Makes sense. CPU/Mobo/RAM typically go together in a rebuild. Storage, case, PSU, perepherals, GPU can often carry over between builds as they’re all pretty backwards compatible.
The dominoes are falling: motherboard sales down 50% as PC enthusiasts are put off by stinking memory prices
Submitted 2 weeks ago by themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
yaroto98@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
rasha@feddit.nl 2 weeks ago
Yeah. This makes pretty good sense. Make some ram and SSDs - lowee the price - and I’m sure Motherboard sales will go up.
It’s funny how people don’t want to buy motherboards without anything else
snooggums@piefed.world 2 weeks ago
I only change motherboards when moving up to the next RAM format or CPU chipset. I stick with AMD due to cost and low thermals, and while their CPU generations shared the same interface I had one mobo for DDR3, one for DDR4, etc.
Can’t wrap my head around constantly upgrading the mobo to be honest. Sure, they have lots of features but I haven’t seen a situation where a mobo would be an upgrade worth doing without also upgrading everything else.
saltesc@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yeah but it’s like the gearbox. While everything’s pulled apart, you may as well swap out the clutch, bearing, and flywheel too because they’ll need replacing again first. Especially if better versions of them are now supported.
Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
because youd only swap mobos for either aesthetics(expensive, not often done), or because you need more pci-e I/O.
the average user doesn’t use all their pci-e i/o, and the ones that do, are looking towards workstation motherboards, which is almost a completely different market from the consumer level stuff. It’s a game of, you know when you need more i/o, and if you needed it, you probably would have never bought the consumer level board in the first place.
oh_@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
On the plus side, indie games that don’t require a rocket ship for a PC have never been better. So, can still play some good stuff on my old clunker. Thanks to Steam/Proton, they run even better on my old computer.
SpaceCadet@feddit.nl 2 weeks ago
Would be nice to see the gaming industry pivot back to making innovative games within the constraints of hardware, instead of just expecting customers to throw ever more powerful (and power consuming) hardware at it.
MIDItheKID@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
As much (well deserved) hate that Nintendo gets, they are fantastic at this. They seem to be able to make games look good on low powered systems with stylistic decisions and smart optimization/coding. They learned some pretty important things in the NES/SNES era about using tricks to squeeze performance out of the few KB/MB they had to work with.
underisk@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
DLSS has made devs lazy. Why bother optimizing when you can have some whiz bang AI algorithm turn a low res input into a greasy looking high res output.
GenosseFlosse@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
Some Indy games using unreal engine can still bog down a fast PC…
echodot@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
I don’t understand what their long-term plan is here. Even if AI isn’t a bubble eventually all of the AI companies are going to get to a point where they don’t need more compute because they’re working on algorithmic optimisations because they decide that that’s cheaper.
Then they’re going to have to pivot back to the consumer market. Except by that point it won’t even be a consumer market because China will have eaten their lunch.
Zeroc00l@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
The plan is to continue making bank until the companies are done with them, then sell to consumers again without missing a beat.
Source: the GPU shortage we just went through.
Future source: the CPU shortage scheduled for 2026.
echodot@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
That’s my point though they can’t do that.
The market isn’t just going to wait around for them to get around to selling to consumers again. China is going to see an opening and they’re going to manufacture their own chips and make bank. Then when the traditional manufacturer is getting their head out of their arses then realise there market share has vanished. All 100% their fault.
They have decided to shoot themselves in the foot because someone’s convinced them they won’t ever need legs ever again.
nightm4re@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
I read a great article recently that tries to analyze what exactly went down and for what reasons. And most importantly, the effects it’s going to have on different hardware prices: mooreslawisdead.com/…/sam-altman-s-dirty-dram-dea…
silasmariner@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
Yeah that’s widely considered to be the article about it tbh
deltaspawn0040@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
These companies are controlled almost entirely by people who only really care about what the stock price will be sometime in the next few years or so.
Chonnawonga@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
*quarters, or even months
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
I don’t understand what their long-term plan is here.
They most likely don’t have one. Keep in mind that tech bros and C-suite execs are sociopathic dumbasses. We saw this with AAA gaming studios and private equity where they just assume line will continually go up
thatonecoder@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Cloud computing. Stallman was right.
M0oP0o@mander.xyz 2 weeks ago
We would need a better general network for that. Remember stadia? Nothing has changes since then, hell some areas have even lost some capacity.
CoffeeTails@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Lfrith@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Yeah people will probably turn to China when it comes to consumer pc hardware in the future like how when it comes to drones its been primarily just China actually interested in selling to regular people.
ZoteTheMighty@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
How dare you suggest that there is a future beyond next quarter!
Nighed@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
The companies making the ram chips are not the ones making motherboards. They just want to sell their product for as much as they can.
Shutting down your entire consumer business does seem a bit short sighted though - keep the doors open for the future.
