Question Unpopular Opinion: The "PC Master Race" mindset is holding PC gaming back.

[sanil]

I'm going to say it: our obsession with pure specs and fps counts is making PC gaming a less fun, more toxic place.

We've turned games into spreadsheets. The conversation is dominated by "Can it run Crysis?" benchmarks and shaming anyone who dares to use Medium settings. We prioritize raw power over artistry, modding, niche genres, and the sheer joy of a game that runs well on a five-year-old GPU.
This constant one-upmanship:

• Scares away newcomers who think they need a $2000 rig just to start.
• Makes developers optimize for benchmark headlines rather than stable, creative experiences.
• Overshadows what makes PC gaming truly unique: customization, backwards compatibility, and a library no platform can match.

Am I wrong? Is the pursuit of ultimate performance the core of our identity, or have we lost the plot?

 

[Colif]

The pc master race mindset doesn't really exist here. No real elitism here... not in these forums.

Many of the regulars can't afford the best hardware. Many make do with what they can afford. Their PC isn't the only thing they have to spend money on...

this question better suited to the discord channel as I feel some there may be part of the PC master race mindset.

I would love a 5090 but in my country they cost $6000 which is close to the total amount I spent on my entire PC. I can't realistically justify spending that much of my money on part of PC (sure, I would spend someone else's money but no one is donating it)

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I'm going to say it: our obsession with pure specs and fps counts is making PC gaming a less fun, more toxic place.

We've turned games into spreadsheets. The conversation is dominated by "Can it run Crysis?" benchmarks and shaming anyone who dares to use Medium settings. We prioritize raw power over artistry, modding, niche genres, and the sheer joy of a game that runs well on a five-year-old GPU.
This constant one-upmanship:

• Scares away newcomers who think they need a $2000 rig just to start.
• Makes developers optimize for benchmark headlines rather than stable, creative experiences.
• Overshadows what makes PC gaming truly unique: customization, backwards compatibility, and a library no platform can match.

Am I wrong? Is the pursuit of ultimate performance the core of our identity, or have we lost the plot?

The couple of places I go to you dont see much of it, if any tbh.

 

[Zed Clampet]

I'm going to say it: our obsession with pure specs and fps counts is making PC gaming a less fun, more toxic place.

We've turned games into spreadsheets. The conversation is dominated by "Can it run Crysis?" benchmarks and shaming anyone who dares to use Medium settings. We prioritize raw power over artistry, modding, niche genres, and the sheer joy of a game that runs well on a five-year-old GPU.
This constant one-upmanship:

• Scares away newcomers who think they need a $2000 rig just to start.
• Makes developers optimize for benchmark headlines rather than stable, creative experiences.
• Overshadows what makes PC gaming truly unique: customization, backwards compatibility, and a library no platform can match.

Am I wrong? Is the pursuit of ultimate performance the core of our identity, or have we lost the plot?

Your idea makes sense, but if you look at the Steam hardware surveys, most people's PCs are very modest. That's not to say that there aren't people like you describe.

I very much agree with the sentiment of your post. You could be right. I'm just not sure of the impact this philosophy has. It's an interesting topic.

 

[BeardyHat]

The pc master race mindset doesn't really exist here. No real elitism here... not in these forums.

Many of the regulars can't afford the best hardware. Many make do with what they can afford. Their PC isn't the only thing they have to spend money on...

this question better suited to the discord channel as I feel some there may be part of the PC master race mindset.

I would love a 5090 but in my country they cost $6000 which is close to the total amount I spent on my entire PC. I can't realistically justify spending that much of my money on part of PC (sure, I would spend someone else's money but no one is donating it)

Colif pretty much hit it on the head here. We're not influencers here.

Your idea makes sense, but if you look at the Steam hardware surveys, most people's PCs are very modest. That's not to say that there aren't people like you describe.

I very much agree with the sentiment of your post. You could be right. I'm just not sure of the impact this philosophy has. It's an interesting topic.

I do think there's this general mindset in todays world due to influencer culture and I don't think it's limited to PC gaming either.

It's been awhile since I've been out in my Jeep (someday I'll finish the engine rebuild), but when my Jeep was on 29" tires (considered small in that world), I did some obstacles that I had guys in bigger rigs telling me not to go on unless I had at least 35's. For reference, I was on a Low-rated trail to simply do a shakedown run. The top end Jeep Wrangler Rubicon has 35s and is specifically tested on the Rubicon trail, one of the hardest trails in the US, so that might give you an idea of what we're looking at.

