Any idea when RAM prices will be “normal”again?
Posted by Porespellar@reddit | LocalLLaMA | View on Reddit | 223 comments
Is it the datacenter buildouts driving prices up? WTF? DDR4 and DDR5 prices are kinda insane right now (compared to like a couple months ago).
AutomaticDriver5882@reddit
I tired buying a 256 gb at 3,277.00 I placed the order and they tell you they’ll give you like a 6% discount. They sat on the order for like a week I tried contacting them and then they canceled it and then told me it was $1000 more. Did this serverorbit.com
slumdogbi@reddit
Super normal price in Spain. Don’t know what are you guys talking about
devshore@reddit
When they figure out how stupid it is to have the entire world depend on Taiwan for its computing power. Unless they secretly have alien-tech, there is no reason first-world countries cannot also do it.
woahdudee2a@reddit
it might as well be alien tech
Different_Fix_2217@reddit
Not for the foreseeable future sadly. Unless the AI market crashes they are buying up all demand for as far as we can see.
Dayder111@reddit
The job availability crashes too throughout next several years, at least the knowledge/freelance/remote/computer work.
Maleficent-Owl-5251@reddit
Also GPU prices
XiRw@reddit
I couldn’t believe 64gb of ram was $1000 for me
Jack-Donaghys-Hog@reddit
So wait, what actually happened?
I bought 2x32GB Teamgroup T-force delta RGB ram in February for $170.
The same item on Amazon right now is $690.
Is this all because of AI?
madadekinai@reddit
Data centers have requested priority in production over consumer hardware, we MIGHT start see drops in prices after 2027.
alppawack@reddit
Can someone explain to me why ddr5 ram(even ddr4!) is so hot right now? I thought performance is bad because of memory bandwidth they can reach. Do actually any of the providers use them in AI interference? Or is it because general scarcity?
MitsotakiShogun@reddit
My guess is that the same memory modules (or at least base materials) are used for consumer RAM and server RAM (with extra chips on the stick for ECC function?), and since every new server (of which there are a bunch) needs 12-24+ of those where consumer builds need 1-4, that doesn't help.
Also RAM isn't used for inference in data centers (at least not often). It's just for second-tier KV caching, or other applications (loading and preparing datasets during training, CPU-based ML, databases, etc).
OldTimeConGoer@reddit
It's fab wafers rather than the different types of RAM. Each wafer can be turned into hundreds of GDDR7 and HBM chips for data centres and inference engines or it can be exposed and etched and diced to make DDR5 chips for consumer/office PCs and laptops.
The Big Think guys have put their money down and claimed 900,000 wafers a month production for their unique needs, with an option for another 900,000 wafers a month if they call for it. Production of DDR5 and GDDR6X (used in current consumer GPUs) memory comes after the Big Think guys put down their forks and knives and step back from the dining table.
madadekinai@reddit
Simply put, big business wins, consumers lose.
Data centers are wanting priority over consumers, and the people who make the ram are more than willing to sell, fulfill in bulk to the big guy first and rest will trickle down to consumers. They are making big business priority over consumers.
_VirtualCosmos_@reddit
But remember, the market regulates itself.
madadekinai@reddit
Yeah, that's wrong, and an ignorant take with a 'free market' in a capitalist society. That has been proven wrong how many times?
_VirtualCosmos_@reddit
Nah, bro, you just need to think like a shark, bro, regulations are commie shit and only make things worse, bro, trust me.
madadekinai@reddit
So if the rich decideds to buy up all medical supplies?
Perhaps they buy up all the water?
If people don't have ram, do computers still work?
Conservatives lost their shit when someone purchased all the hand sanitizers during COVID, that 'free market' meant shit when it inconvenienced them.
Entire industries are affected, not just consumers, that's a reckless and asinine take during such situations.
devshore@reddit
Free markets dont mean companies can buy out all hand sanitizer and so it isnt a contraditcion. Principals of free markets also produce things like anti-trust law and laws against monopolies precisely because they prevent the mechanisms that free markets depend on. People vote with their feet and all the commies want to move to the most capitalist countries.
foxgirlmoon@reddit
Did you somehow miss the obvious sarcasm? Obviously it’s wrong, but that’s what they say and a lot of people are lapping it up.
madadekinai@reddit
In this day an age, it's hard to tell when someone in serious or not, LOL. That's why there /s at the end of comments to indicate that. I am sorry about that.
_VirtualCosmos_@reddit
Didn't know about the /s thing, sorry. Yeah, it was sarcasm.
MitsotakiShogun@reddit
Not sure why people downvote you,
/sshould be used regardless since some people are unable (not simply dense) to differentiate, even in spoken language where tone helps. It's been multiple decades of this being a joke, so much that it even made it to popular sitcoms (e.g. Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory)._VirtualCosmos_@reddit
They will never associate those problems with free market. That would cause them headaches, so they avoid it, it's called Cognitive Dissonance lmao.
skocznymroczny@reddit
What kind of regulations do you expect? Mandatory prices for RAM? Force the RAM companies to produce cheap RAM for consumers?
CorpusculantCortex@reddit
Not for nothing it is pretty easy, a product can only have one price, and commodity goods must be available at xx% to general consumers and necessity goods at yy% to general consumers. Limits scarcity and prevents artificial price bloat from scarcity even when it exists.
