It’s been a few yr since AMD and Nvidia launched the Radeon RX 9070 XT and GeForce RTX 5090, respectively, and this is able to normally imply that gaming PC costs would begin to normalize a bit. And whereas graphics playing cards are extra reasonably priced than final yr – at the very least for now – different parts are ramping up the costs a lot that it’s nonetheless arduous to put collectively an reasonably priced gaming PC.
Sadly, it doesn’t appear to be that is going to cease any time quickly. I’ve been informed by a number of producers that costs for prebuilt PCs – that are normally the financial possibility in instances like this – are going to begin going up. As soon as that begins taking place, it’s going to be extremely arduous for anybody that doesn’t have already got an honest gaming rig to get in on the motion.
The RAM-Formed Elephant In The Room
I keep in mind after I first acquired into PC gaming, shopping for a extra capacious equipment of RAM was the most cost effective method to make a small improve to my gaming PC. It wasn’t thrilling, nevertheless it did make a distinction, for a lot lower than shopping for a brand new CPU or GPU. However, that has been utterly flipped on its head.
Again in November, RAM began getting costlier, due to vastly elevated demand from AI knowledge facilities. Most AI fashions, you see, are extremely memory-intensive, and these datacenters which can be going up all over the place want an increasing number of of the stuff. And since the businesses which can be making these knowledge facilities have extra cash than you or I, the reminiscence producers have shifted their priorities to these enterprise consumers. Hell, Micron even introduced that it was shuttering Essential, its little subsidiary that made a few of the greatest funds RAM in the marketplace.
It’s now on the level the place this simple 32GB kit of DDR5 RAM from G.Skill will price you at the very least $360, whereas in October 2025 it was about $90, in accordance to Camelcamelcamel. That’s a 4x bounce in worth, and it doesn’t appear to be it’s going to decelerate any time quickly. I reached out to Anshel Sag, Principal Analyst at Moor Perception and Technique, and he informed me to anticipate this reminiscence scarcity to prolong into 2027 and even 2028. “It’s vital to keep in mind that in previous reminiscence crunches or gluts, they had been purely cyclical and the business was very growth or bust,” Sag informed me, “however with AI we would see a structural change to how reminiscence is consumed.”
We’re already seeing this reminiscence scarcity have an effect on different PC parts, too. SSDs, for one, are already beginning to see an identical rise in worth. The 1TB Silicon Energy UD90, which is meant to be a funds SSD, has already elevated to $144, from $60 just some months in the past.
Whereas it’d be good to simply settle for these worth will increase as “the inflated part of the week”, RAM and storage are such an vital a part of any piece of tech, whether or not or not it’s for gaming, that different costs are positive to rise sooner or later.
Costs Will Rise On Different Elements and Prebuilts
I’d hesitate to name prebuilt gaming PCs reasonably priced proper now, nevertheless it’s nonetheless clear that the worth will increase actually haven’t hit them fairly but. Proper now you possibly can nonetheless get this Cyperpower PC with a 5070 and an RTX 5070 and a Ryzen 7800X3D for about $1679, which is about $100 cheaper than placing it collectively your self proper now. That’s not an enormous financial savings, however hey, 100 bucks is 100 bucks.
Final week at CES, although, I used to be informed by a number of producers that worth will increase on prebuilt programs are across the nook, and that shouldn’t be too shocking. These corporations sometimes purchase their parts in bulk, and as soon as they want to restock on now-expensive reminiscence, they’re possible to move that worth improve on to shoppers. Anshel Sag agrees, telling me “principally all the pieces might be impacted, smartphones and PCs will see the largest impression”, however that it’s very possible even the upcoming consoles will possible be affected in some methods, although “although they may possible use unified reminiscence throughout GPU and CPU, doubtlessly decreasing the necessity for separate system and GPU reminiscence”.
Nevertheless it’s not simply full programs. There have been rumors swirling round that Nvidia goes to be bumping up the costs on its Blackwell graphics playing cards, significantly the RTX 5090, due to how a lot GDDR7 reminiscence is strapped onto it. Nvidia’s flagship has 32GB of the stuff, so it wouldn’t be shocking if Group Inexperienced raised the worth of the already-expensive card to $5,000 as Newsis (by way of TechPowerUp) suggests.
What’s worse is that we’re virtually there. On the time of writing, the most cost effective RTX 5090 I can discover will set you again $4,111 on Newegg, and that’s one itemizing, and it’s from a vendor with lower than good evaluations. There are different listings that put the RTX 5090 at round $4,600, with some already reaching the $5,000 worth level that leakers warned a few couple weeks in the past.
Fortunately, it doesn’t appear that these enormous worth will increase are hitting extra mainstream graphics playing cards simply but. The RTX 5070 can nonetheless be discovered round $570-$600, which is barely barely greater than its $549 MSRP. Group Purple is faring a little bit worse, however even at $600, the Radeon RX 9070 continues to be inside putting distance of its $549 beginning worth. I don’t anticipate that it will proceed to be the case for for much longer, however the much less reminiscence a GPU has, the much less it’ll possible be impacted by these pricing woes.
Is the Steam Machine a Silver Lining?
None of this precisely bodes nicely for the Steam Machine. Valve introduced its mini gaming PC again in November, and stated it’d launch in January or February of this yr. However as that obscure launch window inches ever nearer, it’s trying extra possible that the Steam Machine goes to be costlier than many had been in all probability hoping it’d be.
When the Steam Machine was first introduced, I assumed it will be round $800, given its reasonable energy, however with reminiscence costs being what they’re, I wouldn’t be stunned if it began inching in the direction of a fourth digit. Just lately, a Czech retailer posted an early retailer itemizing, spotted on Reddit, for the Steam Machine that priced it at round $950.
Once I first noticed these posts I used to be instantly skeptical, but when the Steam Machine was initially supposed to goal a worth of round $800, bumping up the worth to $950 in response to elevated reminiscence costs would make loads of sense. Solely time will inform if these leaked costs are in any method correct, however I’m not precisely hopeful about it.
When Will This Finish?
That is hardly the primary time RAM has seen a large worth improve. RAM costs have a tendency to fluctuate over time, relying on demand. However this time may be completely different. Not solely are AI knowledge facilities gobbling up reminiscence, however just about each machine beneath the solar is utilizing extra of it as nicely.
“Simply have a look at how a lot DRAM is in telephones in the present day versus just a few years in the past,” Sag confirmed. “The identical applies to laptops and the 16GB minimal threshold for CoPilot+, in addition to gaming handhelds just like the ROG Xbox Ally X, which has 24GB in a handheld.”
The one method I actually see us getting out of this RAM scarcity any time quickly is that if reminiscence producers like Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix ramp up manufacturing to get extra DIMMs on retailer cabinets. However with AI corporations shopping for up all of this reminiscence even with the elevated costs, I wouldn’t maintain my breath.
Jackie Thomas is the {Hardware} and Shopping for Guides Editor at IGN and the PC parts queen. You may observe her @Jackiecobra