

I don't think we should be discussing politics, no one agrees. Its the best game not to play

I don't think discussing the impending 2000 percent increase in PC equipment in the US due to tariffs should be off-limits. No one even mentioned anything partisan.

 

[JCgames]

There isnt a desktop 4050, and probably wont be a 5050 but for 200 you can get a new Radeon RX 6600 which is about a 3060, 250 an Intel B580 or 300 an RTX 4060, probably a bit up and down from there depending on sales or exact model. Any one of those would probably be above minimums for AAA games for a few years.

Yes, any of those would work for a good long while.

I could swear I saw 4050s on something but maybe it was a lap top. Was 3050 the last desk top 50? I know there was a decent 1050 and i think 1650. Personally I wouldn't get a 50 series outside of a comp that someone just wants a minor vid upgrade on a prebuilt, but there are certainly sales and second hand that can get you a nice card new/used


I think for a budget system of today I would just save a bit more and get a 40/5060, or I'd scour for a used or deep sale on something older then save for something good down the road and spread out the cost of the build. Unless there was a cheap amd card I could get for like 125. I have a 360 someone gave me for 25 and it's not too bad as a 6 ywar ago budget card, not sure if the 560 is still holding out I know that series could be found cheap

Right now I'm pushing a 1060 and it's still holding strong, and I can still over clock my cpu (turbo tweak) andget a few more fps in outlaws and dragon age 4. I wonder if it's going to hold out till the 60 series drops? That would be pretty awesome!

 

[BeardyHat]

No, I am, too! This one has me confused. The first game was pretty fun (and plenty pretty) but hardly top notch. It's strange to me that it would have such good sales figures. This was a game that made it difficult to save the game and had a fairly complex melee combat system - it wasn't what I would expect most gamers to want.

I feel like hype is a big thing here. Not sure what it is compared to 2017, but every new game seems to be hyped to hell, bought up, barely played and then forgotten. Look at the big releases last year, I have several friends who bought into the hype of stuff like Black Myth Wukong, Dragons Dogma 2, etc, played it for less than 10 hours and then moved on.

Personally, I am quite hyped for it, but I adore the first game and intend to play the hell out of this one, when I can finally afford it.

I see it, especially if youre not looking to play the latest multiplatform AAA games you can get away with a lot less GPU. Its just that current budget CPUs are much closer to the top end for gaming than new budget GPUs are.

There isnt a desktop 4050, and probably wont be a 5050 but for 200 you can get a new Radeon RX 6600 which is about a 3060, 250 an Intel B580 or 300 an RTX 4060, probably a bit up and down from there depending on sales or exact model. Any one of those would probably be above minimums for AAA games for a few years.

Used GPUs are where it's at. I bought my 6650XT late last year for $190. Been looking at 3070s recently too and many can be had for less than $300.

But none of my machines are top spec and even the one attached to a 4k TV only plays stuff at 1080p usually.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Used GPUs are where it's at. I night my 6650XT late last year for $190. Been looking at 3070s recently too and many can be had for less than $300.

But none of my machines are top spec and even the one attached to a 4k TV only plays stuff at 1080p usually.

Used is fine if you have a bit of knowledge already and can accept a bit of risk, but I'm always a bit wary of recommending used to random people. If someone is looking at a lower end model then theres a good chance they cant afford to just get another one if its a dud or blows up after a short while. GPUs usually have a 3 year warranty which doesnt inspire huge confidence, and a lot of people abuse them even if they only do it without realizing it.

 

[Pifanjr]

Steam now warns you if that early access game you're eyeing up has been abandoned by its devs

But there might be some kinks to work out.

www.pcgamer.com

I happened to stumble upon a Steam game in early access with the warning that it hadn't been updated in 20 months. I hadn't seen that before, but then I tend to ignore early access games most of the time, so I didn't realise it was this new.

 

[BeardyHat]

Used is fine if you have a bit of knowledge already and can accept a bit of risk, but I'm always a bit wary of recommending used to random people. If someone is looking at a lower end model then theres a good chance they cant afford to just get another one if its a dud or blows up after a short while. GPUs usually have a 3 year warranty which doesnt inspire huge confidence, and a lot of people abuse them even if they only do it without realizing it.

Yeah, fair enough. I guess I'm not generally scared of used stuff because I usually have good experiences and even when I don't, I'm well versed in how to fix the issue.