Is now a bad time to build a PC?
Posted by Scary_Couple8243@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 328 comments
Everyone has definitely heard about the whole RAM prices getting doubled in the past few weeks. I just recently started getting interested in building a PC but then I heard about the RAM prices. Should I wait in hopes the RAM prices go down in a few months or is it just going to get more expensive?
Mercurius94@reddit
If you're building a gaming computer now is sort of a tough time but you can easily get away with a sweet AMD Radeon and play most games with little to no performance issues.
If you're making a workstation you are figgidy-fucked. Between RAM prices being 100% higher and GPUs going up for crappy AI integrated hardware that doesn't even help anyone trying to run demanding programs not suited at low-latency gaming, the workforce (musicians, programmers, animators, artists and modelers) are pretty much paying 2×-5× their normal prices.
Build one now because it's just going to get worse unless the GPU market changes, DDR5 is still good an will last for years, works good used, works great new, no reason to be messing with DDR3 at this point, DDR4 is quickly going out the door but you could get aways with an older build it isnt necessarily wise or strategic unless you have no interest in new software I just don't think you'd save enough money to justify the memory loss.
SSDs are bad right now but certainly manageable, people seem to forget that HDDs are a thing and there's no reason not to use one for all of your "crap that ain't going nowhere" in fact it'll make your shit last longer if you have one and there's nothing stopping you from running on digital storage.
MOBOs right now are just fine and you can use one from a few years ago if need be. Not super strategic but get what you can afford, as long as it supports DDR5 and a decent CPU you'll do fine.
CtrlAltDesolate@reddit
It's a bad time but it's only going to get worse.
Electrical_Pause_860@reddit
Until it gets better. Which could happen soon or not for years.
AirlineEasy@reddit
Exactly. I build my PC in july. I asked this same question then, and was told to wait for GPU prices to come down. I'm so glad I didn't wait. We won't know what is going to happen in the future. So rather than chosing if it's a bad time judging by prices, I'd judge by your own finances.
reversethrust@reddit
Yeah. I spent about $4000 on my desktop earlier this year. Didn’t have the budget for a 5090 then but ended up with a 5070 instead and saving for the new card. But dammit. Glad I didn’t wait to be able to afford the whole thing at once since I would be totally screwed.
AirlineEasy@reddit
I'm having a hard time understanding how you can spend 4k and not have the budget for a 5090
reversethrust@reddit
Canadian dollars.
AllHailThePig@reddit
Out of curiosity. What is the rough mark up percentage on building an above average to high end PC?
I was shopping online at a computer store for some cleaning supplies and on the front page it had some pre-built PCs and I was absolutely flabbergasted. Aussie prices. Like $12,000. Sure pre-built is going to have a mark up and it was a 5090 but man...
Had to have a squiz at their pre-built page and while I'm pretty unsophisticated with computers and I don't have a good knowledge on parts pricing except the times when I'm in the market to build a new one, but it did seem like some were nearly double the price I'd have expected them to be.
Just starting a new job that pays well and so if we weren't going through this AI bubble I would be thinking about upgrading or maybe even look at building a new one as a treat for finishing my studies and starting my career in social work (adult learning course, I'm getting old).
However now I'm just going to remain absolutely stoked about my decent rig with the 3080. I typically prefer to buy games on sale these days anyways, so one day when I upgrade (if shit becomes more reasonable pricing wise that is) I'll probably buy a mix of current and previous gen hi-end parts to play games that are a few to five years old.
Though I have to wonder if things will ever revert back to being reasonably affordable? A lot of parts were already overpriced before all this and I can't think of a market that ever had a massive price surge that went back down to the level of pricing that was the norm before the surge.
It will be interesting to see how this affects the games industry as a whole.
Will less newcomers adopt PC gaming?
Will a lot of PC gamers drop out of gaming on PC altogether when they cannot afford to replace parts that have malfunctioned?
Will consoles remain relatively affordable and so PC users will transition PlayStation (Xbox too of course but who knows if they will be a thing in a few years)?
Wild times.
CtrlAltDesolate@reddit
Thing is, things will get better in terms of increases slowing down or reversing slightly - but they're not going back to where they were.
I'd expect at least 30-50% of the ram-related increases to be "the new normal" and based on what most of the industry are saying, we're not getting back to regular supply for around 12-18 months as a minimum.
DragonQ0105@reddit
You say that but RAM prices are always cyclical.
CtrlAltDesolate@reddit
Historically yes. But if you look at how many of the major players are currently in the process of establishing long term infrastructure to support their AI endeavours, and how much supply is being hoovered up by that... This situations pretty different.
Steve/ Gamer's Nexus did an excellent piece on it yesterday, go check the vid on YouTube. This ain't a short term hike.
Electrical_Pause_860@reddit
There’s some news about China getting in to the RAM game, that actually would dump the prices down.
Echo-Four-Yankee@reddit
I just learned the 8TB NVME I bought for $600 a few months ago is now $2K, the same price as my 5090 FE!
StickInteresting1548@reddit
Uhh I need a pc from 700-900 rang I wanna play truck gta5 and Fortnite are my main help me
Dry-Parsley1413@reddit
I'm new to the pc world, I'm looking to build my first PC. I plan to play games like GTA V, Fortnite, Call of duty, etc. do you people have any part recommendations that would work for about $1000?
ManLegPower@reddit
It’s definitely a bad time to build and upgrade, but the longer the wait, the worse that problem becomes. Some people are betting on an Ai bubble to burst, but with the future the tech companies are planning, it sounds highly unlikely to me.
SnardVaark@reddit
IMO, the price of graphics cards is the main issue by far. I paid a lot more for RAM in the late 90's than we are paying now. IIRC, 240MB for my Powermac was over $600.
humble_mumb@reddit
Do you guys think that CPU and/or motherboard prices could be also affected by that? I would hope that those get cheaper because less consumer will buy the parts to upgrade their pc or don’t buy something because they think the current prices are not worth it.
ninereins48@reddit
Sigh, all these comments forget that Semicons have been cyclical since their inception.
Prices probably aren’t going to drop tommorow or next week, but the oversupply is going to be glorious once we hit the peak of this cycle.
mamamarty21@reddit
It’s a very bad time. You’re about a month and change too late.
Unlucky-Champion288@reddit
It’s going to only get a lot worse before it gets any better. Once the proper facilities are built to withstand the demand needs of AI data centers then the prices will start to stagnate. Then maybe start lowering.
Lkc-strong-125@reddit
Yeah today is bad tomorrow will be worse
Build one now or forever hold your peace
LibrarianOverall6213@reddit
What i would actually try is buying the best deal on hard to get components now, dont open them and if you find some banger deal in the time you can return them , just do that. Ive gotten 64gb of 6000mhz corsair vengences with rgb for around 500$(i guess with current exchange rates a bit more but whatever) so yeah maybe you can just find something nice in the meantime
Several_Sort_5037@reddit
Honestly float around eBay for a raw kit was able to get a 32gb 1 stick hit for 185, you just gotta be consistent in your search
nikmia91@reddit
It’s bad, but can be waaaay worse.
Any-Literature-7834@reddit
These prices likely aren't going to go down "in a few months." Probably years, or more. If you want a PC, get it before it becomes even worse.
RutabagaFew697@reddit
The ram prices might keep going up untill 2029
fx_alvaro@reddit
They've gone up in price, but they'll go up even more, buy now!
Ambitious-Dentist337@reddit
No it won't go down rather up. Now is a bad time but tomorrow is probably worse.
StillSalt2526@reddit
Because people dont vote with their feet & wallets. Just complain 😉
simonbleu@reddit
It should come down eventually given that it is artificial scarcity and competitors should show up sooner than later to fill the niche but I doubt it will come down all the way
So, I'd say yes, it is a bad time
jsmith1300@reddit
What did they say it takes something like 2 years to spin up a new fab? That is if a new company emerges and why wouldn't they just want more of that AI money?
simonbleu@reddit
It doesnt matter how much demand AI creates, final consumers remain an untapped market therefore people should be drawn to it
But you are right that it is not fast (nor cheap, and i suppose ai companies could push with bad faith manipulation tho that would affect their reputation with consumers). Still I believe it should normalize-ish sooner or later beause of what i said
corruptboomerang@reddit
I do think if (when) we get the AI collapse, then prices will go back down. But who knows when (if) that will happen.
watchface38@reddit
Yes. First we waited for the end of the mi mining boom and now for the end of the AI collapse. What will be next?
mavajo@reddit
That's definitely the larger question, IMO. But we need one of these to stick long-term for production to really increase - or for competitors to enter the market.
