As AI buildouts continue to consume the global DRAM supply, and prices of SSDs, graphics cards, and memory continue to hover at vastly inflated prices, 60% of PC gamers have no plans to build a new PC in the next two years, according to data collected by Tom's Hardware. In a survey taken by more than 1,500 readers in May, exactly 60% confirmed that they are waiting two years or more to build their next PC.
It's no secret that the PC gaming industry is on its knees, driven by a global shortage of vital components required for building AI data centers. 32GB of RAM now costs $360, while most SSDs aren't much cheaper. DRAM supply and pricing pressure are also impacting graphics cards, which are succumbing to shortages and pricing increases to match the heady heights of the bitcoin mining frenzy.
Aside from the odd Newegg bundle, building a PC in 2026 is a bleak prospect, and it appears that new SKUs such as AMD's Ryzen 7 9850X3D and Intel's plucky Arrow Lake Refresh CPUs haven't been enough to buoy a stagnating market.
As noted, the vast majority of readers who took the survey indicated that it would be at least two years before they considered building a new PC. Of the remaining 40%, only 15% of our total respondents said they were building a PC in the next two years, while only 25% of readers have any plans to try and attempt a new build in the next 12 months.
As you might expect, the intent and desire to build largely drops proportionately as the timeline shortens, reflecting the grim market conditions. A total of just 15% of respondents will build a PC in the next six months, and a total of only 10% will build one in the next three.
Plenty of our readers are likely rocking potent builds that don't need upgrading in the next two years, but the results more likely reflect a general trend amongst PC builders that the market in its current state is unviable. No doubt, some of you are hanging on for retail events like Amazon Prime Day or, more likely, the Black Friday sales. However, discounts at those events are unlikely to yield anything close to a return to pre-AI crunch pricing.
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