this post was submitted on 29 Nov 2024

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180

How worried should US people be about "tariffs"? Should I invest in upgrading my equipment ASAP? (lemmy.today)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by [email protected] to c/asklemmy

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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

EDIT: Thanks a ton for all the helpful replies! I'm glad I'm not being overly paranoid.

Some of you have asked for system specs so here they are for the curious:

System Specs:

OS: OpenSUSE Tumbleweed
Mobo: Z590 Aorus Elite AX
CPU: i7-10700k @ 5.1 Ghz
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3090
Mem: 32GB DDR4 (forget the speed...3000?)

I want to be clear: I don't mean to sound too panicked and I'm more than happy to be content with what I have and see my blessings for what they are.

However, as I'm trying to break into being a 3D Blender artist and gamedev professionally, I'm trying to strategize whether standards will significantly increase and leave me behind in the next 5 years or so. (Game industry, not trying to do Hollywood VFX models on my home rig or anything lol)

I don't game so much these days unfortunately. And if I do, like 5% of my library is particularly demanding. 😂

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[–] rtxn 29 points 3 weeks 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.