One of the most popular crypto currencies: Ethereum, is mineable with graphics processing units or GPU for short. The Ethereum price being almost the highest it has ever been (at the time of the writing of this article) has caused GPU prices to skyrocket because of the profitability of mining the currency.

During the start of 2021 with the COVID-19 pandemic starting, a chip shortage began because of limited workers and demand, but now that demand is high and supply is low it has affected many things such as: phones, cars, laptops and other computer components including GPUs, which led to little supply and high demand.

With the GPU prices inflated many hobbyists and other consumers don’t have access to them, or if they do it’s at scalpers price which is at times more than doubled from the original MSRP. This has caused many people including myself to temporarily lose interest in the hobby of building computers.

There is an end to this shortage in the future, in June 2022 Ethereum is implementing an upgrade called “Arrow Glacier” which will halt the ability to mine the currency, and if that still isn’t enough in Oct. 2022 new more powerful GPUs will launch giving the hobbyists and general consumers access to the graphics cards that they have been searching for for the past year.

Although one solution raises another problem, while GPUs will be in great supply after the Arrow Glacier upgrade, the Crypto currency miners are predicted to switch from Ethereum to Moreno which is CPU (central processing unit) mineable.

The best course of action to make sure you can make your dream computer is to buy your CPU early then wait until June for an easier chance at getting a GPU and the rest of the computer components you need. The chip shortage will last until well into 2023 computer parts will be hard to find but not unobtainable.