> Most of the CPU's and GPU's that could have been used frankly weren't much better than what they'd replace
Agree about CPUs, disagree about GPUs. GPUs have been making very good progress all these years.
E.g. nVidia’s 1080 Ti (2017) is almost twice as fast as the similarly priced 980 Ti (2015). The 780 Ti (2013) is about the same as 980Ti but 680 (2012) is again about 2x slower than 980 Ti.
Agree about CPUs, disagree about GPUs. GPUs have been making very good progress all these years.
E.g. nVidia’s 1080 Ti (2017) is almost twice as fast as the similarly priced 980 Ti (2015). The 780 Ti (2013) is about the same as 980Ti but 680 (2012) is again about 2x slower than 980 Ti.