Scared RAM price hikes will make your new PC a lot pricier? 'BYO RAM' is Maingear's answer – meaning you provide your own memory

• Maingear has launched a BYO RAM scheme
• This allows buyers of prebuilt PCs to supply their own system RAM
• Assuming you have RAM, or can get a good deal on DDR5 memory, this could save you some money on a new PC – albeit with caveats

Maingear has revealed a new scheme to give the buyers of its prebuilt PCs a possible workaround for the increased cost of these computers due to RAM price hikes – it's called BYO RAM.

I guess that should be BYOR, technically, but the principle is as you'd expect – you're providing the system memory for the PC Maingear is selling you.

The prospective scenario is as follows: obviously buying a PC with 16GB (or 32GB ideally) of contemporary system RAM is a lot pricier now, with hikes meaning the cost of DDR5 memory has shot up at an unbelievable pace.

So, you pick a Maingear PC with no system RAM, and you send memory you already have – either already-used memory from another PC, perhaps, or a RAM kit that you've bought having got a good deal online (or what passes for one these days) – to the system builder. Maingear then uses that DDR5 RAM in the build, fully tests it as normal, before supplying you the machine (with no charge for the RAM, obviously).

This service is available now, and you can configure your BYO RAM build at Maingear's website, choosing from a variety of base Maingear custom PC builds – just pick the BYO option in the memory drop-down. (Currently you'll save $300 on the price for dropping 32GB of DDR5 RAM, so if you can score your memory for less than that, you're onto a winner).

In its press release announcing the scheme, Maingear makes it clear that these custom PCs still go through "standard validation before shipping", meaning the various testing processes to make sure the computer works fine.

Analysis: potential issues with BYOR

Can we expect more custom PC builders to offer similar workarounds for sky-high RAM pricing? Quite possibly, indeed I wouldn't be surprised at all, but this is a somewhat complicated way of working things, as you can imagine.

One obviously key issue is whether the RAM is compatible with the motherboard and PC build, and Maingear provides a step-by-step explainer on ensuring that this is the case. It's also possible to send in multiple RAM kits, if you have them, and Maingear will select the best option (and return the others to you along with your newly built PC). If you're unsure about anything, you can contact Maingear with questions, and I'd definitely advise you to do so if you have any doubts.

Maingear also clarifies that your "system warranty and lifetime support are unaffected" by supplying your own RAM, although any warranty for that memory is down to the original supplier (retailer or manufacturer).

Should your RAM fail during testing for the PC build, Maingear says: "We will tell you what we found and help you pursue a manufacturer warranty claim when applicable, as well as provide additional in-house RAM options."

Although RAM that works fine when it's sent out and is damaged during transit could prove to be a rather thorny issue.

Still, clearly it's good to have additional options for a prebuilt PC, particularly if RAM prices get even more inflated – which may well happen, as this memory pricing storm could get more intense before calmer conditions prevail. That said, one of the more sensible options for now may be to wait all this out, providing your current PC can last, and isn't in desperate need of replacement.

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