It is a risk with all goods not just ram.
15Starrs@reddit
His taxes are being used to drive up his ram prices by huge government spending, citizen. He has every right to be upset.
CuriouslyCultured@reddit
You're absolutely right! Telling people what they can and can't do is bullshit. Guns for everyone! Murder anyone you don't like!
MinistryForWired@reddit
Money knows no morale, after all. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
devshore@reddit
Its not an”free market” if Taiwan is the only one producing it. Socialist countries also have expensive RAM
GokuMK@reddit
Of course it regulates, but it will take time.
cobbleplox@reddit
Sure, the high price is lowering demand since many probably wont buy 64GB for 1000 bucks. That's already properly regulated from a pure market perspective. However increasing supply is probably more of a longer term thing. Short term maybe it allows allocating some production resources to that instead of something else due to the high price, but that doesn't really solve the price. And building new factories takes time and is risky because the increased demand might go away. That's how you get a pork cycle.
Anyway, if this was a criticism of market logic, I don't really see how other systems would not have to wait for more factories to be built to solve this.
_VirtualCosmos_@reddit
Bru, the prices are still increasing, yes, people are buying that shit price by fear of it getting even more expensive. Supply and demand, they lowered the supply to near 0 levels, so the prices increase immensely. There are a lot of examples of the markets regulating only in favor of a side, adadekinai did put it very simple and clear: big business wins, consumers lose.
The stronger gets always a better portion. It's like an elephant convincing a mouse that evolution "just works". Yeah, of course it works, and it works better for you if nothing can kill you mothafuka. Meanwhile the mouse get fucked by nearly every living thing. We should know how to do it better.
By example, if an industry is key for the supply of something widely demanded by people, that industry *must* provide a minimum of that supply unless there are problems that makes it unviable. If those problems arise, the government *must* try to fix them. But they will call me a commie for suggesting such crazy things. And when the government saves big failing companies that are only key for some billionaires, everything is fine.
This problem with RAM roots in the fact that Samsung and the other companies that produce RAM got a contract so much profitable, that it was more economic to switch ddr4/5 factories into HBM than building new HBM factories. They are moved by pure money, capitalism in a nutshell, and since no one is stopping them, they fuck everyone else.
cultish_alibi@reddit
They also have infinity money because the AI datacenter boom is apparently worth sinking 1.5 TRILLION dollars into, before it's ever shown profitability.
But according to Sam they will rule the world so I guess that's good enough for them to own all the RAM coming out of all the factories. Insane, stupid world we live in.
sibilischtic@reddit
If ram too expensive, people have to use datacenters for their compute thinking
Serprotease@reddit
It’s not really the ram stick the silicon and production lines from memory manufacturers that are hogged by AI orders.
Basically, gddr7 and HBM modules will be produced first. Whatever production capabilities left will be for gddr5 that will end up in the ram stick that you will buy.
Why ddr5 is price are high now is panic buying and gouging. Everyone talks how bad it will be so they buy now, and quite a few are buying in bulk to sold it back.
Data center are not buying your gskill ddr5 kit. They buy ecc ddr5 kits
This also why ddr4 is in the crossfire (That’s only used in hobby AI really, and only the ecc kind as well.)
When the shortage will actually hit, you will see a spike in laptop and phone prices. Solder ram is the same as the other kind, it’s just not easy to scalp.
howardhus@reddit
RAM is the new toilet paper
SilentLennie@reddit
Also supposedly smartphones/tablets will get hit, because Nvidia also uses LPDDR as RAM (not VRAM).
Rainbows4Blood@reddit
It's general scarcity. Fabs that could be used to make consumer DDR4 and DDR5 get retooled to make data center RAM.
SilentLennie@reddit
The companies producing memory shift their production capacity to make more HBM, etc.
An important point (supposedly): it takes 3 times as much production capacity to create a HBM module than a regular RAM module.
Also mobile will be in trouble too, because LPDDR is also used in the datacenter
realmauer01@reddit
Artificial inteligence needs a lot, and i mean a shit ton of vram and ram and of course as fast as possible. Thats why gpu prices were high (and still are) and why now ram prices go up.
ThisGonBHard@reddit
OpenAI pulling monopoly type shit, bying 40% of current DRAM capacity, and I mean modules, no sticks, wasting in warehouses.
I am almost sure this is a move to stave competition, and I hate them more for it.
KontoOficjalneMR@reddit
MoE models. With very sparse models ram speed is less important while the amount of ram needed grows.
tat_tvam_asshole@reddit
https://i.redd.it/iogr00fegc4g1.gif
isuckatpiano@reddit
Data centers use ECC ram though
Wekmor@reddit
Which will be produced instead of non-ecc memory
Danger_Pickle@reddit
Supposedly, OpenAI walked into negotiations with all the major suppliers and bought half their stock. Then, after everyone else saw how fragile their supply was, they panic bought everything they could, forcing prices into the sky. No one had any spare inventory because RAM prices have been steadily dropping for a year, and companies exhausted their inventory trying to coast through US tariffs. This is a demand side shock. OpenAI doesn't have enough money to buy 50% of the entire RAM supply in the market, and prices will trend back to normal once the scalping stops and supply catches up.
