Bewildered enthusiasts decry memory price increases of 100% or more — the AI RAM squeeze is finally starting to hit PC builders where it hurts

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ram/bewildered-enthusiasts-decry-memory-price-increases-of-100-percent-or-more-the-ai-ram-squeeze-is-finally-starting-to-hit-pc-builders-where-it-hurts

“I’ve been saving for months to get the Corsair Dominator 64GB CL30 kit,” one beleagured PC builder wrote on Reddit. “It was about $280 when I looked,” said u/RaidriarT, “Fast forward today on PCPartPicker, they want $547 for the same kit? A nearly 100% increase in a couple months?”

source

Comments

Sort:hotnew top

tabular@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
People buying RAM: oh no, what do we do?

People buying GPUs: first time?

source
- givesomefucks@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  What?
  
  You think this is the first ram crunch?
  
  It’s not even the first one in this decade…
  
  source
  - tabular@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Well, I was aware RAM prices fluctuate.
    
    I’ve never been so unfortunate when buying larger RAM, or building a new system with a new DDR version.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- CosmoNova@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Those are the same people.
  
  source
tal@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
tomshardware.com/…/perfect-storm-of-demand-and-su…

OpenAI’s “Stargate” project has recently signed an agreement with Samsung and SK hynix for up to 900,000 wafers of DRAM per month. That figure alone would account for close to 40% of global DRAM output.

High-density NAND products are effectively sold out months in advance. Samsung’s next-generation V9 NAND is already nearly booked before it’s even launched. Micron has presold almost all of its High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) output through 2026. Contracts that once covered a quarter now span years, with hyperscalers buying directly at the source.

If China’s going to compete on AI, it’s going to be doing so with a limited supply of memory, I expect.

source
- WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  They’re going to go all in on domestic chip manufacturing, and they are catching up much faster than armchair generals, and even actual generals, predicted.
  
  source
Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
God fucking damn it… Now they want our RAM?!

I need that for all my Chrome tabs, you fucking clankers!

source
- HubertManne@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  the worst part is I have always been stingy about upgrading my ram figuring I could always do it later so I run real lean. I only recently went to 16 and ran at 8 for a long while but im pretty sure 32 would help a lot.
  
  source
carrylex@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Nice article but the numbers are a lot lower here in the EU.

While there is some pricing increase it’s currently more around 50% and not 100%.

The selected kit is also extremely expensive (350€ was ~300€) - similar kits are available for a lot less (270€ was ~180€) - so I doubt that anyone was buying it in the first place.

I also think it’s not completely AI related but more likely that this is another RAM price fixing scandal happening right now. Pretty much the same that we see today happend in 2017-2018.

source
- kylian0087@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Europe is also hit hard. The kit I was about to buy increased from 1 to 2K euro…
  
  source
  - 46_and_2@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Bruh, my whole mid-to-high range gaming PC costs 850 to 2K euro. What is the intended use of such an expensive RAM kit? Is it LLMs again?
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Doesn’t Windows 11 in practice require even more memory than Windows 10 to operate with decent performance?

Meanwhile my Linux gaming PC seems to actually use less memory than back when it was a Windows machine.

source
- chiliedogg@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  My work laptop was upgraded to Windows 11 and performance has severely suffered.
  
  As someone who usually uses 3 monitors (sometimes 4) and does GIS, it’s an issue.
  
  source
  - Bytemeister@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Oh yeah. If you’ve got 4 GB ram, win 11 is going to absolutely skullfuck that machine.
    
    source
  - LiveLM@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Are you using scaling?
    On my work laptop dragging a window from one monitor to the next would make them “snag” in between borders as they struggled and stuttered trying to change the scale.
    It looked soooo fucking stupid I couldn’t believe my eyes
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- surph_ninja@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Constant surveillance will do that. Legit “telemetry” wouldn’t be using that much processing power.
  
