finely , I ’ll say it : 2024 was n’t a great year for PC play hardware . I ’d even go as far as to call it passably lame . There were plenty ofgreat PC gamesto enjoy , but when it comes to hardware , it felt like one great letdown .
A lot of my most anticipated launches ended up getting delayed , and most of the upgrades we got were a routine of a wet blanket . Here are all the various things that proved to be a disappointment in 2024 , both to me and to many other PC gamers , but why I ’m feeling hopeful for 2025 .
The least impressive generation of CPUs in a while
Going into 2024 , I had high hopes for both the big CPU acquittance that were slated to appear in the second half of the yr .
AMD Zen 5andIntel Arrow Lakeboth vocalize interesting , but as their respective release windows drew nearer , my excitation cool off well . in effect affair , too , because — as it turns out — there just was n’t that much to get excited for after all , at least not if you ’re a gamer .
Ryzen 9000 came first , and spec - wise , these CPUs turned out to be very exchangeable to Zen 4 . On the whole , even AMD did n’t promise much of an upthrow with Zen 5 , and we know now that it was correct to do so .
Some benchmarks end up with the last - gen counterparts really being somewhat quicker , and many show that the two generation are passably comparable . This only apply to gaming , though , as Zen 5 brought with it some really dandy melioration in productiveness . But if you ’re a gamer , that ’s unlikely to matter to you all that much .
gambling - wise , there ’s really not much to write home about here . TheRyzen 9 9950Xis only around 5 % faster than its previous - gen twin , and up until recently , the Ryzen 7 7800X3D was still king . We now have theRyzen 7 9800X3Dthat manages to change the disappointing Zen 5 tale and deliver a carrying out uplift … but even then , it ’s still just around 6 % faster gen - on - gen . It ’s better , but not massively ( although it ’s still thebest processor for play ) .
Speaking of AMD ’s X3D CPUs , we ’re now at a stage where they ’re almosttooexcellent . Malcolm stock levels are dispirited and Mary Leontyne Price are high . in good order now , the 9800X3D can not be bought on Amazon , and the 7800X3D costs $ 475 . Considering that it used to sell for less , it ’s a testament to its operation that it ’s now flop back to the price it come out out with .
I ’m done complain about AMD , however . In fact , AMD had a right year if you compare it to Intel ( which we do , because what else can one equate it to ) . Intel ’s 2024 has beenrough .
Constant Intel Raptor Lake instability problems took up the first part of the year . I do n’t in person own one of these CPUs , but I know the great unwashed who do , and no one screw hold to wait for a fix that in reality worked . Fortunately , it seems that month later , Intel manage to fix the problem — and the CPUs that did n’t get the patch in time are eligible for replenishment , so that ’s all right .
But then came Intel Arrow Lake , and while it seems mostly detached from any bigger issues , it ’s also largely unimpressive for gamers . Again , this should come as no surprise , as Intel was clear that its destination was not improving public presentation but boosting efficiency , and there , the Core Ultra 200 serial succeeded — but few personal computer gamers are chasing efficiency as much as frame charge per unit .
In our own testing , we ’ve ascertain the flagshipCore Ultra 9 285Kto be comparable to the last - gen Core i9 - 14900K. Both are pricier than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D , and both ca n’t equal the AMD chip in play performance . Great for productivity , sure , but not much to matter to gaming audience .
The same can be said about the eternal rest of Intel ’s Arrow Lake lineup so far . CPUs like theCore Ultra 5 245Kand the Core Ultra 7 265 K , which would typically be the go - to picks for play , just do n’t quite cut it . Many reviewers point out that there are cheaper and skillful alternatives for play purpose , and they ’re not ill-timed . Even Intel ’s former - gen counterparts are a better choice here .
With lusterless releases from both AMD and Intel , 2024 was a pretty average class for gaming C.P.U. .
The GPU market was pretty dull
If you asked me in other 2024 , I ’d have tell you that we ’d see new computer graphic batting order from AMD , Nvidia , and Intel all attain the market during the course of the class . While that instruction was n’t entirely wrong , it turned out that we got much few GPUs than I thought , and only one of the manufacturing business managed to pull off a new propagation of card in 2024 . ( Coincidentally , it was also the one I least expected . Go figure . )
Sure , Nvidia had the RTX 40 - series refresh ( which was , for the most part , a achiever ) and AMD had theRX 7600 XTand theRX 7900 GRE , the latter of which is its best RDNA 3 GPU to date . But that ’s not next - gen stuff , and as the class go by , the lack of updates pop out to feel a little unsatisfying .
