Don’t Wait For The Next Big Thing, Buy That PC Component Now

The PC hardware world always has something new and exciting cooking in the oven. If you’re perpetually waiting for new CPUs, GPUs, cases, monitors, and faster RAM and storage to arrive, you’ll never upgrade your current machine, or build that new PC.

The PC Hardware World Always Has Something Shiny on the Horizon

As of this writing, it’s likely NVIDIA will soon refresh its RTX 5000 lineup with Super GPU variants that will pack more memory than base models, Intel is slated to release its upcoming Core Ultra 300 desktop CPUs in late 2025, we’re waiting for new PC handhelds from Lenovo (Legion Go 2), ASUS and Microsoft (ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X), and MSI (Claw A8), RTX 5000 gaming laptops are overtaking the market, and the upcoming crop of OLED monitors that’s brighter than ever should soon start showing on shelves.

As you can see, there’s a ton of cool new PC tech just around the corner and the situation is more or less the same at almost any other point in time.

In early 2025, for instance, RTX 5000 desktop GPUs were a few weeks away from launching, AMD had prepared to release the first RDNA 4 graphics cards—the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070—Intel announced a new generation of its mobile CPUs, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ PC handheld was just released, Lenovo promoted its then-upcoming Legion Go S PC handheld, and we got a sneak peek at the first 27-inch 4K OLED gaming monitors.

The PC hardware world is perpetually in motion. New, faster, more exciting hardware is constantly on the horizon and while sometimes it’s worth waiting for the next thing, it’s usually counterproductive, especially if you need that upgrade now.

You’ll Never Build That PC If You Keep Waiting for the Next Big Thing

The best example of when you shouldn’t wait for the next big thing is PC building. Considering that there are always new CPUs and GPUs just around the corner, you’ll never build that new desktop PC if you are always on the lookout for something new, whether that’s a GPU, CPU, chassis, SSD, or monitor.

For instance, now’s an excellent time to build a gaming PC. AMD CPUs, which are a better option for PC gamers than Intel at the moment, have stabilized price-wise and are readily available at large online retailers.

It’s a similar situation with GPUs. Both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs can be snagged pretty close or at MSRP, even in the US, and are filling up shelves at most online and brick-and-mortar retailers. Even Intel GPUs are back in stock and readily available at MSRP after being more or less MIA for months.

This is most welcome news considering the whole situation with tariffs. If you’re living in the EU or the UK, there’s a good chance you can get a current-gen gaming GPU below MSRP, which was unheard of just a few months ago.

Now, say you’d rather wait for an RTX 5000 Super GPU, which are rumored to arrive in late 2025 or early 2026. More memory does sound enticing, especially if you’re gunning for an RTX 5070, the Super version of which should come with 18GB instead of 12GB of memory.

You’d not only have to wait out an extra four or five months for said GPUs to launch, you’d also most likely have to sit through the initial stock issues and high launch prices that will take months to drop to near-MSRP levels.

In the end, you will probably snag your new graphics card in the spring of 2026, almost a year from now. Or would you?

By then, the RTX 6000, next-gen AMD GPU, and next-gen AMD and Intel CPU rumor mill will kick off, giving you yet another reason to “wait out just a little longer,” and that PC will still only be an unfinished component list on PCPartPicker instead of sitting at or under your desk, used to enjoy games for almost a year by then.

Need an Upgrade Now? Go For it!

It’s a similar story if you’re after a single upgrade, and not an entire PC, and you need that upgrade now.

AM5 Ryzen motherboards compatible with the last few generations of Ryzen processors are more affordable than ever, and you’ve got a huge selection of great motherboards to pick from. Ryzen 7000 and 9000 CPUs are sporting tempting prices and are in stock everywhere as well.

If you’re after a productivity-first CPU, Intel Core Ultra 200 CPUs have never been more affordable and have been available in droves ever since they launched because AMD is the current king of the consumer CPU market.

Many retailers also offer CPU, motherboard, and memory combos, which is the best way to move to a new CPU platform for the lowest amount of cash possible.

As previously said, NVIDIA and AMD GPUs are in a great place right now as well, especially in non-US markets.

PCIe 4.0 SSDs are dirt cheap, with quality budget SSDs going for about $60 in 1TB flavors, with 2TB models going for about $120. There’s no reason to wait for further price drops, and PCIe 5.0 SSDs remain overpriced while offering little incentive for most PC enthusiasts to buy. Unless you’re a professional creator, there’s little reason to get a PCIe 5.0 SSD.