But if AMD and nVidia full bore towards AI, I think the market demand will compel a new company to emerge.
reversethrust@reddit
Doesn’t micron have two new factories in the works? One to open in 2027 and one in 2030?
HarrisonGreen@reddit
I love it how Redditors are always on the wrong side of history. Crypto and AI is the future. Embrace it, or get left behind and join the losers over at r/antiwork.
watchface38@reddit
Bro I`m deep into crypto and AI if you look in my history. I'm even having a huge avatar portfolio
amathyx@reddit
AI, probably. Crypto though has demonstrated absolutely no value other than being a massive pyramid scheme scam.
Dynastydood@reddit
That's really the problem. These lunatics will just scheme up an even more wasteful use of resources as part of their next con, and we'll be in the same spot.
-CerN-@reddit
Did prices for things go back down after all the issues that drove prices up during COVID went away?
kkrko@reddit
All the way down? Not really. But things did get cheaper. RAM was cheap a few months ago compared to the peak of covid, and GPUs are still cheaper than peak covid.
ThundaChikin@reddit
There will be no collapse, if prices collapse they will print money and give it away to stop deflation. Best you can hope for is for prices to go sideways for a while.
Front-Bicycle-9049@reddit
Thats assuming humans survive the AI collapse.
conaii@reddit
The trouble is that inflation has us all confused about what ‘normal’ is for electronics. The cost of ram now is closer to what inflation would project than the cost of CPUs since 2018, so I would expect 200$ CPUs to stay on the market at the same performance level, because they sell but they will continue to be budget tier.
But DRR5 RAM was underpriced for a few years while adoption was low, and what those prices were compared to the market conditions had to stop eventually. I think this is the new normal for ram, and CPUs that fully outshine 14th gen Intel or AM4 will be double the price too, but no is shocked there.
TL:Dr; the price of computers isn’t in wild flux right now, what 1000USD can buy in US markets is, and this isn’t a political sub so I’ll leave it there.
MTPWAZ@reddit
It won't go up forever if that's what you're implying. But we haven't reached the ceiling yet.
j3lackfire@reddit
ram is probably the worst it could be, but gpu i suspect will get worse next year as nvidia lower their gaming output by 40% and gpu vendors having to source their own vram means, and old card will be phase out soon when the 60xx series are out. I expect the GPUs price to jump. I finally bit the bullet and ordered a new system even though my 2070 super is still rocking fine.
reversethrust@reddit
Ughhhh… saving up for a 5090 but won’t have enough until late Feb/early March 😢
O-o--O---o----O@reddit
You believe ram won't get much worse once the last stockpiles are sold and little to no new ram will trickle into the consumer market because of the 3 main manufacturers 1-2 having sold out their entire 2026 production to AI companies (the 2027 production is probably gone already too)?
And the third manufacturer has announced they won't do consumer ram anymore...
And as you said, consumer vram is going to suffer a lot more too with the nvidia announcements...
j3lackfire@reddit
It's christmas season so buying power is a lot more than usual, and people are in a panic buy mode, so I believe that all the seller are actively taking advantage of this fact and the fomo in people to raise the price as much as they can to reap the profit. I think corporate (laptop/prebuilt/phone) demand will reduce a bit due to price increases, consumer demand will also reduce due to high price and people waiting till the bubble burst, so we have reduced demand and reduced supply so it should even out.
That's my theory though, but I do believe in the near future, ram price can be the same or increase, I don't see a decrease in price for the next 2-3 years
Competitive-Rub7670@reddit
uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh nah ram about to get alot worse bro
Low_Key_Trollin@reddit
This. Ram about to be unobtainium
got-trunks@reddit
I was planning a mid-cycle upgrade or a new system in October lol, I've since gone ahead and got a designer keyboard, a nice mouse, some speakers, some monitor stands... Everything but the computer itself lol.
Well, I did get a new HDD but the average among my disks was like 50k hours power-on time so that's enough to think about freshening up lol
dinglebarryb0nds@reddit
Motivational quotes
PotentialAnt9670@reddit
Forget the promise of progress and lower prices. In the grim darkness of the near future, there are only higher prices.
Kotvic2@reddit
And NOT only for RAM prices.
RAM prices are at least 3x higher than few months ago and they will be extremely expensive for at least next 2 years.
SSD drives are getting expensive too, now they are 30% more expensive than few months ago and their prices will grow up.
Graphics cards will get very expensive soon. Nvidia is stopping VRAM supply with their GPU cores, so card manufacturers must search for them by themselves. On top of that, Nvidia is cutting its production by 40%, so prices will skyrocket very soon too.
Markuska90@reddit
Damn mechanicum hoarding all the RAM
Electrical_Swing8166@reddit
Heathen like you probably wouldn’t know the correct binharic litanies to recite when seating it anyway
zagblorg@reddit
Must be the Dark Mechanicum, given they're meddling with Abominable Intelligence!
Markuska90@reddit
Purge the Heretic!
"That is an excellent point! You are smart in pointing that out!"
kermityfrog2@reddit
RAM for the AI God.
xerolv426@reddit
I'm beginning to feel like a ram god, ram god
Money_Do_2@reddit
And an ocean of slop replacing the labor force.
Acrylic_Starshine@reddit
So maybe start building last week then? Got it.
lokicramer@reddit
Ram will likely go down.
Obviously not to what it was a month ago, but it will go down by a few hundred.
SirFunktastic@reddit
This. Just built my new computer after a decade since my last build and I don't anticipate RAM, SSDs, or GPUs to get any cheaper for the foreseeable future.
xmkgenzo@reddit
I did exactly the same last month. I was lucky to find a combo deal for 32Gb of 6000/30 RAM. I should have pulled the trigger in September instead of waiting for black Friday month (November) -I would have spent the same but with 64Gb of RAM.
InvestigatorGrand205@reddit
Tbh we are going to stop using pc and phones due to them costing too much.
Ok-Hornet4317@reddit
well hold on, when mining was big and GPUs were crazy they stabilized a bit. Could the same not happen here?
mikeytlive@reddit
“But the ai bubble is going to pop”
insanekyo@reddit
It will but it'll do crazy damage before then.
pillbox_purgatory@reddit
That’s what I’m thinking too….if electronic prices do crater it’s going to be because the AI bubble popped and we’re all going to be screwed by a depression economy
skrav@reddit
Yes the best time was around april this year. I remember i decked or all my game servers with new cpus memory and gpus for a decent amount. Remember passing about 600 for 1tb of ram.
mango091@reddit
This kind of sentiment drives prices higher
Neo-Armadillo@reddit
I’m trying to sell a $1300 PC I built last year, for just $749, and I literally can’t get anyone to show up.
Active_Attorney8093@reddit
How corporates manipulates market, money, amd people are getting out of control amd is insane. I'll just go out, touch the grass and disconnect myself from civilization, and never return ngl. Restarting my life somewhere deep within a forest or maybe on an island without internet, only the nature and me, my wife and my kids. Basically life of how it was meant to be.
Take care all.
wanderingsorcerer99@reddit
If it’s going to run your pockets to the point you have to use a credit card to get all the things you need to build one, forget about it. Don’t put yourself in a position where you’d regret spending money whilst have zero money.
Doghairdontcare@reddit
Months ago it was gpu price problems. Now it's ram. But at the end of the day, they off set each other. Supposedly ram will go up even more, so I took advantage of holiday deals like cashback and built a computer last week.
KeplerBepler@reddit
Do you even have any money?
vaurapung@reddit
The best time to a build a pc is always when you have enough saved up with 20% extra.
Put that whole pc in your cart and watch prices for about 2-4 weeks and make the purchase as soon as 2 or more parts are on sale.
TyrelUK@reddit
I wouldn't wait 2 to 4 weeks now, although usually sound advice. Prices are going up fast, even if a couple parts are on sale the saving will be overshadowed by the increases elsewhere.
