There are growing signs that the DIY PC crowd is starting to pull back a bit. The latest sales data out of Europe suggests things have cooled off more than usual. Numbers from German retailer Mindfactory for week 13 of 2026, shared by TechEpiphany, show desktop CPU sales dropping to their lowest level on record. That’s not something you see often.
A big part of it seems fairly straightforward. Building or upgrading a PC just costs more right now. CPUs, GPUs, even memory and storage have all crept up in price, and it’s starting to add up. For a lot of people, it probably makes more sense to wait rather than jump in.
AMD is still dominating sales, and by a wide margin. The company accounted for around 89% of CPUs sold during the week, leaving Intel with just over 10%. Even with Intel’s newer Core Ultra 200S Plus chips on the market, demand hasn’t really picked up. The Core Ultra 7 265K, which was Intel’s top seller for the period, reportedly moved only 10 units.
What’s interesting is where buyers are still spending. Older AMD chips like the Ryzen 7 5700X and Ryzen 5 5500 continue to sell, mostly because they’re cheaper and still pair with DDR4 memory. That combination still offers solid value, especially compared to newer platforms that require DDR5.
Intel’s side tells a similar story. A lot of its sales are still tied to previous-generation chips, even with some discounts starting to show up on newer models.
Taken together, it paints a pretty clear picture. Demand for DIY PC parts hasn’t disappeared, but people are being more cautious. With prices where they are, many seem willing to sit this cycle out and wait for things to settle a bit. Whether that changes soon will likely depend on how quickly component prices come down.
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