When will the PC hardware shortages end?

I was browsing Newegg the other day, as ya do. Listed under their “Hot Deals” section was an AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT. A mid-range video card from 2019 that normally retails for about $500 Canadian kopeks, is now selling for an absolutely butt puckering $1,345. At nearly triple its MSRP, this makes it as expensive as the 2080 Ti was at launch. And this is something the store is actually highlighting as a “deal”.

This is not an isolated case either, as one will soon see as they take a trip to PCPartPicker, an aggregator that helps you find the lowest price for components. I saw a 2060 going for $1,800, and the now tired RX 580 going for a slightly more reasonable (but no less stupid) $600. Now a lot of these are from “third party” sellers (in other words, scalpers) on Amazon and Newegg. Most other retailers are completely sold out of GPUs and CPUs. You can still find them at MSRP, but it basically requires you to set up push notifications on your email to be notified the second they’re back in stock. Otherwise they get snatched up in minutes.

Now, we’ve covered the situation extensively over the past few months. The question is, when is this all going to end? When will you be able to just walk into a Canada Computers and buy a 3080 without having to sell your first born for it? Well the bad news is that you’re going to have a long wait. The CCPVirus has completely turned the PC parts market on its head, taking the worst of the Ethereum boom of 2017 and turning it up to eleven.

The pandemic has led in an explosion of demand for PC components. Namely from corporations and schools who are having to purchase new systems to enable people to work and learn remotely. While we gamers tend to think that we’re the most important demographic, and big chip makers certainly like to make us feel that way, nothing could be farther from the truth. Most of these companies make most of their money selling systems to enterprise and institutional clients. Gamers aren’t making bulk orders, so they rank relatively low in the totem pole of PC buyers. Yet there’s also been a massive increase in demand for gaming products, given that people are now stuck at home over the winter with nothing to do. Which is why we’re seeing this ludicrous situation with consoles as well. Plus we still have every PC gamer’s arch nemesis, the crypto-miner, doing their thing. Prices for coin have been rising again, so we’re likely seeing a bit of that adding to these woes as well.

Thanks to the sudden spike in demand, chip fabs like TSMC, Samsung, and Intel are struggling to keep up. Additionally, manufacturers keep releasing new products, despite being unable to keep older ones in stock, pushing these facilities to their absolute limits. Now combine that with all the staffing and logistical issues brought on by the Communist Orchestrated Viral Infection Disaster, and you have the perfect storm. We’re talking basic economics here. When demand outstrips supply, prices will naturally increase in reaction.

So when will prices return to normal? Truth is, not until the pandemic ends, and probably not for a few months afterwards. Once most people return to work and school in-person, and other entertainment options open back up, assuming there’s any left. Given the snail’s pace of the vaccine roll out (especially here in Canada, where they dropped the ball big time), that’s going to be at least another year. That’s assuming the economy doesn’t completely tank before then thanks to all these lockdowns. Which will make discussing PC part availability a bit moot by that point. This all may seem kind of obvious, but a lot of people are still under the delusion that things are going to sort themselves out soon, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary.

So what can you do in the meantime? Well, my best piece of advice is the same thing I’ve been telling console gamers: do not buy from scalpers. You will regret paying that much for something once the prices do come back down. Plus you’re aiding and abetting some rather unscrupulous business practices.

For the most part, even if you have even something like a 1060 or RX 480/580, you’re still good for a while. There’s not a lot of new games of note coming out this year. Largely due to a lot of disruptions in release schedules. Basically everything big is getting delayed, and there’s nothing that’s really pushing the technical boundaries beyond what those cards can handle, assuming you’re willing to sacrifice some of the more gimmicky bells and whistles. Same goes for CPUs.

Now, if you need to replace something that breaks, I feel for you. I give offerings to the PCMR gods daily to keep my RX 480 going another year. All I can say is just stay on top of stores, and try to make do with whatever reasonably priced components you can find. If you need to replace the entire system, you can still find some good deals on gaming laptops and pre-built desktops, oddly enough. Motherboards and SSDs are still reasonable as well.