Before we even start fretting over the cost of the games themselves or their aggressive monetization schemes, the price of the hardware required to run them has become the most significant burden. We used to complain about the rising price of software, but the sheer, blistering surge in hardware costs is now squeezing gamers into a corner. When the first warnings of AI-driven inflation surfaced, many of us hoped it was just a temporary blip. Instead, prices are climbing higher, and the fear that this is the new 'normal' is starting to look uncomfortably realistic.

So, just how hard have these PC components been hit? Looking at the data from the 'Steam Hardware & Software Survey,' which updates every month, we’ve crunched the numbers on the most popular core components to see exactly how much the price tags have shifted.

Let's look at the current state of play. As of the 10th of this month, a rig built with the most popular specs from the January 2026 Steam survey—Intel Core i5-12400, Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 4060 Twin Edge OC D6 8GB, SK Hynix Platinum P41 M.2 NVMe 1TB, and Samsung DDR5-5600 16GB RAM—will set you back a staggering 2,263,919 won. That is nearly double the cost of the same setup just a year ago, proving this isn't just a gradual drift, but a structural price explosion.

RAM has been the biggest offender here. Because of this, the barrier to entry for what we used to call a 'standard gamer PC' has hit the stratosphere. Setups that were once considered the sensible, budget-friendly choice now command prices that would have bought you a high-end machine not long ago. Naturally, many are choosing to delay their upgrades or new purchases altogether.

The mastermind behind this pricing disaster? The explosive growth of the AI industry. With demand for inference infrastructure skyrocketing, supply simply hasn't kept pace. Manufacturers are prioritizing industrial and server-side needs over the consumer market, leaving the rest of us to deal with inflated prices and ghost-town stock levels.

The real headache is that this isn't going to resolve itself overnight. AI investment has become a core long-term strategy for nations and corporations alike, and hardware manufacturers are naturally chasing the fatter margins found in the server market. It is highly likely that these prices are here to stay rather than sliding back to where they were.

If we turn back the clock, the speed of this climb becomes even more jarring. In February 2025, that same hardware configuration cost roughly 905,770 won—and that even included 32GB of RAM. Back then, you could build a solid budget PC, including the power supply and case, for under 1.5 million won.

By August 2025, six months later, the most popular RAM spec on Steam shifted to 16GB, and the total cost hit 932,840 won. Even with a drop in RAM capacity, the price crept up, though the change remained within a manageable 10% or so. While the AI boom was already brewing, the hardware squeeze hadn't quite tightened its grip yet.

The 'standard PC' dream really began to crumble last November. RAM prices nearly doubled in a single month, sparking widespread panic. Looking at the current numbers, that was just the opening act. The cost of a 'standard' set of RAM, CPU, GPU, and storage has jumped nearly 150% in a year. Even if you swap out the RTX 4060 for its successor, the RTX 5060, you're still looking at a 90% price hike compared to a year ago.

This shift in the custom PC market is likely to spill over into the wider hardware ecosystem. The rising cost of essential components—specifically the CPU, GPU, RAM, and the SSDs needed to store increasingly bloated game files—is bound to have a domino effect on pre-built PCs, laptops, and peripheral markets. Caught between the relentless march of AI and rising hardware costs, it seems gamers and everyday consumers won't be catching a break anytime soon.