This hasn't been the simplest year to undertake and build a gaming PC. a worldwide shortage of silicon affected the availability for various components at different times, including high-end CPUs, practically all graphics cards, and even some power supplies. Better times are ahead, though, and consistent with AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su, things could begin to enhance by the last half of next year.
Let's hope so, because that might be just in time for Zen 4, and maybe AMD's next round of GPUs, presumably the Radeon RX 7000 series (RDNA 3). watching AMD's webstore, of the 11 current generation CPU and GPU products it lists, only four are available . And not one one may be a graphics card.
Honing in on CPUs, AMD's Ryzen 7 5800X and Ryzen 9 5900X are both out of stock. The 5800X has actually been pretty easy to seek out elsewhere, and even for below MSRP lately . But the 5900X has been elusive sometimes . Like right now; it's out of stock at Amazon, Best Buy, B&H Photo, and Newegg.
"We've always skilled cycles of ups and downs, where demand has exceeded supply, or the other way around ," Dr. Su explained at the Code Conference in Beverly Hills , California, consistent with CNBC. "This time, it's different."
Indeed, a mixture of latest product launches, the pandemic, and cryptocurrency mining created an ideal storm for a lingering shortage. The pandemic especially "has just taken demand to a replacement level," Dr. Su said. More people found themselves working and educating from home, which drove demand for laptops and desktops, and therefore the components that power them.
AMD doesn't actually manufacture any of its own chips. It designs them, then taps outside fabs like TSMC, which is investing billions of dollars into new and upgraded chip manufacturing facilities. And therein lies the rationale for optimism.
"It might take, you know, 18 to 24 months to place on a replacement plant, and in some cases even longer than that. These investments were started perhaps a year ago," Dr. Su said.
By Dr. Su's estimation, the chip shortage should begin to ascertain some relief within the last half of 2022. Her prediction is usually in line with previous comments she made, when she indicated this past summer that AMD (through its manufacturing partners) was "bringing on more capacity quarterly ."
The flip side thereto is that the shortage will continue through the remainder of this year, which she previously indicated would remain "quite tight," and into the primary half next year, which she now predicts are going to be "likely tight."
There's also the overall unpredictability on the manufacturing side. for instance , in an attempt to scale back emissions, China has pack up power to some major component supply chain facilities, and plans to periodically suspend industrial electricity supply going forward, our friends at Tom's Hardware report
Other factors can disrupt production also , like natural disasters like floods, and fires just like the one that scorched one among MSI's PCB factories but a year ago.
Those risks have always been present, though, and therefore the market persevered. And while this point is different, as Dr. Su said, there's finally light at the top of the tunnel, it's just still off within the distance.