A modern GPU is literally millions of times more powerful.

The FLOPS/$ aren't even comparable though.

In MSRP, sure, but cost/performance? Keep in mind there's a second-hand market, my $200 Rx 580 works just fine for 1080p gaming even for recent releases (without maxing settings). That's after accounting for Ethereum over-charging the demand-side.

And how many orders of magnitude more performant are GPUs today? Houses don’t fundamentally change level of luxury (or whatever other apples to oranges comparison you want to draw) every few years.

On-die GPUs you get for free with the proc are more powerful than 2000s GPUs. Hell, CPUs are so much faster now you can do the same effects as a 2000s GPU in software.

when? the nvidia 8800 GTX launched in 2006 at $599 MSRP. it wasn't even the top card of that generation. that would be the 8800 ultra which launched eight months later at $829 MSRP. unless I'm mistaken, you would have to go back to the Ti 4600 to find a flagship GPU that launched at/under $400. that was in 2002.

ten years after the 8800 GTX, I bought a 1080 ti not long after launch for about $650. that card is more than 2000% faster, for roughly the same inflation-adjusted price.

I'd rather have a $1200 GPU than dick around with triple SLI.

You can get GPUs as powerful as the ones from 2000 for like $10.