4 ms·

The PC have not dropped significantly in price. High end gaming PC (that you build yourself) always costed about 1500-2000$. It is just that the majority of tas

The PC have not dropped significantly in price. High end gaming PC (that you build yourself) always costed about 1500-2000$. It is just that the majority of tasks could be done in lower and lower segments of the market.

ct520 11y ago
I guess your opinion and mine greatly differ on the history of high end gaming pcs.. (building highend pc's since riva tnt and diamond monster 3d days..) One of many high end buyer guides one could reference. http://www.anandtech.com/show/538/17 http://www.anandtech.com/show/538/17
dragontamer 11y ago
http://i.imgur.com/Lng3MQB.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Lng3MQB.jpg I'd say that computers have come down in price.
- madelinecameron 11y ago
  I think the point they are making is that the 'high-end' / cutting-edge is the same price as it has been. You couldn't get $2,300 for a 33MHz machine now, just like you can't sell a Galaxy S1 for a $700.
  - potatolicious 11y ago
    Except inflation... "The same price as it has always been" over a long period (like, say, the 90s) is actually a substantial price drop. $1500 in 1995 is about $2300 today. A $1500 computer today is ~35% cheaper than the "same price" computer from before. Having been a gaming rig builder since around that time, high-end performance desktops have gotten way cheaper, with more realistic performance tiers to boot.
  - dragontamer 11y ago
    That's a "Jade" PC. High-end PCs at that time were Compaq computers. Not cheap knockoffs that were made by no-name brands. The Compaq 386 had a launch price of $6500 to $10,000+ http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/10/business/the-executive-computer-a-top-machine-carries-a-top-price.html http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/10/business/the-executive-com... The "Jade" PC you see in that image is probably more comparable to "Gateway" brand now-a-days. Computers are a hell-of-a-lot cheaper today than in the past. EDIT: I looked it up, and I can't believe I forgot about this. Back then, every mom-and-pop store was able to build their own brand of PCs. The clone wars were unstoppable I tell you! Jade Computers was apparently a small business with just a few retail locations running out of California.
    - scholia 11y ago
      You can still build your own PC today ;-) Compaq's pricing was clever. If you bought one, everyone knew you bought it because it was better, not because it was cheaper than the IBM model. (And it was better because Compaq was shipping 386 machines when the IBM PC AT still had a crappy 286.)
ktRolster 11y ago
High end gaming PC (that you build yourself) always costed about 1500-2000$ In real terms, that means the cost of a PC has been reduced quite a bit (because of inflation: http://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=10&year=1990 http://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=10... )
- Eric_WVGG 11y ago
  Mac SE w/ HD in 1987 — $3900, $8,175 adjusted for inflation. Makes the head spin, remarkable that I even got to see computers like that during my childhood.

ct520 11y ago

I guess your opinion and mine greatly differ on the history of high end gaming pcs.. (building highend pc's since riva tnt and diamond monster 3d days..) One of many high end buyer guides one could reference. http://www.anandtech.com/show/538/17 http://www.anandtech.com/show/538/17

dragontamer 11y ago

http://i.imgur.com/Lng3MQB.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Lng3MQB.jpg I'd say that computers have come down in price.

madelinecameron 11y ago
I think the point they are making is that the 'high-end' / cutting-edge is the same price as it has been. You couldn't get $2,300 for a 33MHz machine now, just like you can't sell a Galaxy S1 for a $700.
- potatolicious 11y ago
  Except inflation... "The same price as it has always been" over a long period (like, say, the 90s) is actually a substantial price drop. $1500 in 1995 is about $2300 today. A $1500 computer today is ~35% cheaper than the "same price" computer from before. Having been a gaming rig builder since around that time, high-end performance desktops have gotten way cheaper, with more realistic performance tiers to boot.
- dragontamer 11y ago
  That's a "Jade" PC. High-end PCs at that time were Compaq computers. Not cheap knockoffs that were made by no-name brands. The Compaq 386 had a launch price of $6500 to $10,000+ http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/10/business/the-executive-computer-a-top-machine-carries-a-top-price.html http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/10/business/the-executive-com... The "Jade" PC you see in that image is probably more comparable to "Gateway" brand now-a-days. Computers are a hell-of-a-lot cheaper today than in the past. EDIT: I looked it up, and I can't believe I forgot about this. Back then, every mom-and-pop store was able to build their own brand of PCs. The clone wars were unstoppable I tell you! Jade Computers was apparently a small business with just a few retail locations running out of California.
  - scholia 11y ago
    You can still build your own PC today ;-) Compaq's pricing was clever. If you bought one, everyone knew you bought it because it was better, not because it was cheaper than the IBM model. (And it was better because Compaq was shipping 386 machines when the IBM PC AT still had a crappy 286.)

ktRolster 11y ago

High end gaming PC (that you build yourself) always costed about 1500-2000$ In real terms, that means the cost of a PC has been reduced quite a bit (because of inflation: http://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=10&year=1990 http://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=10... )

Eric_WVGG 11y ago
Mac SE w/ HD in 1987 — $3900, $8,175 adjusted for inflation. Makes the head spin, remarkable that I even got to see computers like that during my childhood.