I’d say the problem isn’t so much optimization as it is scaling. The FPS delta between low and ultra is just stupid small in many games nowadays. Before dropping to low would make the game look like shit sure but it would also run on 5+ year old hardware. Now you get like 10 FPS+ and still slog around under 60 fps on 2-3 year old 6-series cards (X060/X600). Sure some games are CPU bound as well but that’s less common.
Really what needs to happen is devs need to add a potato mode so we can at least play the game.
I’ll however say that the source of the problem is of course consoles. On them settings are rather meaningless so it’s only for the PC market you need them and given how many gaming PCs outperform consoles and PC gamers generally expect the PC version to look better it’s no wonder that’s where they put their focus and effort. But a proper low setting that actually scales shouldn’t be too hard to achieve.
Dead accurate meme.
My protip if you really can’t bother with all that and just want to do expensive Legos is to go to an active forum for PCs where you can simply ask for a recommendation for a build.
What you need to supply is a budget example and what it needs to cover. I.e. if screen needs to be part of it or if you have one. If you do the resolution and refresh rate is good input (or just make and model which is printed on it). Finally you need an idea of what games you’ll play. With that a mini war will erupt between AMD and Intel and AMD and Nvidia around what would be the best build for the budget.
Keep in mind to pick a forum based in the same country as you, else the recommendations might not at all fit your budget due to local price variance.
Hell you could probably make do without a budget if you say you’re unsure how much is reasonable to spend to play the games you wish to play and you’ll get recommendations to that effect as well.