Unfortunately, there are genuine downward pressure on supply. The new GPU RAM has a higher failure rate during manufacturing leading to less supply, and the ongoing trade war has delayed older manufacturing machines being moved to China, further reducing supply of older chips. The price scare isn't entirely unfounded, but both of those problems are short term issues. Now that RAM is insanely overpriced, companies are working to bring the spare capacity back online quickly.
The good news is that all those factors are transitory, and I expect prices to return to normal much faster than the crypto boom of 2017. I expect that in 6 months prices will be back to normal-ish. Holiday seasons are never a great time to buy computer components, but I expect the RAM price explosion to be fixed by next year. We'll know if things get bad if OEMs start delaying products beyond Q1.
dolche93@reddit
I'm hopeful long term these new sources of demand will lower prices in general by allowing manufacturers to expand their production facilities.
Mostly I just want consumer enthusiast grade hardware to become reasonable. I'd love to me able to buy a box I could plug into my desktop. I've got all these extra pcie slots, would be cool to see cards created designed to allow extra 'ai boxes' to be plugged in.
Dry_Yam_4597@reddit
Its because of FOMO and undercapacity manufacturing. AI is just another excuse.
CheekyBastard55@reddit
Why isn't it the same globally?
Right now here in Sweden(with 25% VAT!!!), I can get Patriot Viper Venom DDR5 2 x 32gb 6400 Mhz for 2600SEK, which is roughly $260 and that's with 25% VAT.
Dry_Yam_4597@reddit
Old stock? I'd buy it and sell it for a markup 😅
Wekmor@reddit
And this is largely why the prices shot up so much. People buying up stock just to hoard/sell for higher now.
Dry_Yam_4597@reddit
The prices shot up because manufacturers cause artificial scarcity. Much like gpu manufacturers. Not because a dude on reddit jokes about buying two ram sticks and selling them at a markup.
dolche93@reddit
How do you know the scarcity is artificial? Are you claiming there are production lines just.. sitting idle?
10thDeadlySin@reddit
And that's how you get the GPU crisis of 2020-2022. Plenty of people thought exactly that and decided that even if they don't need GPUs themselves, they might as well grab them at MSRP or grab whatever used hardware they could get their hands on, then turn around and sell them to miners willing to pay any price for a usable GPU.
And then retailers and resellers started doing the exact same thing, because why would they sell one GPU to a customer at MSRP, if they can just sell them by a pallet directly to miners at a nice markup?
taking_bullet@reddit
One retailer in Poland offered 2x16GB DDR5 6000/CL36 for exactly 99€ (419 PLN) during Black Friday. 23% VAT included.
SkyFeistyLlama8@reddit
It's not an excuse. Nvidia is buying up huge chunks of RAM manufacturing capacity for its data center GPUs and CPUs.
No one gives a shit about consumers playing with local LLMs.
Larger laptop and server manufacturers still have lots of existing RAM stock so they're not paying spot prices but smaller shops could go under because of this.
DigThatData@reddit
way more likely trump tariffs knockon effects.
Fywq@reddit
Ram prices are exploding globally. 2x32GB DDR5 is around 1000$ in Denmark too. We are always higher due to our VAT but this is insane.
Hyiazakite@reddit
Weird, I just bought 4 x 16 GB DDR5 ADATA XPG 6000 MHz from Amazon Sweden for 587 SEK (60 USD)? I thought it was tarrifs in the US, causing the price as I have only read US comments about the price increase. I haven't noticed anything. Prices here in Sweden still feel lower than normal.
Fywq@reddit
Wait what? That is insane. I tried the Swedish Amazon but for some reason they don't ship to Denmark. Have to go with the German one, where most kits are not even in stock anymore and prices have exploded.
DigThatData@reddit
prices on amazon don't always mean what you think they do. a lot of items on amazon are listed there just as a marketplace and aren't really amazon selling them, e.g. even if you're searching on the german amazon, you might be seeing prices from independent sellers in the US or scammers in china or whatever.
I was cleaning up my wishlist the other day and certain items that I had added to the list years ago had their prices relisted in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars for like, a hardcover textbook. I think a bunch of amazon sketchiness like this is people trying to game the algorithm in various ways, or people using amazon as a money laundering front.
Not saying prices haven't spiked. I haven't checked, and I don't need RAM so I sorta don't care. But if you are relying on prices from amazon, I'd recommend you try to find local retailers and see what kind of prices they're offering before deciding the market has gone insane.
Fywq@reddit
Oh it's the same from every credible webshop in Denmark (aggregated through pricerunner.dk). In fact Amazon was the cheapest offer, with my normal preferred danish webshops being 100+ $ more expensive.
Double_Cause4609@reddit
More precisely: It's because OpenAI closed a deal for 40% of the annual memory wafers that go into System RAM, **in one day**.
It appears they did it because they couldn't stop people from purchasing GPUs, so they took away their memory to build servers, basically.
menictagrib@reddit
I'm not necessarily doubting you, as I'm aware 90% of these companies operations are basically real world paperclip machines for compute at this point, but is there a more sophisticated analysis security they actually ate an opportunity cost that large with so much debt primarily to limit their competitors ability to use GPUs?
twilight-actual@reddit
https://www.mooreslawisdead.com/post/sam-altman-s-dirty-dram-deal
DerFreudster@reddit
Perhaps a horse head in Sam Altman's bed is the answer?