MrMeerYT@reddit
Maybe do wait 2-4 weeks, but definitely buy ram and ssd asap
vaurapung@reddit
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xgNhnp
Here a build thats equivalent, bit better, to my 2024 1500$ build. And it comes in under 2000$.
TyrelUK@reddit
How does that show that prices will be better going forward? They won't. Your logic to get a better deal was right but not in today's market. Leave it 4 weeks and the average build will be more expensive.
A month ago I saw what was happening but wasn't sure if it was a blip. I have an am4 system and planned to upgrade mb, ram and CPU next April. I saw some ram at a normal price, around £80 for 32gb ddr5. Asked my friend if I should just buy it in advance. I took his advice to wait, wish I hadn't.
Last week I found an Amazon listing, £66 for 16gb ddr5 ecc (unfortunately) 5800mhz. Said delivery Feb. I decided to try my luck, bought 2, expected it to be cancelled or a con. They got delivered yesterday and are genuine, same memory is going for minimum £240 per stick today.
I regularly update my pc. I have a 5800x3d and 32gb vergence ddr4 3600 that will both sell for twice the price I paid new a couple years ago in the current market. Including the memory that I bought (that I was super lucky with) I can upgrade to an am5 system with at least an extra £50 in my pocket.
The market is fucked and getting more so by the day. If you have the money to get the system you want you should buy it now. Waiting weeks to see what will happen will fuck you over.
vaurapung@reddit
You dont leave it for 4 weeks. You check your cart every day at least once. Its almost christmas which means a lot of items go on sale the week after. Duh.
O-o--O---o----O@reddit
Just order it now and hold on to it. If you find a better deal around christmas, you return what is left over. Why gamble at all?
vaurapung@reddit
How about we put it to the test. Reply pcpartpicker list of what you would build for a 2000$ pc today.
You have built more computers than me. Im only at about 7 ground up builds.
Then ill just make a new post as a watch items post and check listings and pricing and just reply each day for a couple, few weeks what the price of that equivalent pc would be.
It would be a fun experiment to see how much cost really is changing.
I would like for you to set the build though since all my computers have been crap at playing games. They work fine. They just are crap gaming computers. Even my 7600x3d with 7900gre cant play no mans sky.
O-o--O---o----O@reddit
Thing is, just finished mine right before the ram crash, but if you wanna have fun:
If you want to make a list:
- 9950x3d
- noctua nh-d15 g2
- 64GB of ram, ddr5 6000 cl30, anything you like
- msi tomahawk wifi x870e or similar (need the pcie slots and m2)
- 3-4x 4tb nvme, depending on how many you can/wanna fit (got 3 samsung pro and a transcend)
- fractal design north xl case or similar
- any good or very good tier-listed psu 850w or higher
- went with a 5070ti, put in something roughly equivalent
- rest not needed/up to you.
As mentioned elsewhere, not in the US but Germany. No problems with returns.
vaurapung@reddit
Wow. Thats like a 5 grand pc last year. I could buy a car with that money. I cant buy a car with the money I spent on all my computers, lol.
O-o--O---o----O@reddit
It's 4500€ right now, including tax and all. The ssds are each about 100-115€ more than what i paid in march and black friday (so minus 400-460). The exact ram is x3 and rough equivalent is x2 (so at least minus 350-400).
So at best it was a 3500-3700€ pc at date of purchase.
Other cpu, less/no ssds, half the ram, no new case, maybe same psu if it's a good one,... could save a ton.
vaurapung@reddit
I guess you dont have a 401k, bit coins, or any other investment either.
Life is a gamble. Buying g now is a gamble because your not garunteed a full refund either. What if you get a part doa days before the return policy is up and have to trouble shoot getting th pc to post.
The whole experince of building a pc is a gamble.
O-o--O---o----O@reddit
I don't live in the US, i do not have problems getting a full refund.
TyrelUK@reddit
And you're the one that said 4 weeks, not me.
vaurapung@reddit
You've never shopped for a big mulit part purchase before I see.
I said 2 to 4 weeks. I didnt say dont buy before then. I said watch the cart and when 2 or more parts go on sale (cost less than when you added them) make the purchase. That means if 2 or more parts get cheaper 15 minutes later buy it.
TyrelUK@reddit
Dude, I've been building my own PC's and those of several friends since around 2000, I've done a lot of bulk buys. Add I said, your advice is sound for a normal market but I know what I'm talking about. Just look at the rest of this thread, this market is not acting in any way normal.
vaurapung@reddit
I posted a 1800 dollar build at today's prices vs the 1300 dollar build i made last year. An extra 500$ for better dlss/fsr than I have, more stable chipset, same ram and better psu and all gen5 m.2 for less than my half gen5 half Gen4 drives.
TyrelUK@reddit
The markets fucked, that's a huge risk. If you have the money to buy a system you're happy with now then buy it. Waiting even days is a roll of the dice.
ElGoddamnDorado@reddit
It's going to get worse. Did I want to pay $300 for RAM? Fuck no. But at least I don't have to worry about what ifs. SSDs and GPUs are gonna go up. Hell, wouldn't even surprise me if CPUs will too the way everything's going. At least I won't have to upgrade for a long ass time now.
qtx@reddit
I mean, until something breaks in your system..
MrMeerYT@reddit
Luckily ram is very durable. My grandpa is still running 4GBs of ddr2 on a pc that was build in 2001
Different_Target_228@reddit
You wanna spend $400 on 32gigs of ram?
It won't be a good time for years. If they don't just decide to force cloud computing on everyone and never bring prices more down.
NVIDIA is cutting consumer gpu production by 40 or 60% (Idr which I read ngl) next year.
It's a fucking terrible time to buy parts. And buying parts will only tell these companies they can get away with these prices.
c2h5oc2h5@reddit
You're right in principle, however I think it all depends what PC you're sitting at now. For anyone who has something quite modern and reasonable, there's definitely no need to upgrade now the prices are increasing. If you can wait out next several years, do it.
On the other hand I was pondering upgrading my PC or maybe buying Steam Machine for some time now, because I have 8 yo CPU and 5 yo GPU. I don't play much, and it was mostly fine for 1080p even if not great. But there are some games in the horizon I'm willing to play in near future (TW40k), so I've decided it's time for upgrade now before prices rise even further. DDR4 price doubled, but you can still get GPU and CPU at quite reasonable price. It's possible you won't be able to in a year....
Different_Target_228@reddit
Oooook, have fun spending 300+ on 32gb, I guess. Glad you have more money than sense while real general consumers are priced out of affordability.
MrMeerYT@reddit
You clearly have a good pc, because you have no idea how bad it is to have a crappy one!
modSysBroken@reddit
This is me. I need to upgrade my 8 year old pc now and my barebones 3050 that I got at the peak of COVID.
modSysBroken@reddit
Nvidia never compromises on looting the customer.
coffincolors@reddit
The forced cloud computing theory has me stressed out. It's not out of the question governments and the tech industry would come to this. In a perfect world, it would actually make sense. But we are far, far, far from that. Watch, this shortage never ends, 3 years, AI is impossible to discern from reality, possession of RAM is illegal. And everything that comes with it. They could easily the keys to the kingdom, under the convenient guise of protecting corporate profits, but I suspect it's always ever about power. There's probably a Legion of Doom group chat or something designing the next TPM chip
InvestigatorGrand205@reddit
Bingo. This is the time to sell consumers pickaxes not corporations. The consumer will move away from tech for a few years maybe go out more to do free stuff vs sitting at home on their pcs.
Christmas_Panda@reddit
So, I have been a PC builder for over 20 years. I did a little digging for a friend who got a new PC. For same spec building vs prebuilt, there are many prebuilt rigs that are cheaper now than if you build your own. Why? It's likely because of economies of scale. Many larger companies like Dell or Lenovo or ASUS purchase such massive quantities of parts at wholesale prices, they can price them below build-your-owns and yet still profit. Downside? You don't have full control over every single part, but the price was roughly $600-700 cheaper for the build I was researching.
