Hardware rule: There is always something coming out at any late point that may offer "more bang for the coins" but while the coins are in theory near unlimited my time is not unlimited and fact is... lets say i would have waited 2 years, which is a massive waiting time... i may have gotten 3090 TI performance at a price of perhaps 800 instead of 1300, yet i did not pay only for the "performance". Performance is only one of several factors playing a role. Another factor is "the general quality of a card"... unfortunately there is lot of junk cards on the market and the manufacturers are NOT going to use the same quality parts on a 800 coin GPU compared to a 1300 coin GPU, this is another myth that need to be denunked, because simply wrong. Those manufacturers are not "Santa Claus"... they will cut down on the price of parts as soon as a card simply got to less margin for them. As the people usually only care its performance and rarely take a closer look at its components... if so... high priced cards only.

1. I paid more for the best quality
2. I paid more so i can have it 2 years sooner
3. Yes, there was games on GoG in 2022 that was already demanding on a 3090 TI.

All the myths debunked and i think 500 coins is a fair price for getting the best quality and able to play it 2 years sooner.

If ya want to save up as much as possible... i am sure there are many ways on "how to do that" but thats not what this topic is all about... it may need another topic which is focused on "how to get the best performance for the lowest coins possible"... or... "if you actually need any peformance at all and if you could make games even run on a potato-toaster gotten from the second hand market"...

All good and fine but this is not what this topic is here for.

Just because something is cheaper doesn't always mean it's going to be of less quality. Over time production methods improve and older card models become cheaper to produce. Also as newer models with better performance come along the older models drop in price...even the quality made ones(aside: I actually made my entire PC for under $900 and it runs every game I throw at it on Ultra settings @ 1080p. There's a good chance it could do so at 1440p and up as well, but I lack the proper monitor for such things).

Back to the topic:
I think the 5090 is beyond what most gamers would currently need and while nice and shiny it's way beyond my budget.

There is not any hint that the 4090 are now dropping in prices, the price is even going up now; astounding... near 2 years on the market and a near unbreakable price, guess Nvidia is a "master chess player".

The main issue is, that there is simply to less capacity to produce oversized chips and Nvidia is using those capacities for the 5090 now. So, the 4090 demand is higher than the supply, and indeed... many shops are now trying to do "scalping" at a time of low supply.

Regarding: The "dropping hardware prices over time because of higher efficiency producing them"-theory: According to Sony the prices for manufacturing are not dropping one little bit, rather going up. The only reason why we currently have low hardware prices is because the industry is in a crisis and are accepting a very low margin down to the point they got close to zero margin. This will not last forever... so i predict it will go up soon once again.

Regarding your 1k build: Grats on that, i mean if it works for you i guess "money well spend". It would not be sufficient for my demands but after all, it always depends on the individual demand and remember: There is much more than just raw performance... we humans are complex beings with a psyche, heart and mind.

I meant more so hardware in general...price usually (though not always) drops on old tech as new tech is made to supplant and replace it, and then back up again as older tech becomes harder to find(due to production being ceased).

Yeah, we often like to spend on nice things like money is going out of style. I should know, having done it myself on some things.

Sometimes i got the impression: Most people seem to hate money, which is seen by so much unnecessary spending on way to much stuff they simply have no real use for or only a short term use, not any long term. In this case they should not feel surprised if their money is leaving them.

Most humans are sheer "consumers" and they enjoy to CONSUME way more than owning it! For this reason, a hardware simply need to perform... nothing else, and the game need to perform as well... for as long as their rather short term feeling is making them feel satisfied with.

Humans rarely think long term and this is the place where a true "investment" takes place. A good Investment means to buy something for a true benefit which is often "long term"... not just consuming it without any further meaning or target.

This is the reason why Steam is so successful, it will provide consumption in the most convenient way possible.