These precious metals are essential in the semiconductor field and can literally impact any component that relies on precious metals, including CPUs and consumer electronics. Rising tides usually cause all ships to rise, so other metals could potentially follow such a rise, which is more common. Gaming PCs in particular are typically metal-centric, with a variety of materials used to complete the entire system.
Gaming consoles such as the rumored PlayStation 5 Pro are constructed with components that rely on precious metals, even if the exterior design includes plastic elements. These systems, along with thousands of other home appliances, could see an overall price increase for consumers.
For example, bespoke systems integrator Falcon Northwest famously stated that the construction of its Talon PC case contains almost no plastic pieces. This also ties directly into his DIY space for enthusiasts, where many mid- to high-end cases also feature a large amount of metal construction, from steel to aluminum.
Yes, some components, such as Gigabyte's Xtreme Prestige motherboards and GPUs, have precious metals adorning their exteriors. Today, the world is powered by the semiconductor sector for many of its current use cases and ultimate future goals. AI has become very popular among big tech companies these days, and their components are in high demand. This causes the price and demand for precious metals to rise sharply.
DIY PC builders are not immune to price fluctuations, as was felt during the crypto mining boom around 2021. Prices for PC components like CPUs and GPUs have stabilized, but remain high for now. Rising prices of these precious metals (indicated by paywall) digitimes report it tom's hardware ) will only mean more expensive projects for DIY builders, and unfortunately may turn many consumers away from the hobby.
Although most of these increases are felt first in precious metals, such events often have similar consequences in other materials of less precious types.