Will RAM prices keep going way up forever? Like maybe in the future they'll cost the average player more than their GPUs?

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Kobe Eveleigh

Kobe Eveleigh

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I am curious what the ideal amount of RAM is for PC gaming, when considering the trend of increasing prices. I feel like for right now today 16GB is great and seems like the standard for gaming today but I'm wondering about higher amounts like 24/32 as there are a few PC games today that can use very high amounts of system RAM. Like Rise of the Tomb Raider which I read can use as much as 12-14GB depending on system by itself, I'm interested to see how Shadow of the Tomb Raider is in this regard and if games like that push players to expand past 16GB. It seems like the shortage and maybe the miners(IDK if they use large amounts of RAM?) are causing prices to go up endlessly so I have to wonder if I might regret going for 16GB right now if in a few years I have reasons to want more as I could have to pay far more if I end up needing more in a few years.

Prices seem to be about double what they were last year for DDR4 same sizes & speeds. If they continue to increase at that rate year over year it could far more expensive for me if I end up needing to go 32GB in a few years. I know there are enthusiasts who do this already like guys who run 64GB/very fast speeds but I'm starting to wonder if it may soon become the norm for PC builders to spend as much on their RAM as they do on a high end GPU like a GTX 1080 or 1080 Ti. If the pricing trend between late 2015/early 2016 to today is maintained for 2-3 years 32GB becomes standard it will be the case that builders have to spend as much as the price of a GTX1080 Ti or its successor's likely price.

I have to wonder when and if the price trends may lead people to recommend 32GB to avoid potentially paying much more later on. I want to buy some RAM on Black Friday as that's all I really need right now to complete my build. I'd go 16GB as I am fairly sure it will meet my needs today but I feel concerned about potential games that could make me need more than 16GB and if I wait till that point it could cost far more. Maybe prices could go up to US$400 or more for something like a 32GB 2133/2400Mhz off-brand mediocre kit next year? I would want to go for a kit that's decently reviewed like 3/4 stars or better and fairly reliable.

I do also similarly wonder about SSD prices as I expect I'll want another SSD, I am certainly quite fine for storage right now as I have a 500GB 850 EVO and most games are fine on HDD anyways so there's certainly no *need* at all to buy another one ASAP. but wonder if I should rush out anyways to buy a second SSD in case the price might be dramatically higher in a year or two.
 
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photonboy

photonboy

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Memory in general has increased, and should DROP though probably not in the near future.

All transistor-based memory including flash, system memory etc affects the problem so when Apple and other manufacturers use up all the resources there are only TWO things that really affect stock:

1) reduce DEMAND (not likely?), or
2) make new fabrication plants

Samsung has noted this recently and has accelerated plans on one of its new plants.

GUESSING future prices is hard, but my best guess is they won't go up much more then they will PLUMMET once availability becomes a non-issue but that may not be until 2019 or later. Who knows?

I only recommend people buy what they currently need.
 
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Kobe Eveleigh

Kobe Eveleigh

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2019 probably would be fine with me TBH. I'm guessing that is likely when I may want more than 16GB, it'll probably coincide with the next generation PS5 being released and it becoming the lead development platform for games going forward, which my guess is it'll release for holiday 2019 or maybe 2020.

Am thinking about it a bit now since I read some benchs for RotR saying it can use 12-14GBs of system RAM depending on system specs, the higher amount being for PCs with lower VRAM cards. So I have to seriously wonder if SotR next year will use 16GB of system RAM or more and if there could be other games using 16 or more. Of course I can just ignore Tomb Raider but I have to consider if it might become commonplace next year.

I'm just scared to have to spend US$400/500 on a 32GB kit if I end up needing that much RAM in 2019 or so.:(

I'm an Elderscrolls/Fallout guy so I'd be really wanting to get more if TES VI or more likely one of Bethesda's mystery games releases next year and uses 16GB or more. Come to think of it a lot of my past PC purchases usually tended to coincide with a Bethesda release and my current PC was built for Fallout 4.
 
