Basically title. I’m a digital artist in the USA and not rich by any stretch. In fact, somewhat in debt. (Aren’t we all.)

I also try really hard to not be a mindless consumer. I use old equipment as long as I can, repair, refurbish, etc…

All this talk of upcoming tariffs has me worried that, rather than being able to get a day-job at newly opened US manufacturing for electronics or something, I’ll instead be paying +60% more on like everything.

I know tech is a depreciating asset, but should I try to upgrade now to hold out for the next ~5 years or so?

I was considering hunting down a motherboard/cpu/RAM combo for instance.

Are worries about tariffs overblown? Trying to figure out how to prepare as best I can with my meager resources before everything just…keeps getting worse.

I am getting paid for my digital art, it’s not living money though. My spouse has a more stable income that enables me to keep trying.

Thanks in advance. <3

  • rtxn@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    21
    ·
    5 months ago

    The tariffs will have to be paid by someone, and distributors will not take a hit on account of the idiot pumpkin, so it will be shifted to the end user.

    Right now is a pretty good time to upgrade. Both Intel and AMD have shown their hands in the CPU market and I can personally attest to the performance of AMD’s X3D CPUs. Older models with the AM4 socket will become cheaper, and AM4 motherboards are plentiful.