Internetexplorer@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Speculative
MehBlah@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Somebody pop the zit that is AI.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
AI isnt a zit, its a giant infected boil and blister now.
MehBlah@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I don’t disagree lance that green puss filled cavity.
BurgerBaron@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
A giant cyst that got infected and is now life threatening.
VirtuePacket@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
It’s such a shame to see high-performance computing and gaming more broadly become largely unaffordable. Hell, prior to the DRAM shortage, the current-generation game consoles were already MORE EXPENSIVE than they were at launch. And it’s just going to get worse.
HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
None of this is “high performance computing”. Are you simulating nuclear explosions? Airflow around supersonic aircraft? Sequencing DNA?
This is all entertainment, it’s useless, it turns people into potatoes. Digital garbage to make AI fat people fart videos.
Good riddance I say.
BigPotato@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You posting on the Internet is also useless digital garbage, so put your money where your mouth is and go do something productive.
SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
87Six@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Lil bro thinks this is only about gaming
jjlinux@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Go use a type writer.
Siegfried@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I simulated a nuclear accident in a i5 2540M
RIPandTERROR@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Ron@zegheteens.nl 2 weeks ago
Like it was before. In the, not so long ago, past a high end pc was too expensive for the average user.
freedom@lemy.lol 2 weeks ago
This statement sounds defeatist.
InnerScientist@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
At least people aren’t buying at these high prices, wouldn’t want them to stay there after all.
CoffeeTails@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This is a good point, we don’t need PCs to be this expensive.
I just hope we don’t fuck up the whole thing and end up with cloud computers or end up not making new PCs…
shiftymccool@piefed.ca 2 weeks ago
I’m pretty convinced this is the play. Drive up DIY PC parts then promote thin cloud clients as a way to have a PC without paying the crazy prices that they set. It’s a lot easier to tell you “it’s safer for the children” and pillage every file, action, and keystroke for AI training and data brokerage. Your owned PC is a black box for them and it’s their wet dream to own it for you… As a subscription of course.
FinishingDutch@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
5 years ago I would’ve called you insane, but with everything happening right now… it’s a distinct possibility.
RAM’s unaffordable, GPU’s will likely be harder to come by and more expensive. Microsoft is actively driving people away from Windows, Steam is launching their Steam Machine…
Here’s hoping many gamers will jump to Linux and grow that platform instead. But even then, too expensive hardware will be an issue.
We’re living in interesting times.
Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
That is an increasingly high risk I can see, PCs just no longer exist.
melfie@lemy.lol 2 weeks ago
If the only affordable option for using computers is cloud-based subscriptions, that’s when computers are no longer worth it to me. I’ll just take up something else.
ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
I went from thinking about a full rig upgrade, to just buying the best used processor and GPU my am4 board could handle with my current PSU and ddr4 ram.
Went from a ryzen 1600x and a Nvidia 1060 to a ryzen 5 5600x and a Radeon rx 6600 xt. I’ll be able to ride that out for a few years no problem.
UncommonBagOfLoot@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I went from thinking of upgrades to enjoying my backlog of old games. My wallet and library are both happy and I’m enjoying the games I’m playing.
01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
The artificial price hikes actually saved you money. Noice!
klay1@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
funny i bought exactly the same CPU and GPU half a year ago. Someone in my city sold these quite cheap.
I was going to go for an AM5 board and everything, but couldn’t afford it. My older parts were from 2016 and not even terrible. Its funny how little the hardware requirements have changed in the games and OS area.
ptu@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
AM4 unite! Have had 3600X and 2070 super since 2019 and still works well. Although some USB-ports on the mobo are starting to degrade.
tomkatt@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Ryzen 5600x here, was rocking a 6700 XT but found a good deal on a RX 9070 for $540 right around when the RAM prices increased. Already have 32 GB RAM, so I’m set for a while.
bigkahuna1986@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Nnnoooo, you won’t get enough fps to enjoy your games!!!
/s in case some of you don’t get it
Xenny@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m rocking the 5700 5700 build
real_squids@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
Nice, had a nitro 6650xt, can’t recommend enough if it makes sense financially
EtAl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Burst the fucking bubble already. I’m edging so hard right now.
douglasg14b@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s a play to make at home compute unachievable, forcing people to pay for subscription cloud services and cloud compute in walled gardens.
dantheclamman@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Our economy increasingly is consumed to serve the rich. They are eating the world. Grocery stores increasingly cater to the wealthy. So do the automakers. Billionaires are buying up whole city blocks for themselves. And now we won’t be able to buy electronics because they’ve taken the resources for their speculative investments, and if they crash the economy our tax dollars will be appropriated to bail them out. It’s almost like we’re barreling towards a violent confrontation between the classes…
A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I for one am in favor of throwing the rich into wood chippers.
The rich and their bought and paid for politicians.
Foofighter@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
Next up: MSI, ASUS, … are pulling out of the consumer market due to falling revenue causing major price hikes.
Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Or gpu prices or hdd/ssd prices that never recovered from the tsunami. Consumers just keep getting fucked.
sommerset@thelemmy.club 2 weeks ago
This is hilarious. Intel after many years finally fixed their manufacturing process, but won’t be able to sell chips because of memory crunch
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I fear they will pull a GPU and the devices will be permanently 50% more expensive after.
qwerty@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
I’m on ryzen 9 5900x, rtx 3080, 32 GB DDR4, with mobo and psu that’s ~€850 today and it will play most modern games on high settings 1080p at +100 fps. Computer hardware these days is a lot more like car hardware than it used to be. Generational improvements aren’t as big and the price for a used 5 year old unit is a ⅓ of a new one. Unless you absolutely need the latest and greatest go with a used last gen.
bitwolf@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
I haven’t made any purchases since tariffs drove up prices.
I was prepping to build a new NAS in 2026.
Not anymore sellouts.
kieron115@startrek.website 2 weeks ago
I’m sure it doesn’t help that motherboard manufacturers have increasingly been targetting “whale” consumers over the last 10-15 years. I remember when a top of the line motherboard would cost you $300; and an average board was around $100-150.
verdi@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
Time to buy an AM5 MOBO to upgrade in 2028 then.
orioler25@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Wow, I can’t believe my plan for a cheap motherboard worked.
Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
We need global laws against gouging
UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Nothing lasts forever. Even this.
floofloof@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Does China not have any companies that can make RAM? Seems like an opportunity to grab some market share. But maybe they don’t, or maybe they’d prefer to sell it to AI companies too.
tabular@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Welp, sucks to be a motherboard manufacturer. Always getting dragged along by other component manufacturers.
infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
And after 26+ years of friendship, my buddy chose this month to be the month where he finally hunkered down and built his first PC. Of all the times to build a budget parts list for a friend…
rumba@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
memory is way up
GPU’s will need memory, production cuts
followed by production cuts for cpu’s monitors and powersupplies
welcome to the $10k mid range gaming PC in 2027
Lemminary@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I was thinking of upgrading my RAM this year, but I know I don’t have to. It’s their loss, not mine.
yannic@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
It’s the obsession with replacing PCIe slots with M.2 sockets that gets me.
scala@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
If they lower their prices of MOBOs to try and generate more sales, that might actually be worth it long term. For RAM, I saw the other day a Laptop RAM conversion to desktop. Which apartment Laptop RAM is still lower priced. There might some interesting Frankenstein builds in the coming months
TwinTitans@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s just nonsense. Absolutely nonsense.
WhatGodIsMadeOf@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
You’ll be happy with the government supplied computers whether you like it or not.
underisk@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
what if we cannibalize our long-term viability for a short-term gain says every dipshit in charge of tech hardware manufacturing.
ferrule@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
you know when the bubble pops and they no longer have AI companies buying RAM they will switch back to consumers and keep the high prices.
underisk@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
if they’re still around when the financial shell game they’re playing finally comes to a stop. who am i kidding the government will bail them out.
DScratch@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Of course, not all the companies survive and now there’s decreased competition, so we can shove prices up a little bit further
SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Absolutely
Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Keeping prices above what people are willing to buy for, while the majority of their business goes bust, is not a recipe to stay in business.
4am@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Every business is doing this for everything. To different degrees but they are all chasing their “get our fortune now and get the fuck out because the sky is falling” mentality. Have been since Trump 1.0 and now it’s accelerating rapidly.
SportsRulesOpinions@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You have to remember that “get that bag” is practically inherit to business. We spend a lot of time and effort making it illegal to fuck people over and do bad business stuff, but kinda-sorta since Regan the businesses have slowly been winning that battle.
kboos1@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
That’s every company, most upper management don’t stay in one position for more than 2 years. So the system is setup for short term gains because investors aren’t interested in long term investments and the blowback is the next guys problem. Who then is looking for the next big win to cover up the last guy issues without fixing anything. Then they bring in someone to clean up the mess and the cycle starts again.
Plus most consumers have short memories or don’t have an alternative so their stuck. There are small groups holding on but for 75% of the world’s population right now it’s Android or iOS, AMD or Intel, AMD or NVIDIA, Samsung or WD or Seagate or SanDisk, Att or Verizon, Apple or Microsoft, and so on.
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Not every company, just most. Privately owned corporations aren’t legally obligated to kill long-term viability for short-term gaing like publicly traded companies are.
Many owners of privately owned corps are that dumb, but not all of them
BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Also your reputation. I had a Crucial SSD and was days from getting an identical one as a backup but then they said they were stopping consumer RAM sales so they’re now on my blacklist.
TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Question is, though, who now isn’t on your blacklist?
Samsung and SK Hynix never sold to consumers directly, yet seem to be avoiding flak.
Who do you get that isn’t that three? Almost all RAM on the market is Samsung, SK Hynix, or Micron.
ronigami@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
how are they in control? market demand is an outside force