{"id":1753,"date":"2025-11-25T04:08:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T00:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/ram-prices-are-so-out-of-control-that-stores-are-selling-it-like-lobster\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T04:08:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T00:08:51","slug":"ram-prices-are-so-out-of-control-that-stores-are-selling-it-like-lobster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/ram-prices-are-so-out-of-control-that-stores-are-selling-it-like-lobster\/","title":{"rendered":"RAM prices are so out of control that stores are selling it like lobster"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Michael Crider\u2019s headline at PCWorld<\/em> today<\/a> perfectly captures how ridiculous the PC memory shortage has become: stores like the San Francisco Bay Area\u2019s Central Computers are beginning to sell RAM at market prices, like you\u2019d pay for the catch-of-the-day at a seafood restaurant. <\/p>\n

\u201cCosts are fluctuating daily as manufacturers and distributors adjust to limited supply and high demand,\u201d reads a message posted in the store\u2019s display case, as spotted by Steve Lin<\/a>. \u201cBecause of this, we can\u2019t display fixed prices at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Micro Center is apparently doing the same: \u201cDue to market volatility, we ask that you please see a Sales Associate for price,\u201d reads an in-store message captured by Redditor CassTexas<\/a> (via Tom\u2019s Hardware<\/a><\/em>). <\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to overstate just how quickly the RAM crunch is changing the affordability of computers \u2014 and it might soon impact other realms as well, as everything from game consoles to smartphones<\/a> require RAM to function.<\/p>\n

Three months ago yesterday, I bought 32GB of memory for my gaming PC and the price of that exact kit has more than tripled since then. It now costs $300 more. ($440 vs. $130<\/a>, in case you\u2019re curious; a more common version of the same kit went from $105 to $400<\/a>.) Some prices have doubled since October, and while you can still find some 32GB kits for as low as $230, a 64GB DDR5 kit can easily run you $700, $800, even $900. <\/p>\n

Some high-profile product launches might be impacted by the price of memory. Valve pointed to the RAM crunch as one reason it couldn\u2019t promise a specific price<\/a> for its Steam Machine just yet. <\/p>\n

Just as out-of-control GPU prices from earlier this year<\/a> have finally settled down, runaway memory prices might make them shoot back up again. Every graphics card requires gobs of VRAM, more is better, and word is that Nvidia and AMD are preparing to raise prices<\/a> to compensate for the crunch. Digital Foundry<\/em> is recommending<\/a> you buy a GPU at or below MSRP while you still can, one with 10GB or more of VRAM. <\/p>\n

Leaker Moore\u2019s Law Is Dead claims<\/a> that Microsoft may have to raise Xbox prices yet again to compensate, but that Sony has stockpiled enough RAM for the PS5 to last some number of months.<\/p>\n

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says<\/a> it may take years for high-end gaming to recover from the RAM crunch, because of AI. He says \u201cfactories are diverting leading edge DRAM capacity to meet AI needs where data centers are bidding far higher than consumer device makers.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Crider\u2019s headline at PCWorld today perfectly captures how ridiculous the PC memory shortage has become: stores like the San […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}