Gaming PCs: It's time to buy — and not build
Gaming PCs: It's time to buy — and not build
Update: With Crysis 4 now official , information technology might exist time to consider getting a new gaming PC even in the confront of component shortage challenges.
If you want a powerful GPU in your computer, you may need to brand a shopping conclusion that you wouldn't accept before. No, it's not spending way too much on a GPU from a reseller. I'thousand talking about buying a pre-built gaming PC.
The inconvenient truth about GPU shortages is that demand has continually overwhelmed supply during the COVID-xix pandemic. Even as the pandemic winds down, demand for GPUs is still extraordinarily high — non just from gamers, but likewise from cryptocurrency miners. A month ago, Nvidia warned that its RTX 3080 shortage isn't simply a problem for today, but volition plague us in 2022 also.
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I'm admittedly new to this conversation. I've gone from never needing a gaming PC to loving a decently powerful loaner over the course of the terminal five months. But I've paid enough attending to the crippling chip shortages to know the odds of finding a standalone GPU.
Finding a GPU
Looking for an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 GPU online correct now, you lot'll see prices floating around $1,300 to $1,600. That'southward a markup of 100% to 200% over the graphics bill of fare's original $499 MSRP. Of course, Google doesn't exactly assistance, throwing mirages in where they don't belong. For example: the search engine shows a listing for a Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 GPU in the shopping results for a 3070 search.
Or you could try to play the lottery. If you sign upwardly for the Newegg Shuffle, for example, you'll get a chance to buy one of these rare GPUs. Prices in this scenario are far more affordable, but still cost at least $649. It's a harsh reminder that everyone's trying to examination our spending limits right now.
Hilariously (and unfortunately), the Newegg Shuffle got weird on May 25. The service tried to sell readers kettles, Uber Eats gift cards and ... fruit hydrators? Oh, and while Newegg had an Asus ROG Strix RTX 3070, information technology cost $859. I don't want to win a competition where my advantage is paying a slightly less usurious markup.
I've already put far too much time into getting a PS5, and I wonder whether that was a skillful use of my fourth dimension and free energy. Similarly, my colleague Marshall Honorof says it's best to but take the current fleck shortage and its effects on consoles and GPUs. Just, with all due respect to Marshall, what if you don't desire to accept it?
The benefits of a pre-congenital gaming PC
That's when you have to accept that it'due south time to buy a pre-built machine. Why? Because those GPU shortages aren't nearly as crippling for the likes of Dell and other OEMs.
One of the cheapest major-manufacturer desktops with a 30-series GPU, at to the lowest degree that nosotros tin find, is the Dell XPS 8940 Special Edition with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (as well as a Core i7-11700 CPU, 16 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD) for $1,749. Information technology takes almost a month to ship, however.
Want a 3070 instead? That'll run you $1,949, and Dell estimates the organization volition ship in well-nigh 2 weeks.
If yous're agonized for the ability of a new GPU, this may be your best bet. That'due south specially true when the prices for unabridged pre-built machines are barely above those for standalone secondhand GPUs.
Pre-built pros and cons
Admittedly, information technology may feel a little wasteful to purchase a whole new tower if your existing arrangement still works. Plus, if you're used to building your own gaming PCs (or know anyone who is), you may view these pre-built systems with the aforementioned skeptical eye every bit y'all view GPU cost aggrandizement.
Aye, you can build that PC for less — or at least, you could if demand weren't smacking supply effectually harder than Godzilla smacked Kong in their recent movie. You also have less control over a pre-congenital system.
But, honestly, I'm comparing these prices because I know I'm going to need a new gaming rig sooner rather than afterward. That'southward the tight corner nosotros're shoved into right now.
Personally, I value the time I'll salvage by buying a pre-made PC instead of haunting the net, waiting to go my win. Similarly, there's always some inherent risk in building your own gaming PC. You lot volition acquire quite a bit the kickoff fourth dimension y'all brand a mistake, merely y'all might also create an expensive, fourth dimension-shredding tech back up sinkhole.
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Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/gaming-pcs-its-time-to-buy-and-not-build
Posted by: shieldsdinen1964.blogspot.com
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