Gamers often buy prebuilt gaming rigs with kits to start up their gaming experience. But there are some who really give their time and effort to build one. Why? So that they will pay less when buying but still have the same machine.
But some DIY peeps might be lessen for a while now. These past few days, the PC building community has struggled with widespread graphic card shortages and the rising of prices. Then all of a sudden, building your own gaming machine might be very expensive. If ever you could find the parts you need to build one at all.
How did this happen?
Blame it on bitcoin and the sudden demand of cryptocurrency values across the board. These digital currencies can be purchased like a commodity. They’re created when computers are used to solve complex mathematical puzzles that help secure the cryptocurrency blockchain. It’s some sort of a reward for contributing to the health and security of the network. But solving those puzzles takes a lot of computing power and time.
Well actually, you can’t make an income in just mining Bitcoin on consumer-grade GPUs these days. But the good news is, turns out that popular gaming video cards are great for mining other coins, like Ethereum. And the effect, it’s giving regular folks a hard time who just wanted to upgrade a gaming PC.
It’s the effect of supply and demand. Cryptocurrency miners buy popular cards like Nvidia’s GTS 1070 and 1080, or AMD’s RX 480, 580 or RX Vega 56 cards. Now, there’s only a few left for the gaming community. And not to mention, the ones that are available are being sold for a very expensive price. Nvidia’s less powerful GTX 1060 has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of between $200 and $300 depending on the model. If you want one today, expect to pay as much as $480. But if you buy on third-party sellers, like eBay and Amazon, expect a $700 up.
Still want a gaming PC? Well, you don’t have a choice.
If you can’t actually afford buying the parts, well you might want to consider to buy a prebuilt machine.
It may not be as fun and may not give you pride on assembling your own machine. But it’s the most affordable and easiest way to have your own gaming PC.
