Why is RAM so ramned expensive?

Michael H

Over the summer I could get 4 gb of desktop ram (2 x 2) for $40 all day long. That's what I put in my PC, planning on picking up another 4 sometime later. The past few months have been "later", and I can't get the same set of sticks for less than $80.

Where have all the deals gone? Why has the price of RAM climbed so much? (And stayed there?) Have the RAM mines of southern Peru finally run dry?

wonderpug

I'm guessing your computer has an older type of memory. Yours will get more and more expensive while the shiny new kind of memory gets cheaper and cheaper. Odd, that.

Michael H

It's just regular ol DDR2. Is that already outdated?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148160

wonderpug

Michael H wrote: »

It's just regular ol DDR2. Is that already outdated?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148160

We're up to DDR3 now. You can still find it for--oops, sorry, we're now on DDR4. If you'll just direct your attention to the shelf over here you'll find DDR4...on sale now since DDR5 just came out.

But yeah, I believe DDR3 is standard at the moment.

Michael H

Weak. I just built my computer this summer and my memory is already out of date. My mobo is spec'd for DDR2, I don't suppose it's forward-compatible with DDR3. Guess if I want to go to 8 gb I'll just have to cough up the dough.

wonderpug

You've got a 64-bit OS, yes?

Michael H

wonderpug wrote: »

You've got a 64-bit OS, yes?

Yes. W7 64-bit, AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+

lowlylowlycook

Yeah, I guess the dram makers got sick of losing money. Too bad really.

DD3 is the new standard but it's not like DDR2 has become extra expensive yet.

Djeet

DDR2 is sold in more volumes then DDR3 (DDR2 tends to be the default install for non-gaming systems), and gig for gig it's cheaper. RAM prices have been going up cause PC sales were unexpectedly brisk in 4Q of 2009. Watch prices as they should come down some during January. <link>

TetraNitroCubane

Why, back in my day I paid $200 for 4 Megabytes of RAM, ya' whippersnapper. *Shakes cane*

Seriously, though, it does look like the price has started to climb a bit, and it's probably due to exactly the reason everyone is saying. Seems like the average price on Newegg is $40 for 2 GB of DDR2.

GothicLargo

TetraNitroCubane wrote: »

Why, back in my day I paid $200 for 4 Megabytes of RAM, ya' whippersnapper. *Shakes cane*

I agree. I remember when I had a memory expansion ISA card in my 386 DX. It could accept 32 64KiB ICs. Each IC sold for $15 at Radio Shack.

Sites like Newegg float their prices based on available stock.

travathian

More expensive than it was 6mo ago? Yes

Damned expensive? Hardly

Just watch for rebates and sales, I'm sure you can get it cheaper at some point. DDR3 is the new standard, but the vast majority of systems out there still use DDR2.

useless4

Be glad you don't require ECC ram or worse ... RAMBUS

slash000

Ram is expensive because the ram makers were hit by the poor economy and started producing less ram. With demand still about the same but with supply now more limited, the prices for ram went up.

I bought 4 gigs of DDR2 800 ram back in like March or something and it was $50 for a dual channel set. The same 4 gigs of DDR2 800 dual channel is like $80 now or something.

Daemas

slash000 wrote: »

Ram is expensive because the ram makers were hit by the poor economy and started producing less ram. With demand still about the same but with supply now more limited, the prices for ram went up.

I bought 4 gigs of DDR2 800 ram back in like March or something and it was $50 for a dual channel set. The same 4 gigs of DDR2 800 dual channel is like $80 now or something.

while the conomy does have something to do with it, most of it is the fact that DDR3 has reached the point where makers such as HP and Dell are starting to use it and there just aren't enough fabs to produce it. DDR2 prices will go up and DDR3 prices will go down as more and more fabs are gearing up for DDR3 production.

to OP, DDR3 is really only useful if you do encoding/benchmarking. I gained like 2 or 3 fps going from 4GB DDR2-800 to DDR3-1333. It's really no big deal.

Michael H

Well that's good to know. You're all gentlemen and scholars, thank you for an informative thread.

slash000

Daemas wrote: »

slash000 wrote: »

Ram is expensive because the ram makers were hit by the poor economy and started producing less ram. With demand still about the same but with supply now more limited, the prices for ram went up.