Illustrious-Dot-6888@reddit
That way, when Sam wakes up, he thinks it's a mirror.
Jack-Donaghys-Hog@reddit
link?
brimston3-@reddit
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-01/samsung-sk-hynix-ink-deal-to-supply-gear-to-openai-s-stargate
Global annual dram production is around 2 million wafers.
twilight-actual@reddit
No. It's because of Sam Altman.
https://www.mooreslawisdead.com/post/sam-altman-s-dirty-dram-deal
claythearc@reddit
It’s mostly because of greed - Best Buy employee pricing (5% over cost) is still reasonable and Newegg bundles this year are fine. There’s likely some supply issues at the center of it but seems like the only people making a killing are the retailers and not the mfgs spiking prices which points to a different explanation than just AI like the current wisdom suggests
Jack-Donaghys-Hog@reddit
Greed is not an explanation.
fallingdowndizzyvr@reddit
2 years ago 2x32GB sticks cost me $100.
Unlucky-Message8866@reddit
3 months ago 2x32GB DDR5 cost me 240 EUR, now they are 890 EUR...
webdevop@reddit
That was probably DDR4
leftsharkfuckedurmum@reddit
2x8 DDR4 costs ~90 right now
Jack-Donaghys-Hog@reddit
ya mine was DDR5
balianone@reddit
buy & hold
stacksmasher@reddit
Yea they want to load as much data into rAM as possible.
Jack-Donaghys-Hog@reddit
What do you mean?
InvertedVantage@reddit
Yep.
Puzzleheaded_Ad_3980@reddit
I was literally at bestbuy on Friday and couldn’t believe what I was seeing, to then have the audacity to only have 5070’s in the gpu case.
$1000!!!!!!!!!! For 64GB of ram????? You could buy a older M Max or Pro chipped Mac/MacBook for that price. Idk what’s going one other than a conspiratorial push to put up class blockades on local rigs. Pricing the majority of people out of even coming close to building a hefty rig.
Lol that’s a joke, kinda, but honestly it’s getting insane. These prices can’t be part of the beautiful world I was born into. There’s something we need to tip the scales.
More competitive sellers and more companies making these products. It’s insane
Smile_Clown@reddit
Can't make a comment without implied insult.. sorry.
That is the most narrow minded supposition I've seen in a while.
The issue is that all the big players have taken all the resources of the memory and gpu production etc. The manufacturers have all shifted production to these higher value and guaranteed income sources. X, Meta, Apple Microsoft and all the other 1000 companies trying to AI their entire existence.
It is not some vast conspiracy to keep the common man from having a "rig". That is so absurd. There isn't 5,000 memory chip producers, they number in the handful and they are all going at 100%.
Some of us on reddit really have trouble thinking beyond ourselves, as in if it affects me it must be because of / in spite of / caused by me.
(that's the insult btw, not being able to think beyond "me")
I'd like to see you start up your own memory company. This technology is not like opening a pizza joint. It takes BILIIONS and fabs that take years to build. As far as sellers, you confuse sellers with resellers. 99% of all memory comes from the same handful of manufacturers. I can literally get MY last name printed on (any product here) with a logo and packaging and start selling it on Amazon.
The only relief comes from the AI Bubble bursting and orders being cancelled.
moldyjellybean@reddit
Price collusion
twilight-actual@reddit
https://www.mooreslawisdead.com/post/sam-altman-s-dirty-dram-deal
The_Hardcard@reddit
There are some number of internet bros who decided they flat out hate Moore’s Law Is Dead. And they express this by trying to smash down anyone who uses him as a source for anything.
He clearly has connections that allows him to leak information and there are a number of these leakers. All of these leakers release information that don’t pan out, but for some reason, this guy really illicits disgust and disdain.
moldyjellybean@reddit
that is f up
claythearc@reddit
I bought 64gb of ddr5 6k mt for $240 on Friday so there’s still semi reasonable deals out there
Porespellar@reddit (OP)
Ugh, I know, I had a 256GB DDR5 RDIMM kit (64GB X 4) in my shopping cart a few months ago for like $1400, now it’s $2892. It makes me sad I didn’t buy it back then.
power97992@reddit
What, you might as well buy a mac studio now lol….you get 200usd /16 gb with a mac and the ram is way faster
stumblinbear@reddit
Makes me sad I only bought 192GB. Considering selling it, haha
xxPoLyGLoTxx@reddit
I upgraded an old rig with 128gb ddr4 for $300 a few months ago. It was the max it supported and I got a great deal in hindsight. I’m still mad because I wanted to get even more and now definitely can’t. Well, won’t. Not at these prices.
CheatCodesOfLife@reddit
I bought 192GB (4x48) DDR5 in July, then upgraded to 256GB (4x64GB) in Aug.
I should be happy but for some reason I'm pissed off. I want to know if I can upgrade my motherboard and to (4x48gb) + (4x64gb) but can't find a definitive answer...
