"We’ve held off these increases as long as we responsibly can" - Maingear warns of price increases coming after its Memorial Day sale ends, so here's what's on offer

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Maingear, one of the best configurators of prebuilt gaming PCs out there, is currently running a Memorial Day sale. During a pricing apocalypse in the PC market thanks to AI-induced RAM shortages, the discounts are certainly relative, but Maingear has left a notice at the top of its sale page with a worrying message.

"Due to industry-wide flash memory shortages effecting GPUs, RAM, and SSDs, all pre-configured MG-1s and laptops will soon incur a $150+ price increase," says Maingear. From my experience with this brand, this doesn't seem like an underhanded sales tactic to make people engage with its seasonal sale, but it's certainly brought some pretty decent discounts to the table (for today's economy, at least).

The best value configuration I can see in the Memorial Day sale isn't the beefiest in terms of power, but it's one to consider if you know you want to secure a Maingear platform that's capable of being upgraded as you go. The GPU is the 8GB model of the RTX 5060, which is a shame, but you do get 32GB of DDR5.

"We’ve held off these increases as long as we responsibly can and will continue to hold them until the end of the Memorial Day Sale," continues the sales notice. "We encourage you to consider your purchase now to secure current pricing and discounts before these unavoidable increases take effect.

The biggest draw to the sale is Maingear's Apex, which you can get up to $2,000 off for Memorial Day if you use codes. These are ludicrously expensive custom liquid-cooled PCs though, and the price will vary on what components you put in them. That $2,000 off, for example, is only if you spend $14,000 of more, so like I say, it's all relative.

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For us mere mortals who can only dream of affording Maingear's regular flagship PCs, the Classic MG-1 range is taking a $200 discount across the board, as you'll see from the deal I highlighted above. This spans from the entry-level $1,249 RTX 5050 "Bronze" PC all the way up to the Champion and Ultimate builds, which go for over $5,000 and house RTX 5090 GPUs.

As much as I'm a fan of Maingear when it comes to customer service and the premium, luxury quality of its builds, it's undeniable that its gaming PCs tend to be on the most expensive side compared to other brands. In my experience, you're paying for a higher level quality of parts, customer service, and warranty, as well as peace of mind that your next gaming PC is being put together by some of the best builders in the industry. That said, if a higher-end configurator is saying it's about to up its prices, that's a sign of the times.

RAM shortages and shortages of other PC components are hitting the consumer market hard right now, and so if you've been thinking about grabbing a new gaming PC, I would take Maingear's word for it and spend during the Memorial Day sale while you can. It's unclear what discounts and deals will arrive later in 2026 for gaming PCs and components, but RAM shortages aren't forecasted to end until a couple of years down the line, and these sorts of price increases will probably happen to more than just the higher-end builders.

Of course, these price increase warnings certainly don't bode well for the newly launched Mk.II version of the Maingear MG-1.

Looking to build your own? Check out the best CPU for gaming, the best RAM for gaming, and the best graphics card.

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One of my earliest memories is playing SuperMario64 and wondering why the controller I held had three grips, but I only had two hands. Ever since I've been in love with video games and their technology. After graduating from Edinburgh Napier University with a degree in Journalism, I contributed to the Scottish Games Network and completed an Editorial Internship at Expert Reviews. Over the last decade, I’ve been managing my own YouTube channel about my love of games too. These days, I'm one of the resident hardware nerds at GamesRadar+, and I take the lead on our coverage of gaming PCs, VR, controllers, gaming chairs, and content creation gear. Now, I better stop myself here before I get talking about my favourite games like HUNT: Showdown, Dishonored, and Towerfall Ascension.

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