Upgrade PC Before Tariffs or Wait It Out?

[xDDD]

Do you guys think that the incoming tariffs will significantly raise the price of PC components? Will they all be affected similarly, or will certain parts be affected more than others?


Currently I'm running a R7 3700X and it is fine. Works admirably but I do recognize that it is aging and I know that the next real step would be onto the AM5 socket.
So of course I'd need a new motherboard and RAM, and Microcenter has some decent-looking bundle deals running right now:

    
• 7600X - $300 w/ MoBo+16gbRAM
      
• 9600X - $330 w/ MoBo+16gbRAM
      
• 7700X - $400 w/ MoBo+32gbRAM
      
• 9700X - $430 w/ MoBo+32gbRAM
      
• 7600X3D - $400 w/ MoBo+32gbRAM
      
• 7800X3D - $600 w/ MoBo+32gbRAM
      
• 7950X3D - $730 w/ MoBo+32gbRAM

I know the 7800X3D and the 9800X3D are the greatest and everything; I'd love to get one, but they are just far too expensive to be worth it IMO.
To me, the 7600X3D and the 9700X seem like the best choices here.

Would it be a good idea to upgrade ASAP and get onto the AM5 ship with a respectable CPU or just wait until the performance gap is greater or some of the great CPUs (such as the 9800X3D) come down a bit in price?

[Wampum Biskit]

Publicado originalmente por Guydodge:

Publicado originalmente por Wampum Biskit:

this is the dead mindset that got us to this in the first place , most of you can't even think "big picture" and see ALL that would be involved with "made in usa" or to even make that happen.

In simple terms we CANNOT make everything in the US , besides the logistical issues , there are not enough people in the US to be employed to manufacture everything in the US in the qty we would need to be self sufficient.

you will soon find out everything in the grocery store is going to go up , 2/3 of our tomatoes comes from mexico , do you have any idea how many products are made with tomatoes in them ? that's all going to go up too , again it's a domino effect , thinking otherwise would be being very shortsighted.

lol..you are missing the point none of it will happen mexico would collapse without the US buying there products.seems their is some short shortsightedness here.US is the no.1 consumers.and have you bought tomatoes news flash they are already stupid high now
from bidenomics like i said in 1 year it will all flip back drill baby drill

oh i know nothing is gonna happen , this whole threat of tariffs isn't going to happen , he will sign an executive order January 20th for tariffs to go into effect somewhere on a unknown date , and all his supporters going to cheer and declare victory because he signed a EO that means NOTHING.

and i don't know man , i was paying 98ct a lb over the summer , i don't call that stupid high.

[wesnef]

Publicado originalmente por De Hollandse Ezel:

c impose tarifs (this will make import more expensive, making local goods more competitive within your own market)

Which, of course, only works for things that *have* locally-made versions. Are there any US-made consumer electronics these days? Smartphones, GPUs, TVs. . .

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

Damn the amount of AI generated text in this thread.

[De Hollandse Ezel]

Publicado originalmente por wesnef:

Publicado originalmente por De Hollandse Ezel:

c impose tarifs (this will make import more expensive, making local goods more competitive within your own market)

Which, of course, only works for things that *have* locally-made versions. Are there any US-made consumer electronics these days? Smartphones, GPUs, TVs. . .

I am dutch and with philips dead.. a LOT more than I european made.

(I used to think motorola.. but apearingly they have been bought out by the chinese lenovo)

the same google search however gave me the Liberty phone.. to lazy to look if that one is also made from made in usa components.. or only assembled in usa

Gpu.. intel arc?? edit.. nope taiwan... -> maybe in future when the new fabs are ready?

tv... could not find any..

[Wampum Biskit]

Publicado originalmente por wesnef:

Publicado originalmente por De Hollandse Ezel:

c impose tarifs (this will make import more expensive, making local goods more competitive within your own market)

Which, of course, only works for things that *have* locally-made versions. Are there any US-made consumer electronics these days? Smartphones, GPUs, TVs. . .

i mean since the CHIPS act was enacted , there has been an increase of chip manufacturers in the US that are building new facilities.

however with that said , they have problems hiring qualified people to work in the facilities , and most chip still have to be send out to Asian countries to be assembled, tested and packaged , also with technology comes uncertainty , these chip factories are insane expensive to build and they only last a few years before major upgrades are needed because innovation is so rapid in that industry.

[smokerob79]

Publicado originalmente por Bad 💀 Motha:

OK I'm going to run through this one more time.

They mostly effect people living INSIDE CHINA; not outside.