Going into the class , leakers were join in their predictions that both theRTX 50 - seriesandRDNA 4(also name to as RX 8000 series ) would drip sometime in the third or fourth poop of 2024 . This made sense , as it ’d have been two years since the initial launching of their predecessor , and both company are on a two - year release cycle .
derive summertime , most of us came to term with the fact that , for some understanding , both AMD and Nvidia determine to hold off on new releases — which made for a slow GPU market .
Prices were dropping and stock level were mostly high for the first half of the yr , so that was great , but there was n’t much to look forward to for months . A want of new GPUs also meant that back laptops throughout the year arrive with smaller improvements , so it all felt a piece like more of the same . I ’ve resigned myself to what felt like a snoozefest of a twelvemonth , and many PC gamers view as off on upgrades until the new year .
It ’s knockout to say why both Nvidia and AMD decided to overleap out on the moneymaking vacation season with the sales agreement of their new GPUs . At least in AMD ’s case , stock levels are consistently high , but Nvidia is said to beending production of near all of its RTX 40 - series GPUs . This lack of abundance contributed to a Black Friday mostly devoid of nifty GPU mint .
As a graphics card enthusiast , this year truly let me down — particularly reckon as hardware requirements are seriously pushing for better GPUs , or should I say , GPUs with more VRAM as well as beam of light line capabilities .
Indiana Jones and the Great Circlemarks just one representative of games that call for a lot of VRAMand system storage alike , and with beam tracing wager a part , it ’s hard to agitate off the belief that many gamers will presently be forced to upgrade . Fortunately , there ’s one unexpected highlighting of the year that foreshadow well for those on a squiffy budget .
Light(s) at the end of the tunnel
It ’s funny that the lineup I least expected to see in 2024 arrived with small warning and without much ostentation , but it ’s also my pet thing to hit the ironware market place this year .
Intel ’s Arc Battlemageis here , and although the wetting about the GPUs were few and all over the place , the existent affair release out so much better than any hardware tout could ’ve ever betoken . Why ? Because Battlemage is n’t just a vast improvement over the previous generation in pure performance but it also beats its Nvidia and AMD competitor in performance per dollar , which is such an overlooked , but also such an important metric .
TheIntel Arc B580is a $ 250 GPU that ’s capable of play game at 1440p . Even at 1080p , $ 250 is a steal by today ’s standards . In our own examination , the B580 not only beats the last - gen Arc A750 by a monolithic 44 % but it also puzzle Nvidia ’s current - gen RTX 4060 . In some games , the GPU even smash the RTX 4060 Ti , which cost a banging $ 150 more . The B580 also packs 12 GB of VRAM — something that ’s so crucial now , hand that more and more game are n’t very well - optimize to run on graphic cards with limited memory .
I have to say that I ’m thoroughly impressed by the Arc B580 . Intel ’s Arc Alchemist lineup had a rocky start , and its GPU job is minuscule , but the B580 is looking like it ’s get going to be a striking . The bill of fare isalready betray out in many places , so that proves that hoi polloi are here for it , and that ’s secure news for Intel .
apart from Intel ’s surprisal GPU hit , there are a set more things on the imminent horizon that I ’m feeling hype for . Both AMD and Nvidia will reveal next - gen GPUs during CES 2025 in January , and that ’s less than a month away . Those computer graphic card will then roll out over the next few month , redefining the GPU grocery once again . It ’s leap to be an exciting clock time for gamers — let ’s just trust that these new GPUs are n’t too expensive .
Meanwhile , AMD will get another chance to woo gamers with new CPUs . I expect to see the Ryzen 9 9900X3D and the Ryzen 9 9950X3D shortly , and who knows — perhaps there ’ll be more 3D V - Cache chip there , too .
One thing ’s for sure : I do n’t think that I ’ll be write another spell complaining about a boring year by the time 2025 comes to a close .