The same stands true for DDR5 memory; you can get a snappy 32GB DDR5 kit for about $90, which is a pretty attractive price if you ask me.

Less exciting PC components, such as CPU coolers, PSUs, and cases are prime real estate right now. You can pick between a huge variety of offerings, with plenty of great bang-for-buck options that won’t blow a hole in your wallet.

If you’re thinking about upgrading your current PC, now’s a great time to do so.

Sometimes, New Isn’t Necessarily Better Than What’s Currently on Offer

Waiting for new hardware can be a sound strategy if there’s a justifiable reason to do so, but sometimes said strategy can be counterproductive.

For example, I could’ve bought an RTX 4080 for a below-MSRP price in late November 2024, but I had decided to wait for next-gen NVIDIA GPUs. My expectation was that the new GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD would launch in early 2025.

I’d wait for about a month for prices to stabilize, and since 16GB of memory isn’t enough for AI-related tasks, I’d grab an RTX 5080 relatively easily at near-MSRP because the card wouldn’t be of interest to non-gamers while also getting a nice performance bump over the RTX 4080. Boy, was I wrong.

Ultimately, I got myself an RX 9070 XT in early March 2025. While I’m not disappointed with my purchase (AMD’s GPU is powerful enough for my needs and I haven’t encountered any driver-related issues so far), I could’ve rocked an RTX 4080 for almost half a year instead of waiting for new GPUs to arrive.

Similarly, people who waited for Ryzen 9000 and Core Ultra 200 CPUs would’ve been better off just buying a Ryzen 7000 CPU. Aside from the X3D models, the Ryzen 9000 CPUs only bring a few percent’s worth of a performance bump over their predecessors, while they had been noticeably pricier for months after release.

Worse still, if you’re a gamer at least, Core Ultra 200 CPUs are an even worse option than Ryzen 9000 processors since they’re objectively slower in games than the 14th gen Intel Core CPUs they replaced. The only people who profited from waiting are professionals only interested in productivity performance, an area in which Core Ultra 200 CPUs excel.

It’s a similar story with Windows on ARM laptops, which turned out to be a disappointment compared to regular Windows laptops. Aside from better battery life, they don’t offer any improvement over Windows laptops equipped with x86 AMD and Intel CPUs.

When It’s Worth Waiting for Shiny New Hardware

Now, I’ve been dooming and glooming throughout this piece with such vehemence that you might think I’m a staunch proponent of the “never wait, only buy now!” philosophy. However, I do agree that sometimes it’s wiser to withhold than go out and buy that upgrade as soon as possible.

If you’re saving up for a specific component, opting for a more affordable (and usually slower) one isn’t the right move. Another instance where abstaining from the “purchase now” mentality is a sound strategy is if you’re after a new CPU, and next-gen CPUs are set to debut in tandem with a new CPU socket.

The Ryzen 7000 CPUs debuting alongside the AM5 CPU socket is the best example of a situation when this strategy paid off: instead of opting for a slower Ryzen 5000 CPU and the aging AM4 socket, you could’ve waited a bit and got a Ryzen 7000 CPU and AM5 motherboard, allowing you to upgrade to a newer AM5 CPU in the future.

Also, if you’re satisfied with the level of performance delivered by your current hardware, there’s no reason not to wait for hardware that will bring a substantial performance upgrade. Have a slight CPU or GPU bottleneck, but the games you play run at framerates and visual settings you’re happy with? Feel free to skip the current generation of CPUs and GPUs and wait out for something better to arrive in the future.

Lastly, if you aren’t satisfied with the current offering and are waiting for a specific feature to arrive, and your current hardware is still good enough, feel free to wait a bit longer.

I’d been eyeing Mac Minis for years while increasingly growing more and more frustrated with Windows, but I didn’t want to get a base model that only packs 8GB of memory. But after Apple had decided to equip the base M4 Mac Mini with 16GB of RAM, I knew the time was right to finally get my first Mac.

Waiting too long is usually not a great idea in the world of PC hardware. Something better and faster is always just around the corner. If you keep waiting for that new, shinier piece of hardware, you’ll never upgrade your components or build a new PC, and could even end up worse off than if you had pulled the trigger earlier.

That said, if you know what you’re looking for, are happy with your current hardware, or just aren’t satisfied with current offerings, feel free to abstain and wait for something better to arrive further down the road.