Graphics Memory Prices Surge 30% in August, Could Affect Graphics Card Prices

[R0H1T]

What can I say, I don't really believe them.

It's not as unbelievable as you think. When we have phones with 8GB RAM, as opposed to 2GB tops a couple of years back then yes it's totally plausible, also server with 2TB memory anyone?
The server & especially phone memory gives them better margins, at least for Samsung & they can sell their overpriced phones with even higher margins.

 

[_JP_]

Well, if this makes a good 1080p60FPs gaming system cost €650 instead of €600 that's not much of a loss. If you want 4K gaming you have to spend tons anyway. I assume you mean gaming capable, as this presumably won't affect CPU prices, and you get sooo much performance for momey now. If anything SSD prices is the thing most in need of shaking up.

EDIT:

To be fair the worlds economy is made up of an insane number of highly complicated trade deals, and everything is shipped worldwide, so ... yes, I can see that happen.

Thing is, a good 1080p60fps with quality, bells and whistles could be built for less than 1000€...in 2010~2012 and give you headroom for a couple of years before upgrades were needed, since then cost has increased for a "AAA title - minimum requirement" considerably, once you add all the parts...the CPU not being the highest in relevance, because so far any 3GHz+ i5 would do....and upgrades, notably GPU are needed like a year and a half if you keep on playing current titles (if not raw performance, then vRAM)(two years ago, 2GB was fine). We're not stuck on DX9c anymore.

So... Why the shortage?

Rumors say smartphones running amok with high density RAM and storage, with places like FOXCONN sucking up inventory for the flagships. Again, rumor.

 

[Hood]

people are still buying because they need it

then don't "need" it, keep using your old system until prices come down, or quit bitching about prices. If building for customers, pass the price on to them, and quit bitching.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

100% agreed.

SSD prices are (for me) the most egregious right now. Yeah DDR4/3 is expensive again, but at least it is generally faster and of higher capacity than before.

SSD's are just double the price (or more ) than they used to be.

Perhaps stop looking at NVMe drives then?

A 1TB MX300 is currently $289. Please show me when 1TB drives were going for $145.
The only jacked up prices are the NVMe 2GB/s drives that are just pointlessly fast and power hungry.

 

[Hood]

The only jacked up prices are the NVMe 2GB/s drives that are just pointlessly fast and power hungry.

So I guess you missed the whole point of NVMe. Hint; it's the 4K random iops, it's about not wasting the precious minutes of your life waiting for Windows or games to load these small files. It's about reducing latency, and about eliminating the last bottleneck in the user experience (waiting for painfully slow hard drives or crappy slow SSDs)(. I went from the fastest SATA III SSD (Samsung 850 Pro) to one of the slowest NVMe drives (Intel 750) and easily noticed the decrease in waiting time for many things. No, it's not the mind-blowing experience of a much faster CPU, or GPU, or going from HDD to SSD, but it's the only way to make a system feel snappier after you already have a decent CPU, GPU, SSD, and fast RAM. Totally worth it, when you grow up enough to realize that time is the most precious commodity, not money.

 

[Prima.Vera]

The only jacked up prices are the NVMe 2GB/s drives that are just pointlessly fast and power hungry.

Again, in IT, there is no such thing as "enough performance" or "pointlessly fast"... Especially when talking about storage. You do know that storage is still the slowest component of your PC/laptop, right? And in order for data to be processed it needs to be transferred from storage into RAM?
You know how fast is a crappy standard DDR4-2400MHz RAM module? Is "only" 19.2GB/s. Quality DDR4-3600MHz + modules can go up to 30GB/s read/write speeds.
Tell me again how "pointlessly fast" is a crappy 2GB/s storage compared to 30GB/s ?

 

[JES]

Again, in IT, there is no such thing as "enough performance" or "pointlessly fast"... Especially when talking about storage. You do know that storage is still the slowest component of your PC/laptop, right? And in order for data to be processed it needs to be transferred from storage into RAM?
You know how fast is a crappy standard DDR4-2400MHz RAM module? Is "only" 19.2GB/s. Quality DDR4-3600MHz + modules can go up to 30GB/s read/write speeds.
Tell me again how "pointlessly fast" is a crappy 2GB/s storage compared to 30GB/s ?

RAM serves a totally different purpose than SSD's, so a 30 GB/s SSD would still be borderline pointless. Also the rule about storage being the slowest depends a lot on the circumstance, it's not as clear cut as it was before.

For example, when booting Windows these NVMe SSD's provide close to zero reduction in boot time over SATA SSD's, as all the remaining time is taken by the CPU processing the data.

 

[Prima.Vera]

For example, when booting Windows these NVMe SSD's provide close to zero reduction in boot time over SATA SSD's, as all the remaining time is taken by the CPU processing the data.

That's fair, but the "low" performance is due to the 4KB read (Windows loads millions of those small files) throughput, which is similar with all drives. Unless this will improve, the boot times or loading times will be similar for all products

 

[R-T-B]

Perhaps stop looking at NVMe drives then?

A 1TB MX300 is currently $289. Please show me when 1TB drives were going for $145.
The only jacked up prices are the NVMe 2GB/s drives that are just pointlessly fast and power hungry.

NVMe drives really aren't power hungry...

 

[Captain_Tom]

Perhaps stop looking at NVMe drives then?

A 1TB MX300 is currently $289. Please show me when 1TB drives were going for $145.
The only jacked up prices are the NVMe 2GB/s drives that are just pointlessly fast and power hungry.

I got one of the highest end models for $210 each a year ago (10% faster than the crucial you just posted). There were also plenty of cheaper 1 TB drives for $180.


That's my point - SSD's are more expensive, and they offer nothing new. Newer DDR4 kits are faster.

Does anyone know if this will affect HBM pricing?

Of course it will eventually due to HBM producers simply being able to charge more if their GDDR5 competition does, but I think HBM uses a lot different machinery than (G)DDR.

 

[rruff]

Word: supply
Word: demand

As I said earlier.....textbook Capitalism, at its finest

Actually that isn't how capitalism is supposed to work. Rather there are multiple companies who compete for the market so prices and profits are reasonable. This is an example of a monopoly that can manipulate the price.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Actually that isn't how capitalism is supposed to work. Rather there are multiple companies who compete for the market so prices and profits are reasonable. This is an example of a monopoly that can manipulate the price.

It's not a monopoly with multiple memory makers all in the market and all needing to raise the price. Mono: One.

 

[_JP_]

It's not a monopoly with multiple memory makers all in the market and all needing to raise the price. Mono: One.

Correct.

Definition of cartel

1. 1 : a written agreement between belligerent nations
   
   
2. 2 : a combination of independent commercial or industrial enterprises designed to limit competition or fix prices illegal drug cartels
   
   
3. 3 : a combination of political groups for common action