Is RAM getting more expensive?

[Paladone]

Hey, guys

I made this thread because I have noticed the prices of RAM going up; or at least they seem to be. I just wanted to check if I'm going insane, or if RAM is actually getting more expensive, and if so, why?

The main reason which has led me to suspect this is because the RAM I bought a year ago, for $309.00, is now $445.00 at the same store (And I'm pretty sure they are exactly the same).

This is the RAM I have is:
G.Skill 32GB Kit (4x8GB) DDR3 Trident X C10 2400MHz

 

[AsRock]

Ram has been going up in price for some time now.

 

[buildzoid]

At first there were too many ICs then production got cut so prices started rising and then SK Hynix had a fire and prices just kept on rising.

 

[Jetster]

I bought my 16 Gb Corsair 1866 for $88 a little over a year ago. Now its like Holly Shit ! $200

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233278

 

[de.das.dude]

this means that they are getting ready to go for the cheap ddr4 kits

 

[Frick]

A bit, but the big rise happened ... last year maybe? There was a time when the 8GB Corsair XMS3 1600 Mhz was less than €40.

Basicly what Jetster said. And people laughed when I said I should buy them en masse when they were so cheap! They laughed!

Computer hardware as an investment does sound silly.

 

[Jetster]

Its because of SSD sales. But I still can figure out what GPUs went up. I bought a 7950 6 months ago for $180 Maybe price fixing again

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I ordered a 4 GiB stick for just over $40 earlier this week and I thought that was silly. I don't even want to look at how much a tri-channel kit would cost for my computer now.

 

[Blue-Knight]

I ordered a 4 GiB stick for just over $40 earlier this week

You are lucky, the same is costing $85 (USD) here.

 

[Frizz]

Pretty much still the same prices here in Sydney 8GB sticks still priced at $100 AUD

 

[Jetster]

The smaller size chips have not gone up. Like 2x2 4Gb sets

 

[rtwjunkie]

would dwindling supplies of ddr3 chips, with ddr4 on the horizon be influencing prices too?

 

[Frick]

The smaller size chips have not gone up. Like 2x2 4Gb sets

Not here.

 

[micropage7]

Hey, guys

I made this thread because I have noticed the prices of RAM going up; or at least they seem to be. I just wanted to check if I'm going insane, or if RAM is actually getting more expensive, and if so, why?

The main reason which has led me to suspect this is because the RAM I bought a year ago, for $309.00, is now $445.00 at the same store (And I'm pretty sure they are exactly the same).

This is the RAM I have is:
G.Skill 32GB Kit (4x8GB) DDR3 Trident X C10 2400MHz

if you dont demand high performance and just need moore ram you can switch to local brand.
the price usually lower than worldwide brand

 

[Pill Monster]

would dwindling supplies of ddr3 chips, with ddr4 on the horizon be influencing prices too?

No, DDR3 supplies aren't dwindling and DDR4 won't be common until at least mid-2015. It started when IC makers (Hynix/Samsung/Micron) decided DDR3 prices were too low and profit margins were very small (1yr ago it was dirt cheap tbh) and increased msrp accordingly, then Hynix had a "fire" and the resulting "shortage" (sound familiar? lol) contributed also.

Pretty much still the same prices here in Sydney 8GB sticks still priced at $100 AUD

For 1600mhz maybe....2133/2400/2600 is closer to $200.....

 

[jboydgolfer]

Its because of SSD sales. But I still can figure out what GPUs went up. I bought a 7950 6 months ago for $180 Maybe price fixing again

Bitcoin. Thats why.

If it's in anyones means,,,I recommend going to Micrcenter...They generally have a Massive sale on RAM....I got My kingston there for dirt cheap...16Gb..for 70$. But Thats only if your one of us lucky ones that has a store near by.

 

[satsol]

I notice it happens a lot. I bought some Corsair Vengeance 16GB ram last year for $88. It's $169 now.

 

[natr0n]

price fixing indeed.

 

[scoutingwraith]

Yeah i noticed the prices went up. I got my 16gb (2x8GB set) for about $120 together now they are running about $160 for both. Forget about Laptop ram. I bought my m11x (2x4Gb DDR3 1333) for $30. Now it is like $90+ for the same chips.

 

[Vario]

Bought 2x8 kingston hyper x last year on sale for $65, now its worth $170.

 

[Nordic]

I got a free 8gb corsair 1600mhz stick with a motherboard purchase awhile back. Was thinking about buying another for 16gb all together, but the stick was $100. Maybe I should sell it.

 

[Hood]

11 months ago I bought 2x4GB Kingston HyperX Beast 2400MHz for $65, 1600MHz kits were ~$50. The same 2400 kit is now $110 - I think partly because it's still in high demand due to high compatibility. But lately I've noticed some decent brands have lowered prices slightly on 2400 RAM, to the point where a 2x4GB 2400 kit is the same price as a 1600MHz kit (about $85). g.Skill now has 2x8GB 2400 kits for $149. If you need RAM for a new build or upgrade, now is a great time to buy 2400MHz RAM, or wait a while and it will drop even more (I hope!)

 

[Vario]

I don't know about that Hood, prices are really really high. Some of it is due to the Hynix fire, the rest due to price fixing.

Also I bought a few sets of Samsung Green 30nm and immediately shifted the market on ebay, was pretty strange. Bought them average $30-35 a stick. A week later prices on these sticks went to insane levels and still are.

These things originally sold for 8gb for $40 so its outrageous. Anyway, that ram can hit insane speeds, I have done 2400@1.5v with ivy 2x4, 4x4 can't really get over 2000 without issues probably gigabyte related.


I have tested performance scaling with ram on ivy bridge and it really doesn't matter at all. There doesn't seem to be a point to go beyond 1600 unless you can get it for the same price or better. I think I got about 5% improvement at 2133 from 1600. That really doesn't warrant the price premium unless you can swing it at a good price, its hard to justify buying any ram right now given how pricey it is. There are a few sets of samsung that are less known about which overclock insanely and are still inexpensive (HCH9 I think).

Its not like the 939 days where you needed good ram because it moved in lockstep with overclocks.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

When DDR4 gets cheap, stockpile it, because history shows it's likely to jump up 2-4x. This has happened at least the last two gens, can't remember if it did with DDR1. Wild card is demand in countries like China might keep it from having a low point like in the past.

I think the lowest I remember for DDR3 was a black november sale where you could get 16 gbs of 1600mhz ram for $50 at newegg. That was years ago.

 

[Blue-Knight]

Isn't because DDR3 is "dying"? I think it was the same with DDR2 (now 2GB DDR2 is the same price of 4GB DDR3).

And it won't get cheaper anymore since DDR4 is coming! I see that's how it happens.

Not sure. Happy New Year!