RGB and why it is rather annoying!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Rant On\.

Is it me or do I just see this stupid craze towards RGB as product padding??

For a few pence worth of LEDs,it seems the cost of the actual product goes up by more than a few pence. Just like when motherboards go up in price,model for model at each generation the excuse being "cause RGB" and then they top it off with stupid sized fake heatsinks which don't do a thing and and actually get in the way of coolers,RAM,making it more awkward to work with and makes cabling worse. At some time they end up not actually engineering the VRMs properly or bothering to iron out bugs in the motherboard BIOS.

I mean FFS,some of the RGB crap and the acompanying software actually has bricked systems due to a lack of bug testing.

More about posing than actually engineering the products properly,but making solid products is less important than adding a few pence of LEDs, and they do cost hardly anything since decades ago I used to play around with LEDs,and they were cheap even back then.

So it annoys me off I end up wanting some decent and have to consider the idiotic RGB tax. So I am paying for an extra feature I don't want or need. I mean there are RGB headphones,so you can look like a flashing pillock when gaming. You can't even see the disco light show,since its on your head.

Plus I don't know any single gamer or tech enthusiast in real life who actually uses RGB in any sort of way - its fun for all of 5 seconds,and then it gets switched off.

I could even understand keyboards and mice having some sort of configurable lighting if you want to play in the dark,but it seems to be invading every blasted thing with the assocated price hike.

Maybe its just my age,perhaps all the cool young kids want a disco light show in their computer now.

Good thing I am not a cool kid!

Down with RGB!!

Viva la revolution!!



Rant Off\.

[peterb]

Product padding - adding perceived value for absolutely no benefit at all.

[Zak33]

but..... it is selling by the utter bucketload and people are wanting more not less.

I have next to me a Headphone stand....RGB'd up to the ti.... boobs

and the mouse mats in the dev office are all illuminated from below and you CANNOT take them away from the staff without being armed with a tazer and cable ties for take down.

It might be a faze.. and I personally don't get it ... but it's popular because people are buying it DELIBERATELY

A colleage has the inside of their car illuminated with RGB cords behind window trims... I reveresed it into a parking space with a purple glow assaulting my perfect compexion. He spent HOURS fitting those....

[Bagnaj97]

I'm not against it, it's nice to have, but it's definitely not make-or-break when purchasing things. If the same item is available in both unlit or RGB versions I'd maybe pay 10% more for the RGB version, although it does depend what the item is!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

but..... it is selling by the utter bucketload and people are wanting more not less.

I have next to me a Headphone stand....RGB'd up to the ti.... boobs

and the mouse mats in the dev office are all illuminated from below and you CANNOT take them away from the staff without being armed with a tazer and cable ties for take down.

It might be a faze.. and I personally don't get it ... but it's popular because people are buying it DELIBERATELY

A colleage has the inside of their car illuminated with RGB cords behind window trims... I reveresed it into a parking space with a purple glow assaulting my perfect compexion. He spent HOURS fitting those....

It comes with an added cost,as they pad out the top models,and it pushes up the price of even the non-RGB models too.

I mean,the CPU in my system is ancient and I have noticeable performance drops in some games,and current Ryzen also sucks in those games(I am hoping the Ryzen APUs and Ryzen 2 are better).

I looked at a buying a Core i5 8400 which I saw for a good price,until I looked at the price of the motherboards. The equivalent Z97 one I used for a mates build during the Haswell era was £90ish. The equivalent Z370 version is £140.

Seriously,WTF?? How can they justify an over 50% price increase in two and a half years?? Oh wait,metallic looking accents on the board,and a small VRM heatsink.

The same goes with RAM - want some higher speed stuff,oh lets make it even more expensive with some cheap RGBs,and some of the RGB RAM has ended up bricking systems due to poor bug testing.

Honestly are people just buying stuff on credit cards or purchase plans,since the cost escalation is getting silly.

I actually regret not upgrading to a Haswell Core i7 from Ivy Bridge now especially since the motherboard I mentioned dropped to £40 during clearance. It would have been far cheaper than doing an upgrade now.

I am honestly rueing the day DR,asks for his card back,as that will be me out of playing any new AAA game for the immediate future as I think as time progresses I will be priced out of modern PC gaming due to the whales throwing money at these companies. Even a midrange card is ridiculous money now,so I would be stuck with a slightly dying GTX960.

On OcUK,there are idiots justifying £900+ GTX1080TI cards and then attacking anyone who questions why they are doing this. They are not miners.

