Fair, but I don’t think that threshold will be passed by smartphones for at minimum a decade. If you want 4k resolution for games you need 10-12GB of VRAM minimum. By claiming that high-end PC’s will become pointless in 5 years suggests that the interviewee thinks that mobile chips will surpass those requirements.
I don’t think the greater power of larger devices is being questioned. There just happens to be a threshold where a technically inferior but more accessible solution becomes “good enough” for most people that they never consider moving up.
Just look at mobile devices. Of everyone who accesses the internet, 75% do so via mobile devices only. As someone who doesn’t even like desktops losing ground to laptops, that statistic scares me.
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
ericwdhs@discuss.online 2 weeks ago
Except even among most current PC gamers, the threshold isn’t that high. 4K is still less than 5% of the market.
Also, I’d argue “anachronism” isn’t the same as “pointless.” It’s just claiming that something that was once more common will become less common.
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
It’s just claiming that something that was once more common will become less common.
Eh… “Anachronism” more suggests that they’ll be considered “out of place”
ericwdhs@discuss.online 2 weeks ago
Well, anachronism most literally means “misplaced in time.” You can go two directions with that, something being more at home in the future or more at home in the past. The former obviously doesn’t apply here, and I would consider my wording identical to the latter. A reduction in belonging implies a reduction in commonality.
darcmage@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
We know there’s a growing number of people who use their phone as their primary and only computing device. And the success of the steam deck is proof that a “good enough” experience can attract an audience. It is also likely that Valve is planning for a future where the Steam android app will be capable of installing and playing games locally without the 30% Google tax.
None of that will change the fact that gaming will always push technology forward with the need for faster CPUs and GPUs and that will never be the domain of phones where efficiency is king. There is no reason to worry.
ericwdhs@discuss.online 2 weeks ago
I’m not worried about the tech going away so much as the market percentage dropping to make enthusiast hardware more niche. Among other things, it makes enshittification in the space harder to fight.
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
There’s also some people moving in the other direction, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that grows. My parents only had their smartphones for years, but recently had me pick out a laptop for them because trying to use their phones for everything was a headache.
I think one thing to consider is that cost of living has been going up in the US with wages not keeping up. So budgets are getting tighter, and if you can only afford a single device to buy, you’re going to buy the phone, even if a PC makes a lot of things significantly easier.
Tbh, I think we’ve reached a point of diminishing returns on video game graphics. Do we really need games to be any more photorealistic and power hungry than they are now?
That being said, I don’t think android phones are going to usurp this domain any time soon. Power requirements for 4k 60fps are way too high, and mobile devices simply can’t distribute enough heat to handle it unless there’s enormous bumps in efficiency. And advancements in chip design have seriously slowed down the past few years
ericwdhs@discuss.online 2 weeks ago
I definitely think graphical fidelity is “good enough” now, but there’s still quite a bit of advancement available in other areas still drawing on the CPU and GPU, VR and local AI being a couple. I’ve been all in on VR since the Vive, and while I reject corporate AI as much as most people here, I do run local models occasionally and would like to have NPCs using the tech.
darcmage@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Need? No. Want? Absolutely.
There are two interesting articles that have shaped my view on this:
blurbusters.com/blur-busters-law-amazing-journey-…
www.microsoft.com/en-us/…/perfectillusion.pdf
I’m not hung up on who is right about 1000Hz vs 1800Hz, only that >=1000Hz at >=1000fps is the goal. We’re a long way away from that when the best gaming CPU can only manage ~600fps in CS2 at 1080p.
One of the digitalfoundry guys got hands-on time with a prototype monitor at CES and played a game at >500fps and while he couldn’t really convey what it was like, it was clear that the experience is very different than even playing on 360Hz displays.
We’re at least 2-3 hardware generations away from being able to push >1000fps with relatively simple games and much further away for AAA games. I think it’s something worth looking forward to.
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
No, people aren’t going to want 1000+fps in games. As someone else pointed out in the thread, 4k 60fps is <5% of builds in Steam hardware surveys. Going even higher framerates just adds more and more cost, with reduced returns.
If you could build a system that goes from 500fps to 1000fps, you’re theoretically reducing latency by 1ms (it’ll most certainly be less though). But how much more expensive is the 1000fps build? Based on tech trends the past few years, that’s probably going to be a lot more expensive, since architectural improvements of chips has slowed down over the past few years. Right now, Nvidia’s just pushing more and more power into their cards to get more performance, because efficiency has plateau’d
Add to that, the human eye only sees up to 500fps in ideal conditions. Why would you pay a bunch of money for extra framea that you physicall can’t see?