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Kobe Eveleigh

Kobe Eveleigh

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That's understandable but can we expect this observed rate of price increase to continue for multiple more years in a row? Like prices doubling year over year which if repeated means 2 years=4x price, 3 years=8x price, etc? Might it be continued indefinitely until an entirely new RAM standard is developed that replaces the DDR4/DDR5/etc format of RAM, like a new format that uses different materials?

I've seen one 32GB 2400Mhz kit on PCpartspicker that was US$125 in October 2016 and is now over $300. I have to wonder if it might be $400/500 this time next year and if it might far surpass that in another year and maybe hit 1080ti price territory? Could this kit and other similar ones retail for $1000 in 2020?

If that is likely to be the case I want to plan ahead so in 2019/2020 perhaps I could buy a Volta card 1180/2080/ti instead(or just not spend ~US$700)!

For games I play today and am interested in that are out today 16GB will certainly be enough but I see that there are games that come close to maxing out a 16GB system therefore I think it's certainly possible that 2 years from now 16GB might no longer be enough.

I am curious since your PC is 16GB, have any games like Rise of the Tomb Raider, Mass Effect Andromeda or any others ever caused crashes due to running out of memory? I have read RotR can use 12-14GB system ram depending on specs especially with lower VRAM, 12GB being what it used on 8GB GPUs like a GTX 1080/1070 or 8GB AMD. You have a 980 4GB so for you it may use 13/14GB as that was what it used on the 3 or 4GB AMD card's they tested and with windows using 2/2.5GB this may mean you can run out?

I have seen people claim on forums that ME Andromeda can use as high as 13/14GB system RAM and that it can do so on 1080p not only like 4K ultra.
 
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Zerk2012

Zerk2012

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Sorry I have no crystal ball.
I have 32GB of memory never changed the list I added anouther set about 6 months ago. I run a lot of work programs with my PC as well as gaming.
16Gb should last for a few more years for gaming.
Windows does a fairly good job of managing memory use the more you have the more it will use up to a point. This is not saying if your using 10gb of 16 when gaming and add 16gb more it will use 20gb.
 
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Kobe Eveleigh

Kobe Eveleigh

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That's interesting. I see so it'll allocate some more memory to try boosting performance if the PC happened to have a whole lot available but doesn't necessarily mean that all of the full amount that the game uses on say a 32GB system represents what is needed to get by. As in Tomb Raider may have used a high amount like 14GB just due to an abundance of RAM? I'll try to re-find that article and see if test system had high system RAM 32GB. Minor/brief drops aren't too much of a big deal I just don't want to suffer from crashes and general instability in games due to RAM limitations

I admit I am pretty inexperienced with this since my current PC(GTX 1080 + 7700) is the first one I'd call a real gaming PC. Before now I used like cheap office models that can barely handle even outdated games at all. My last one which I used until I built this PC in September basically can't run Skyrim 2011, well it can but you have to use obscure ini settings that almost no one ever mentions let alone uses basically putting it below Low preset and with no shadows at all(Bethesda don't really want you to do that as Skyrim looks terrible this way) and you still get terrible FPS like 20 average if you're lucky, cities are always a slide show. So everything is pretty much a tenfold increase in power vs my old laptop and laptop was like a 4GB or 6GB IDK anymore, it usually ran stuff using the page file meaning horrible performance.

I got screwed because I bought pieces for this PC one by one over a long time, I had bought 16GB 3200Mhz DDR4 RAM on Boxing Day 2016(for CAD$109 so probably 60 or 70 in the US, now the exact same model is CAD$259.99/US$209.99) and one turned out to be dead so can't RMA. I'm stuck with one 8GB RAM module right now and I think it might be faulty as some games get frequent crashing like as if I'm suddenly running out of RAM for the game yet according to task manager/other programs RAM usage actually was at 60 or 70%. It appears this way as I don't experience hints like FPS drops/stuttering/lag. But for stuff that uses low amount of system RAM like Skyrim or GTA V it's generally completely fine.
 
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