Card pricing has been going up over the last few years before mining,there is a massive stagnation in the GPU market under £300.

Its like with microtransactions - they only exist since whales throw money at them. Even EA has reinstated them back into their latest Star Wars game.

[Hoonigan]

Is it me or....

Pretty much just you, yeah. If RGB wasn't such a big hit, it would've fizzled out by now.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Product padding - adding perceived value for absolutely no benefit at all.

and I personally don't get it ...

but it's definitely not make-or-break when purchasing things.

Pretty much just you, yeah. If RGB wasn't such a big hit, it would've fizzled out by now.

Only you,and all the people I know in real life don't give a flying fig about them,but all of them are in their late 20s and above. That also includes a ton of people who actually work in the computing industry like programmers and so on.

Also,looking at the price escalation,I am seeing more and more people in the realworld and even on tech forums,just getting fedup and buying a console instead.

This is what hardware enthusiasts on forums don't get,they jusify and beg for hardware companies to rip them off due to oneupmanship,so the companies then do that - that is why almost all gamers on Steam are on a GTX970/GTX1060 class cards at best and older CPUs,and most game devs now target consoles as the main revenue stream.

The GTX1070 has signifiantly less share than a GTX970. AMD is nowhere to be seen since they are not a "value brand" anymore.

GTX970/R9 290 level performance at under £300 and below for getting onto 4 years.

That is console level now. Enthusiasts are their own enemy.

Games are driven by the mass market. If the mass market stays stagnant in performance,consoles catch up and PC games stagnate.

When is the last time you saw a Crysis level jump?? Oh wait,you can't since it arrived with the 8800GT,one of the best value cards in the last 15 years,with NO RGB.

See all the people I argued with when I said this was going to happen as companies padded features and made up new tiers. It happened.

You see all those consoles sporting RGB as standard- apparently not.

It seems many gamers couldn't give a rats arse about it.

The same with Ryzen - not so big a deal, its just made a bigger deal due to the whales justifying Intel piss take pricing in the last 3 years.

Oh wait,I was right about Intel price escalation too.

I could get a 4C/8T Intel CPU for £170ish upto the Haswell era and I was one of the first people on UK forums to talk about it back in the Sandy Bridge days.

So I assume all this cosmetic padding its only really liked by whales and people who like gadgets and have no clue about the value of things,and I wonder how many put everything on a credit card,or payment plan who then probably get into more and more debt,like what is generally happening in this country,like the huge number on interest only mortgages. Burn the candle at both ends.

Its the same with microtransactions - people justified it. Now look at how its even probably going to get into single player games.

When photography and Hifi look better value longterm hobbies than computers nowadays,it makes me wonder,as those are hardly value for money hobbies.

[Ttaskmaster]

I look at my motherboard features and see all manner of things that I don't believe anyone even uses these days, like Firewire, yet I still have to pay for them....

Besides, screw you all, I WANT my stuff to look like Knight Rider and Airwolf - It was cool back then and we're only just starting to get the sort of computers that we were promised back then... so you don't get to piddle on my childhood dreams now!!!


But thanks for assuming at least 35 years off my age...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I look at my motherboard features and see all manner of things that I don't believe anyone even uses these days, like Firewire, yet I still have to pay for them....

Besides, screw you all, I WANT my stuff to look like Knight Rider and Airwolf - It was cool back then and we're only just starting to get the sort of computers that we were promised back then... so you don't get to piddle on my childhood dreams now!!!


But thanks for assuming at least 35 years off my age...

Screw u!!

Plus if you old enough you should have no excuse to also see how much things have slowed down - you are still on a SB-E and a GTX980TI. That should tell you enough,about what is happening now.

You see I am quite happy for companies to have tarted up models for people who want to pay for it. However,at the same time at least make stuff for us who don't want all of that at a reasonaly lower price.

Not lets add 50% more price to a motherboard since it has some nice metallic inserts. What kind of inflation is that - that is more like Zimbabwe or Brazil level.

I never understood why they didn't just make a base non-RGB model,and added modular trim and lighting as an add-on.

I mean you should look at some of the stuff by people like Buildzoid,etc when he shows how much some companies put into cosmetics at the expense of reliability and functionality. Even cosmetic VRM sections and cosmetic coolers which do nothng and actually trap heat. No,I am not joking you. So they have used lower grade components in some expensive parts but tarted it up.

I mean its hilarious when some of the RGB RAM sets actually bricked the systems they were put in due to a software/firmware bug.

