Hey everyone, I’m planning to build a new gaming PC for my girlfriend with a budget around $1,600. I’ve been noticing that while some parts like graphics cards are trending back up in price—mostly due to stock shortages—other components have gotten much cheaper since I last built a PC between 2018 and 2022. I’ve read that tariffs on phones and computer parts might have been lifted, so I’m curious if that means prices for computer parts will generally stay steady or affordable going forward? Here’s the build I’m looking at if it helps: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kFzVC8. Would love to hear your thoughts! No politics, just the market for PC components.
3 Answers
If you’re open to alternatives, consider going with the AMD AM5 platform and a Radeon 9070 XT or 9070 GPU. From what I’m seeing, those options might offer better value and could even come cheaper compared to an overclocked RTX 5070, which seems overpriced right now. Just something to keep in mind if you want to balance cost and performance.
Honestly, companies are always looking for any reason to jack up prices, especially if they dominate the market. For dedicated graphics cards, it’s almost a monopoly situation with a single company holding most of the market, so prices can stay high. Intel and AMD CPU competition helps keep CPU prices in check, but outside of GPU and CPUs, other parts tend to be pretty stable or even get cheaper over time unless a sudden shortage hits.
From what I’ve seen, the recent price fluctuations for GPUs aren’t really about tariffs but more about supply issues and scalpers. The stock shortages cause prices to spike, but once supply stabilizes and used GPUs flood the market, prices should come down again. Other parts like RAM and storage have been dropping steadily in price due to oversupply cycles, so those should stay reasonably affordable unless some shortage hits unexpectedly.
Thanks, that makes sense. I was suspecting scalpers were playing a big role here rather than tariffs affecting prices.
Yeah, I get that GPUs are pretty much stuck at these high prices until another serious competitor or major market shift happens. It’s wild how RAM and storage prices have really dropped though. It feels like everything except GPUs and CPUs is becoming more accessible.