Anyway, it seems like this idea permeates a lot of the more popular spaces online, like Reddit, though even there there's different spaces like /r/lowendgaming and with the way things are in the world right now with RAM prices and general cost of living, seems like we're due to see a mindset shift to playing with what you've got. Even LTT, a popular voice in the space, has been advocating for using what you've got, because it's already likely pretty good.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PldqVePztM

 

[Zloth]

I haven't heard "PC Master Race" in... half a decade? Maybe more. Who are these people? It's kinda hard to argue for/against their points if I don't know what they are.

 

[Colif]

I haven't heard "PC Master Race" in... half a decade? Maybe more. Who are these people? It's kinda hard to argue for/against their points if I don't know what they are.

maybe the same people who play Crysis still as from what I can tell it was last released in 2021

Crysis Remastered Trilogy
Windows recommended requirements

OS: Windows 10 64 bit
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7600k or higher / AMD Ryzen 5 or higher
RAM: 12 GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 TI / AMD Radeon Vega 56
DX Version: DX 11
HDD: Game requires 20 GB of free space
Sound Card: DirectX compatible audio card

Those are hardly difficult specs to match.

Ryzen 5 is distinctly unspecific. Which one? Other sites show Ryzen 7 2700 which was released in... 2018

We prioritize raw power over artistry, modding, niche genres, and the sheer joy of a game that runs well on a five-year-old GPU.

GTX 1660 TI is a 7 year old GPU, and the AMD GPU is older still.

The entire argument probably shifted to can it run Cyberpunk 2077 with full path tracing at 4k as its the real new Crysis.. it feels like an old conversation.

Even LTT, a popular voice in the space, has been advocating for using what you've got, because it's already likely pretty good.

ltt is on both ends of the same spectrum, they will make videos like the one you listed and also

Throw silly amounts of money around.

 

[sanil]

You're absolutely right, and I think you've hit on the crucial point—this forum is a refuge from that mindset. The "master race" caricature is loud online, but it's not the reality for most people who just love games on their PC. The fact that folks here are practical, making things work within a budget, and prioritizing life over specs is exactly the spirit I was hoping to highlight. It's a much healthier and more welcoming way to enjoy the platform.

It makes me appreciate the PC space even more. The real "mastery" isn't about having the best card; it's about the freedom to make your setup, whatever it is, work for your games. Thanks for keeping it real.

The pc master race mindset doesn't really exist here. No real elitism here... not in these forums.

Many of the regulars can't afford the best hardware. Many make do with what they can afford. Their PC isn't the only thing they have to spend money on...

this question better suited to the discord channel as I feel some there may be part of the PC master race mindset.

I would love a 5090 but in my country they cost $6000 which is close to the total amount I spent on my entire PC. I can't realistically justify spending that much of my money on part of PC (sure, I would spend someone else's money but no one is donating it)

 

[sanil]

The couple of places I go to you dont see much of it, if any tbh.

That's a great point, and it's honestly reassuring to hear. I might be letting the loudest, most toxic corners of the internet shape my view. It's good to know there are still active communities where the conversation stays grounded in actually enjoying games.

Maybe the problem isn't the hobby itself, but where we choose to talk about it. If the places you frequent keep the focus on fun and games instead of spec-shaming, that's a model more of us should follow. You've got the right idea.

 

[Colif]

Its hard to maintain it when ram prices are so high, not a lot of people can make new PC right now so a lot have to make do with what they have. So the master race belief may take a beating until we can again.

PC can still be better than consoles. I never saw reason to pick one over other, if you can afford both, go for it. Two of the consoles essentially became PC anyway, Nintendo used to be able to sell consoles just on their games alone, so didn't need to be as powerful.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

That's a great point, and it's honestly reassuring to hear. I might be letting the loudest, most toxic corners of the internet shape my view. It's good to know there are still active communities where the conversation stays grounded in actually enjoying games.

Maybe the problem isn't the hobby itself, but where we choose to talk about it. If the places you frequent keep the focus on fun and games instead of spec-shaming, that's a model more of us should follow. You've got the right idea.

