I think we can have pretty set expectations here based on the existence of the similar and fixed spec consoles that games are ultimately being built around.I don’t think we can stipulate what it should cost to run the latest graphics because that is an undefined workload that varies significantly from game to game. Maybe reviewers should back off their obsession with ultra max settings.
What we can expect is that games should look good and run well on affordable cards and they do for the most part.
Of course not every game will run the same, but in the year 2024, it should not cost $600+ to run some new game at a >PS4/XB1 level of resolution just to have ray tracing and 60fps. This isn't because of some huge shift in relative demands over the years, it's because that $600 GPU that people need now would have only cost like $330 not so long ago. That's the real issue. People would be way more glad and accepting of ray tracing if it they could have it and not have to make sacrifices that essentially make it a sidegrade because they cant run a level of resolution that is beyond what most people expected over a decade ago already in 2013.