'It's a slap in the face to post this': Nvidia's new Steam demo is a virtual unboxing of a GeForce 8800 GTX — but with an RTX 5080 GPU recommended to run it, gamers feel like it's a bad joke - TechRadar
Nvidia released a Steam demo allowing users to virtually unbox a 2006 GeForce 8800 GTX graphics card, but requires an RTX 5080 GPU to run it, sparking gamer outrage amid rising hardware prices.
The interactive demo, titled 'GeForce 8800 GTX — 20 Years of a Legend,' allows users to step into a 2006-era PC gaming room, unbox the vintage graphics card, inspect it up close, and install it in an era-accurate PC tower running Windows Vista on a CRT monitor. While seemingly nostalgic, the requirements to run this virtual experience have sparked significant backlash from the gaming community.
Hardware Requirements
Contrary to the demo's theme of revisiting more affordable hardware, the actual requirements are surprisingly demanding. Users need at least an RTX 4070 GPU to run the demo, with the recommended specification being an RTX 5080. Additionally, a minimum of 32GB of RAM is required, adding to the system requirements that many gamers find excessive for a virtual unboxing experience.
A 5080 for an unboxing simulator. They are just laughing in our faces.
Price Concerns
The release comes amid a worsening RAM crisis that has driven graphics card prices to unprecedented levels. The RTX 5080 now costs over double its MSRP in the US, with price increases exceeding 50% in some countries like the UK. Even lower-end graphics cards have experienced significant price hikes, making high-end components increasingly inaccessible to average consumers.
When the GeForce 8800 GTX was released in 2006, it was priced at $599 as a top-end GPU.
Great job, today consumers have no chance to be able to afford new high end gaming video cards in favor of greed and AI money. A 5090 is $10-15k, and a 5080 is $2k or more — it's a slap in the face to post this tbh.
Business Priorities
Many gamers perceive the demo as particularly tone-deaf given Nvidia's current business priorities. The company has increasingly focused on AI and data center applications, which have driven up GPU prices and reduced availability for gaming consumers. While acknowledging that businesses prioritize profits, many feel the demo represents a thoughtless PR move that highlights the affordability gap between past and present hardware.
The GeForce 8800 GTX was celebrated for making high-end gaming more accessible, while the current generation has created a barrier for many enthusiasts. Some have suggested Nvidia might have been better served saving this nostalgic tribute for the card's 25th anniversary, hoping the hardware market might have stabilized by then.
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