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PC Gaming Evolution: Classic to Modern Masterpieces

There are currently somewhere around 3 billion gamers of all sorts all over the world. Of that 3 billion, 1.86 billion are dedicated PC gamers who have raised the value of the PC graphics hardware market to around $38 billion in 2024. That's a market share for PC gaming of more than half the world's gamers, which has made anything to do with gaming and gaming PCs an incredibly lucrative market.

It's strange to think that it wasn't really that long ago, in the grand scheme of things, that computers didn't exist at all. The first one, big enough to fill almost an entire desk, hit the market in 1971. The "Kenbak1" sold for $750 and only 40 were ever bought.

Since then, a lot has changed for PC gamers. Now, you can play at top paying NZ online casinos, check your emails, get work done, shop, order groceries, and play games on one device. PC gaming has gone from strength to strength, now offering a more immersive and player-centric experience than ever before. Let's learn a little bit about how we got from the Kenbak 1 to today's high-powered monster PCs that offer so much to their users.

The Beginning: The Kenbak 1

Inventor John Blankenbaker of the Kenbak Corporation created a computer that was a massive departure from the earliest ones, which were big enough to fill whole rooms. This "personal computer" used Bud Industries enclosures to keep the components safe and secure.

The Kenbak 1 was invented before any microprocessor, so instead of a one-chip CPU, its brain was run on small-scale integration TTL chips. This version of the PC was essentially a failure, but it was followed swiftly by much more successful models.

The Birth of the First Gaming Computer

It was only in the 1990s that the idea of a PC focused on being a gaming centre gained enough traction to become a reality. The advances taking place in the computer hardware industry over the course of that decade revolutionised PC gaming. Intel introduced its 486 processor and dedicated graphics cards like the 3dfx Voodoo began to enter the market, offering gamers a way to play far more complex games with vastly improved visual quality.

If you were alive and gaming then, you'll remember early classics like Quake, Command and Conquer, and DOOM and how they pushed the boundaries of what the first gaming PCs and graphics cards were capable of. These games were marketed aggressively and were the catalyst for the explosion of PC gaming.

The Evolution of PC Gaming: From Y2K to 2024

As Y2K approached, advancements in tech were everywhere, and PCs continued to evolve at a rapid pace, as did the games that could be played. 3D graphics cards were the next big change in gaming PCs. NVIDIA stamped its name in history when it released the GeForce 256, and so did ATI with the release of the Radeon 700 series. In 2024, NVIDIA is still one of the biggest names in graphics cards today.

These cards offered gamers an entirely new experience. The gameplay became more immersive, brighter, and smoother. The rise of the MMO began with World of Warcraft and EverQuest, and broadband internet began to connect gamers from all over the world, which is where competitive PC gaming really took off as esports.

Modern Gaming PCs Continue to Evolve

Any gaming PC created since 2010 is considered a part of the modern wave of gaming PCs. The tech world is advancing faster than ever, which means better technology has become available to a far wider marketplace at far more cost-effective price points. The more PC gamers, the faster that growth is driven.

Thanks to multi-core CPUs, the most powerful graphics cards ever to exist, and SSDs that operate as fast as lightning, the experience that modern PC gamers have is something that may have been considered impossible when the first PC was created. 4k visuals and incredibly high frame rates mean that gamers get to live the worlds they play in, not just look at them.

The rise of technologies like VR and AR is also improving and adapting the gaming experience for PC, phone, and console gamers to modern standards; as here we see the gaming PC moving from strength to strength, what we'll see in the future is a whole different ball game.

The Best Gaming PC's in 2024

The vastly capable gaming OPCs that exist in 2024 would have shocked the makers of the Kenbak 1 to their core.

• ABS Stratos Aqua: This is rated as the year's best overall gaming PC and offers incredible value for money to consumers.
• Yeyian Yumi: This is rated by PC Mag as the best budget gaming PC of the year for gamers who want to get involved but don't have the budget to go all in on a costly PC.
• iBuyPower Gaming RDY: This is the best high-end gaming PC on the market today. This all-AMD system includes both the high-powered Ryzen 9 7950X3D and the RX 7900 XTX for a machine that practically works at the speed of light.

What Does The Future Hold

The gaming PC hardware industry will continue to push boundaries until it creates completely new ones. New generation CPUs offer greater performance than ever before, and with tech like AI-powered upscaling becoming more advanced, it is clear that gaming will become on par with cinematic experience before too long.

Cloud gaming and streaming services are changing the way gaming is offered to gamers and will continue to change how hardware is made and demand higher-powered pieces of tech from the manufacturers that the gaming community already relies on. PC gamers have a lot to look forward to in the immediate and far-off future, and we can't wait to see how the industry continues to adapt to changing times.