I think in 1993 you could easily still spend $6k by buying the top end 486/pentium CPU from intel, 8mb ram, CD-ROM, large (for the time) HDD, 17" monitor, etc. It wouldn't have a GPU but the latest tech always cost a big premium (it might be just 50% faster than a good but non-top-end system but cost 2-3x as much).
EDIT - looking at some ads in the December '93 issue of Computerworld [0] there's a Compaq ad saying "the Deskpro with Pentium starts at just $3,199" (both the "starts at" and the "just" make me think you could make it cost a lot more than $3,199, altho you could surely also play Doom on a cheaper computer).
It was very high - but this was a business purchase. It was EASY to spend $6k for a high-end PC in 1993. Also consider that $6000 is $12000 in 2023 dollars.
wslh|2 years ago
Anyway, the USD 6k price tag was very high since I remember running Doom on a sub USD 2k PC. Most probably closer to USD 1k.
ido|2 years ago
EDIT - looking at some ads in the December '93 issue of Computerworld [0] there's a Compaq ad saying "the Deskpro with Pentium starts at just $3,199" (both the "starts at" and the "just" make me think you could make it cost a lot more than $3,199, altho you could surely also play Doom on a cheaper computer).
[0] https://books.google.de/books?id=WESBpiNtNTEC&pg=PA19&hl=en&...
intrasight|2 years ago