  I’m thinking Recall is just Microsoft trying to cut costs on their servers processing all the surveillance, and force users to pay the costs of all the extra electricity and equipment needed.
  
  source
  - rdri@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Nah it’s probably just Edge (aka Chrome) all over the new UI.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
Bongles@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
This seems like an appropriate place for me to bitch:

2 months ago I bought a new pre-built pc. It should’ve had 64gb of ram but had 32gb. They said the sticks they used were out of stock so they gave me a credit for $100 USD. I spent the 100 on 32gb more of what I thought was the exact same ram. I fucked up and bought a slightly higher speed so they wouldn’t work together after I tried for an afternoon. I also checked the correct listing i should’ve bought but it was more expensive, at about $125.

I gave up and decided I’d just buy the faster ram again when it came back, rather than return it and get the correct one. It went out of stock in the time it took me to get my order so I figured I’d just wait.

2 MONTHS later, it never came back in stock but an almost identical pair, with slightly different timing, is in stock right now at $216. If i had any idea this was coming in just 2 months, I could’ve just bought 64gb at once and started fresh, or corrected my mistake by returning what I bought.

So i guess I’ll continue waiting, but hey at least notepad has copilot in it.

source
- Bongles@lemmy.zip ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  
  is in stock right now at $216
  
  Just throwing this out to the void, it’s now over $400.
  
  source
- timhayes1991@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I always thought ram of different speeds worked together, they just were run at the speed of the slowest stick.
  
  source
  - the_crotch@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    In theory yes. In practice it depends on how finicky your motherboard is.
    
    source
  - Bongles@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I thought so too, but after a few hours I gave up.
    
    source
- humanspiral@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  could be a bios setting that allows your ram to work at lower speed.
  
  source
  - Bongles@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I’ll bet there is, but I gave it a solid few hours without really knowing what I was doing
    
    source
- SailorFuzz@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I just don’t see the value of having 64gb of RAM. Not for the conventional user, not for gamers, not for the average power user either. Maybe there’s a need if you’re doing a lot of video editing and large file manipulation… but like… I would argue that MOST people, unless they’re trying to play AAA games while streaming and gooning don’t need more than 16gb
  
  I have 32gb and I’ve never topped it out. And yea, Windows eats a lot (I really need to give up the ghost and migrate to Linux) but even still, 32gb, and I don’t even get close. 64gb is just going to be a lot of unused space. Bigger number doesn’t mean better. I doubt you’d even notice unless you fall into the previously mentioned category of users.
  
  source
  - snugglesthefalse@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I’ve capped out 32 and still do fairly regularly. But I used to do a bunch of 3D and rendering. Now I do photo editing and just have other stuff open. 64 would help a bit for me but I can live.
    
    source
  - Bongles@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    At this point, I originally paid for 64 so I’m trying to get there out of principal, and I’d be there if I paid more attention.
    
    I like to dick around with my nerd stuff and I did have the pc lock up because I used all of the 32gb ram, but I suspect 64 would’ve had the same issue in that particular instance.
    
    In either case, my last pc buy was a decade ago, where 16GB was more than you’d need. If prices are reasonable again, getting myself to 64GB would just make sure I’m set for another decade, probably.
    
    source
- utopiah@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Just curious, what do you actually use which requires more than 32Go?
  
  source
  - Bongles@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    At the moment, not much. I’m trying to learn more and more and do more and more, really it’s just that I paid for 64, but then the seller and I both fucked up and I’m still at 32 now, which bugs me. Then at that same exact time frame, the prices skyrocketed.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
  - wabasso@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Hey what’s the Go unit? Is that short for GiB?
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
brucethemoose@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I just got a 2x64GB 6000 kit before its price skyrocketed by like $130.

…Also, why does “AI” need so much CPU RAM? In actual server deployments, pretty much all the work is in VRAM, and honestly most businesses are too dumb to train anything effectively. ASICs that would use, say, LPDDR are super rare, and stuff like Hybrid/IGP inference is the realm of ‘a few guys with homelabs’… Like me.

source
- tty5@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Same memory production capacity can be allocated to ddr5 or to him and openai signed contracts with sk hynix and samsung, the two largest ram manufacturers in the world, and bought a significant percentage of next year’s production.
  
