2021 was the year of the pre-built gaming PC

CLX Ra Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

I doubt I'm alone in maxim that 2022 has been a blur of revolving health orders, masks, and canceled plans. In a year where many people simply chose to stop most in-person socializing, free space on the calendar for personal hobbies was at an all-fourth dimension loftier. And many of usa filled that extra fourth dimension with video games. More than half of people polled past Ipsos in 2022 — with data compiled past the Amusement Software Association (ESA) — said they played more than video games during the pandemic, while ninety% of people polled said they would likely go on playing video games as we slowly render to normal.

Both sides of the gaming community, console and PC, have struggled due to ongoing stock shortages, and many people have notwithstanding to become their hands on something similar the Xbox Series X|Southward or an NVIDIA RTX graphics carte despite months of trying. It's frustrating, and it doesn't seem to exist getting a whole lot amend as we head into another winter.

Amd Radeon Rx 6800 Asus Tuf Rgb Source: Windows Central

Console gamers are unfortunately held by and large at the mercy of scalpers and stock alerts. I'thousand in Canada, and one of my friends finally was able to source a PS5 after months of trying. In that location's non actually a fallback option for consoles, unlike the PC market place. Laptops and pre-built gaming desktops have always been popular in the more casual sense, ideal for people who don't have the fourth dimension to build their own or for those who want to hit the power push button and beginning having fun.

But equally one of the only reliable means to actually go hands on the all-time graphics cards, pre-built PCs accept also become a fallback for enthusiasts who are commonly accustomed to buying everything separately and assembling themselves. This newfound attention hasn't all been positive, with plenty of manufacturers existence called out for less-than-stellar practices. But attending is attending, and 2022 was certainly the twelvemonth of the pre-congenital gaming PC.

The ongoing GPU shortage

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 reviewNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 review Source: Harish Jonnalagadda / Windows Key

I wrote an commodity most why you shouldn't build a PC in 2022 in July, and, unfortunately, about of the content is even so accurate. I wish I could be writing something like, "Stores are offering discounts on the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT; be sure to option ane up if yous've been waiting." But only similar half dozen months ago, I'm here to tell you that GPUs aren't any easier to find.

The surge in cryptocurrency mining — with most 25% of GPUs going to miners and speculators in Q1 2022 — is however affecting the market, as are institute shutdowns and aircraft problems due to the pandemic. Scalpers who see an opportunity to grift consumers by buying up any available GPUs they trip over, only to sell them at an enormous markup, don't help.

Our list of the best graphics cards is still populated by hardware that, in near cases, you lot can't purchase without significant effort. At least some other PC parts aren't as hard to detect. AMD's Ryzen 5000 desktop CPUs are plentiful, and Intel's new 12th Gen "Alder Lake" desktop CPUs tin can usually be found at at to the lowest degree one major online retailer. However, the new DDR5 RAM to pair with it is almost as hard to notice as a GPU.

Uncovering the pros and cons of pre-built PCs

Lenovo Legion Tower 5i Gen6 Review Legion Tower 5i is a flake of a mess within, but it's an affordable choice for casual PC gamers. Source: Windows Central

Hardware shortages have led people to investigate pre-built gaming PCs every bit a style to reliably become easily on the parts required for a build. Pre-builts have always moved a ton of numbers, but the significant uptick in gaming time has amplified demand. This year's Blackness Friday had absolutely no GPU sales worth writing about, simply savings on pre-built gaming PCs were far more pop than whatsoever other year nosotros've seen.

Pre-built PCs have received a lot of attention this twelvemonth, and non all of it was positive.

Massive manufacturers like Dell, HP, and Lenovo — likewise equally boutique PC manufacturers like ABS, CLX, and Maingear — have a direct line to PC office sources, making it much easier for them to go their hands on everything from CPUs to GPUs to PSUs. This allows them to continue offering up complete gaming PCs even during heavy shortages everywhere else. You lot pick the parts you desire inside, it gets assembled at a factory, and it ships to your door ready to go.

Only not all pre-built gaming PCs are engineered to the same standard, as many take been finding out in 2022. It'due south easy for manufacturers to enlarge their pre-builts, bold the bulk of casual gamers won't ever disassemble or even look within their new PC to see what's going on. It turns on, it runs games, and that's the end of it.

Sites like Gamers Nexus accept been releasing in-depth reviews of pre-built gaming PCs that expose simply how bad some of these PCs actually are, with proprietary parts that remove whatever promise of future upgrades, overstated performance capabilities of OEM hardware, and shady subscription tactics. While many people withal just want a PC that runs games without a fuss, information technology's corking to meet this sort of stuff being sussed out.

CLX Ra The boutique CLX Ra has some serious style, far more than suited for enthusiasts. Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Primal

Information technology hasn't all been negative. Boutique PC builders — smaller companies that use real retail PC parts instead of OEM stuff — accept no doubt felt a ascension in popularity as enthusiasts who know what to avoid have come up knocking. Executive Editor Daniel Rubino went hands-on with the CLX Ra in May, noting an all-around positive configuring, buying, and shipping experience.

And yous don't have to go as chic as that. Newegg'due south ABS business firm brand has a ton of options to choose from, assembled with retail parts that makes it experience a lot closer to a personal build. It's non going to quite match your own construction, just when you tin't discover a GPU any other fashion, information technology's a great culling. Prices as well remain fairly competitive with the bigger brands, and any enthusiasts who would rather avoid OEM parts will no dubiousness find the extra toll worth every penny.

What 2022 is set to bring

Intel 12th Gen Corei5 Chip Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Primal

I have no idea what 2022 will look like; I've stopped trying to predict more than than a couple of weeks alee. New COVID variants, trade wars, and climate modify can all impress their influence at any time, and telling someone to "wait just a bit longer to build a new PC" is no longer proficient advice. If you lot are going to go the pre-built route and care more than it turning on and playing your favorite games, be sure to check reviews, compare prices, and consider what hardware you already have lying around. You can e'er buy a pre-built, remove the GPU, and sell off the rest of the parts to make some of your money back.

Our Senior News Editor Robert Carnevale wrote an first-class article a few weeks ago detailing why, based on expert analysis, the global chip shortage should presently come to an end. The TL;DR there is that 2022 is likely going to be more than of the aforementioned, with 2023 possibly flipping to an overabundance of fries. AMD CEO Lisa Su, speaking at the Code Briefing, basically said the same matter: early 2022 would go along to be rough, though supply would level out afterwards in the year. We'll have to wait and encounter what the year has in store for gamers effectually the globe.

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