Most actual finished products for PC comes from OUTSIDE CHINA.

Such as Mexico, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea

Some components might be made for a Motherboard or GPU from inside China, but not the actual finished Motherboard or GPU.

ok so we already had this and this was not the case as it effected everything including PC parts.....but never mind the fact we had 4 years of it to know.....

[Kobs]

What goes up must come down..... eventually

[Jamebonds1]

Tariffs is very complex, but I'm simplified description. It was used to balance revenue for governments and encourage consumers to buy products made in same country.

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

Publicado originalmente por IMawesome:

Tariffs is very complex, but I'm simplified description. It was used to balance revenue for governments and encourage consumers to buy products made in same country.

Problem is that country doesn`t really make anything anymore so there is nothing to buy and you are forced to pay those extra costs that come with tariffs.

[Electric Cupcake]

Publicado originalmente por IMawesome:

Tariffs is very complex, but I'm simplified description. It was used to balance revenue for governments and encourage consumers to buy products made in same country.

And yet most of the fascists voted against Biden's domestic chip fabrication initiatives.

[Jamebonds1]

Publicado originalmente por Rumpelcrutchskin:

Publicado originalmente por IMawesome:

Tariffs is very complex, but I'm simplified description. It was used to balance revenue for governments and encourage consumers to buy products made in same country.

Problem is that country doesn`t really make anything anymore so there is nothing to buy and you are forced to pay those extra costs that come with tariffs.

I'm thinking more like general manufacturers for computer hardware.

Publicado originalmente por Electric Cupcake:

Publicado originalmente por IMawesome:

Tariffs is very complex, but I'm simplified description. It was used to balance revenue for governments and encourage consumers to buy products made in same country.

And yet most of the fascists voted against Biden's domestic chip fabrication initiatives.

What do you mean?

[xDDD]

Thank you all very much for the constructive comments!

I ended up choosing the 9700X since it is fairly new and seems to be a very good performer all-around. Yes it isn't as good as the 7800X3D for 1337 pro gamur performance (at least on Windows 11) but it's pretty close while being significantly cheaper. Also I'm no expert but something tells me it has some real potential for tweaking/overclocking/etc should I choose to toy around with that in the future.
Also I opted for the bundle with an upgraded motherboard. It costed a bit more but it is a very sexy motherboard and a lot more capable than the budget bundle one.

Additionally I decided to get a new monitor. I've never owned anything beyond a 23-inch 1080p monitor and there was a pretty solid choice that was on sale for about $60 cheaper than anywhere else so I figured it was finally time to move toward a bigger 1440p screen.
Also I tacked on one of those NVMe SSDs, because why not, and a cheapo RAID host card to cope with having less SATA slots.

The parts are reserved and I plan on picking them up sometime within the next few days.
Hopefully the tariffs don't hit the hardware market that badly. We are, after all, under the same tariffs that were enacted the first time Trump was President. Biden didn't really get rid of them, in fact he expanded a few of them.
Although I'll note that the Chinese GPU/MoBo tariff has been paused for a while and is due to resume next year, so hopefully most of those manufacturers already fled China.

[Electric Cupcake]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIPS_and_Science_Act#Passage

[Jamebonds1]

Publicado originalmente por Electric Cupcake:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIPS_and_Science_Act#Passage

I'm sorry, but Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. As result, it is for reference only.

[xDDD]

Publicado originalmente por Tonepoet:

Should you upgrade? Well, probably. It is black friday and you are saying that your hardware is starting to show its age. The tariffs do also favor upgrading sooner rather than later, because price to perf. probably will not change much within the course of the next year.

What I do not want to see you doing however is making an extravagant expenditure to try and future proof against the tariffs because you were in a panic, and spending more than the upgrade is worth to you even with the tariffs. Future proofing is often a fool's game, because you can hit the point of diminishing returns quickly. Look at the wide selections of prices you are considering right now. You have mind to neither budget nor performance threshold.

I am not sure if it's wiser to upgrade or wait, but we are probably saying the 5700x3D is your best bet if you do upgrade now, and you can forget all of that other stuff.

Just wanted to note that, although I ended up coming to a different conclusion, I very much appreciate your comment and strongly considered it while making my decision.
The 5800X3D really is a monster and had I been doing this process a year or two ago it would have been the easy choice.

But the fact is that the 9700X is completely futureproof and I will never ever need to upgrade it again. And also AM5 with DDR5 is THE last socket and it doesn't get any better than it so they'll just keep it forever!!!

Hahaha but I do hope they stay on the socket for a few years though.