I find hardware quite interesting to follow, and keep my system fairly up to date but we're primarily a gaming site here and have a little bit of an older demographic. The gaming forums I visit generally dont focus too much on hardware. Maybe Reddit is bad for it in the hardware sub Reddits? I dont really go to those a lot.

 

[Zloth]

LITTLE bit?? I'm guessing at least half of us never had to worry about PEGI/ESRB ratings because, by the time they showed up, we were already over 18 years old!

 

[Colif]

LITTLE bit?? I'm guessing at least half of us never had to worry about PEGI/ESRB ratings because, by the time they showed up, we were already over 18 years old!

looks it up
ESRB - 1994
PEGI - 2003

Yep. Just a little...

not our fault young people generally don't use forums.

 

[mjs warlord]

As per usual i am going to make my contribution to this thread...
This is my rigs spec , it is almost 10 years old and i had it built 10 years ago when the gtx 1080 had only just been released.

The tower COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
The cpu is Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-6800K (3.4GHz) 15MB Cache.
The motherboard is ASUS® ROG STRIX X99: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6 GB/s.
The ram is 16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (4 x 4GB) ....
The graphics card is 8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GTX VR Ready!
The main drive is 480GB HyperX SAVAGE 2.5" SSD
The second drive is 960GB HyperX SAVAGE 2.5" SSD
The third drive is Sandisk 2TB SSD
The power supply is CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET.
The cpu cooler is Noctua NH-D15S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
The monitor is a 24 inch Benq i care using the dvi cable

I know the ram is the weak link in my system but ROG site says the mobo can only except ram up to 3333MHz so i doubt if that slight incease would make any difference performance. The rig can handle everything i throw at it and if fan speeds increase the cards temp never goes above 84 , the only time cpu goes high is when some games insist on optimising shaders on every launch .... HZD does that ....

I stopped using steams fps counter because it can convince you your pc should be performing better , that said i can say in all honesty i have never seen any screen tearing , shutter or lag. On satisfactory i can run everything set on ultra but i only get around 55 fps , i cant see anything wrong with what i am looking at so i put it down to the fact that i have a big layout and their is a lot of number crunching going on.

On satisfactory and other games it amuses me when i see others say ..... i got a 40 or 50 series and i can only get 100 fps , the cynical person inside me says ... have you got a problem or are you just trying to make others feel inferior by listing your rig parts. Some high end rig users in satisfactory list problems i have honestly never had.

I am in the fortunate position to be able to get a 5090 based rig but whilst this keeps going its going nowhere.

I would like to put this rig at the side of a 5090 based rig running the same game just to see how different they look.

 

[Colif]

I would like to put this rig at the side of a 5090 based rig running the same game just to see how different they look.

probably depend on screen size but it can run Satisafactory at 4k at 120 to 144 fps, if that helps. I assume thats with everything maxed too.

I don't feel like comparing all your parts against what a 5090 based system could be... is it intel or amd? Probably more responsive now... at least 16 cores (I didn't say threads)
I assume if you can afford a 5090 you also have at least 64gb of ram... nvme but the load times between ssd and nvme not that big in games (start up another story)

 

[mjs warlord]

I have a rough idea what i would put in the tower but have no idea on the best way to conect and set up the new breed of games monitors , 20 odd years ago you just plugged in the blue coloured cable that came with the pc and connected it to the monitor , then we got dvi.

I will be looking at a 27 inch monitor but as i said have no idea on how to get the best out of a pc and monitor now because we have good old dvi , 2k , 4k , 1080 , hdmi , numerous refresh rates and if i get it wrong i would be selling myself short on performance.

 

[Colif]

Handy question as I am getting a 4k monitor this year so probably helps if I use right one myself

Since you looking at 5090, the two connections you want are:
HDMI 2.1
Display Port 2.1 B

Display port is the better choice of the 2 for PC

DisplayPort 2.1b and HDMI 2.1b: Everything You Need to Know

DisplayPort 2.1b and HDMI 2.1b are next-gen display outputs offering high-resolution and high-refresh gaming.

www.corsair.com

Easier to just link a video than try to explain it:

You can make a 5090 cry at 27 inches now, just get a 6k screen

Distance from PC can be a restriction on display port unless you have the right cables, though 2.1a cables can be 3 metres long. 2.1b will be longer but cost more. You want a cable that can do 16k as that way it supports the best standard of 2.1a and could run a 4k screen at 240hz

I probably need a new cable to reach my PC and run 4k at 240hz