In a recent Engadget analysis, longtime PC builder Dave Meikleham says that, for the first time in years, a prebuilt gaming PC can save you money over building your own. He attributes the shift to soaring component prices driven by AI data center construction and the ongoing memory shortage. As an example, he notes that the RTX 5090 he bought for $2,700 is now listed on Amazon for as much as $11,565.
Meikleham points to a complete RTX 5080 prebuilt with an i9-13900K, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB SSD for $2,899, while the most expensive RTX 5080 GPU alone is around $2,150. He also notes that warehouse retailers like Costco and Sam's Club regularly discount prebuilt systems. However, he cautions that manufacturers have not yet fully passed rising costs on to consumers, so this value window may not last.
The main trade-off is control: prebuilts work out of the box, come with a single warranty, and avoid the hassle of rebates and part compatibility checks, but they are harder to upgrade. For those with a $2,000 budget, Meikleham says a custom build with a Ryzen 7 9700X and Radeon RX 9070 XT can handle 1440p gaming, yet the broader argument is that, for most buyers, prebuilt systems are currently the better deal.