Memory Price Jacked up

[sandmannight]

Has anyone noticed the huge price increase in almost all RAM. I wonder if this is a permanet increase or just greedy companies gouging

 

[shadowduck]

Has anyone noticed the huge price increase in almost all RAM. I wonder if this is a permanet increase or just greedy companies gouging

Memory is a commody just like oil. The price varies wildy depending on marketing conditions and supply. No one is gouging anyone.

 

[Robovski]

It's one of the few things in a computer that can go up in value (over the short term). Probably a lot of demand of late, but it could be a supply issue too - but at least here in the UK I've seen a fall in price.

That leaves me thinking you could be getting stung by the currency exchange rate catching up with prices.

 

[NewbieTechGodII]

Has anyone noticed the huge price increase in almost all RAM. I wonder if this is a permanet increase or just greedy companies gouging

The answer is YES.

 

[reaper]

The price rise is temporary and it's not because of any of the reason above, it's just that the Christmas season is coming and PC OEM makers are buying for Dram for their products. Here is the link to TGdaily. The price rise is expected to last through September

http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/08/29/ddr_memory_price_trends/

 

[NewbieTechGodII]

The price rise is temporary and it's not because of any of the reason above, it's just that the Christmas season is coming and PC OEM makers are buying for Dram for their products. Here is the link to TGdaily. The price rise is expected to last through September

http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/08/29/ddr_memory_price_trends/

One would think that since AMD made the switch over to DDR2, the memory makers would have ratched-up their manufacturing processes for DDR2 (since now both major players are using it almost exclusively).

 

[clue69less]

The price rise is temporary and it's not because of any of the reason above, it's just that the Christmas season is coming and PC OEM makers are buying for Dram for their products. Here is the link to TGdaily. The price rise is expected to last through September

http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/08/29/ddr_memory_price_trends/

One would think that since AMD made the switch over to DDR2, the memory makers would have ratched-up their manufacturing processes for DDR2 (since now both major players are using it almost exclusively).

Fast DDR2 modules depend on highly binned, well matched chips. Right now, those puppies are hard to come by, so the old supply and demand laws have kicked in. Slower clocked DDR and DDR2 sticks can be had purty cheap!

 

[godlyatheist]

DDR 2g kits are outrageously expensive. however, ebay is pretty resistant to that price change. I got my G skill 2gb HZ DDR500 for only $170.

 

[sandmannight]

Well for a person building a computer now...I guess i would say wait. DDR2 memory is just to much right now and hopefully will drop at the end of september

 

[NewbieTechGodII]

Well for a person building a computer now...I guess i would say wait. DDR2 memory is just to much right now and hopefully will drop at the end of september

That really does suck as I was just finalizing what I wanted to get. I think I am going to get some Corsair Value Select memory and try to save some $$.

 

[Mondoman]

Corsair Value Select = spawn of =

 

[NewbieTechGodII]

yes it is true ,value select memory is the spawn of satan,he cursed us with this memory,as his arrogance limits the financially challenged to undergo mass suffering.

bad devil :!: no doughnut :!:

Corsair VS is bad? Why? I am not going to be doing any real gaming and don't really need the top-end stuff...though my wife does game and I love the LEDs on her Corsair modules!

 

[sandmannight]

based on the article memory prices will return to normal so why dont you just wait a bit.

 

[Mondoman]

Corsair Value Select is essentially just generic memory. Corsair contracts it out to the lowest bidder and slaps a Corsair label on it. Because of this, you are likely to get different modules under the same part number, and have a very high RMA rate. The VS modules are also not compatible with a number of MBs -- if you insist on getting it, at least use the Corsair Memory Configurator to see if any VS should work with your MB.

 

[NewbieTechGodII]

based on the article memory prices will return to normal so why dont you just wait a bit.

I don't think it said it was going to return to normal, but last at least through September.

OK, so I am going to buy everything BUT the memory and wait a few months for it to drop. In the meantime, I can at least enjoy the sight and smells of new hardware before they get locked-up in a case and covered in dust. har har.

 

[godlyatheist]

OK, so I am going to buy everything BUT the memory and wait a few months for it to drop.

that's an even worse idea. in a few month new stuff will come out and the current stuff will drop in price.

 

[NewbieTechGodII]

OK, so I am going to buy everything BUT the memory and wait a few months for it to drop.

that's an even worse idea. in a few month new stuff will come out and the current stuff will drop in price.


Good point, BUT, if I waited for prices to stabilize or for new stuff to not come out every 6 minutes, then I would NEVER be able to upgrade! har har.