These companies are failing in actually making a good product due to "looks". Screw performance or stability,they might as well get Fiat,circa,1970 to build some of these things.

Edit!!

Further to my point.



The R9 290 4GB could be had for around £300 in January 2014:

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/xfx...9-dabs-1806889

Faster non-reference ones dipped under £300 in Q2 2014 and these were quicker:

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/msi...amazon-1875624

Then we had the GTX970 which was even cheaper later in the year.

At £300ish and under for 4 years,we had only a 20% to 25% increase in performance in the most important segment for graphics cards.

Now include the examples I have for motherboard padding,etc it literally has stagnated performance unless you spend more in real terms,and sometimes significantly more.

This is what the analysis firms are showing - less sales but those spending are SPENDING MUCH MORE.

All these things like RGB,etc don't help the most important thing which is performance.

Not enough performance jumps,the PC stagnates,and devs will target a lower level for games.

If that happens,graphically consoles start looking closer to a midrange PC.

[Millennium]

While I admit being impressed at some of the RGB lit watercooled builds people like Jayz2Cents do, or the fancy RGB ram sometimes that people like BitWit show off, I wouldn't personally pay more for them. They've been inflating prices of basic components for a number of years now. I personally would rather have a plain black covered Fractal Design cased system and I don't much mind the blue LED glow of my aging Corsair K90 sometimes (though it did annoy me at first).

I agree with you CAT that prices are getting silly, and that PC Gamers are paying increasingly more for an increasingly less special experience. What's carrying it now (and for a while now) is the dual utility of having a fast office/multimedia/internet system that can also game pretty well. I think the Vega 56 I got last year is about as much as I'm willing to spend on high end graphics, and if prices continue to inflate I'll stick with it for a number of years.

I also used to mess with LEDs back in the 80s and those things were like 15p, even then, at my local electronics store (remember those?). I do admit though, the Vega has an LED activity monitor thing that's actually useful, and pretty cool since the side of my case is off these days (pure laziness).

By all means manufacturers RGB the things (optionally) if there is demand but don't use it as an excuse to drive up already steep prices in an overall declining market. You're shooting yourself in the foot. PeterB is absolutely right and power users see it for the padding it really it. Just bear that in mind.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

While I admit being impressed at some of the RGB lit watercooled builds people like Jayz2Cents do, or the fancy RGB ram sometimes that people like BitWit show off, I wouldn't personally pay more for them. They've been inflating prices of basic components for a number of years now. I personally would rather have a plain black covered Fractal Design cased system and I don't much mind the blue LED glow of my aging Corsair K90 sometimes (though it did annoy me at first).

I agree with you CAT that prices are getting silly, and that PC Gamers are paying increasingly more for an increasingly less special experience. What's carrying it now (and for a while now) is the dual utility of having a fast office/multimedia/internet system that can also game pretty well. I think the Vega 56 I got last year is about as much as I'm willing to spend on high end graphics, and if prices continue to inflate I'll stick with it for a number of years.

I also used to mess with LEDs back in the 80s and those things were like 15p, even then, at my local electronics store (remember those?). I do admit though, the Vega has an LED activity monitor thing that's actually useful, and pretty cool since the side of my case is off these days (pure laziness).

By all means manufacturers RGB the things (optionally) if there is demand but don't use it as an excuse to drive up already steep prices in an overall declining market. You're shooting yourself in the foot. PeterB is absolutely right and power users see it for the padding it really it. Just bear that in mind.

I know,despite my moaning I will still probably try to upgrade my PC in steps since I love PC gaming and hate consoles,even though if the prices keep increasing at this rate,I cannot justify it for such a fickle device,even if have the money to do so. I have bought decent cameras and hifi,but the lifespan can be measured for some of those bits even upto 20 years,where as how long do computer parts last?

I have distinctly noticed over the last few years,especially under £1000,I am having to take more and more shortcuts with builds,and people know I really will search for the bargains.

I was fully thinking of doing a detailed gaming build guide on Hexus for Coffee Lake and Ryzen,but screw that due to the RAM and GPU prices,and price increases in other areas. Fractal has also ramped up the price of their R series cases now!

Only monitors seem to be bucking the trend.

Its even worse when I know normal people who have been gamers for years,but are doing normal jobs,and have family expenditures,and their jobs don't have 50% increases in pay in under three years,or in the case of RAM two to three times increases in under a year. Can they tell their wife,hey,I was going to spend £300 to upgrade the CPU/Motherboard/RAM in my PC,is it OK I spend £500 to £600 now due to price inflation?? For an enthusiast,£200 might not sound much,but it would be the budget for someones graphics card upgrade.Also,it means the secondhand market gets affected,as prices go up there.

