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It is perhaps the worst time in PC enthusiast history, as one component after another sees price increases, and there’s no end in sight to the bad news. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for those looking to upgrade or build a new system in 2026, another dark cloud looms on the horizon. This time around, the next victim is yet another core piece: the motherboard. Manufacturers have already been bearing the brunt of the side effects brought on by the current memory (DRAM) and storage (NAND) component shortages and price hikes, whereby many consumers are avoiding buying a new motherboard due to the added component costs. Furthermore, a lack of any significant new GPUs from AMD or NVIDIA lessens the need to buy a new motherboard because, let’s face it, an RX 9050 or the resurgence of the RTX 30-series is not likely to inspire anyone to need to upgrade their PCs.

The above factors have already been attributed to plummeting motherboard sales in 2026, but there’s another monstrous thing lurking in the shadows to make matters worse: the rising costs of copper. It’s been theorized for some time that this primary material used in motherboards, whose cost has been increasing over the last decade and has led to many copper thefts across the globe, would eventually play a factor in motherboard pricing, and that bill (of materials) has come due. According to a new report from the overseas site Board Channel (via VideoCardz), ASUS, GIGABYTE, and MSI are all expected to begin implementing price hikes by Q3 2026.

“Research on the upstream supply chain of Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers reveals that the price of PCBs used in consumer motherboards is expected to increase by at least 50% in 2026. In addition, the price of raw materials such as copper, surface-mount capacitors, power devices, and supporting controlling chips has also risen significantly, with multiple factors contributing to the overall increase in motherboard material costs.”

– Board Channels (machine translated)

So there you have it: from the rampocalypse to rising costs of BOM and other shortages, motherboard prices are expected to rise in the coming months as manufacturers seek ways to cover costs and their profit margins. For those wondering, some have theorized that the rising cost of copper may also lead to price increases for power supplies as well, but for now that idea is akin to a rumor.

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