  DDR5 prices started spiking as that deals impact propagated through the supply chain. I bought a 2x32 6800 Cl30 kit for 195 euro 12 days ago. It was 330 euro 4 days later.
  
  source
  - brucethemoose@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    …Is it that interchangeable?
    
    TBH I know little of memory fabs, but I know (say) TSMC and their customers can’t just switch from a power-optimized process to a high frequency one at the drop of a hat.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- just_an_average_joe@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  There was a recentish model, qwen next that was advertised as smth that can be run entirely on RAM.
  
  source
  - brucethemoose@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    They can ALL be run on RAM, theoretically. I bought 128GB so I can run GLM 4.5 with the experts offloaded to CPU, with a custom trellis/K quant mix; but this is a ‘personal’ use setup tinkerer setup.
    
    Qwen Next is good at that because its very low active parameter.
    
    …But they aren’t actually deployed that way. They’re basically always deployed on cloud GPU boxes that serve dozens/hundreds of people at once, in parallel.
    
    AFAIK the only major model actually developed for CPU inference is one of the esoteric Gemma releases, aimed at mobile.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- Kissaki@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I suspect RAM may become increasingly useful with the shift from pure chat LLM to connected agents, MCP, and catching results and data for scaling things like public Internet search.
  
  When I think of database system server software, a lot of performance gains are from keeping used data in RAM. With the expanding of LLM systems and it’s concerns, backing data, connective ness, and need for optimisation, a shift to caching and keeping in RAM seems to suggest itself. It’s already wasteful/big and operates on a lot of data, so it seems plausible that would not be a small cache.
  
  source
  - brucethemoose@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Yeah, exactly… In other words, ‘general server buildout.’
    
    source
- humanspiral@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  why does “AI” need so much CPU RAM
  
  It doesn’t really, though CPU inference is possible/slow at 256+gb. The problem is that they are making HBM (AI) ram instead of ddr4/5.
  
  source
SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
First crypto miners came for my video cards, then AI came for my DIMMS…

source
- rob_t_firefly@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Next tech-sector grift will probably go for our network adapters or some shit…
  
  source
  - TexasDrunk@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I’ve got a stack of old 14.4 modems I’ll sell them if they’ll grift on that for a bit.
    
    source
- NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  next the tech-bros will come for you and there will be nobody left to speak up for you.
  
  source
- LiveLM@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Remember that shitcoin that made HDD prices shoot up like crazy just because?
  Now we just need a new nonsensical fad to drive Cases, Motherboards, CPUs and PSUs up and we’ll have come full circle
  
  source
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Just in time for all those windows PCs that MS is trying to force people to upgrade

source
- pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Waiting for upcoming patch tuesday to see if mas scripts work
  
  source
lightnsfw@reddthat.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Who’s bewildered? Of course this was going to happen. Everything enjoyable about life is being ruined.

source
umbrella@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
just pop already

source
- TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  The market can remain irrational for far longer than you can remain solvent
  
  source
- Credibly_Human@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  The thing is, the “people” propping it up, are massive tech companies with collectively trillions of dollars to burn on this thing that is making their stock prices soar.
  
  They have no incentive as the primary investors doing the circular buying to stop. The big problem here is the stock market provides awful incentives to everyone.
  
  source
  - umbrella@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    neither did the housing speculators though, it will come crashing down eventually.
    
    though i wonder if yall gonna let them get bailed out again, that still remains to be seen.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
SabinStargem@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Far as RAM goes, it will become a good thing: it gives companies incentive to invest into the development of bigger RAM, more speed, and making the motherboard bandwidth big enough to handle it.

