Is this a bad time to build a gaming PC?
Asked by
MellowBirch47
I'm building my first gaming PC and originally planned to spend about CAD 3,000 (roughly USD 2,200). I've already bought a Radeon RX 9070 XT and Ryzen 7 9800X3D, but a friend told me component prices are heavily inflated and that I'm wasting money by buying now. After adding the remaining parts to my cart, the total is closer to USD 2,900.
The rest of the build currently includes an ASUS TUF Gaming B650-Plus WiFi motherboard, Corsair Nautilus 360 cooler, Corsair Frame 4500X case, Corsair RM1000e 1000W power supply, 32GB Lexar Thor DDR5 memory, and a 2TB Lexar PCIe 5.0 SSD. Should I return the CPU and GPU and wait for prices to fall, or is there no reliable way to know whether the market will improve?
Answers
The bigger concern is buying parts one at a time and leaving them untested. Warranty coverage starts when each item is purchased, and you won’t know whether the CPU, motherboard, RAM, or GPU works until the system is assembled. If you’re going to proceed, try to buy the remaining core parts within a reasonable window so you can test everything and return defective items promptly.
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Don’t let your friend’s certainty make the decision for you. Check price-history tools for each item rather than judging the entire market as one thing. Cases, coolers, and power supplies often go on sale, while RAM and storage may be the parts driving your inflated total. Look for motherboard, CPU, and memory bundles, and avoid paying a premium for extreme RAM timings or unnecessary flagship features.
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The RX 9070 XT and 9800X3D are fairly sensible choices, but you can save money elsewhere. A quality 750–850W power supply should be enough for that combination, even with normal tuning, so 1000W is mostly extra headroom. The 360mm cooler is also more than a 9800X3D needs; a good air cooler or smaller AIO should work well. You could also use a good PCIe 4.0 SSD instead of Gen 5 without noticing much difference in gaming.
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Nobody can predict the exact bottom of the market. Some parts, especially RAM and SSDs, are definitely expensive right now, but there’s no guarantee they’ll become cheaper soon—or return to previous prices at all. If you can afford the build and the parts are reasonably priced compared with their history, buying now and enjoying it is perfectly reasonable.
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MellowBirch47: I was mainly considering the 1000W unit for future upgrades and overclocking, but cutting back there and on the cooler could help bring the total down.