Custom built and DIY PCs are highly dependent on one crucial substance, and it’s not just RGB. Metals compose a significant portion of what a PC is made of, both internally and externally. According to Chinese semiconductor firms, the most precious of metals such as gold and copper are experiencing a price increase. These increases can be drastic, even approaching as much as 20% for overall pricing changes in some cases.
Precious metals such as these are vital in the semiconductor space, and can affect literally any component that depends on these such as CPUs and even home appliances. As a rising tide usually raises all ships, other metals may potentially also follow in these increases that are more common. Gaming PCs especially are generally highly metal-centric, with a variety of materials to complete the overall system.
Gaming consoles, such as the rumored PlayStation 5 Pro, consist of components dependent on precious metals, even if the exterior design has plastic elements. These systems, together with thousands of other appliances, may see overall price increases for consumers.
Falcon Northwest, a bespoke systems integrator, famously said that its Talon PC case has almost no plastic pieces in its construction, for example. This will also directly tie into the enthusiast DIY space, where many mid to high-end cases also feature a ton of metal construction ranging from steel to aluminum.
Yes, some components even have precious metals adorning the exterior, such as Gigabyte’s Xtreme Prestige motherboards and GPUs. The world is currently powered by the semiconductor sector in many of its current use cases and eventual future goals. AI has been extraordinarily popular lately amongst large technology companies, thus raising the demand for components. In turn, this is also causing precious metals to exponentially increase in price and demand.
DIY PC builders are no strangers to price fluctuations, as felt during the cryptocurrency mining craze around 2021. PC component prices, such as CPUs and GPUs, have stabilized but stand firm at their higher pricing for now. Increasing prices for these precious metals (as indicated by a paywalled Digitimes report that Tom’s Hardware took a gander at) will only mean more expensive projects for DIY builders, which can unfortunately turn a lot of consumers away from the hobby.
While most of these increases are felt first with precious metals, such events have often resulted in other materials following suit, even of the less precious variety.