Upgrade or wait? Getting your gaming PC ready for Halo Infinite and more

Does your machine need an upgrade to get the most out of 2021's games? Here's what to consider

With the autumn video game release schedule now in full swing, the thoughts of many PC owners are turning to hardware upgrades. Blockbusters such as Halo Infinite, Battlefield 1942 and Forza Horizon 5 will all support demanding visual effects such as ray tracing, so it seems like the perfect time to invest in new kit.

There's just one problem: this is probably the worst, most expensive time in recent memory to boost your processing power. Manufacturing and distribution problems, together with skyrocketing demand, have seen prices soar, especially for high-end graphics cards. There are GTX 1080Ti cards listed on eBay for over 500 - that's a four-year-old GPU for half a grand," says Chris Wilson, design director at Cardboard Sword. The suggestion for most people would probably be to wait it out. Intel is rumoured to have a serious GPU out early next year and they are likely to price it aggressively to try and gain some market share. Eventually the bottom has to fall out of this current disaster."