2021 was the year of the pre-built gaming PC

CLX Ra Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

I dubiousness I'm alone in saying that 2022 has been a mistiness of revolving health orders, masks, and canceled plans. In a year where many people simply chose to end well-nigh in-person socializing, free space on the calendar for personal hobbies was at an all-time loftier. And many of the states filled that extra time with video games. More than one-half of people polled by Ipsos in 2022 — with data compiled past the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) — said they played more video games during the pandemic, while 90% of people polled said they would likely keep playing video games as we slowly return to normal.

Both sides of the gaming customs, console and PC, accept struggled due to ongoing stock shortages, and many people take yet to go their easily on something like the Xbox Series Ten|South or an NVIDIA RTX graphics card despite months of trying. It's frustrating, and it doesn't seem to exist getting a whole lot improve as we caput into some other wintertime.

Amd Radeon Rx 6800 Asus Tuf Rgb Source: Windows Central

Console gamers are unfortunately held mostly at the mercy of scalpers and stock alerts. I'm in Canada, and 1 of my friends finally was able to source a PS5 after months of trying. At that place's non really a fallback option for consoles, unlike the PC market. Laptops and pre-congenital gaming desktops have e'er been popular in the more coincidental sense, platonic for people who don't have the time to build their ain or for those who want to hit the power push and start having fun.

Merely as one of the just reliable ways to really get hands on the best graphics cards, pre-congenital PCs have as well become a fallback for enthusiasts who are normally accustomed to buying everything separately and assembling themselves. This newfound attention hasn't all been positive, with plenty of manufacturers being chosen out for less-than-stellar practices. Only attention is attention, and 2022 was certainly the year of the pre-built gaming PC.

The ongoing GPU shortage

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

I wrote an article about why yous shouldn't build a PC in 2022 in July, and, unfortunately, near of the content is still accurate. I wish I could be writing something similar, "Stores are offering discounts on the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT; be sure to selection one upward if you lot've been waiting." Simply just like six months agone, I'm hither to tell you that GPUs aren't whatever easier to discover.

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

Our listing of the all-time graphics cards is still populated by hardware that, in most cases, you tin can't buy without significant attempt. At least another PC parts aren't as hard to find. AMD's Ryzen 5000 desktop CPUs are plentiful, and Intel'southward new 12th Gen "Alder Lake" desktop CPUs can usually exist found at at least 1 major online retailer. However, the new DDR5 RAM to pair with it is almost as hard to find as a GPU.

Uncovering the pros and cons of pre-built PCs

Lenovo Legion Tower 5i Gen6 Review Legion Tower 5i is a bit of a mess inside, but information technology'south an affordable option for casual PC gamers. Source: Windows Fundamental

Hardware shortages have led people to investigate pre-built gaming PCs as a fashion to reliably go hands on the parts required for a build. Pre-builts have ever moved a ton of numbers, only the significant uptick in gaming time has amplified demand. This year'south Black Friday had absolutely no GPU sales worth writing about, only savings on pre-built gaming PCs were far more pop than any other yr we've seen.

Pre-built PCs have received a lot of attention this year, and not all of it was positive.

Massive manufacturers like Dell, HP, and Lenovo — every bit well equally boutique PC manufacturers similar ABS, CLX, and Maingear — accept a direct line to PC part sources, making information technology much easier for them to become their hands on everything from CPUs to GPUs to PSUs. This allows them to go on offering upward complete gaming PCs even during heavy shortages everywhere else. You selection the parts you want within, it gets assembled at a factory, and it ships to your door set to go.

But non all pre-built gaming PCs are engineered to the same standard, as many have been finding out in 2022. It's easy for manufacturers to overstate their pre-builts, assuming the majority of coincidental gamers won't ever disassemble or fifty-fifty expect inside their new PC to encounter what's going on. It turns on, information technology runs games, and that'due south the end of it.

Sites like Gamers Nexus have been releasing in-depth reviews of pre-built gaming PCs that betrayal but how bad some of these PCs actually are, with proprietary parts that remove whatsoever hope of time to come upgrades, overstated performance capabilities of OEM hardware, and shady subscription tactics. While many people even so only desire a PC that runs games without a fuss, information technology'due south slap-up to meet this sort of stuff beingness sussed out.

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

It hasn't all been negative. Bazaar PC builders — smaller companies that use real retail PC parts instead of OEM stuff — have no doubt felt a rise 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 you don't have to become as chic equally that. Newegg'southward ABS house make has a ton of options to cull from, assembled with retail parts that makes it experience a lot closer to a personal build. It'southward non going to quite friction match your own construction, but when you can't notice a GPU any other way, it's a great culling. Prices also remain fairly competitive with the bigger brands, and whatever enthusiasts who would rather avoid OEM parts will no doubt find the extra cost worth every penny.

What 2022 is set to bring

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

I have no idea what 2022 will look similar; I've stopped trying to predict more than a couple of weeks ahead. New COVID variants, trade wars, and climate modify can all impress their influence at whatsoever time, and telling someone to "wait just a flake 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 information technology turning on and playing your favorite games, exist certain to check reviews, compare prices, and consider what hardware you lot already accept lying effectually. You can ever buy a pre-built, remove the GPU, and sell off the balance of the parts to make some of your coin dorsum.

Our Senior News Editor Robert Carnevale wrote an first-class article a few weeks ago detailing why, based on proficient assay, the global chip shortage should presently come to an end. The TL;DR in that location is that 2022 is likely going to be more than of the same, with 2023 possibly flipping to an overabundance of fries. AMD CEO Lisa Su, speaking at the Lawmaking Conference, basically said the same thing: early on 2022 would proceed to be rough, though supply would level out later in the year. We'll have to await and see what the year has in store for gamers around the earth.

New changes

Microsoft volition begin testing experimental Windows 11 features with Insiders

Microsoft has today announced that information technology's changing upward the fashion in which information technology flights preview builds of Windows 11 to Insiders registered in the Dev or Beta Channels. Going forward, both channels are to exist considered the "active development branch," but for different kinds of feature testing.