There’s never been a better argument for using an APU at this point. Sure buying RAM’s still gonna hurt but at least you wouldn’t get hit with needing to buy a dedicated GPU yet if you’re not overly picky on resolution and modern AAA games.
Me, with my 5800X AM4 platform: I felt this
My situation is interesting. I didn’t know how to build a PC, but I wanted one even though I had a gaming laptop.
So I bought my friend’s old PC (sans GPU) in 2023 for cheap when he upgraded. It was a fairly high-end prebuilt that he got right before the lockdowns in 2020. The PC then soon became dormant as the AIO water-cooling system broke down, and I just gamed on my laptop.
But then, in late 2025, the laptop’s GPU crashed the entire system when pushed hard. I knew I could use that PC, so I got a 5060 (slightly better than that laptop GPU) for under MSRP, and put in a new AIO (with some help). Then I put Fedora on it and after way too much troubleshooting (mostly due to WiFi issues) it’s became my primary gaming PC in 2026. Here’s to lasting until Y2K38.
I expect prices of components to remain high to around 2030. Even then I don’t think companies will lower prices when they see how much people allows to be priced for certain components. The prices will slowly be “drip fed” and slowly be lowered. But it’ll take a long time.
In a normal world I probably would have replaced my 5800X / 32GB DDR4 / 3070ti build by now, but I don’t really feel myself needing to. I’m expecting it to last me several more years the way things are going.
It’s going to be rough on students this year - our university is looking to “retire” pc labs so everything becomes “use your own laptop” to “ensure a more comfortable student experience” (I.e. cut costs).
Trouble is, when student laptops fail this year, they’re not going to be able to afford new ones.
Depending on what they’re supposed to use them for, they can most likely use refurbished hardware without issues. That’s unless they have to use them to do some really heavy lifting, but that’s unlikely.
They’ll need windows 11 (Linux works but they’d then need to learn Linux), or they’d be going refurb Mac which is pricey.
The windows 11 push has come at an oddly bad time.
I am using a backup budget PC from 2014, which has 12gb of DDR3 memory. It has Windows 11, after using RUFUS to install the .iso while stripping away Microsoft’s hardware restrictions. MASgravel was used to register Windows.
This PC sucks, but is usable for basic browsing. I believe nearly any laptop after 2020 will soundly beat this machine.
You overestimate the average undergrad!
Oh no, a university student needs to learn his way around Linux :0 then there’s really no possible way to finish the degree
Have you taught any undergrads recently? They think files are stored inside apps (“where is your data file?” - “it’s in excel”).
It’s called “natural selection”. They are there to learn things after all.
“How will this piece be graded sir?”
“Natural selection.”
It will not be graded, you did not upload your attachment. Also you failed class, let that be a lesson of natural selection to you.
Aren’t they going to have to learn Linux anyway?
Depends on where their lives take them - our IT department are solid windophiles, so no Linux to learn here (though myself and a friend are looking to shift that over time).
I’m just not so sure that windows has that much of a future. I believe Microsoft will move to thin clients with everything on servers and a subscription model.
Of course a lot of people will be fine with that and will just give up on their PCs.
Yeah, that’s why I’m going the route if getting older (senior) staff onto Linux on their home machines.
If the powers that be decide Linux is better…
the 1080ti is when nvidia realized they need to enshittify their gpus. that’s why they now catch on fire and cost $6000 while my ~$800 1080ti is still just purring along.
Damn, 2016 PC’s gotta be tough. My current one is from 2023 and replaced one from 2017. It would still be good for non gaming things though.
Mine’s from 2017, still plays most things that interest me just fine (1080 Ti is a beast). I managed to replace a faulty kit of RAM about a month before things went real crazy, now I guess I should be good for a few more years.
It’s what they say: The market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent
I used to advocate saving one’s money and building a fresh system when DDR6 is released - the transition means that many people will be selling off their older hardware, thus a glut of cheapness.
Unfortunately, I suspect that most folks, especially Americans, won’t have much money by the time DDR6 is a thing. So I pulled the trigger and built a fresh DDR5 machine. Partially due to PBO issues with my DDR4 beast’s CPU, but also a desire for local AI roleplay and projects. It is best to build now, before Weimer hyperinflation takes America by storm.
In any case, my 128gb DDR4 machine will hopefully find its way into the hands of a happy owner. I got the new 5950x CPU, it just needs to be installed, and my future machine in good order.
Nothing concrete yet, but there is hope. The fact that mainstream media aired this may actually cause investors to start pulling out. The bubble is kept inflated by investor confidence, after all.
I love this comic!! Thanks for sharing, I wouldn’t have discovered it otherwise.
Think I’ll go toss them a Patreon sub.
My last PC purchase was in 2021, which seems to have been just about the optimal time to buy before everything went to shit
Same, I only regret not getting a new case and a better build
This is pretty much my situation with my gaming PC.
I did do a small upgrade on the Graphics Card after a few years, in between the mining price peak and the AI price peak so it wasn’t too expensive, and also bought second hand for €14 a CPU that fits that CPU slot (which is twice as powerful as the original one I had and which, had I bought it new, would have cost about €200), so that extended that PC’s life a bit.
Another thing that helped a lot was replacing Windows with Linux - 16 GB memory is absolutely fine with Linux.
I starting to think about a replacement - which would have to be a full one as that motherboard can’t really support any further significant improvements (PCI isn’t really fast enough to really fully use better and more recent Graphics Cards, memory is maxed and the for that CPU slot there’s just 1 better CPU and it’s a tiny performance improvement over what I have) - but then the AI bubble came and that was that.
Mind you, similarly to that cartoon, I totally think “just keep going a little bit more, please, please, please” when I look at this PC.
All that said, my gaming needs are still served just fine with this machine since I don’t tend to go for glitzy recent AAA titles since I generally find them too linear and intellectually unchallenging for my taste.
Me 8 years ago building my PC, “I’ll go used this time so I can get the best PC possible for my budget, and I’ll slowly upgrade to new as I need to.”
Me today,
