Saying the PC hardware industry isn’t doing so hot right now is the understatement of the year. The latest Nvidia and AMD graphics cards are still marked up by 15–100% over MSRP, and stock levels aren’t remotely close to where they should be. In the CPU department, gaming chips like the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D are either out of stock (at the time of writing) or out of reach of the majority anyway.
The age of value GPUs is over, and the definition of affordable CPUs is being expanded every year, but I believe all that is okay. You might not be able to buy an RTX 5080 at MSRP any time soon, or spend over $450 on the Ryzen 7 9800X3D for your next gaming PC, but you don’t really need to. Previous-gen and pre-owned components are pretty great, with many of them just as fast as their successors. Plus, you shouldn’t consider overpaying for GPUs, thinking there’s no other option, because there are plenty.
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Most people don’t need the latest hardware
Whether gaming or productivity, you have many options
Every generation, companies like Nvidia, Intel, and AMD launch new graphics cards and processors to supplant their older offerings. The latest components are usually better than what came before, but that doesn’t mean what you have right now suddenly becomes obsolete. Nor does it mean that you have to have only the latest and greatest components if you’re building a new gaming PC or workstation.
The Ryzen X3D CPUs might be the fastest gaming chips in the world, promising the best framerates possible, but that doesn’t matter if you’re still gaming at 1080p with a budget GPU. And most people are doing just that, if the Steam Hardware Survey is anything to go by. Nvidia’s RTX 50 series cards promise sky-high FPS using Multi Frame Generation, and AMD’s RX 90 series cards showcase a significant leap over the RX 7000 series. However, even 1440p gaming is doable without these latest GPUs.
If you’re using a mid-range RTX 40, RTX 30, RX 7000, or RX 6000 series graphics card, you can comfortably enjoy most modern titles at 1440p with balanced ray tracing and other optimized settings. Even if you’re building a PC from scratch, you should consider previous-gen or pre-owned hardware to save costs without sacrificing too much performance. Most gamers as well as professionals can have a great experience without shelling out the premium for the latest-gen hardware.
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Generational improvements aren’t worth it right now
Make the best of the hand you’re dealt
As I said, the latest components are generally better than their predecessors, but that isn’t the case right now. Whether you look at Nvidia’s RTX 50 series cards, AMD’s Ryzen 9000 CPUs, or Intel’s Core Ultra processors, you’ll realize that they are little more than a refresh of the previous-gen lineups. The RTX 40 series is better than the RTX 50 series in many ways, even without taking the minor generational gains into account.
AMD’s Ryzen 9000 CPUs were marketed as game-changers compared to the Ryzen 7000 chips, but they turned out to be virtually the same CPUs with a new name and a higher price tag. Intel’s Arrow Lake lineup, on the other hand, had an even worse showing as it failed to provide better gaming performance than the 14th Gen Core series, and wasn’t exactly power-efficient, despite the improvements over the previous generation.
When there’s no performance incentive to buy the latest products, you don’t really need me to tell you to save money by opting for the older thing. The PC hardware market might see a turnaround next year, but until that happens, you shouldn’t be forced into buying fancy new components just because you couldn’t resist the FOMO.
AMD Ryzen 5 7600
AMD’s Ryzen 5 7600 offers six-core performance at a more affordable price. It might not be the newest AM5 chip, but this 65W chip is a mighty package with an efficient architecture for any gaming PC.
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No one should pay scalper prices
Respect yourself and take a stand
I know the situation is hard, and those who need a new GPU right now can’t wait for prices to come down. However, by buying a GPU at 50% or 100% over MSRP, you’re enabling scalpers and sending the message that this is acceptable. When enough people do this, scalpers rest assured that they can do this during every CPU and GPU launch. I’d go so far as to say that you shouldn’t even buy slightly overpriced GPUs from official retailers.
Prices of GPUs have already started coming down — March to April has shown improvements — and waiting for things to get back to normal is easier than it sounds. Most people don’t need an urgent GPU or platform upgrade. Most gamers can continue to enjoy their favorite titles with their existing hardware. Most professionals don’t need an RTX 5090 to do justice to their business requirements.
When the majority of users takes a stand and ignores overpriced hardware, the market has no choice but to respond. This is what happened when gamers shunned the $1,200 RTX 4080, and this is what will happen to the current crop of overpriced GPUs if you refuse to buy them right now. Except for a handful of users, no one needs an upgrade to the extent that paying scalper prices sounds like a good option.
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Patience is easy when it comes to PC hardware
Waiting for the PC hardware market to return to normalcy is easier than it sounds. Your world will not fall apart if you don’t buy an overpriced GPU or a $500 CPU this year. Using your existing hardware for the near future and buying previous-gen or pre-owned components are perfectly reasonable options for most PC users. Unless you’re using an ancient CPU or GPU, you probably don’t need an urgent upgrade. And even then, you can upgrade to significantly more powerful hardware without delving into the latest components or the pre-owned market.