Bluewater795@reddit
You can still build a killer ddr4 PC. If you want a new PC just go with that.
bethezcheese@reddit
Don’t pay $400 for ram if you don’t need something right now. Be patient and look for bundles and pre built deals. I’ve seen some good deals at microcenter for cpu, mobo, ram bundles and some good pre built deals from a few other retailers
XxIcEspiKExX@reddit
Yulp.. Just did a build for the girlfriend, 7800x3d+mobo+32gb ddr5 flare x was 575$
Processor was 414$, mobo 160$, ram is 419$ alone on amazon.
870$ msrp.
There's deals out there. Just need to find them.
caylyn953@reddit
Just download extra RAM from the internet
cujo195@reddit
Has the cost increased similar to physical RAM?
mamoneis@reddit
And don't maximize windows on your browser, everything on small boxes and use the mouse wheel to reach things, it's there for that very reason.
Lenkaxx@reddit
Yes - my ram went up 50% in 1 week of buying it and that was last month.
We're cooked
Apennie@reddit
My dad asked me to help him build a pc. I told him the best time was about 6 months ago the next best time is now.
Repeat-Admirable@reddit
depends on how long you're willing to wait. If you're willing to wait for at least 3 years for all the prices to maybe settle down for a few months, then sure wait. Otherwise, something else will go up before RAM goes down.
InvestigatorGrand205@reddit
If people dont use those Ai data center then it'll all crash down
modSysBroken@reddit
That's why they they are forcing ai into everything so that people don't have an option not to use it.
zepherth@reddit
You will be best looking at second hand ram, if you need that. Everything else isn't that much increased in price yet.
modSysBroken@reddit
Ssds have doubled in cost in my country.
InvestigatorGrand205@reddit
Cpus and mobos are next. they want sone of that exclusive cash
modSysBroken@reddit
You can still get 32gig ram sticks for under $200 used. Buy stuff like the GPU and SSD right now cuz the overlords are price gouging those next.
madwolfa@reddit
Two years ago I thought was a bad time to build a PC (GPU shortages and such), but I bit the bullet and built 2 (for myself and my son). Was a good decision in hindsight.
modSysBroken@reddit
2 years ago was the best time to build a pc my guy. I built three systems for my friends at that time.
InvestigatorGrand205@reddit
It was good for everything but gpu.
TioHerman@reddit
if you NEED an pc right now (like yours currently broke down or just too old), today's is awful day to build your pc, but but how things are going, not the worst yet, if your pc is currently working and you can wait an years or two, go for it.
here where I live I'm already seeing ram kits more expensive than the pc I had before my current one
Kebabranska@reddit
I bought an SSD a month ago which was 200 euros, today I looked and it's 240. Shits going down real fast
modSysBroken@reddit
Sellers in my country basically doubled the SSD prices from a couple of months ago. Bunch of price gougers.
SirIAmAlwaysHere@reddit
Now is the time for all old PCs to be exchanged for slightly newer USED PCs.
Lots of AM4 and 10th to 12th gen stuff floating around the used markets, in the $400-500-ish minus a GPU.
If you're careful, you can get a 3200G or something that you can upgrade to a 5600XT. There's still plenty of 32GB systems floating around. Throw in a modern 9060XT 16Gb, and you've got a perfectly serviceable gaming box for $800 or less. Will play 1440p AAA stuff at good frame rates (100 fps or so).
If you're on an old box, you can get something much better by buying used. Don't worry about expansion or upgrades.
Now is when you get the "good enough for a couple of years" PC, and wait 3 years to see where we're at again.
c2h5oc2h5@reddit
Yeah, I've just pulled the trigger and ordered new parts to upgrade my old AM3 PC to AM4. I believe it got me covered for next several years. Despite my old build being quite old it was sufficient to play games like BG3 in medium/high details in 1080p. The new one on AM4 should be fine for the time being and I won't worry when TW40k comes out that upgrade is totally unaffordable even if prices keep rising...
EpitomyofShyness@reddit
If I am interested in buying a used PC where should I look and how can I compare to what I currently have to decide if its a good upgrade?
Vaaag@reddit
You can look at benchmark data for CPU and GPU to compare if a computer you find is an upgrade. Look at benchmark data for the tasks that we most important to you. (gaming vs graphical design mainly)
You gotta know somehow if a system has some extra life in it with upgrades. The CPU socket is one if the main ones to look out for.
You can check pcpartpicker , enter the pc you find and check if the parts you want to upgrade to would be compatibel. Take in mind, if you upgrade to a newer CPU, make sure you update the bios while still on the old cpu.
Graphics card upgrades are generally more plug and play. But upgrades often draw more power so check if the old PSU can still handle it. Again PCpartpicker will give you that warning as well.
zxn11@reddit
Prices overall aren't coming down for years.
Karok2005@reddit
Do it! RAM is bad. SSD are in the way to go up, same with GPU. Best timing was just before the RAM 400% price increase. Now it still not bad”
iyowyow@reddit
Why does gpu prices doesnt go up simultaneously with the ram whereas also used for the ai datacenters?
Wet_FriedChicken@reddit
I think it’s because the best GPU for gaming and the best GPU for data centers aren’t necessarily the same product, whereas ram is just ram. Consumers and tech giants competing for the same product.
Karok2005@reddit
I’m unfortunately not tech savvy enough to answer you. It has something to do with different types of GPU being used for AI data center vs gaming GPU.
But like we say last week, NVIDIA is having trouble getting supplies for RTX GPU and will be cutting production starting Q1 2026.
If in not mistaken, 5070,5070ti and 5080 was rumored to be the ones expected to take most of the initial hit.
I’m not sure about the sources of all the rumours out there tho, so don’t quote me on that
Wet_FriedChicken@reddit
I’ll just say this. During the chip shortage during Covid, everyone said it was a bad time to build a PC. Problem is, mine was shitty and couldn’t run games well. With the lockdown, I knew I’d be gaming a shit ton. I decided to say fuck it and built one anyway. Ended up costing me about $250-$300 more than it would have without the chip shortage. Then, that chip shortage lasted literally like 3 years. Those 3 years of gaming on a much better system absolutely outweighed the $300 increase. Build the PC.
1981Jax@reddit
I wouldn't start spending now, just wait. But if money is not an issue go for it.
PossibilityOk782@reddit
I have been building my own computers every few years since 2006 and its always a bad time, somthing is always disrupting the parts industry or the next generation of some part is always right around the corner. If you have the budget to build a machine that will suit your needs now do it if you do not have the budget right now then dont do it.
peepooprogamer@reddit
it aint getting better, people said gpu prices would drop after the whole mining affair and look where we are
liquidsparanoia@reddit
It might be heresy on this sub but now actually seems like a pretty good time to buy a pre built on sale somewhere. It insulates you from the skyrocketing price of memory and storage that we're currently seeing. And those things don't seem likely to come down in the short to medium term.
Mr-Doughster@reddit
Marketplace might be your friend here tbh. At least in Ontario, Canada, I can scroll for a minute on facebook marketplace and find a pc with 3070, 11th gen intel, and 16 gbs of ram for around 700 dollars
7-10Spliff@reddit
yeah we heard about the RAM prices having doubled in the past few weeks about a month ago, try quadrupled now
the_shek@reddit
buy a prebuilt if you can
slam51-1@reddit
yes, it will go down. I had been selling computers before there was Windows and every once in a while price will jump up like that. It could be a factory fire, tariff or a company going out of business because of depressed price. Eventually it will correct and drop again. RAM is a commodity. If you don't need a new machine right now, I would suggest you the parts that is depressed because of shortage of RAM. eg: CPU. I got a Ryzen 9 9950x for $ 670 the other day, My guess is the RAM price will correct in April/May.
kokieespt@reddit
Its being a bad time for the last 7 years more or less, it is the crypto, its the covid, it is the suplie chains it is nvidia monopoly, it is the inflation, it is the scalpers, it is the ai with gpus and now with ram and storage there are always some bs that makes prices go brrr. Missed the times that with 1500€ you would get all the top tier hardware now you can even get the best gpu with that money
Perplexe974@reddit
II is a time where prices are getting crazy for basic parts but if you need it, build it now since it will most likely go even higher next year. SSD, GPU (again) all use ram and the industry will run after where the money is and that’s AI data centers, not us gamers who upgrade every 5-10 years…
alforque@reddit
Depends. If you live in US and have MicroCenter close enough, RAM prices have only doubled in their 3-in-1 combo deals. AMD: https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/bundle-and-save.aspx
Intel: https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/intel-bundle-and-save.aspx
alforque@reddit
At MicroCenter I built an AMD system without a graphics card for $800 in March; the same setup is now $955, with majority of that difference on the 32gb RAM.
tamarockstar@reddit
It's not great. But unless you plan on waiting 2 years or so for prices to normalize, you might as well build now.
