DRAM Prices Surge 172% YoY with No Signs of Slowing Down

[Combat squirrel]

I've only really just caught up with this, my 32gb kit was £98 last year, now £353!!

I really hope this isn't the start of a permanent price increase, as consumers we just don't seem to know when to put our wallets down, as Gibbo said "sales are up" which really doesn't surprise me sadly.

Its because people are so very easily manipulated - they see a now rare thing, its expensive, assume they must have it to 'get in on it' before they think its 'all gone' - its nonsense, in a year or 2 there will be plentiful ram for next to nothing when the AI bubble bursts.

Sadly in end game capitalism - this kind of manipulation is becoming more common.

 

[hornetstinger]

yeah paying extra for RAM for this sort of AI nonsense

 

[Raiden85]

Best thing to do right now is not buy anything - just leave the big companies in the dust - no one NEEDS xyz ram, they prob have perfectly working systems right now.

I'm certainly not paying £900+ for another 64GB, all memory manufacturers can sod off.

It's insane, if the 9950XD went up at the same rate that would be about £3,500 by now or a FE 5090 going up by 500%, that's about £9000, cowing nuts.

 

[welshrat]

It's all a bit mental. The Ram I ordered in Feb for £220 is now £629!!!!! Nuts.

 

[SuperElectric]

Its because people are so very easily manipulated - they see a now rare thing, its expensive, assume they must have it to 'get in on it' before they think its 'all gone'

But it has 'all gone', there's no more RAM

We had crypto mania for GPUs, now AI mania for RAM

 

[Things change I've changed]

Seems to be only RAM effected, bought a new monitor this week and was suprised how much you get for your money.

£120 got me an Alienware 27" QHD 180hz IPS monitor, even has a solid stand with height adjustment. That would have got a cheapo 1080P panel not long ago.

For now yes, but eventually it's gong to hit GPUs, Storage, game consoles, a whole host of devices if this is long term which it seems it might be.

 

[littlepuppy]

The real problem is the global supply chain is pretty much pushing out as much memory as it can - NAND can be scaled higher more easily but memory is pretty close to the limits, so there is not more capacity that can be tapped into - and a lot of 2026's production has already been bought - which is what is now manifesting itself in a supply crunch as companies who keep a smaller headroom of memory and order more frequently - they are going to be in trouble now - or their customers are - as the prices will rise.... We were looking at the price for an enterprise 256gb dimm recently and it almost made my eyes pop - luckily we dont need any more memory at the moment!

This situation has come to a head very quickly and shows the speed at which "AI" is scaling up - personally I think its a huge bubble but i dont think its popping in time for chrimstmas!

All of this scalng up is going to back up other challenges through the stack - but its worth having a read yourself about this - as the current issue with DDR pricing is the tip of the iceberg in terms of where this whole tech pivot potentially leaves us - and in the UK - its not a good place - as we are not well placed to cope with the level of demand that may be asked for.... Im sure Ed Minibrain is all over it

Merry christmas all

 

[Jay85]

CL28 and CL30 6000mhz 64gb kits are going for £800-900!!!!

I feel like im sitting on a small gold mine right now....

Dread to think what CL26 kits cost... if you can even find them.

 

[Rob_B]

Are they actually selling at those prices though? I'd like to think not

 

[Jay85]

Are they actually selling at those prices though? I'd like to think not

I hope not but i know ebay sold filter is showing me prices creeping up and people are willing to shell out £400 for a kit so it's just a matter of time i guess.

 

[decto]

Are they actually selling at those prices though? I'd like to think not

Must be selling, more and more kits going OOS even those >£300, not just at OC but also competitors.

Classic panic buying...

Enthusiasts are already paying £40 a RGB 120mm fan with some cases having 12+ fans, AIO's £200+ for some RGB and and a digitial temperature display. £100+ extra for a 1% OC version of GPU's.

Plenty of buyers for what memory stock remains.

 

[Brutal biff]

Look on the bright side when ddr6 comes out people who spent hundreds over the odds are going be less hesitent to upgrade

 

[Itc]

Might as well just buy a console

 

[megatron]

What I bought for £229 is now £800! (64GB gskill c30)

 

[Klunt Bumskrint]

Just found this in the cupboard. 16GB DDR3 1600 VENGEANCE!!



We'll start the bidding at £400?

 

[decto]

Might as well just buy a console

Indeed.... 32GB DDR5 or a PS5 digital and a case or two of beer

 

[Moothead2]

I've been lucky enough to grab some used kits for between £80-100, all 32gb 6000mhz ranging from CL28 to CL38. Gonna keep the CL28 stuff and sell the CL30 kit to a mate building a new pc for the price I paid, then flog the other two on eBay for twice what I sold. Free ram for me

 

[chaparral]

Are they actually selling at those prices though? I'd like to think not

Next you will see people paying around 2.5k for a gpu........Wait a minute

 

[Emlyn_Dewar]

The real problem is the global supply chain is pretty much pushing out as much memory as it can

Not really. They could increase production, but they have said will not to do so. The scarcity is amazing for these companies. Sell less of something for 4-6 times more? Cha-ching. These memory companies have a history of being scumbags, and they have not changed their ways.

 

[Aretak]

Not really. They could increase production, but they have said will not to do so. The scarcity is amazing for these companies. Sell less of something for 4-6 times more? Cha-ching. These memory companies have a history of being scumbags, and they have not changed their ways.

Whilst there certainly should be no love or sympathy for the DRAM cartel, everybody keeps saying that we're in a bubble and the AI craze is going to collapse in on itself any day now. Ramping up production isn't free or without risk, so it's unsurprising that these companies would be adopting a wait and see approach. In recent times the memory and NAND markets have experienced boom/bust cycles, with periods when pricing has collapsed due to oversupply. It simply makes sense for these companies to adopt a risk-averse position until things calm down. We're not even a full fiscal quarter into this memory pricing situation yet, and they'll be thinking about knock-on effects years down the line.