DRAM Prices at 22-Month Low, Start Buying

By Douglas Perry
published

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.

Douglas Perry
46 Comments Comment from the forums
  • captaincharisma
    4GB of ram is good enough for me
    Reply
  • one-shot
    RAM is very cheap on Newegg. It's about 50% than it was last year at this time. I'm talking about OCZ RAM, but I would pass on that brand. I've had lots of faulty DIMMs.
    Reply
  • jrharbort
    The lowest I saw DDR3 reach back in 2009 was about $55 for 4GB in August. Prices spiked afterwards, but it looks like someone messed up on their math somewhere, and there is just too much available 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.
    Reply
  • joytech22
    I think I'll stick with my 8GB, and wow production is cheap, they sell these things for 60x their value, I wonder if everything else does the same thing, maybe my 6850 only cost $10 to make?!
    Reply
  • jprahman
    I hadn't checked on RAM prices for about 3 months since my build and I finally checked prices again on newegg about a week ago and was shocked. RAM that had cost me $90 three months ago was selling for $45. You get can 8GB of 1600MHz DDR3 for only about $100.

    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.
    Reply
  • geekapproved
    Anything over 6gb is a complete waste. Anything over 3gb for gaming is a waste.
    Reply
  • Nakal
    OK Bill Gates and no one needs more than 640k of RAM... *sigh*

    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.
    Reply
  • of the way
    With 15% promo code and $25 mail-in-rebate, I got 4GB for 28.54 shipped about a month ago. Now the price dropped $20, and with the current $15 MIR, it's still about $30 shipped. Don't see it getting much better than that without delving into the lower end stuff.
    Reply
  • c0oim4n
    I remember back in August I bought my new machine, and I shelled out $85 for 2x2GB G.Skill DDR3, and that was the cheapest stuff they had on NewEgg. Now? That same kit I bought for $85 is under $40, and it's really pissing me off! Trust me folks, get your RAM now, while its dirt cheap!
    Reply
  • jprahman
    Yeah it's a waste for most people, but who cares. Extra RAM isn't going to slow your computer down, and it's so dirt cheap there;s not much of a reason not to get a extra RAM. Besides the OS can use the extra RAM for the hard drive page cache which could give a slight performance boost for files that get accessed frequently, like say the browser cache.

    Although if you're overclocking a CPU through increasing the BCLK then less RAM could be beneficial.
    Reply