Hunting-Succcubus@reddit
here, you can have some cookie.
sicktriple@reddit
Same time we expect GPU prices to normalize
SilentLennie@reddit
Well, as I heard someone say: there is a cycle for GPUs, less expensive at this time of year and more expensive at the end of the year/start of the year.
I've not checked yet.
sicktriple@reddit
Well I mean some of us remember a time before crypto and the enshittification of everything where GPUs weren't 80% of the build cost, they were priced more like a CPU and tied to actual consumer market demand
SilentLennie@reddit
For me personally, a GPU isn't a product I spend much time on in the past, I wasn't a gamer and I wasn't a crypto guy (at most though RL was kind of interesting (AlphaGoZero is hugely impressive) or the use of cryptographic algorithms use case for block chain was kind of interesting from a technical perspective or the security aspect of people using GPUs to make password hashes rainbow tables to crack it), it was as interesting to me as the USB-cable. So I'm the wrong person to ask about past GPU pricing.
howardhus@reddit
well they did normalize.. you can buy RTX at normal prices now
BlackDragonBE@reddit
Around the time when I drop dead.
fractalcrust@reddit
prices never go down. inflation is a ratchet. By the time the datacenter demand dries up, inflation will compensate
SanDiegoDude@reddit
Folks were buying 3090's for 3 grand in 2020. Prices did finally come down as supply lines recovered from the covid insanity, but it was insanity there for awhile.
Captain_Pumpkinhead@reddit
Seems I bought my Framework Desktop at the perfect time.
Such_Advantage_6949@reddit
At this price, buying used 3090 for the vram is more worth it than buy ram
Confident-Ad-3465@reddit
Who needs traditional RAM when you got VRAM??
_VirtualCosmos_@reddit
Used 3090s in Spain are even harder to get. They are rarely lower than 1200 euros and they are super scarce.
blaou@reddit
There is plenty on ebay.de for around 500eur
AppearanceHeavy6724@reddit
Buy in Ukraine. Still cheap there.
_VirtualCosmos_@reddit
I need to get crippled or killed by suicide optic fiber drones to get one too?
AppearanceHeavy6724@reddit
Haha. Things are cheap for a reason, yes.
DottorInkubo@reddit
Bro, do you ship to the rest of Europe? 😆
_VirtualCosmos_@reddit
Lmao, fair.
Fywq@reddit
Same in Denmark
CynicalTelescope@reddit
I'd expect prices for used hardware to go up for this very reason
pier4r@reddit
of course. Supply/demand.
New costs too much, people buy old. People buy old: prices go up (and maybe more people are willing to sell used stuff)
There was a 2 year period where raspberry PI were super rare exactly for this reason. 1 raspi 3B+ new was over $100 instead of 30
alex_bit_@reddit
3090s are already becoming pricier and scarce due to AI hobbyists.
lurenjia_3x@reddit
If you’re specifically asking about DDR5, that would be around 2027, when DDR6 enters mass production.
But if you mean memory components in general, we’ll probably have to wait until production lines expand enough to create oversupply, which seems unlikely. With built-in local AI in OS and UMA technology becoming common, the baseline standard for PC memory might rise sharply, with the average possibly reaching 64GB (Visual Studio 2026 already recommends 64GB).
offlinesir@reddit
To be fair, the reason visual studio 2026 now recommends 64gb as a minimum is so devs can ask for faster machines from management.
Source reddit comment by product manager
Sir-ScreamsALot@reddit
What a guy <3
autodidacticasaurus@reddit
Actually, this is terrible. Devs should have the worst machines possible, so they stop producing bloated software. There's no reason in the universe that Spotify should be so much slower than YouTube, just as one example. It's absurd.
RobTheDude_OG@reddit
For web dev you can manually lower performance afaik in browsers like edge.
I wouldn't be able to use performance profiler on piss poor hardware which by itself slows down the application by like 20-40x due to how it collects data.
And then there's the whole thing with the warehouse using up a fuckload of storage performance memory and size the longer it runs and often uses 24gb ram when trying to stop it after a run of 30 minutes.
So 64gb requirement isn't so shocking to me. (Performance profiler btw is a buggy fuckfest as is and only works sometimes)
the__storm@reddit
Most devs are not working on consumer-facing software, or at least not the frontend. (Although for those that are I agree - they should be spending at least a day or two a week using a shitbox. I think Facebook has or used to have a policy like that.)
You would not believe the dogs that corporate hands out though. Just four or five years ago my manager had to fight to get us upgraded from 8 to 16 GB of memory. Around that time I downgraded my monitor from 4k to 1440p because my work laptop was struggling to maintain a stable framerate on the desktop.
Sir-ScreamsALot@reddit
The quality of a dev’s computer has no impact on the final game, just on sanity. You need to take the min requirements up with the PMs
autodidacticasaurus@reddit
I disagree. This is spoken about a lot on HN and there is somewhat of a consensus on that this is why this is happening.
Sir-ScreamsALot@reddit
HN is a circlejerk. If you want optimized games, add that to the requirements and test accordingly. If I have a potato to code on, it’s not going to be my best work.
SilkTouchm@reddit
Ah yes, HN, the ultimate arbiter of truth.
howardhus@reddit
nice of him to help out the corporate devs... still it seems he is one if not the reason now RAM prices is going through the roof for private consumers as well..
stoppableDissolution@reddit
...yet we are still being provided a 16gb ram vdi. I can choose between having two instances of vs open and debugging our app in one of them, never both!
