Anything related to video games, whether on a PC or a new console like a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, is difficult to track down. Games have been more popular during the pandemic, and video-game oriented PCs and consoles also rely on more advanced chips that fewer suppliers offer.
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If you’re buying a new model of PlayStation or Xbox and don’t want to resort to paying scalpers, patience is a virtue. Call the local retail stores in your area to see if they’ll tell you the days that they receive new shipments.
The store tracking website nowinstock.*** is clunky, but it can alert you when online stores have consoles available. The Wario64 Twitter account also keeps tabs on that sort of thing — as well as sales for all kinds of games and accessories. It’s still difficult to find consoles this way, but it’s your best bet.
For gaming PCs, the conventional wisdom is that they are cheaper for you to put together from processors and graphics cards rather than buying premade gaming setups from companies like Dell. That advice doesn’t apply now because the best processors and graphics cards are so hard to find — or expensive if you can get them.
If you can delay buying video game gear right now, do it! AMD and Nvidia, which make most graphics cards and the chips that go into PlayStation and Xbox consoles, are saying that they expect supply problems to last until at least this summer. It may be a bit easier — and cheaper — to buy then.
The New York Times
Me: Update your graphics drivers regularly and extend the life of your pc’s, consoles and playstations
