There has never been an affordable price point for PCs when it comes to buying them. Even if you put together your own and use the cheapest parts, the components are still quite expensive. If you’ve lately thought about getting a new computer and investigated the pricing, you might have been taken aback to find that they have gone through the roof. This outcome is, in fact, a result of a combination of factors that culminated in a perfect storm, which has made components for PCs more expensive and hard to get. We will cover the explanations for why computers are so expensive at this time and potential moments for a return to normal prices in this article. At last, we will recommend a few ideas for individuals interested in purchasing a new PC.
Table of Contents
What caused computers to become so expensive?
Mining and GPUs
Graphic cards have historically been costly computer components, though in the last few years they have greatly increased in price and have become unfeasible for many consumers. The reason for this is that this component is essential for earning cryptocurrencies like Ethereum or Bitcoin. According to a report from Bloomberg, miners of cryptocurrencies spent an astonishing $15 billion on GPUs throughout the 2021 boom period. As numerous cryptocurrencies found favor with the public, the need for GPUs soared and production struggled to meet the demand.
In this timeframe, the two cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum, soared to record highs of over $67,000 and $4,800, separately. This led directly to a deficit, making it very hard to even acquire a GPU. Such low supply together with a high demand breeds rising prices, which is precisely what happened. As a result, cryptocurrency is largely to blame for the quick uptick in the prices of PCs.
The Global Chip Shortage
There are numerous things to explore here. While silicone chips are ubiquitous these days, from phones to PCs, car, and refrigerators, producing them remains a challenge. Only a handful of factories worldwide can manufacture them. Actually, 54% of worldwide chips originate from only one producer – TSMC. The business is a supplier of chips to great enterprises like Apple (AAPL), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Nvidia (NVDA) — who could conceive their own chips yet lack both facilities and the resources to make them.
PC makers found themselves dealing with escalating chip prices just one month into 2022, as the biggest manufacturer globally, TSMC, announced an increase in manufacturing quotes of up to 9%. There is also the international chip shortage, commonly called the semiconductor shortage. The shortage has its roots in a disheartening chain of incidents that started back in 2019 with the COVID-19 pandemic. The production of these chips has faced substantial slowdowns because of quarantines and disruptions to their supply chains in China. Alongside this, as millions of people shifted to remote work around the world, demand for traditional PCs, desktops, notebooks, and workstations rose dramatically.
What if you want a new computer?
You can see that the present situation greatly complicates the ability to buy budget computers or simply components for personal computers. Relatively imminently, the need for GPUs will see a sharp decline because cryptocurrency is likely to quit using mining for a longer time. In January 2022, Digital Trends stated that the actual price of the RTX 3080 was almost 149% larger than the listed price, but come March, it had dipped to only 105% higher than the quoted price. Those involved are optimistic that the chip shortage will come to an end soon and prices will return to normality. If you’re wanting to buy a computer, holding off for a little while until everything settles down may be the wise choice. For now, you can keep using your current PC and keep it in prime shape until you can afford to buy a new one.
How to maintain your PC
Just because your computer has slowed down over time does not necessarily mean that it must be replaced. Usually, slowdowns and crashes are caused by your system being filled with forgotten apps and junk files. With some simple maintenance, you may find your PC is not as hopeless as you thought. Who knows, maybe you’ll even change your mind about replacing it.
There are many ways you can clean up your system and do some maintenance, however a lot of it is quite difficult or just tedious to do manually. This is why maintenance software exists.
Outbyte PC Repair simplifies the process for you while also ensuring that you are in control and won’t delete anything essential. You will also have access to professional tech and customer support for resolving more complex issues.