Its the same with my mates and people I know,everyone of them has had to spend more and more on their gaming PCs over time despite my help,to the extent even though some can easily afford a £300 CPU and £200 RAM,etc they cannot justify it now,and just sit on the sofa and use a £150 console.

Edit!!

I am really looking forward to Metro:Exodus at the end of the year but if I have to renew my CPU and GPU to play that,a sodding XBox One X would cost less,and probably be the same performance which is utterly depressing,and the meltdown/spectre fixes have already hit my CPU hard it appears in some games.

I do luckily have some slow DDR4 to hand,which I got off a mate cheap,but it also means I will have less than optimal CPU performance as reviews use the good stuff.

[Ttaskmaster]

Screw u!!

Skruuuuuuuu yuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!

Plus if you old enough you should have no excuse to also see how much things have slowed down - you are still on a SB-E and a GTX980TI. That should tell you enough,about what is happening now.

Still??!!
I only recently got it... and all it tells me is I can't afford new kit, so go with whatever second-hand offcast junk is generously donated by enthusiast friends of mine.
As is, I might be in line for a 4930K, or summat...

However,at the same time at least make stuff for us who don't want all of that at a reasonaly lower price.

So that's now 2 versions of everything they have to make...

I never understood why they didn't just make a base non-RGB model,and added modular trim and lighting as an add-on.

I thought that's what the RGB headers are for?
But then, everything else that could be modular (extra buttons, extra ports, etc) would just mean more and more variants to make... Easier to just have everything there and unused if you don't want it.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Skruuuuuuuu yuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!





Still??!!
I only recently got it... and all it tells me is I can't afford new kit, so go with whatever second-hand offcast junk is generously donated by enthusiast friends of mine.
As is, I might be in line for a 4930K, or summat...


So that's now 2 versions of everything they have to make...


I thought that's what the RGB headers are for?
But then, everything else that could be modular (extra buttons, extra ports, etc) would just mean more and more variants to make... Easier to just have everything there and unused if you don't want it.

Benny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The versions of motherboards are not as important as is the feature set and the motherboard I was looking at was £140. The older version was well under £100 - my mate said they remembered it was around £80 for the Haswell version. Basically that put me off the Core i5 8400 build I was thinking and Meltdown/Spectre ended the dream of good Fallout 4 settlement performance!

Also regarding modularity - why not?? I think it would be awesome if it went that way,as you could plug in the functionality you want. Its not like most of the functionality we talk about is basically outputs from the CPU and chipset.

[RaTTuS]

I think Douglas Adams summed it up nicely :-

“I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I think Douglas Adams summed it up nicely :-

“I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”

4.)Some of us really don't want to spend £60 more,ie,a 75% increase in price in less than 3 years for a bit of shiny trim,and a cheapo heatsink when the features are the same.
5.)A feature is only a feature if you need it.
6.)Last time I checked most people's income does not go up 75% in three years.
7.)My relatively expensive aluminium case,does not have a window and neither was there an option for one,so all the lights will be in a dark case,hence I won't see it.
8.)PC owners are getting used to more and more anaemic increases in performance whilst paying more for it. 4 years to have similar performance under £300 when it comes to graphics cards is not normal. Having an Intel CPU with more than 4 threads under £200 is not a big deal. You could get them for £170 in the Haswell era. My Xeon E3 1230 V2/Core i7 3770 was £170ish brand new. Ryzen/CFL are probably worse value for me due to the RAM prices.
9.)The new normal is not always ideal if you are a consumer. Overclocking was possible on all chipsets 10 years ago and on all CPUs. It wasn't a paid for sport to the level it is now.
10.)If you just try to justify price increases for minimal gain,you are shooting yourself in the foot as a PC gamer,since it means consoles get more traction!
11.)Companies exist to make the most money,NOT give you the best value.
12.)Its up to the consumer to dictate what you want,not what the company wants otherwise you get trapped in the previous point.

Also,my utter contempt of RGB on everything started between 15 and 35!!

I actually thought it was cool when it was on keyboards and mice,but the fact that companies are just overdoing is now taking the mickey. Come on using cosmetic VRMs and heatsinks - surely that is putting form over function??

[Zak33]

i think douglas adams summed it up nicely :-

“i've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”

post of the weeeeeeeek :-)