We are living the paperclip maximizer problem, except instead of paperclips it’s data centers.
RAM is so expensive, Samsung won't even sell it to Samsung
Submitted 3 weeks ago by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
lolola@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Well, we’re not even anywhere close to AGI yet, and the underlying problem of “the people running everything these days are not programmed to value living things - only money”
reksas@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
i wish it was agi doing this, then maybe it could be reasoned with. rich pieces of shit that are detached from reality and humanity can’t.
TheBlackLounge@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
That you don’t need AGI for a paperclip maximizer was obvious a decade ago antipope.org/…/dude-you-broke-the-future.html
474D@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
We don’t even know if AGI is possible…
Godric@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Funnily enough, I was just introduced to this fascinating little game about being a paperclip making machine.
www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/index2.html
I spent a good 3 or 4 hours playing instead of sleeping.
renrenPDX@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
So glad I built my computer earlier this year. RAM prices now are triple what I paid for.
Kjell@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I regret so much that I didn’t, I was planning to build a new PC now or in the beginning of next year. But with the current RAM prices I will stick to my 5 years old AMD 5600x. I will have to start playing games in my backlog if the framerate in new games becomes too low.
renrenPDX@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
It’s insane. Back then I still had to deal with GPU prices and availability. I had to buy the 9070xt in a MOBO bundle that I’ll never use and was cheaper than buying alone at the time. The same GPU now is $50 US less than what I paid for then so it was a pretty good price considering.
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I wasn’t sure how bad it was until I just checked.
last December I bought a 2x32gb DDR5 kit for $160. right now, same kit, almost $600.
this is fucking insane man.
fuck AI.
moonshadow@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
I’m in the exact opposite position… hoarding bits on the cheap, all I need is ram and psu but ram now costs more than I paid for everything else put together and scavenging sources have dried up completely
Asmodeus_Krang@infosec.pub 3 weeks ago
No kidding! I postponed replacing my old Sandybridge in 2020 because of pandemic prices and then jumped on building my new rig in early 2024 when prices were the lowest I’d seen in some time. Also, grabbing a couple more sticks of 32 Gb DDR4 for my homelab this spring now seems like it was a good choice.
askat@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
Me too, the only regret that I stayed with 16Gb instead of going for 32Gb or more
Lightsong@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I went with 16 cuz it was like good decision to go with at the time, 8 was bare minimum. So I doubled it. Who know it wasn’t going to last long. I’m stuck with 16 for a while…
eager_eagle@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
LiveLM@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Infernal_pizza@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Why has RAM suddenly got so expensive? We’ve been chasing this AI shit for the last 3/4 years and GPUs etc have been expensive the whole time, but somehow RAM has been ok until literally the last couple of weeks?
TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
OpenAI abruptly bought 40% of global supply, and announced it.
Other companies found out about it when OpenAI announced and thought holy shit, if we hadn’t heard of this massive deal, what else haven’t we heard of?!, and so they started panic buying.
On top of that, because of US tariffs and trade restrictions, the Chinese “B-tier” memory companies, who usually buy old machines from the big 3 (SK-Hynix, Samsung, Micron) and sell this lower spec RAM at lower margins, didn’t buy up these machines as much as they usually do. They weren’t sure they’d be able to make profit given their lower margins, should tariffs suddenly change again or other restrictions get put in place.
Cenotaph@mander.xyz 3 weeks ago
Micron actually just closed their consumer business to sell all their RAM to AI firms instead
Agent641@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Ah, so it’s the 2020 toilet paper crisis all over again, but with RAM
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Fucking slop factories.
pixeltree@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
Basically as I understand it sam altman made a deal to buy a majority of the semiconductor wafers needed to make ram from the two biggest manufacturers, and the third biggest saw that and went “oh ok time to make a killing selling tam to businesses” qnd pulled out of the consumer market so now there’s just fucking none being made for consumers because of one giant fucking dickwad
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
But wait… there is another.
drdiddlybadger@pawb.social 3 weeks ago
Is there even enough power on the grid for all these data centers? Wtf?
Naz@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Nope. A couple of them have been built and they’re just sitting there unpowered
Imagine you had infinite money and no consequences
I mean you could like— build entire city size data centers right?
But this infinite money goes away if you’re not building them
So your choices are to build something that you don’t need or to have no money
You see, humans were not very evolved or adapted to their planet, given their own social structures
Buelldozer@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
A couple of them have been built and they’re just sitting there unpowered
Most of them in California because that State simply cannot get its shitty power grid sorted out. The damn thing barely works at the best of times.
The utility company promised Digital Realty and Stack Infrastructure that they’d have the power ready for them by the time their DCs were built but…SURPRISE…they lied.
PrinzKasper@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
Of course, you just turn off the power for all the poor people
cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
No, some of them are running generators on site to get more power.
AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
There’s many new jobs opening in the AI sector, pedalling on dynamo bikes.
bold_atlas@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
In the middle ages machines where powered by peasants in human-sized hamster wheels. I think that tech may make a come back.
Buelldozer@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
Power availability is actually a primary consideration when choosing a location for a Data Center. Sometimes they’ll site a DC even if there isn’t enough power and then build out the power generation that they need.
An example are the two DCs that Microsoft is building in Cheyenne, Wyoming and the absolutely massive 1.2 Million panel solar farm being built to power them. cowboystatedaily.com/…/massive-1-2-billion-1-2-mi…
This is at least the second time that Microsoft has done this in Cheyenne. In 2016 they contracted for 237 MW of Wind Energy, which led to the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind farms being built / expanded. …microsoft.com/…/latest-energy-deal-microsofts-ch…
No matter what you think of AI the folks that engineer these DCs aren’t stupid. They are well aware of their extreme power requirements.
someguy3@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Depends how dirty you accept the power.
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
We have such copious amounts of excess power but its all in off peak times. We need to build batteries or other storage methods so we can capture it in off peak hours.
We should force these data centers to help foot the bill for that instead of doing the stupid shit they’re doing like portable generators, bring coal plants back online and what not.
actualaccount@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
Samsung put 12 gigs of ram in my phone. I don’t even use that much.
osaerisxero@kbin.melroy.org 2 weeks ago
Just open a second tab in chrome and you'll be redlining that puppy.
wewbull@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
This OpenAI RAM buyout really was a “If we’re going down, we’re taking everyone with us” move.
ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The “when you’re out of money and you pretend you have even more” tactic.
theyoyomaster@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Damn, I was hoping to upgrade my ram in the next 6 months. When I built my PC last winter I couldn’t find any decent 64gb sticks so I went with 46gb instead figuring I’d upgrade when they got reasonable. Oh well, guess I’m rocking them for a bit longer.
Johanno@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
46 gb should suffice for the next years.
You always can move your swap onto the cloud.
Or actually put it on a fast nvme
someguy3@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Damn Samsung, they ruined Samsung!
Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
You chaebols sure are a contentious people.
decipher_jeanne@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Ah yes. This surely will have no long term consequences.
Cheems@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Definitely won’t do anything to hurt the common person
handsoffmydata@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
I thought that was as the final goal of neoliberalism.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If you think shit is bad for the retail gamer, imagine how fucked actual industry consumers have it.