It’s still not a great time to build a PC in 2021. Here’s why.
PC building is a fun and rewarding hobby, even if you do only one major build every few years. Putting everything together and seeing it all turn on properly is certainly satisfying, and knowing exactly what is running behind the scenes allows you to pinpoint problems and make future upgrades with ease. We recommend people build their own PC whenever possible, and we’ve even put together an immense guide on how to build your own PC for anyone who’s just getting started. But what happens when global shortages cause prices to rise dramatically and stock to disappear off of shelves seemingly before it’s even on sale? Let’s take a look at what happened and why you still shouldn’t build a PC in 2021.
Why PC parts are being shorted and scalped
Source: Windows Central
The situation hasn’t improved a whole lot in 2021, at least on the side of the GPU. In May, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger went on 60 Minutes to discuss the bleak state of semiconductor manufacturing around the world. He explained how the United States once produced 37% of the world’s semiconductors, whereas that number has dropped to 12% today.
In June, the U.S. Senate passed a bill with $52 billion of funding for semiconductor manufacturing. Of course, those effects can’t be immediately seen, and just a few days later it was reported that about 25% of all GPUs sold in the first quarter of 2021 went to crypto miners and speculators.
Some PC prices are slowly returning to normal
Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central
Some prices are returning to normal, but GPUs will still eat up a huge chunk of your budget.
Just taking a quick glance at the major U.S. online retailers while I’m writing this shows how overpriced GPUs still are. The NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti, with its list price of $599, is being sold for more than $1,000 at Newegg. Best Buy has no stock at all, and Amazon is as bad or worse as Newegg when it comes to inflated prices. The same holds true for all of NVIDIA’s modern GPUs (no matter the performance level), as well as AMD’s new Radeon RX 6000 lineup.
If you don’t get lucky shopping shortly after a restock or getting in on something special like Newegg’s Shuffle, you’re going to have a bad time. You can check out our articles on where to buy AMD Radeon RX 6000 GPUs and where to buy NVIDIA RTX 30-series GPUs, but don’t expect to find much stock anywhere.
On the other hand, AMD’s Ryzen 5000 CPUs and Intel’s 11th Gen Rocket Lake-S CPUs are much easier to find at a normal list price. And while everything from PC cases to RAM was suffering from a big price pump just a few months ago, their numbers have begun to come down as well.
What you can do instead of building a PC
Source: Dan Thorp-Lancaster / Windows Central
If you want a brand-new PC with high-end gaming performance in mind, you’re still going to have a hard time. If you don’t have time or patience to play the GPU lottery, another excellent option is shopping around for a pre-built PC. While not all pre-built PCs are designed to the same standard and you still need to be wary of being overcharged, they are a great way to get your hands on a next-gen GPU without having to deal with scalpers.
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
Newegg’s line of ABS pre-built gaming PCs are plentiful, varied, well built, and affordable. And if you’re looking for something that caters to your every need, something like the Maingear Vybe might be what you need. There is plenty of opportunity to get your hands on the hardware you want, but be sure to read reviews and testimonials before investing. A lot of pre-built PCs use the cheapest parts possible (or parts that are proprietary), which you want to avoid. Shop carefully and keep an eye on price swings, and before you know it you’ll be back to PC gaming without having to spend way over budget.
Mainstream 4K gaming
HP OMEN 30L
The HP OMEN 30L, when appropriately configured, is a serious 4K gaming mainstream rig with pleasant aesthetics that lean more modern than hardcore gamer. With the ability to easily expand or upgrade components later, there’s an incentive to buy this on the cheap and upgrade as you go if you’re on a budget. Fan noise and some mediocre cabling keep it from brilliance, but these are minor quibbles.
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
Best Destiny 2 builds, and how to make your own
Destiny 2’s sandbox has become both wider and deeper than ever before, and as a result, players have the tools to create some very effective builds in both PvE and PvP. Here’s an overview of the best ones, as well as a guide on how you can start creating your own builds.
These are the best motherboards for AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
The Ryzen 9 3900X is a cracking CPU, allowing you to do pretty much everything on your PC. From video editing and intense gaming to enthusiast leaderboard competitions, this processor can almost do it all. So long as you pair it with one of these motherboards.