This is a logical consequence of slower hardware replacement cycles: now that a reasonably fast system can be expected to still be very much acceptable five yea

This is a logical consequence of slower hardware replacement cycles: now that a reasonably fast system can be expected to still be very much acceptable five years down the line (I am writing this on an early 2011 machine that would not be much cheaper to match today), a much larger fraction of the market is willing to pay for qualities that are not represented in benchmarks. The fastest silicon in the cheapest casing that would do the job was a reasonable strategy back when even the best hardware became obsolete within three years, but now this is much less dominant. People who are not willing to spend on build quality are likely to just stick to what they have.