If it’s not crypto- or AI-driven shortages, it’s tariffs. The price of hardware goes up, while the supply of that hardware goes down. So, honestly, it’s not a great time for hardware enthusiasts to be in the market for new gear.
The good news is that your “need” for new computer hardware is probably not as necessary as you think, and if you can change your perspective a little, it’s not that hard to be happy with what you already have.
Computer Hardware Is Set To Become Unaffordable
The details may not be exactly the same by the time you read this, but on average there are several factors putting upward pressure on the prices of computer hardware. Apart from the unpredictable trade war, there’s extreme demand for components like CPUs, RAM, and GPUs for AI data centers, and all the major chip manufacturers are running at capacity.
There may be some relief when more microchips are made on US soil, but for the foreseeable future new computer hardware will be in short supply, have inflated prices, or more likely both.
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Most People Don’t Actually Need New Computers
Computer performance has still been increasing steadily over the past few years, but not at quite the rapid exponential pace we’ve all become accustomed to. Yet, the point where computer performance was “good enough” for almost all the daily tasks people need to do with their computers is more than a decade in the rear-view mirror.
If you have a quad-core or better computer, with 16GB of RAM, and an SSD, then basic office work and web browsing should be as easy now as when your computer was new.
Gamers Can Tone Down Their Settings
If you aren’t just someone looking to do basic things with your computer, specifically if you’re a gamer, then you may feel that you have to keep buying new hardware to “keep up” with video game requirements.
Except for poorly optimized PC ports of console games (and you should not buy hardware to brute force bad code) the idea that you need to keep upgrading your computer to play games that will run just fine on a gaming console is misguided. It’s also completely unnecessary to play games on “ultra” or even “high” settings. Remember that these settings are just labels.
What actually matters is whether the game looks good and runs well. Some modern cutting-edge PC games look as good on “low” as games from a few years ago do on “ultra”, and the returns you get for cranking up the details these days diminsh rapidly.
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The Used Market Might Be More Affordable
As demand goes up it may not be true forever, but for now there are still good deals to be had in used hardware marketplaces. So if you either don’t have have a computer, or the one you have is actually too old to remain useful, then there’s nothing wrong with hopping on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist and buying PC hardware from five years ago.
If you’re lucky, you’ll score hardware to build something that’s beyond your actual needs for a price that doesn’t require maxing out your credit card. Of course, there are risks involved with any used hardware purchase, mainly getting something that will fail soon or being scammed outright.
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If you choose to buy a refurbished computer from a reputable retailer instead, then you won’t save quite as much money, but you will have some sort of limited warranty in case there is something seriously wrong.
The Cutting Edge Is an (Unnecessary) Luxury
I like having the latest and greatest stuff as much as the next person, probably even more. However, the reality right now is that the latest high-tech equipment has astronomical pricing combined with scarcity. That’s not a good combination, and it’s the wrong time to buy unless you absolutely need to have that hardware to generate in an income, in which case it will pay for itself.
For the rest of us, now’s the time to take a more laid-back attitude and try to get the most out of the laptops, tablets, phones, TVs, and desktop PC hardware we already have.
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