Glum_Adhesiveness_20@reddit
Probably the worst time since computers exist lmfao
FastingCyclist@reddit
I've been building computers since the mid 90's... I've seen it all. This is the last nail in the coffin.
Wipeout1980@reddit
The only overpriced PC equipment right now is RAM. Next year all of it will be more expensive. In fact almost all devices with a smart fucntion will be more expensive
aragorn18@reddit
No one can predict the future, least of all redditors. But, I would be surprised if prices dropped significantly within the next few months.
Melodic-Matter4685@reddit
The reason RAM and vram prices are so high is AI datacenter buildout in US and china. Once that stops, prices go down. I don’t know how long hat will be, but even china can’t build an Ai datacenter is “a couple of months”.
My bet is 3 to 5 years. Though perhaps Denmark will produce more fab units by then
moniker89@reddit
Once demand goes down, OR supply catches up. I wouldn’t discount the latter. A lot of companies make RAM.
Melodic-Matter4685@reddit
Denmark has the speed record for fab construction at 1 year, but those tend to be next gen stuff. So if danish go all in on enough fabs to slake demand, one year. I don’t see Danes shifting from highly profitable next gen stuff to razor thin margin ram though.
So realistically we are looking at traditional fab, which is 3-5 year build out and probably 10 year payoff.
Frankly, my bet is most current manufacturers are thinking “let it roll, but we aren’t building anymore current gen capacity.”
My bet is someone of these AI clown cars will fail and have their data centers bought out of bankruptcy and that’s when we will start to see price reductions.
Maybe 3-5 years.
But… I’m probably wrong.
Overall-Watch7074@reddit
But IDTS once prices rise there is any incentive for companies to reduce prices, and people will be forced to buy anyways, cuz what option do we have??
PilotedByGhosts@reddit
Realistically though, when are we going to reach peak AI? The way things are looking it could involve a complete reshaping of society.
CodeCat0@reddit
You haven't paid a bit of attention to the whole situation with prices, huh?
Aggressive_Ask89144@reddit
You picked heckuva timing 😭.
The best time is when you have the money. I would be eyeing for prebuilt deals at the moment if you can find one though. End of the year, clearance stuff because consumer ram is just crazy expensive to pick out.
Fortunately, GPU and CPU and other goodies prices are relatively stable at the moment. It's mainly RAM having a fit and storage trying to get in on the fun too. GPUs are likely to increase in price next year too as Nvidia is weakening their stock even more.
Major_Enthusiasm1099@reddit
Build now. Tomorrow isn't promised especially when it comes to prices on RAM. They're going to keep going up
-ResurgentCobra@reddit
check your local pc store not bestbuy or anything big but local mom and pop shop i was able to get 64gb ddr5 for $180 because they had it in before ramageddon
Conspicuous_Ruse@reddit
It will get worse.
You probably juuuuust missed all the pre-ram price increase build inventory being sold off.
The system I just bought a couple days ago for $1,500 is now $2,100 with the current parts stock.
splashy_splashy@reddit
Terrible. Cheaper to buy prebuilt since they priced based on older ram prices
pianoftw@reddit
This question has been asked since the beginning of building PCs, and the same way investing in anything.
The best time is when you have the money.
You can’t predict markets with 100% certainty.
If you have the money and you need it, build it.
seatsfive@reddit
If your timeline is a few months and used or pre-assembled is not an option sooner is probably better. If you can manage to wait a few years by getting a used or pre-made for now there's a chance that the AI bubble pops or the market otherwise normalizes and prices go back down.
But in order for that to happen companies probably have to pivot back to making chips for the consumer market. The problem isn't that AI companies are buying up retail RAM sticks like crypto miners buy GPUs. Manufacturers have literally changed the product that they're making. I don't know how long it would take them to pivot back, probably not that long, but there is still going to be some lag time even if the AI bubble pops tomorrow
StatisticianUnited85@reddit
I feel so lucky. I heard about ram and SSD prices going up back in the beginning of November and even tho I didn’t have all the 2500 that’s going it my first ever rig. I bought RAM and SSD saved 300 bucks on 32 gb of ram vs if I were to buy it now.
PaymentIndependent@reddit
My guess is that the higher ram prices will cause amd and nvidia to scale down gpu and cpu production to avoid oversupply, because they can se that fewer PCs are being built. Lower production mean higher prices, and I don’t think the corresponding fall in demand will do much to affect prices.
VRAM prices will probably also affect gpu prices.
So now is a bad time compared to two months ago, but a couple of months from now is probably going to be a lot worse than now.
ampkajes08@reddit
if your buying for the sake of having a pc. then its bad. but if you buy now because you need it. then its not bad at all
lurkdontpost1@reddit
Don't worry too much, just do it. In the 90's a great computer cost a couple thousand. Now days it still costs a couple thousand but it's much easier to earn that amount of money. Computers and televisions seem to be somewhat immune to inflation over the past 20 years, with prices soaring due to demand.
Also do not pass up the opportunity to buy used parts! I can afford new now, but when I was a kid building my first PC, buying used components at a discount really enabled me to make it happen.
It's a terrible time to buy a console or go outside too so hope that helps lol
timbaux@reddit
Just wait for the AI Bubble to burst. Hopefully, it'll happen sooner rather than later.
Giorgio_Sole@reddit
Yes, I have been priced out of the market with ram prices surge. I am absolutely not paying them money I don't have. I wish for AI bubble to burst and violently so.
CalligrapherIll5176@reddit
Now is a bad time, just like half a year ago. And half a year from now RAM might be up or down a bit, but same with GPUs ( the threat to cut 40% production, or maybe it was said to rush us to buy now ). Then some year or two later the 6000s gonna come and its all mess again.
My plan is to get a near top PC in a few months and ill do it wether I have to pay $1000 or $1500 for the RAM. It sucks but what can I do, theres always some pricing "crysis" aka scam, looking for any reason to raise the prices of anything (not only pc hardware), then they never come back to what it was before.
I dont think a year or two from now will be a cheaper time to build a PC
Mad_Maddin@reddit
The best time to build a PC was 6 months ago.
But now is the best time to it for the foreseeable future.
oo7demonkiller@reddit
it's only going to get worse soooo might as well.
Pattywhack_the_bear@reddit
Best case scenario for RAM prices until the AI bubble bursts is that they remain the same. The more likely outcome is that they continue to rise. I wouldn't wait.
qtx@reddit
China will start producing RAM pretty soon. They won't be of the same high quality but they will do for most of us.
They'll improve their QA as time goes by.
I'm not so pessimistic as a lot of other are here.
Different_Target_228@reddit
Not unlikely they're just going to push cloud computing and the ai bubble never bursts, or it bursting does not matter at all.
taoyx@reddit
It costs about 10 billions to build a DRAM production facility, plus months of efforts. However some companies that can't make DDR4 and DDR5 actually can upgrade their plants for less, like maybe 2 billions. So, if it is certain that the bubble won't burst they will surely enter the market.
Pattywhack_the_bear@reddit
They're definitely going to do that and I hate it.
district44@reddit
best time to plant a tree was yesterday
rednax1206@reddit
That's why I built my PC a year ago
qtx@reddit
Best time to have bought your new hardware was a year ago, before Trump became president. And we all warned people to do so at the time but no one seemed to have listened.
And now with the AI hijacking the wafers it's double as bad.
Vaaag@reddit
That's why I built 10 computers in 2005! If u use a new one every 5 years ,than those 10 pcs should last me a lifetime !
oliosutela@reddit
If you have AM4 try to update only a GPU.
If you want update everything upgrade now because things will become worse in my opinion
brilliantsithlord@reddit
The price will stop at some point but it will never go back to where it was.
parametricRegression@reddit
2026-ish is definitely a bad time in the grand scheme of things. January 2026 probably not particularly so in that context.
repocin@reddit
Probably the worst time in the past couple decades, but it'll likely be even worse during the coming year as memory pricing increases cost of other components as well.
