Welcome to the era of the used PC

I’ve never bought a PC or component second-hand, but that may change if this RAM shortage doesn’t let up soon.

I started thinking about the issue after listening to this week’s episode of The Full Nerd, which features some smart conversation about the consequences of purchasing used components as well as the best way to safely find and buy them.

The prospect of buying a gently-used laptop or desktop is also starting to seem a lot more rosy these days, as prices for new models skyrocket. I know I’m not alone on this front, either; a recent UK-based market analysis survey shows sales of used PCs and components is rising across Europe, with the rate of secondhand PC sales nearly doubling year-over-year in the UK.

Here in the States I know I certainly wouldn’t want to try and buy a new gaming PC unless I absolutely had to, and I’d be even more scared of trying to build one myself since the cost of RAM and storage is beyond belief. I suspect that’s why this week’s episode of The Full Nerd ended up devoting so much time to the risks and benefits of buying used PC parts: more people than ever are interested in doing just that, and you want to know what you’re walking into before you take a risk on a used CPU or graphics card.

I really appreciated the hosts’ advice on how to find great deals on used PC hardware, and Adam’s insights have me second-guessing my aversion to Facebook Marketplace. Will the next PC I build be a hodgepodge of used components? Could be! I’d just better be careful when it comes to used CPUs, because it sounds like those can carry the sins of their former owners (read: bans in games like Fortnite and Valorant) more easily than other hardware.

In this week’s episode of The Full Nerd

This week it was a two-man show as regular host Adam Patrick Murray was joined by our own Michael Crider to chat about the latest Steam hardware survey, the risk of being banned from some online games if you have a used CPU and more.

Later in the show our dynamic duo made time to answer questions from the chat as well as the Full Nerd Discord on everything from the value of pre-built PCs in this economy to tips for buying used hardware.

Nerd news of the week

Here are a few of my favorite pieces of nerd news this week, touching on everything from the cutting edge of keyboard switches to the remarkable lengths some retailers are going to in order to stop folks from shipping their overpriced Nvidia graphics cards to China.

• Explaining Hall-effect, TMR, and other new types of “mechanical” switches: Love keyboards? This illuminative guide from Ars Technica helps explain the difference between optical switches, electrostatic capacitive switches and other intriguing types of keyboard switches, which can be a big help when you’re choosing which keyboard to buy.
• Researcher ports Doom to $8,000 Hasselblad X2D: If you ever wanted to see Doom running on a fancy camera worth nearly $10,000, here’s your chance!
• Buying an RTX 5090? You need to promise you won’t export it first: Recent increases in the price of an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 have led Micro Center to start requiring buyers to show ID and fill out a form promising they won’t export the cards internationally, suggesting that these beefy graphics cards are more in demand than ever in foreign data centers.
• Memory executives expect RAM shortage to continue through 2028: Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Micron executives are saying most of their RAM supply for 2027 is already sold through and the prices were higher than in 2026, suggesting the RAM shortage will likely continue through at least 2028.

That’s it for your Full Nerd newsletter this week! Until next week, be sure to bookmark PCWorld and keep an eye on the YouTube channel for our latest videos out of the garage. Want this newsletter to come directly to your inbox? Sign up on our website!

This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive editor of hardware at PCWorld.