Heads up, graphics card prices are about to get more expensive

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Ever since the start of the cryptocurrency boom, computer graphics cards have been in short supply. Add a year of a global pandemic to the mix, and getting a new graphics card at anything near MSRP has needed a fistful of lucky clovers. Well, the situation isn’t going away any time soon, and the MSRP for graphics cards and other components are starting to increase.

The reason for the new increase in MSRP? Tariffs, specifically those tariffs put into place by the Trump Administration on components and hardware from China. While those tariffs were put into place last year, the exemptions ran out with the new year, adding anywhere between 7.5 and 25 percent to the costs of some items.

ASUS was the first of the PC hardware manufacturers to warn of increasing MSRP in the new year, with a post on the ASUS PC DIY group on Facebook. In it, Juan Jose Guerrero III, Technical Marketing Manager at ASUS went into detail on the price increases, citing “[increases] in cost for components. operating costs, and logistical activities plus a continuation of import tariffs.”

With ASUS being one of the larger manufacturers of PC components, expect the rest of the industry to follow with the pricing changes. You can possibly expect higher increases from other manufacturers, as smaller companies won’t be able to leverage their size to keep costs down.

Don’t count on this changing once the new administration is sworn in. The increasing costs of logistics aren’t going away until enough of the world’s population is vaccinated against the novel coronavirus pandemic. 2021 is going to be an expensive time to build a PC, even if you can find in-stock components.

What do you think? Surprised that prices are going up on graphics cards? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.