VeyrLaske@reddit
Honestly, apart from the ram, pretty much all the other PC parts are at very good prices right now, so I'd actually make the argument that it's a fairly decent time to build a PC.
Remember that the time you spend enjoying the PC is also worth money. If paying for inflated ram prices now lets you enjoy your PC for 2 more years before prices come down, then spending the extra $200 or whatever doesn't sound so bad anymore, does it.
(And yes, if we look at other shortages like the previous ram shortage in 2018 and GPU mining crazes, it probably will take about that long to come beck down)
Also, there is no guarantee that other part prices won't go up in the meantime... You're gambling in the hope that prices will get better, but the reality is that nobody really knows. Even if ram gets cheaper, you never know if there will be a shortage of some other part instead...
So if you want to build and can afford to do so, I wouldn't hold off on it. Now isn't the best time but I'd say it's a fairly decent time to build.
dank_imagemacro@reddit
The last computer I built I paid much more for than the same computer today. Even more than for a comparable computer today. I bought during the GPU shortage and spent $600 on an AMD RX 6600. Yes, my RAM was cheap but not enough to make up for the price of the GPU.
Now is a much better time to buy than that was, and I'm still glad I bought.
dank_imagemacro@reddit
Many people in this group are saying that it is an awful time to build a PC due to rising costs, especially in RAM and storage. These components are at a premium price right now, but that doesn't make it an overall terrible time to build yourself a new system. Your total bill will be a hundred or two higher than it would have been 6 months ago, but not as high as it would have been during COVID.
It is very likely to get much worse before it gets better. It might not get better, although I expect that it will. You probably are at the best time to buy that you will have for at least a year, possibly two.
SSDs are expensive, so you might go back to building an SSD+HDD build, because HDD storage is still pretty cheap. And GPUs are just beginning to feel the sting of reduced availability of VRAM.
System RAM will hit you the hardest, but most games still work fairly well at 16GB, and while faster RAM will greatly increase FPS in some games, you can get a perfectly playable system without high speed RAM.
This build is still a perfectly reasonable budget 1440p build, at a reasonable price for example. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cRqZgn
Nobody would have dreamed of posting it a few months ago, and they'd be right. But this parts list would still outperform the computer I am running right now, and I am perfectly happy with my system for the time being.
You can go even lower if you just want 1080p.
Or you can still spend a lot of money to get an absolutely awesome system.
What was once a negligible part of the cost is now a significant one. But RAM is still not your most expensive component, and it doesn't make a $1,000 PC build a bad experience.
I think if you build now, you will be happy you did.
PlumpHughJazz@reddit
I just wanted an htpc! 😭
MadBastard2020@reddit
It's always a bad time. I built mine around 2021 and graphics cards were very expensive due to bit coin and Ethereum mining. I paid way over the odds for my GPU but it's a good PC and still going strong. I'm toying with the thought of upgrading the GPU but its not essential. I can get a better GPU now for similar money that I paid in 2021.
wylieb0y90@reddit
bad time is now
tomorrow is worse.
but for real advice, i just did my sons new build for xmas, due to the eye watering prices, i had to go with an AM4 build. It wasnt near as bad prices, although some still high. So its possible. I certainly wouldnt try an AM5 build now though
kwikscoper@reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/s/glg9K0fUag
https://www.techpowerup.com/344063/sk-hynix-forecasts-tight-memory-supply-lasting-through-2028
Waste_Entrance_586@reddit
Tbh it’s always a bad time just rn is worse. If you’ve got the money go ahead and buy.
Ill_Criticism9768@reddit
I just bought probably my last PC in life because I think it could go even worse
Minimum_Overdose@reddit
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is now.
Victor346@reddit
It has been a bad time to build a PC for the last 4 years. Ram just became expensive of all things. Used to be one of the less expensive parts.
rickyG93@reddit
Double? In some cases it’s triple the price, but it’s only going to get more expensive I feel
rauakbar@reddit
When I got my ram earlier this year it was $77. Now its $599 for sane sku.
HellFireNT@reddit
It's been bad for a while but ram prices exploding because of dumb AI nobody asked for wasn't on my bingo card. Video cards are probably going up again
JazzlikeClassic7684@reddit
I argue December 2025-Most of 2026 is definitely the bad time, actually the worst because it's the combination of inflating important parts: RAM, GPUs, and SSDs that you shouldn't skimp on.
Imagine getting a good system for $1000 last September, and now you have to spend $300 more to achieve the same build. My CL32 32GB DDR5 that was $110 USD is now $250. The same model of my $80 1TB SSD is starting to climb up to $120 USD as well.
CafeRoaster@reddit
I’m still awaiting parts from my first build in 15 years.
The only constant is change. Embrace the now.
Left-Mission-2684@reddit
IMO it depends what you’re up to, you should at the very least by a gfx card now, the ram shortage is about to hit the vram market. You can get by plenty decent on 32 or even 64 of ddr4 ram at a still reasonable price.
pancake117@reddit
Trust me, they're not going to be cheaper in a few months. If budget is tight, you can always add more ram later.
B34chboy@reddit
I decided to keep my ddr4 ram for now and to just upgrade the rest. I got pretty good deals for the other parts, saving almost 20% compared to black friday prices.
So yeah if you don't need ram or a ssd it's a good time.
ArmoredAngel444@reddit
It will get worse but then it will get better, eventually.. probably.
Braughqne@reddit
Now is a good time to buy a prebuilt
xxxshabxxx@reddit
Get a prebuilt while you can. If you need a ram upgrade. If you dont you can go components only but if you need a gpu as well you might as well get prebuilt as its tested before sale.
sa547ph@reddit
Yes, it's now infuriating with nearly all the tech companies going after the AI dollar. Only way to go around that is to find a used but decent gaming PC.
FinalHeaven182@reddit
If you can afford it, and it's a huge or necessary upgrade - go for it.
If you're not filthy rich, probably a bad time. I was gonna jump to am5 but can no longer afford it. Getting a ryzen 9 5900x, used moto, and 32gb ddr4 ram for the price of ddr5 ram. Oh, and an oled monitor. Huge upgrade from 60hz. I'll sit on these parts till am6 at this point. You may wanna do the same.
InvestigatorGrand205@reddit
Your best bet is to wait for ddr6 to cone out which will cause all this ddr5 stuff become worthless
First-Item7121@reddit
To people that are like "Now is the time, panic buy, buy, buy". You know you're part of the problem in every single market right? Everything goes down if demand does. And just because a single component went up doesn't mean that it won't drive the prices of others along with it lower. So just sit?
InvestigatorGrand205@reddit
This is the thing we can find a different leisure activity. Go outside and run around. This isnt a good time to be wasting money
EJ_Tech@reddit
Consider getting a prebuilt. It's that season again where those are good value.
Mediocre-Ant-7178@reddit
I think PC builders are going to have to get used to a new normal. Prices may go down in a few years, but they will never return to what they were a few months ago. Of course, no one really knows anything.
InvestigatorGrand205@reddit
It will if people dont buy pcs. Let them collapse for selling picks to the wrong people
Whiskeypants17@reddit
This is how bad it is: the same build i spent about $1200 on a few months back is now almost $1400. Yes it sucks but a 16% price increase is not exactly the end of the world. Most of that is ram and some is the ssd.
InvestigatorGrand205@reddit
That 1200 dollar pc probably cost about 800 to 900 during the start of covid.
ristlincin@reddit
It's probably the worst time it's ever been... for now. It will get way worse, and almost certainly will never be at this pricepoint again, even if the increases are moderated at some point.
LowSkyOrbit@reddit
There's always one PC part that gets expensive for no good reason but greed
BatOnDrugs@reddit
Yes
omnicious@reddit
Technically it's a fine time to build a PC. It's just a bad time to buy parts for a PC build.
zkzr@reddit
I bought a pre-built computer from the company itself, i7-12700 / 32 GB / 1TB SSD NVVe for €669 because I wasn't going to pay €400 for 32 GB if I had to build it myself from parts.