Logical_Look8541@reddit
FYI that's delayed now till 2029 or later. Sk Hynix dropped that bombshell in its AI summit a month ago, assume its due to Zen7 / Intels 1.4nm CPU's aiming for that time.
egomarker@reddit
Most probably it's not even related to any events at all. Retailers/producers probed the market for higher prices and demand didn't decrease, so they've probed market for even higher prices, and so on.
We all knew RAM prices will eventually reach Apple levels, it was just a matter of time.
Michaeli_Starky@reddit
About the same day when the GPU prices will be normal again. In other words probably never.
iron_coffin@reddit
At least into Q2 2026 most likely based on sold memory capacity.
twilight-actual@reddit
Try December of next year.
iron_coffin@reddit
I don't disagree, but that's how much RAM production capacity is sold out is what I read. No notable CPUs have been released for a while, so maybe it will calm down after the panic settles. Closer to 100% more than the fall than the hockey stick.
960be6dde311@reddit
I would guess it'll balance out in the new year. These types of cycles happen occasionally. Remember when it was almost impossible to get an NVIDIA GPU about a year ago?
OldCulprit@reddit
Started putting together an AI rig back in the summer. Trying to max out DDR5 RAM on a z890 MB. Bought two different sets of 4x48 6000 MT without success, then pivoted to a 4x64 6000 MT set. Still could only get 2 sticks to work. Meh - 128GB not so bad for where I am in the process. Should probably sell the extras, but for some reason I want to hold on to those extract sticks like they are bitcoin.
noneintherub@reddit
IIRC, Sam Altman bought up all the ram from both major suppliers PLUS the raw/unfinished wafers (a cheap attempt at slowing competitors) that's to thank for this unprecedented mark up.
Velocita84@reddit
How did he or the suppliers not get hit with an anti trust for this
twilight-actual@reddit
Because Korean ram manufacturers aren't subject to US law. To be fair, neither of the manufacturers were aware of what Sam was doing at the time. He had reps deal with them simultaneously. I doubt they would have given him a deal he could afford had they known he was trying to corner the market.
SilentLennie@reddit
Welcome to the US, money in politics/regulatory capture or how I would call it: to much capitalism (capitalism is fine as an engine for the economy, but it should not have influence in the regulatory body, that should be as independent as possible).
CV514@reddit
They probably will be hit. In 10 years or so.
Blizado@reddit
I hadn't thought of that. But of course, this is also being exploited for personal gain. And all PC users (inclusive all companies who use anywhere PCs) are left to pay the price.
I'm slowly beginning to understand why hatred toward AI companies seems to be growing. They act completely ruthlessly to gain even the smallest advantage over their competitors, regardless of the collateral damage they cause.
aimark42@reddit
$3k for a Nvidia GB10 is looking way more reasonable in this market. Especially since Strix Halo machines are increasing in price.
tehAwesomer@reddit
I’m so glad I decided to upgrade my ram in September
aimark42@reddit
I'm so glad I max'ed out 2x machines in July when Level1Tech's did video on CPU optimized models, figured that might be a thing so I ordered 2x64gb ddr5 kits for $300/ea.
howardhus@reddit
me too decided to upgrade in september... back den i decided to wait for blackfriday... here i am...checking out my saved bookmarks and not trusting my eyes
Finanzamt_Endgegner@reddit
same bought another 32gb ddr5 6600 kit for 125 bucks its 400 now 😅
power97992@reddit
That is $200/16gb the same price for ram on a macbook pro if u upgrade 48 gb to 64 gb
a_beautiful_rhind@reddit
$20 to $130 for a DDR4 ecc 32gb. used
Motor_Middle3170@reddit
If the OpenAI bubble bursts, and they can break their deal, adjustments could happen within a month, otherwise it will be another 15-18 months before capacity increases at the major fabs. That's from the lead times of lithography equipment alone.
aimark42@reddit
I doubt it happens that fast, even if the AI bubble bursts it will be 6 months+ for the market to stabilize. It will cause extreme volatility in the short term. Microsoft or someone will takeover projects and they will still continue to build some of these massive datacenters, just maybe not as many as planned. Rhe sucking sound for chips even if it slows down will take months to normalize the consumer market.
Blizado@reddit
And that capacity increase only helps the AI companies. I doubt that we normal customers will profit from it. Not before the AI bubble burst.
howardhus@reddit
yea.. i was going to buy in September and decided "oh well ill wait till black friday... RAM is such a commodity"...
i just checked prices today.. 0.o
koushd@reddit
2-3 years. however the price may just stay there and this is the new normal.
Novel-Mechanic3448@reddit
No this is not the new normal. Please stop saying this. Prices of a core component can't 5x just because there's 5 american companies that can afford it. That is not sustainable at all.
No its not comparable to GPUs, for most use cases, a GPU is entirely unnecessary.
koushd@reddit
Of course it’s sustainable, it’s highly profitable for the memory manufacturers.
xxPoLyGLoTxx@reddit
Funny how often that happens.