Besides, while I do know that Quads are coming out soon, their prices ain't going to be cheap. And let's not mention that most programs aren't even utilizing dual-cores yet.

So, I guess I am going to build an socket AM2 machine with a 3800+ CPU. I know it ain't the fastest thing in the world, but it will do for my needs and will also be a cheap way to go AM2 when quad-core prices are reasonable.

 

[godlyatheist]

are you sure you don't want the pre-thanksgiving savings??

Quad-core is useless at this point cause all apps and games are gonna be dual-core optimized for the next few years.

 

[shadowduck]

are you sure you don't want the pre-thanksgiving savings??

Quad-core is useless at this point cause all apps and games are gonna be dual-core optimized for the next few years.

That is almost true. Applications like Photoshop and Poser will take advantage of the extra cores more quickly because it means a noticeable speed up in the application. Now of course the solutions (CPU-wise) you will see this year are not really Quad core anyway, so I don't know how much it will matter.

 

[NewbieTechGodII]

are you sure you don't want the pre-thanksgiving savings??

Quad-core is useless at this point cause all apps and games are gonna be dual-core optimized for the next few years.

Maybe I am just being too harsh here, but I was quickly browsing through the QC Kentsfield thing on THG and noticed how hot that sucker gets. Yeah, I know it's 4 cores and not 2 or even 1, but still. Let's hope that AMD/Intel can get those temps back down. I mean, I don't want to have to get a phase-charge cooling system to run it!

Pre-Turkey Day? Hell that's still quite a ways off and I don't know what kind of savings there would be (and if there's a rush on parts and you can't get any, then what good is saving $20?).

I think that most items I need are pretty much at the bottom...they still might dip, but nothing like the dip in AMD CPU prices after C2D was released. Overall, I doubt if the price delta would be more than $100 (between now and then).

If someone knows otherwise, let me know.

 

[NewbieTechGodII]

are you sure you don't want the pre-thanksgiving savings??

Quad-core is useless at this point cause all apps and games are gonna be dual-core optimized for the next few years.

That is almost true. Applications like Photoshop and Poser will take advantage of the extra cores more quickly because it means a noticeable speed up in the application. Now of course the solutions (CPU-wise) you will see this year are not really Quad core anyway, so I don't know how much it will matter.


Yeah, but about the only program I run that takes advantage of multicore processing is Nero, and I don't even use it that much. SQL Server might, I've never looked.

 

[godlyatheist]

how long are you gonna keep your proc?? if you keep it for a year or more you'll need the multi-core

 

[Sean618]

but at least here in the UK I've seen a fall in price.

All the 2gb matched pair have gone up ridiculously. The corsair I was gonna get went up by £20 so I looked around found some G.Skill, a week later I go to pay and its £30 more expensive. Even the VS stuff is expensive and on ebay.co.uk the memory can go for higher then retail prices!!

 

[shadowduck]

are you sure you don't want the pre-thanksgiving savings??

Quad-core is useless at this point cause all apps and games are gonna be dual-core optimized for the next few years.

That is almost true. Applications like Photoshop and Poser will take advantage of the extra cores more quickly because it means a noticeable speed up in the application. Now of course the solutions (CPU-wise) you will see this year are not really Quad core anyway, so I don't know how much it will matter.


Yeah, but about the only program I run that takes advantage of multicore processing is Nero, and I don't even use it that much. SQL Server might, I've never looked.

Look at the article Tom did. HD encoding for example is 70% faster with quad core vs dual core.

 

[NewbieTechGodII]

how long are you gonna keep your proc?? if you keep it for a year or more you'll need the multi-core

I am planning on at least 3 years or more. The current system I have is like 5+ years old (some components were replaced at times or added). The system is:

AMD 1.2GHz Thunderbird (slightly OC'd to 1.33), Socket A
512MBs PC2100/PC2700 RAM
ABIT KG7 MB (AGP 4x, USB 1, 1-DIMM slot busted

Antec 350W PS (now it's a generic 400W)
Antec Super LanBoy case

ATI AIW RADEON 8500DV (AGP 4x, 64MBs RAM)
Creative SoundBlaster Live! with Live! Drive

DLink 10/100NIC
Belkin USB 2.0 PCI card

Lite-On DVD+RW
3.5 FDD
Maxtor 120GB HDD, ATA133 (MB interface is only an ATA100)

Klipsch 2.1 speakers

So, as you all can see, I don't upgrade every time something new comes out (but hell- wouldn't that be fun?). I was considering s939 (even though I know it's dying), but am now going to go AM2 (probably because DDR prices have sky-rocketed along with DDR2). C2D is also out because it sounds like Intel is flaky with the way it does its chipsets.