DegenNerd@reddit
Honestly there's never been a "great" time since the crypto mining boom. Things have just gotten more and more expensive with each passing year, it seems. So....now would be the best time, because it'll continue along this trend.
on_nothing_we_trust@reddit
Its the last time to build a pc with the way things are going
The_Johnathon@reddit
I've been wanting to build one for a few months and finally pulled the trigger today
RAM is expensive but most prices are about the same as they ever were
MotoJoker@reddit
I’d try and find prebuilts at big box retailers right now. I doubt they updated the prices on all their prebuilts, I’m sure some are better deals now with the RAM prices. I usually see people post prebuilts from Costco and Sam’s Club that are actually good deals.
StatisticianMuch742@reddit
If you can get to a microcenter, now is not a bad time to build.
synecdokidoki@reddit
It seems extremely unlikely they will go down in a few months.
If you want to wait a year or more, sure. Months? Most certainly not.
zeh_shah@reddit
Go find one of those Costco prebuilts tbh
Evilan@reddit
A couple of months ago was the best time to build a pc, now is the second best time as it's the calm before the storm of cascading memory shortages. If you think DDR5 going to the moon is bad, wait for SSDs and GPUs to follow suit. In the short term, probably 6-12 months from now, prices will be awful across the board for the consumer market.
flyinghippodrago@reddit
prebuilt is the way to go for the near future imo...
aravena@reddit
I just built a Ibuypower comp on PartPicker and it was almost twice as much.
RabidTurtl@reddit
Its probably the worst time I've seen to build a PC. But I also dont expect it to get better anytime soon. AI bubble has got to burst first.
mrJERRY007@reddit
The ram prices are at an all time high but all the other components are pretty low right now, hell even GPU prices have settled now(and they are expected to rise in 2026). If you really really need to build a PC I would suggest coughing up the money and getting it build now when you still have time. Or if you can adjust with whatever setup you have rn then make that setup last for the next 1-2 years.
Strong_French_Bias@reddit
Doubled? My RAM price got x7'd in 2 months, that I am starting to think of pull 'em out and selling them now..
rmckee421@reddit
I just built one. The only component that really went up significantly in the last six mo ths was RAM. I had origally planned to buy a 64GB RAM kit and an RTX4060 but due to the RAM shenanigans I went with a 32GB kit and bout an Arc B580. Didn't end up spendingore than I budgeted on the machine, just had to make a couple of compromises.
AdEducational4954@reddit
I always build, but fantastic time to buy a pre-built instead. Many deals out there.
BYKC256th@reddit
A great time for prebuilts
Simulacrass@reddit
It might be good to build half the pc now. Given the drop off in sales I imagine the sales for everything else will be nice.
byerss@reddit
How is the outlook for hard drives? I am looking to buy a pair of 8TB+ drives for TrueNAS.
MTPWAZ@reddit
Depends if you thing an extra cost of a couple hundred bucks is bad or not. It is a great time for pre builts since right now they have the price edge.
awfulWinner@reddit
Reminds me of those RAM doubling software scams of the 90s.
i860@reddit
Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em
Civil-Swimming-1048@reddit
It's more likely to the next 3 years building a personal pc not being worth it, we could easily enter a New reality that eletronics would be not for private use.
Buruko@reddit
Find a prebuilt best savings and you get all the parts ya need.
ozdgk@reddit
These days you could have better luck buying a pre built from costco when it’s on sale! Not joking you should strongly consider it
jonnyynnoj125@reddit
Yes it is a bad time. It sucks. However... supply and demand. Right now, demand is extremely high, and supply cant keep up. So prices of ram go up. As a result, at some point, supply will go up, but not yet. Then supply will bring price of ram back down. When? Is the question youre really asking.
k_elo@reddit
Buy now and hold on to it jntil this ohase dies down. That is if you need it
ngshafer@reddit
It is a bad time, but who knows when it’ll be good again. For all we know, by the time RAM prices are reasonable again SSD prices might be absurd!
steamie_dan@reddit
It's only gonna get worse. If you have a tight budget maybe a DDR4 system could be an option. My 5600x still rips and it doesn't look like I'll be upgrading anytime in the next few years. If you're a peasant all you get is scraps, thanks to Sam Altman.
Sett_86@reddit
Yes.
...but it's not getting any better probably until halfway through 2027.
I would suggest you practive on something used until then.
gpowerf@reddit
No. It's not as good as it was, but things won't get better any time soon.
Marco440hz@reddit
It may take a while.
thestillwind@reddit
Yes and no
thatissomeBS@reddit
Yes, it's a bad time to build. Waiting will probably be worse.
YakovAttackov@reddit
Tomorrow most likely will be worse. The shock of the RAM prices hasn't fully trickled into the rest of the market yet. Once stockpiles are exhausted, prices will correct and increase.
Aggressive-Sir-2256@reddit
I did it yesterday.
Bought a RTX 5070, an i7 14700KF, 48GB DDR5 64300MHz.
Don't want to wait more in case everything become far more expensive.
Don't want to wait until maybe 2027 to upgrade my current config.
My current config is 6 years old, I should have done it the year before yet I kept waiting.
But I prefer to spend a little more now instead of waiting several years and possibility get rekt.
But take your time to find a good deal. I thought it was impossible yet I managed to get the i7 100€ cheaper and the ram 48GO for the same price of a 32GO kit.
Carpyet@reddit
If you don’t have a pc yet or your current one is bad, you should buy/build one now. Otherwise, you can wait.
What_Dinosaur@reddit
Now is the best of the worst times to build a PC.
TonaZvarri@reddit
Depends, I genuinely feel like if you are starting from 0, its better to buy a prebuild either new or used, and enjoy all the thousands of PC games you will be able to play even without a Mid-High End PC.
If you already have a build and trying to upgrade anything. I'd trying to hunt for RAM/SSDs/GPU (depends what you need) at a decent price before they go even higher next year
DJRUSHY@reddit
Yeah I’d say, by the looks of things, wait a long time if you don’t need one. Prices are insane for components and it surely cannot be worth it.
kloklon@reddit
honestly right now is probably the time where prebuilt PCs make the most sense.
PrivateJoker13@reddit
The longer you wait the more prices go up
Swaayyzee@reddit
Today is a bad time and tomorrow is a worse time. I will say you might be able to get a prebuilt at some stores that haven’t been adjusted yet though, this is definitely the best time for prebuilt probably ever.
Gold-Program-3509@reddit
you missed the window.. every day the ram will be more expensive, in 10yr only billionares will be able to afford.. sorry mate
Teamskiawa@reddit
It's a bad time to build, but not to buy. Pre builts and used are a great
Crows11@reddit
I bought a new pc last summer and I’ve been too lazy to sell my old one. I’m guessing I will be able to sell it for more now than I would have last year?
Correa24@reddit
Building right now seems like an awful idea due to those prices. It’s crazy that a PREBUILT is now seen as a better option than straight up building component by component
-CerN-@reddit
It's a terrible time to build a PC, but probably also the best time in the next few years...
Lofi_Joe@reddit
It might be the last possibility...
Great-Investigator78@reddit
Try eBay or Marketplace for RAM, just be wary of scams. That's what I'm doing. But the ram issue is definitely a barrier
eatwindmills@reddit
I just bought mine from eBay, def a risk but all good so far
Featherforged@reddit
A 5070ti is $250 cheaper than 6 months ago, but ram+ssd is $250 more.
Just upsize your gpu in 2025 and downsize your ram and ssd and it'll be the same cost as before.
For a given budget, you'll have better gaming performance than 6 months ago, but worse CAD station/video editing performance.
HoleIntheAce12@reddit
I’ve said this before and I know a lot of people will disagree with me but I’ve told people just to get a prebuilt if it’s a good deal and just have someone check if the parts are also good. Because with how RAM costs, ssds are also rising in price plus the rumor that nvidia is decreasing their gpu supply, it’s just better to get one before they also go up in price.
ChironXII@reddit
Is now a bad time to buy stocks? Well, that will depend on what happens next.
Paperboats5@reddit
Literally just ordered the parts to build mine for the first time yea there we probably better times to do it but if you've saved up and got a budget just bit the bullet ans go for it.
You can still get some decent pricings if you avoid the fancy rgb stuff and get the basic parts that do the same job
skyfishgoo@reddit
only if you want it to have ram or a gpu.