MetricZero@reddit
The tariffs, the decrease in USD purchasing power, AI datacenters, and people knowing they can get away with charging higher prices for better margins. Supply and demand. More factories with better chip making capabilities are being built. The rate is something like two new factories every year or so now. There's a scaling law that has things growing exponentially and we haven't reached that limit yet. Another 200 years for that before we start looking to the stars.
dragon3301@reddit
When's nvidia gonna pop
twilight-actual@reddit
December of next year. And you can thank OpenAI for the artificially high prices. I'm never using OpenAI models again.
Outright ban for this type of behavior.
https://www.mooreslawisdead.com/post/sam-altman-s-dirty-dram-deal
Seriously. Just avoid them. Don't buy their tokens. Don't use their models.
Icy_Concentrate9182@reddit
You just wait, the same thing happened with gpu, any time now... Right?... RIGHT!!??!!
SilentLennie@reddit
My guess is, it's gonna go up even more and it will be years to come down. RAM manufacturers can not keep up with AI training hardware demand and are and will maybe shift even more to that side (just get better paid, where else are you going to go ?). An important point (supposedly): it takes 3 times as much production capacity to create a HBM module than a regular RAM module.
hejj@reddit
They're inflated because of hoarding by AI data centers. So probably when AI is a bit less popular
Rubfer@reddit
If people buy, it will indicate thay its fine to keep them permanently expensive even when all the supply returns to normal, same happened to GPUs since people kept buying overpriced scalped cards, that just told nvidia that is fine to charge titan prices for a 80 tier card
kaeptnphlop@reddit
I concur with the first part.
The phones though, my suspicion is that people only get them because they’re rolled into a phone plan and it doesn’t “feel” like spending $1000+ on a phone. If you asked most people to drop that money as a lump sum, most people would probably scoff. But then again, it’s also the only computing device that some people own and use. Phone prices are wild regardless
zipperlein@reddit
I don't care I will keep my 3090s rig until DDR6 hits the market and see where to go from there.
Blizado@reddit
DDR6 will also not be cheap in the beginning and who knows if AI companies not also want this RAM too.
zipperlein@reddit
I just said I'd wait for it. There are a lot more variables to it than just the price. 3090s will still have way more bandwith than dual-channel DDR6. Depends on a lot of things what future upgrades may look like.
guyfromwhitechicks@reddit
No way to tell. But if I were a betting man, I would say between April and July. IF things calm down (It never really did for GPUs).
Outrageous_Cap_1367@reddit
Try the used market, locally I still see 8gb ram modules for 30$
Youtube_Zombie@reddit
This one thing has stopped me from upgrading to Threadripper 9000 from AM4 for the time being.
calzone_gigante@reddit
Prices normaly do not go down, at best they stop going up and inflation until inflation catch up.
misterflyer@reddit
Gonna be 3029 before inflation reaches 150+% of where it's at rn
ErikThiart@reddit
like GPUs I think we surpassed normal a long time a go
LoreBadTime@reddit
Please Micron, I need this, my PC is kinda Ramless...
Poulepy@reddit
2039
BumblebeeParty6389@reddit
It's the new normal
justGuy007@reddit
I am just glad that I have maxed out some of my local machines (64gb + 128gb + 128gb) before these prices.
They are ridiculous.... currently one of the machines with 128gb.... the cost of just the memory in it now is the cost of what the entire machine was back when prices were normal. 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
Merridius2006@reddit
They don't want you to build local AIs but use theirs in order to collect your usage data.
AppealSame4367@reddit
Never ever again. Get ready for Cyberpunk 2077.
KomithErr404@reddit
yes, never
Jabba_the_Putt@reddit
2027
jacek2023@reddit
Reddit is a bad place to learn economy, because people use wishful thinking here
alex_bit_@reddit
If you are willing to buy used, you can find DDR4 for reasonable prices, with older EPYC motherboards or even older X299.
3VRMS@reddit
Bought a 9950x3D and a decent B850 mobo with Black Friday sales. That's about the same price of 64GB of ram here.
Remember when RAM was bundled into CPU + mobo combos for free? Wait I do, it was last season. T-T
adsci@reddit
when the ai bubble bursts
AIMadeSimple@reddit
The RAM shortage is a perfect example of how AI infrastructure is cannibalizing consumer hardware markets. OpenAI reportedly bought 40% of annual memory wafer production in a single deal. For context: that's enough RAM to build ~500,000 high-end servers. The "normal" you're looking for won't return until either: 1) AI bubble pops, 2) New fab capacity comes online (2027+), or 3) Memory manufacturers prioritize consumer markets (unlikely). Best strategy now: buy used enterprise pulls (RDIMM/LRDIMM) - they're still expensive but 30-40% cheaper than new consumer RAM.
Novel-Mechanic3448@reddit
4) Emergency Powers acts by federal governments force reallocation due to critical project failures going insolvent. Any cost plus contract requiring ram purchases is dead, any fixed price contract is going to bankrupt the contractor.
If a supplier loses 9000 contracts out of 10,000 because of prices, the supplier is now insolvent to, and the manufacturer loses all 10,000 buyers. It's not sustainable and I dont see these prices lasting much longer
Saruphon@reddit
Luckily I bought my 256 GB DDR5 ram kit (64x4) at 600 usd around June/July. Now I think they should be almost 2000 USD.