I bought 4 gigs of DDR2 800 ram back in like March or something and it was $50 for a dual channel set. The same 4 gigs of DDR2 800 dual channel is like $80 now or something.

while the conomy does have something to do with it, most of it is the fact that DDR3 has reached the point where makers such as HP and Dell are starting to use it and there just aren't enough fabs to produce it. DDR2 prices will go up and DDR3 prices will go down as more and more fabs are gearing up for DDR3 production.

to OP, DDR3 is really only useful if you do encoding/benchmarking. I gained like 2 or 3 fps going from 4GB DDR2-800 to DDR3-1333. It's really no big deal.

Ah, you're right. It's a combination of both. Economy, ram producers reducing output, supply/demand, and DDR3 overtaking DDR2 in the mainstream pc market.


Someone told me that DDR3 or DDR2 right now isn't making a big performance difference. If that's true, it's a shame that prices have risen so much for these reasons.



So glad I upgraded my PC back when 4 gigs of DDR2 800 dual channel was only $50.

krapst78

Also remember that one of the biggest DRAM manufacturers in the world (Qimonda, used to be Infineon Memory) went bankrupt in early 2009 shutting down their factories in March 2009. This had a pretty dramatic impact on the supply of DRAM, especially around July 2009.

mcdermott

krapst78 wrote: »

Also remember that one of the biggest DRAM manufacturers in the world (Qimonda, used to be Infineon Memory) went bankrupt in early 2009 shutting down their factories in March 2009. This had a pretty dramatic impact on the supply of DRAM, especially around July 2009.

Interesting. Regardless of the reason, RAM has always been something that fluctuated a lot in price. Most computer parts only move generally downward, but RAM has always been known to float back up from time to time. Add the fact that DDR2 is a standard on the way out, and yeah it's gonna be expensive right now.

Unfortunately, because of the latter it might not come back down.

Fats

mcdermott wrote: »

Unfortunately, because of the latter it might not come back down.

I went looking for some plain DDR last summer and was astounded at the prices. Hopefully DDR2 won't hit that level for a while.

Alistair Hutton

TetraNitroCubane wrote: »

Why, back in my day I paid $200 for 4 Megabytes of RAM, ya' whippersnapper. *Shakes cane*

I paid £110 for 4 Megs of ram 2 god damn fucking weeks before the great ram price crash of the mid 90's.

4 Megs dropped to £15 overnight, it was disgusting.

ronya

Fats wrote: »

mcdermott wrote: »

Unfortunately, because of the latter it might not come back down.

I went looking for some plain DDR last summer and was astounded at the prices. Hopefully DDR2 won't hit that level for a while.

DDR1 memory prices started skyrocketing way before last summer. I had the misfortune to have to hunt for some DDR1 sodimms two years ago; man, did that suck. A DDR1 256 stick cost more than a DDR2 2gb stick.

mntorankusu

I built a computer back in June with only 2GB of RAM. I made the decision to do so because I was on a tight budget, and RAM is the only component I could skimp on and then just add more later. And I figured I'd probably get a better deal in a month or two.

Michael H

mntorankusu wrote: »

I built a computer back in June with only 2GB of RAM. I made the decision to do so because I was on a tight budget, and RAM is the only component I could skimp on and then just add more later. And I figured I'd probably get a better deal in a month or two.

Heh, that was exactly my reason for starting with four instead of shelling out for eight right away. Doh.

solsovly

I got 4 Gigs of DDR2 for $15 after rebate earlier in 2009. I've been keeping an eye out for new pc parts for the last 4 months or so and RAM hasn't really gotten cheaper.

bent

I spent £60 on 4 gigs of Corsair DDR3 1600mhz RAM recently, and I can't say that I regret the decision.

slash000

ronya wrote: »

Fats wrote: »

mcdermott wrote: »

Unfortunately, because of the latter it might not come back down.

I went looking for some plain DDR last summer and was astounded at the prices. Hopefully DDR2 won't hit that level for a while.

DDR1 memory prices started skyrocketing way before last summer. I had the misfortune to have to hunt for some DDR1 sodimms two years ago; man, did that suck. A DDR1 256 stick cost more than a DDR2 2gb stick.

I remember that. I had to "upgrade" a friend's PC by adding in another 256 stick of DDR1 and I really was surprised by how much more expensive the DDR1 stick of 256 megs was so much more than the 2 gig DDR.


Oh well, times change, tech advances, new stuff comes in and replaces old stuff, prices fluctuate, etc