MattPlaysGat@reddit
I honestly think pre built is the way to go right now. My opinion it's currently a better deal
Primary-Sail6667@reddit
Right now may be the only time left to do it. They have made it clear that they hope to totally remove computers from the home to rent out systems. You will own nothing and like it
TheGreatHu@reddit
Kind of bad right now, I chased after a 100$ deal during cyber Monday week on (8x2)16gb and it's stock was sold out in like half a week, now on other dealers I see it for 230$
stycks32@reddit
Tomorrow is always a bad time to build. Don't put it off if you don't have one. Just bite the bullet. If you didn't see good deals for what you want from black Friday you're gonna be waiting a long time.
Glory4cod@reddit
If you have no urgent need for a PC, you can just wait. If your urgent need is not gaming, probably you will be just fine with a secondhand, non-top-tier PC. If you need a gaming PC but the games you want to play can be played on PS5/XSX, then go for them.
If none of above suits you, well, your wallet is gonna suffering a little bit.
onebuttoninthis@reddit
If the PC is gonna have 0GB of RAM then it's a pretty good time to build a PC.
SkyMasterARC@reddit
If you really need a PC, do it now before it gets worse. But for upgrades or fun projects (like a home server) it's not worth it. Wait for the AI hype to blow over and prices to go down. But that's at least a year.
MalcomXhamster@reddit
I built a system in September right before all this stuff went down. Yesterday I compared prices I bought 64 GB of RAM.
The entire system cost about $3,100. The system was $460 more today.
So I guess the ballpark is around 15% price hike in your total system cost.
If you're just making an upgrade, then you're probably going to get shafted.
Devo_82@reddit
It's always a bad time to build a PC, it's never "cheap." Prices will typically always be higher later, the next thing is always around the corner. If you want want one, get one! Worse case scenario, you build a PC now, and see something a little cheaper a few months from now, but hey, at least you got to have a new PC to enjoy using for those months, besides waiting for all the if, and buts.
Terakahn@reddit
Depends how long you're willing to wait. It could be 6-12 months before prices normalize. If they do.
muzicsnob@reddit
Between ram, ssd and what looks like climbing gpu prices, now looks like an awful time to build. To me anyway
sushiman009@reddit
The best time to build a pc was a couple of months ago, the next best time is today
VintageCollector1@reddit
I would say look for used RAM on eBay or similar used marketplaces. Rest of the components you can start to purchase to get your build together. Hopefully the RAM prices come down a bit, but it may never be the prices that we had a 2 months ago.
I was in a similar dilemma when I started my build a week before Christmas of 2019, was left with just the GPU and case by beginning of Feb 2020 and Covid at its peak. Damn, I had to survive with my old GTX 1050 till Christmas of 2021 till the GPU prices dropped a bit, but then in 2022 they dropped drastically. I'm in the same spot now, upgrading my mobo, ram and & CPU.
Bokuja@reddit
I bought my RAM and SSD at the end of last month both due to advice here and seeing the shenanigans of AI Tech Heresy doing it's thing. And my GPU is coming in the mail next Monday.
All things considered I am glad I did it before the start of 2026, which might just turn out to be the worst year for building a PC, like, ever.
steppewop@reddit
It has been a bad time to build a PC in some aspect or another for the past 10 years or so
Southern-Childhood19@reddit
Thank God I built my PC a few months ago, GPUs are starting to rise aswell
taoyx@reddit
This RAM price increase looks suspicious, I mean Samsung has been condemned for cartel practices in the past (that was about SIM cards in 2014).
Now it's certainly true that AI requires a lot of RAM but they probably have taken advantage of it to raise the prices, just like when oil countries reduce their production to make the market prices go up...
Also it's very risky for competitors to invest several billions to make their own RAM since the penury could end just like that.
So, if you can wait 2 years then just do that, if you can't maybe just go DDR4 and try to scrap some RAM from old computers?
KW5625@reddit
Bad time, yes
Tomorrow... could be worse.
Next month... who knows?
ScouseSeanMc83@reddit
It's the best time we're going to have for a couple of years
JohnMcD3482@reddit
Ive been thinking about just buying a pre-made unit and just adding boards and moving over whatever will work from my old unit. My unit is about 8 to 10 years old and it's really slowing down and lagging a lot over the last few months.
PraxicalExperience@reddit
Now is a fucking terrible time to build a PC -- but it's likely to get more terrible.
Authrowism@reddit
Let me give you another perspective. Very soon the AI craze will collapse & just like how GPUs & SSDs flooded the market after Crypto collapse of 2021, all these components will be dirt cheap.
cijev@reddit
yes
FrozGate@reddit
Is now a bad time? Yes. Will it get better soon? Probably not. Could it get worse? Possibly.
Zer0TheGamer@reddit
The best move, in my opinion, is to catch any post-holiday sales in a week or so. Besides that, it's going the same way as project cars - cost prohibitive to the average enjoyer
FranticGolf@reddit
It is unless you are near a Microcenter. Outside of that at this time it is cheaper to buy a prebuild with the core parts you want and then tinker with it.
Legitimate_Power_347@reddit
Yes it is but its still better now than later. You have two choices you can gamble on the prices going down which seems currently quite unlikely or just buy right now. It is said that gpu prices gonna increase as well due to less memory as well as SSDs and perhaps ram isn't even at a fixed price.
poofyhairguy@reddit
Bad time to build one, not a bad time to pick up a prebuilt or a Steamdeck
Millkstake@reddit
Yes, but it will continue to get worse for at least the next few years
Justifiers@reddit
Right now is a great time to build a PC, but it's off of the tails of a better time
We are just dipping our toes into another 2020-2023 tier of bad times to build IMO.
Get what you want, get it now, the prices are more likely than not to get increasingly worse at the beginning of next year when there's an influx of cash from taxes for consumer and first quarter spending from businesses
If you build on the currently unpopular side, you can leverage the lesser costs for the platform and cpu to mitigate the crazy high ram costs as long as you don't need +32GB
Any-Neat5158@reddit
Worse than 3 months ago. Probably better than 2-3 months from now.
Rexter2k@reddit
Yes it’s a bad time, burnout will get even worse. Best course is to upgrade whatever you have now and ride it out. If you MUST have a new pc then it’s like RIGHT NOW you have to buy one as it gets worse each day. I can’t believe myself that I’m even saying it like that, but it’s not hyperbole.
LargeTubOfLard@reddit
Yes and tomorrow will be even worse.
AMS_Rem@reddit
Worst it's been in decades
It's also the best it will be for decades so
y_would_i_do_this@reddit
Yes, stop listening to doomers. Prices will go down. Data centers are leveling off. Demand will ease.
TurnLegal7048@reddit
The so called “AI bubble” is not going to burst anytime soon. Higher prices is the new norm, but it won’t go up forever. At some point it will stabilize and when production catches up with demand, it will start coming down - but probably will not go back to the levels before the increase. Also, no one knows how long it will take to reach this point. Could be six months, a couple of years or half a decade.
BullPropaganda@reddit
Yes but there's no indication that it will ever get better
scottiedagolfmachine@reddit
Best time to build it was yesterday because the price will continue to go up from here on out.
bickid@reddit
"I just recently started getting interested in building a PC"
Why?
Unless you NEED a PC now, it's a bad time. If you NEED one, then now is the best time.
Dr_Passmore@reddit
RAM prices are around 3 times higher than two months ago.
Global supply of chips being redirected to AI data centers. Skyrocketing demand with limited production.
Price will only get worse. Even if the AI bubble bursts next week, there will be a lag time between consumer RAM increasing production.
Extra fun fact - we can expect a wide range of products to jump in price. Mobile phones, tablets, GPUs... Raspberry Pis just released a 1gb model and upped the rest of the prices for the pi 5...
We are clearly in the worst time line
Charrbard@reddit
It is always a bad time and the best time to build a PC.
Soigne87@reddit
It's worse than 3 months ago, but it's very likely to be better than any time in the next 3 years.
StabilozZ@reddit
It is a bad time to build a new pc yes. RAM is like 3-4-5x the price it was like a month ago and also ssd's are increasing in price. No one knows if or when RAM prices will decrease, but they won't go back to what they were ever again. I'm afraid if you don't have a system at this point, you just have to accept the price increase and go for it. Or try to get some good deals on RAM on FB market or something else or even prebuilds.