Particular-Way7271@reddit
In Europe they are a fortune lol
BarkLicker@reddit
Wow. I got 96Gb for $249.99 on Oct. 1st. Just two months ago. Now it's $624.99. Guess I bought at just the right time..
Particular-Way7271@reddit
In Europe they sell it for 1.5 k and higher...
JPPmonk@reddit
The new reality hurts, luckily i bought 128 GB in august but when I bought it, it was my plan to upgrade to 256 GB but i wanted to see how it goes with 128 GB first. Now i will clearly not buy it. I expect one year minimum for prices to lower. We have already seen DDR prices increase in the past but this seems to want to hit new records.
Particular-Way7271@reddit
I got 96gb ddr5 2 weeks ago for 310 euro from Amazon. Same kit now is 1.5k?!
Particular-Way7271@reddit
Already had the gpus so the whole build was one 1k ram included. I guess will stick to 96 gb for a while. With mmap and moes...
ttkciar@reddit
For DDR5, probably sometime between 2027 and 2029.
For DDR4, it depends on whether anyone starts manufacturing it again, and when. If nobody decides it's profitable, it might never again be as affordable as it is today.
power97992@reddit
Why ddr5 , when u can get ddr6 and mobile hbm?
BillDStrong@reddit
OpenAI bought up a huge supply of wafers from 2 of the major RAM manufacturers, negotiated these deals hidden from each other, so they didn't know about each other's deals, and announced the deals on the same day, taking both by surprise. It is going to take 18 months min to build out new lines to meet supply, assuming they do so. So, sit back, its going to be awhile.
xThomas@reddit
Tim Cook: laughs
power97992@reddit
Macbooks have a lot of fastvram and their ram is only slightly more expensive or the same price as cpu ram if you buy more than 48 or more gb of ram
One-Employment3759@reddit
Just have to wait until mid 2026 for the bubble pop
power97992@reddit
If the bubble pops, they will be a recession and a lot of layoffs…
One-Employment3759@reddit
But not for everyone, so if you have the cash on hand you will get cheap hardware
power97992@reddit
I guess , when it is cheaper , people will also have less money unless u saved up for it… even then wouldnt u rather pay your rent/mortgage/ three meals a day than upgrade ur ram? Why pay for cpu ram right now when you can get faster unified ram for the same price on a mac ?
Iory1998@reddit
Not for years.
realmauer01@reddit
Dont worry about it, its the new normal now.
Adorable_Ice_2963@reddit
This has the "you arent stuck in Traffic, you ARE traffic" vibe.
You are not the only one who wants AI.
For businesses that can actually save relevant anount of Money with such a System, its still worth it.
Estimates show that 10% of Labour can be replaced with AI. If your company has 10 employees, that is like having an extra employee, what is worth $20 000 to $30 000 a year.
Its not far fetched spending 100 000k in your own AI rig if you have 50-100 Employees, what can do even more stuff than the $10 000 Rig of the smaller business.
If the company doesnt care about privacy/Security, they will book the service from datacenters, that are even cheaper for the service they provide.
tmvr@reddit
Looking at the current situation and the news about available (or lack of) capacity for the whole of 2026, I'd say maybe in about 2 years. Unless there is an AI crash and then you will have brutal oversupply and rock bottom prices. Basically there is no way to know. If it was relatively easy to predict everyone would make a ton of money on the knowledge and everyone would be rich. Which then means money has no real value because everyone has a ton of it and again no one is rich.
fairydreaming@reddit
If you like to rub salt into your wounds then check out RAM price trend graphs here
One example:
sassydodo@reddit
they won't be, unless new technology drops
Past_Physics2936@reddit
pretty much never at this point. I was reading that the industry doesn't expect prices to lower for the next two years. Only a catastrophe will lower prices as essentially 100% of the world's production is earmarked for data centers.
ProdigySim@reddit
Honestly RAM is the main constraint for LLMs, so anyone who can shove more RAM into more efficient packages will have a lot to sell, probably for a long time. As long as there is hardware innovation for LLMs I think we will see high RAM prices. My guess is it could be quite a few years if not indefinite. Maybe if chip capacities increase significantly we will see consumer price drops per GB.
Long_comment_san@reddit
I'd say it should get better by next summer.
np-nam@reddit
How about just use ruby for the job then?
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MuslinBagger@reddit
Any idea when gpu prices will be normal again?
Luneriazz@reddit
Thats the neat part, it will not go down again
Abject-Kitchen3198@reddit
So glad I maxed my laptop to 64 GB few months ago. The second 32 GB stick was already twice the price of the one I bought last year.
lemondrops9@reddit
2027-2028 should start to normalize. It takes time for these things.
Lightmanone@reddit
For the next couple of months prices will continue to rise, and then will stay high for another 6 months or so. That's the current forecast, but just as AI created this shortage, so could it continue for longer then that. This is not gonna get better for quite a while. And you can bet your ass that the prices won't return to what they used to be, just like graphics cards. Went the same way, prices went down, but are still quite some higher then they used to be.
Fun_Smoke4792@reddit
This is the new normal, well, there are some are hoarding. So maybe a little drop later, but still you can't expect them to be as low as before now.
Blizado@reddit
If the AI bubble didn't burst, well, that can take a long time.