The DIY PC market is hitting a noticeable slowdown, and new sales data suggests many buyers are simply opting out of CPU upgrades right now. Fresh numbers from German retailer Mindfactory for week 13 of 2026 point to desktop processor sales sliding to a record low, a sign that the typical upgrade cycle is breaking down as prices climb.
For a lot of PC builders, the issue isn’t just one part getting more expensive. CPUs, like graphics cards and memory, have been rising in price over recent months. That combination can quickly turn a “simple refresh” into a costly rebuild. The result is predictable: fewer people are buying new processors, and many who might have paired a CPU upgrade with faster RAM and a stronger GPU appear to be holding off entirely.
There is some potential for the market to regain a bit of momentum, especially if more affordable new chips land at the right time. Upcoming cost-focused releases such as Intel’s Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and Core Ultra 9 270K Plus could help spark interest if pricing is competitive. Pricing on RAM is also starting to ease, which matters because memory purchases often go hand-in-hand with a platform upgrade.
Interestingly, while interest in older AMD AM4 processors is slowing compared to its peak, shoppers are still buying aging but budget-friendly models like the Ryzen 7 5700X and Ryzen 5 5500. These CPUs remain attractive because they cost far less than the newest Zen 5 options and, just as importantly, they work with cheaper DDR4 memory. For value-driven builders, that older platform can still deliver plenty of real-world performance without the premium pricing of a full next-gen jump.
On the Intel side, week 13’s best-selling chip was reportedly the Core Ultra 7 265K, but the volume tells the bigger story: it moved only about 10 units. The “KF” variant debuted at roughly $380, and has since fallen significantly in price, which shows how quickly retailers and the market are pushing for discounts to stimulate demand. Even so, it was the only Arrow Lake CPU mentioned among the top sellers, with the rest of Intel’s sales made up largely of older 12th-gen Core i5 and i3 parts alongside select 14th-gen Core i5, i7, and i9 models.
Overall, the competitive balance between AMD and Intel appears largely unchanged, with AMD still leading Mindfactory’s CPU sales. The bigger shift is the shrinking size of the entire pie: total CPU sales are reportedly lower than ever. Combined with weakening GPU sales, this points to a broader cooling of the consumer DIY PC market, where rising component costs are making many enthusiasts pause upgrades, delay builds, or settle for older, better-value hardware instead of jumping to the latest generation.
