60% of PC gamers won't build a new PC in the next two years as AI drives up component prices

At a glance:

• A Tom's Hardware survey of 1,500+ readers finds 60% won't build a new PC for at least two years due to AI-driven component price inflation.
• 32GB of RAM now costs $360, while most SSDs are priced comparably, and GPUs face shortages mirroring the bitcoin mining era.
• Only 10% of respondents plan to build within three months, and just 15% within six months, reflecting a market many consider unviable at current prices.

The survey results paint a grim picture

In May, Tom's Hardware polled more than 1,500 of its readers and asked a straightforward question: when do you plan to build your next PC? The answer was sobering. Exactly 60% of respondents said they would wait two years or more, effectively freezing their upgrade cycles in response to what they see as an unaffordable market. Of the remaining 40%, only 15% of the total sample said they intended to build a PC within the next two years, while just 25% had any plans to attempt a new build within the next 12 months.

The intent to build drops sharply as the timeline shortens, a pattern that mirrors the severity of current market conditions. Only 15% of respondents will build within the next six months, and a total of just 10% will do so within the next three months. The data suggests that while some enthusiasts may have perfectly capable rigs today, the majority are being priced out of the hobby — or at least pushed into a holding pattern until conditions improve.

AI buildouts are eating the DRAM supply

The root cause is a global shortage of DRAM, the memory that underpins everything from gaming PCs to AI data-center servers. As hyperscalers race to deploy AI infrastructure, they are consuming a disproportionate share of the world's DRAM output, driving up prices across the board. The knock-on effect is felt by consumers: 32GB of RAM now costs $360, a price point that would have seemed outrageous just a couple of years ago. Most SSDs are not much cheaper, and graphics cards are suffering their own shortages and price hikes that echo the bitcoin mining frenzy of 2017–2018.

Stephen, Tom's Hardware's News Editor, notes that while some readers may be hanging on for retail events like Amazon Prime Day or Black Friday, discounts at those events are unlikely to bring prices anywhere near pre-AI crunch levels. The structural shift in demand means that even deep sales events may only offer marginal relief rather than a genuine return to affordability.

Who is affected and why it matters

The slowdown isn't just a niche enthusiast issue — it reflects broader market dynamics that ripple through the entire PC ecosystem. Component manufacturers, retailers, and even software developers who rely on a healthy PC upgrade cycle are feeling the squeeze. For gamers, the practical impact is clear: building or upgrading a high-performance rig now requires a significantly larger budget than it did before the AI boom began eating into supply.

Historically, the PC market has been driven by a virtuous cycle of new hardware enabling new games, which in turn drive demand for better hardware. If a large share of the enthusiast base puts upgrades on hold for two years or more, that cycle could slow, affecting everything from GPU sales to the push for higher display resolutions and frame rates. The question for the industry is whether supply will catch up with demand before the next major GPU or CPU generation arrives, or whether the AI data-center boom will keep component prices elevated for the foreseeable future.