DRAM Prices at 22-Month Low, Start Buying
DRAM prices have fallen to a 22-month low, according to market research published by DRAMexchange.
1 Gb DDR3 fell to just $0.87, which is a 3.3% decline just for January, while 1 Gb DDR2 is trading at the spot market at around $1.45.
The low prices are primarily due to apparently weak demand from PC market and increasing DRAM production, which was prompted by an optimistic outlook for PC sales. The 1 Gb DDR3 memory chips are currently seeing the highest demand and lowest prices as a result.
DRAMexchange said that especially second-tier chipmakers will have to cut their production to be able to survive this downturn and help stabilize DRAM prices.
For PC makers, however, the current market is seen as an opportunity to boost DRAM capacity in their systems and consumers are likely to see lower DRAM prices in stores as well. The bottom line? If you have been waiting for a good time to upgrade the memory in your PC, keep an eye on the market now.
The prices today blow that out of the water. The last few machines I've built were easily able to fit 8~12GB of memory into the budget.
I'm actually tempted to upgrade my machine to 8GB because I've got a personal project I'm working on the requires processing a 17GB dataset and the extra RAM would be of some use.
I run 12GB in my system and 8GB in my old system. I can tell you running WoW as well as my browser with tons of Tabs open, IM, etc... that I routinely go over 5GB used. Sure, 12 may be overkill now, but i plan on keeping that machine for at least 4 years and I am sure to find apps and games that will utilize more RAM. Especially once we start seeing a lot more 64bit game clients.
Although if you're overclocking a CPU through increasing the BCLK then less RAM could be beneficial.
I suggest you read this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ram-memory-upgrade,2778-6.html
That's bad economics. It's higher supply that would lower prices. The result of higher demand would be a higher price, not lower.
/Hands GeekApproved a flame-retardent jacket and flak jacket...
You're gonna need it...
Cool specs. I've got 12gb DDR 3, 8 core bulldozer at 4.01Ghz/12gb DDR3, Asus 6990 4gb, and 2561x1600 super ips panel via display port. That makes my life grander than yours. PS. You're a tool.
Here's one person hoping we'll see some LGA 2011 consumer boards with 8 DIMMs (I want the extra memory, but don't want a server board). Who needs a SSD?