Damn never thought the gaming PC I built two years ago would actually be APPRECIATING in value over time.
It's truly mental. I don't think I could afford to build my PC at the same spec today with RAM and SSD prices being what they are.
I have 128 GB of ddr5 memory in my machine. I paid 1400 for my 7900xtx which I thought was crazy and now half my ram is worth that.
Never thought I would see the day where the graphics card was not the most expensive component.
Just about all electronics older than a year or so have. Even a Switch, which came out 9 years ago, costs more to buy now than it did then!
Wait what? I still remembered it as a recent console...
I feel like my brain is stuck. When I think of most powerful GPU, my brain's muscle memory replies with 1080 Ti.
Apple over here not raising their RAM prices because they’ve always been massively and unjustifiably inflated. Now, they’re no longer unjustifiably inflated.
I dunno. "AI companies bought literally everything" seems like an unjustifiable reason still.
Perhaps. I guess my point is they no longer are as out-of-line with the rest of the market. Comment meant as a backhanded “compliment” toward Apple.
They also buy allotments months in advance. Just waiting to see how much apple will charge soon.
This article sucks... I think they felt the need to excuse AI lest they upset corporate masters
While it’s easy to point the finger at AI’s unquenchable memory thirst for the current crisis, it’s not the only reason.
Followed by:
DRAM production hasn’t kept up with demand. Older memory types are being phased out, newer ones are steered toward higher margin customers, and consumer RAM is left exposed whenever supply tightens.
Production has not kept up with demand... demand being super charged by AI purchases
...newer ones are steered towards higher margin customers... again AI
consumer RAM is left exposed whenever supply tightens... because of AI
The LLM writing this feels almost sentient lol.
You see, it's easy to blame AI data centers buying all the RAM - but that's only half the story! ~the~ ~other~ ~half~ ~of~ ~the~ ~story~ ~is~ ~manufacturers~ ~selling~ ~to~ ~these~ ~data~ ~centers~
Me to my 10 year old gaming pc: "I guess it'll be another couple of years, buddy."
They aren't really making a ton of games that justify a costly upgrade anyways.
Don't worry, I suspect Cloud Terminals will be super cheap. You won't even need that ol' thing anymore!
Increasing RAM (from 16) and SSD space (from .5TB) on a laptop now is easily +$1k and up.
Apple users:
![]()
When the yet-to-be data centers never get built because AI slop bubble pops, we will be able to build houses out of RAM sticks for the poor
Theyll just manufacture another reason to keep prices high
the problem with data center hardware is that they are often bespoke and nowadays can't be reused in a consumer context. Think about those headless GPUs, they probably making these RAM modules with a different interface.
They will just be e-waste instead of having the possibility of being surplus.
US oligoarchys wants to have all computation done in their warehouse so they have to power to change any computation at any time
When I first saw "GeForce Now" that's exactly what I imagined. Building a market for cloud computation. "Just own the display, we will rent you the brain for it". Currently they are choking the market with orders for ram that does not exist, paid with money that does not currently exists and the output of this situation is that prices go up artificially which will eventually drive the users exactly in a scenario where they will rent out computing power "for cheap" to play that latest game for 2-3 hours.
Ruining the PC market for consumers on purpose so people will think it's cheaper to rent computers than to own.
In the future, you will lease your computer and not own it, just as you are told to do by the billionaires who steal your pay.
I can't believe how lucky I was to upgrade my desktop before the surge. This is an outrage!

TBF that is a crucial ram stick in the picture, those are rare shinies now
Built my new PC in late 2023... so glad I put 96 GB of RAM into it, despite several people asking me why the fuck I need so much RAM...
AS long AS you dont plan on selling your Ram I would still ask why you need so much RAM (if youre not running a lot if AI locally)
This is crazy because I bought 64 gb ram for like 130 in July of 2025.
Now it’s 530 for the same exact brand.
32GB of DDR4 3200Mhz cost me $115 in October, now the listing is out of stock and says $392. 240% increase.
The DDR4 sticks I got 18 months ago now cost 300-400% the price they were, so it's not just DDR5.
... and I just realised the title doesn't actually mean "DDR5 prices", but that was an easy misinterpretation on my part, so I guess I'll post this anyway.
The 64gb memory i bought in june are up 400%
Still cheaper than my macbook air though
This is the future ~~liberals~~ no one wants.
Huh? With a republican pedo in The White House you're somehow blaming liberals?
Yeah, I bought 32GB of RAM about three months ago for my new computer build and last I checked it had doubled in price. Thinking about selling it for a profit. Can a computer run without RAM?
Ram is the new Bitcoin.
I was about to say "atleast this is a physical thing not some completely made-up digital thing with no real value"
Then I realized these prices are partially based on speculation... So I guess it's still just a made up digital thingy"
Technology
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
