this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2025
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RAM is so expensive that stores are selling it at market prices (www.pcworld.com)
submitted 1 day ago by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to c/technology@lemmy.world
201 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Generative “AI” data centers are gobbling up trillions of dollars in capital, not to mention heating up the planet like a microwave. As a result there’s a capacity crunch on memory production, shooting the prices for RAM sky high, over 100 percent in the last few months alone. Multiple stores are tired of adjusting the prices day to day, and won’t even display them. You find out how much it costs at checkout.

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[–] ulterno@programming.dev 8 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Guess I should have bought the 128GB 3600 kit earlier.
Are DDR4 also affected?

[–] Geologist@lemmy.zip 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Ddr4 is apparently out of manufacturing at a lot of places now, so it’s even more affected (at least in my market, prices rose more then ddr5)

[–] ulterno@programming.dev 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah, just checked the 2 sites I use for computer components.
1 had no RAM listed.
The other had 32GB DDR4 at 2x the price and no 128GB kit (96 was the highest, 64 for DDR4)

[–] __hetz@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

I paid $160 US for 2x32GB DDR4 3200 ECC almost exactly a year ago, when I built my TrueNAS server. I told myself I'd grab another pair down the road to fill out the last two slots in my board. Now I can't find the same pack anywhere for less than $350. Upgrades are indefinitely postponed, to say the least.

[–] SabinStargem@lemmy.today 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Speaking as someone with 128gb DDR4 3600 RAM and uses mid-size AI like GLM Air, it is too slow to have much fun with. I suspect that a lot of hobbyists will adopt and discard DDR4 in short order, so you can probably get a good deal if you buy used.

[–] ulterno@programming.dev 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Sadly I am not in a location where people just discard useful parts.
If I were to try buying 2nd hand here, I would most probably end up with stuff that has some or the other kind of of damage.

For instance, in one of the companies I worked at, their policy for getting rid of stuff was:

  1. If unneeded but working, then send to another department
  2. If malfunctioning but fixable, get it fixed
  3. If not worth fixing, then auction it off
  4. HDDs? repurpose or shred

And the auctions occurred years later after much red tape...
Mostly bought by other companies, who get to do more red-tape stuff to buy it.

While on one hand, this is a good thing, reducing wastage, it also means that I have no way to get 2nd hand stuff for hobbyist usage.
In case we do get 2nd hand stuff, it is usually through a 2nd hand dealer, who then ends up with a higher asking price than what it's worth.

Also, I am not expecting there to be any AI enthusiast nearby me.