The next big generation of hardware will be much better IMO, simply because the companies will have to compete by their merits. The downside is not having enough supply right now, but once the logistics and tech is in place, even non-AI people will benefit.

source
- frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  No, it won’t. The DRAM market is dominated by three companies, and they’ve colluded before. They get their wrist slapped by some government body, they promise not to do it again, and then they wait a few years and do it again.
  
  source
  - boonhet@sopuli.xyz ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    They’ll also have a flood or electrical outage the millisecond demand starts to go down, so they’ll have to sell the old stock at inflated prices first before restarting production, oopsie-woopsie
    
    source
- plyth@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  The downside is not having enough supply right now, but once the logistics and tech is in place, even non-AI people will benefit.
  
  Have you forgotten that they agreed to reduce production to stabilize prices? Capacity is not the real bottleneck.
  
  source
CovfefeKills@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Wow I just checked the laptop kit I bought a month ago it is 50% more

source
elvis_depresley@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
soon the bubble will burst and RAM will be so cheap! (I hope)

source
- Buddahriffic@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I don’t think the bubble bursting will slow AI that much, it’ll just be a round of hot potatoe over, the losers will lose their money and others will come in hoping to be profitable since they can skip a bunch of R&D costs.
  
  AI is overhyped, but just like the internet after the dotcom bubble burst, it’s not going anywhere.
  
  Plus I suspect that this time will be a dollar collapse rather than stock market collapse, which would mean prices would go up even more.
  
  source
- Dremor@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  It always does. I remember buying my DDR4 RAM 200€, and two months later the same kit was 550€. Some month later it was back at 220€.
  
  source
  - SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    RAM used to cost 8x that. It’s the reason why HP cases have locks.
    
    source
- ThunderclapSasquatch@startrek.website ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  RAM prices fluctuate but always return to normal pretty fast, at least compared to gpus and cpus
  
  source
- AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Buy one RAM and you get two GPUs thrown in for free!
  
  source
zebidiah@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Laughs in ddr4…

source
- themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Image
  
  It also got affected.
  
  source
  - zebidiah@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    God fucking damnit, can’t I even be poor in peace, JFC!
    
    source
  - TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Although it’s ambiguous how much of this is due to AI data centres and how much is the natural ramp-down of DDR4 production.
    
    DDR3 also increased substantially in price a few years after DDR4 became available.
    
    source
  - knexcar@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Is DDR3 affected too?
    
    source
- bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Im still gaming on a 15 year old cpu and ddr3, lol. Playing a decent amount of new games. Only one that wont run is alan wake 2 and that may be because of linux .
  
  Amd fx 8 core.
  
  source
phoenixz@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Old computer blew up, had to buy a new one. Nice 128gb ddr5. Just mobo, mem, cpu. Cpu is a rhyzen 9 9700

The memory was well over 40% of the cost, wtf?

source
humanspiral@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Indeed awful. AFAIU, it is stockpiling HBM memory ahead of next generation “GPUs”, rather than existing product volume. I’m especially disgusted that prices in non-tariff countries are higher than in US. If this were to last, gddr5/6 computer ram would start to make sense. NVIDIA has been behind starving memory supplies for competing platforms (usually AMD) in the past.

This pricing is both huge inflation, but also huge drop in sales, because we have to wait for it to get sensible.

source
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
If you have to save for months to buy RAM, you should probably save it instead. Doesnt sound like a very smart financial decision to spend every last cent on your PC.

source
utopiah@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Genuine question here, for a “normal” computer user, say somebody who :

browses the Web

listen to music, play videos, etc

sometimes play video games, even 2025 AAAs

even code something of a normal size, let’s say up to Firefox size (which is huge)

… what does require more than say 32Go?
source
CCMan1701A@startrek.website ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Dang, now i know why micron stock has gone wild.

source
Blackmist@feddit.uk ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Welp, it’s probably about time for my PC to break its RAM again.

source
Zer0_F0x@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I bought 16gb of ddr4 for 110eu back in 2018. Welcome back to the DDR wars, with NAND soon to follow.

source
wewbull@feddit.uk ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Not sure if it’s exactly the same kit but you can get that for £300 in the UK.

source