Often times in this subreddit (and similar gaming subreddits) i see 2 kinds of posts.
First kind:i finally build pc with(insert best current gpu) but i have nothing to play.
And second kind :"i really can't go back to x after upgrading to y".
In the old times when 720p was standard 1080p was looked as god given resolution to have. Then from 1080p to 1440p and so on. And in those old days genuinely, difference was astonishing. But as u go higher and higher price of upgrading stays the same while actual difference diminishes.
Your eyes get used to current setup and see it as nominal and everything below is just downgrade. But after certain point difference is so abysmal it losses on meaning. Of course, gaming sites, benchmarks and etc will tell you different story:this new x gpu is 40% percent stronger than last years y gpu! ".But what is the point when you dont get return on your investment.
And thats when we come to Marginal utility.
Example: Imagine you're starving and someone gives you a pizza. First slice is incredible. Second slice still great. Third slice good. By slice 6 you're forcing it down and getting almost no enjoyment from it. The slice didn't get worse you just extracted most of the value already
Each upgrade gives you less return than the previous one. Going from a GTX 750 to a GTX 1060 in 2016 was transformative. Going from an RTX 4080 to a 4090 is 15% more performance you'll never actually notice during gameplay. But we treat every generation like it's the 750 to 1060 jump. The graphics look impressive in isolation until you contextualize what that performance difference actually feels like sitting in front of a monitor playing a game.
Hedonic treadmill is even more damaging.
Example: You desperately want a new phone. You get it, you're thrilled for two weeks. Then it's just your phone. Now you want the next model.
You buy the 4090, you're euphoric for two weeks, then it becomes the new normal and suddenly you're reading about next gen and feeling inadequate again. The satisfaction resets completely. You can see it in posts "just upgraded to X, already looking at Y." The upgrade itself became the dopamine hit, not the actual gaming experience it enables.
These 2 combined are sole reasons why some guy in Congo on his 20 year old Pc enjoys gaming more than average Usa or Eu citizen on his lastest rig with 4090.
I think learning about these 2 scientifically proven terms would change outlook on gaming on pc (and gaming in general) more than any" upgrade" can.