It is reasonable to consider DX12 will give everyone a free performance boost but I think the biggest outlier will be Windows 10 itself. I believe the newer not as reviled OS will spur on many people who have been waiting or just dissatisfied with 8 platform will consider 10 worthy of an upgrade. People will buy new machines and builders will beginning upgrading and building new systems to meet the demand. This slow down I think may be temporary and in many ways caused by the stagnation of the PC industry as whole brought on by WIndows 8.

Moore's law has hit a wall several years back, obviously. I wonder what became of IBM's research many years ago to switch from silicon CPUs to other materials. Back then, they said that their new materials would allow clock speeds upwards of 20GHz per core. And then they went silent.

AFAIK this research is still ongoing. I heard a story on NPR about a month ago with the head of Intel about the topic of new CPU materials and where the technology will go in the future.

Well, when you have CPU like Sandy Bridge that going strong for 4+ years... I am not even sure if I have to upgrade to skylake. It seems GPU and SSD are only market with steadily growing demand right now.

My need to defend PC's as a gaming platform make me lean toward the performance plateau we've hit with silicon based CPU's as a reason why sales might be lower rather then disinterest with the platform itself. As others pointed out, moore's law is dead since I think 2012. Most have Sandy Bridge or higher at this point, and there aint much reason to go beyond that. Once DX12 becomes standard, there will be even less of a reason to get a new CPU. Honestly, will there be a difference the 4 year old SB and Skylake in DX12 games? My guess, probably not. I don't think Skylake is going to be getting those extra millions they are missing out on. GPU's on the other hand only have their real power unlocked, expect them to continue to sell well. At least under my logic.

Ah! Guess what after all the world is finite. No one would say...