More prebuilt PC brands are selling systems without any RAM to help cut costs, ask you to bring your own instead
AI-fueled memory shortages continue to affect the PC building industry. Of course, not only are DIY builders hit by the massive price hikes, but prebuilt manufacturers too. This was already obvious at the tail end of last year, when several popular brands suggested customers in the market for a new gaming PC should upgrade during the Black Friday period.
A few recognizable brands adjusted their prices in early December, and now, a couple of months later, we’re seeing more joining a ‘bring-your-own RAM’ trend. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney predicts these RAM price hikes will disrupt gaming for “several years,” so it’s not a surprise to see prebuilt manufacturers trying to cut costs for themselves, and ideally their customers.
Bring your own RAM prebuilts are more commonplace now
Paradox announced back in December that it now allows customers to buy a custom prebuilt without any RAM installed, inviting those who already own compatible RAM sticks to reuse what they have. This makes sense if you have some compatible lying around, but it’s easy to imagine that many people upgrading right now are hoping to make the jump from DDR4 to DDR5, especially if you’re buying a whole new prebuilt system – rather than simply swapping in a new CPU or GPU.
Maingear also announced a whole BYO RAM program geared towards helping customers avoid industry-wide price hikes, suggesting buyers pull memory from a current build, find some RAM from a different retailer, buy used, or try to get some mates’ rates from friends or family – “as long as it’s compatible DDR5 it doesn’t matter,” says the brand.
The good thing about these initiatives is that RAM installation is pretty straightforward. Even still, the whole idea does take away from one of the biggest reasons why people buy prebuilt systems in the first place: convenience, which is often mixed with a lack of PC building experience. Users may be worried about installing their RAM incorrectly, and it raises some questions regarding the warranty of your gaming PC when one of the components isn’t sourced from the prebuilt brand.
In Maingear’s case, customers can actually source the RAM themselves, send it to Maingear, and they’ll install it in the new system for you. As for warranty, the company says it “will assist you with a claimand provide options to keep your build moving,” assuming the memory is under its original manufacturer’s warranty.
If you really aren’t a fan of this BYO RAM method, then both Paradox and Maingear continue to offer full prebuilts with the RAM installed as standard; just expect to pay a premium. And in some cases, high-end RAM is no longer in stock, so some systems may be fitted with a cheaper alternative.
