pc memory prices, when will they drop?

[jadamso]

Yeah. I feel exactly the same way. What I can't get my head around is that you can get a 4gb sd card for 5 quid but the same amount in RAM is eighty (And yes I know they're two different beasts)
I was just so angry that December ebuyer were selling Crucial DDR2 low latency CL4 4gb for closer to sixty quid and I was too bloody slow to pick them up. Its the same with all the other components: the price increase just doesn't reflect the 2.5% VAT increase.

[ed^chigliak]

And if you go to a pound shop everything is well.... £1

Motherboard, GPU, SSD, RAM, CPU = £5

I'd even consider going to a ten quid shop and getting the high end stuff.

[petercook7]

Yep it just sucks, even on ebay the prices are hitting retail value, then you have the problem if they dont send it too you.

I put my chip up for sale on ebay and they bidded yet they never paid for it, so had to re-list it again, back to memory, prices i should have purchased it, when they were around £50 now banging my head.
i wonder due to memory prices other components have taken a hit?

[DanceswithUnix]

Feeble attempts to derail the thread. This RAM price moanathon isn't over yet.

RAM sticks are much smaller and less complicated than motherboards yet you can easily spend more on RAM than the motherboard.

Motherboard cost 89.9p per square inch

RAM costs £6.34 per square inch

If RAM was that much of a rip-off, then Intel would be getting into the market. Have you worked out the cost per square inch of a high end CPU?

For various reasons a year ago memory was exceedingly cheap, one story being that the DRAM suppliers upper their production for the release of Vista for sales that never came and so the market became flooded and took some time to correct. People actually liking Windows 7 may have helped use up that old stock.

I think that was a low blip more than the current higher price being a high blip. You get these low spots every few years, and I suspect this one is well and truly over.

[Terbinator]

Things are only going to get worse with the inevitable VAT rise too 20%

[jim]

RAM sticks are much smaller and less complicated than motherboards yet you can easily spend more on RAM than the motherboard.

Motherboard cost 89.9p per square inch

RAM costs £6.34 per square inch

This is why I'm making my next PC out of concrete.

[Funkstar]

RAM sticks are much smaller and less complicated than motherboards yet you can easily spend more on RAM than the motherboard.

That's like saying "a gold bar is smaller and less complicated than a car yet you can easily spend more on a gold bar then the car"

The two things are not connected.

The vast bulk of a motherboard is made up from the PCB (very cheap) and commodity components that cost fractions of a penny. Only the large chips have any great cost or complexity. Memory modules on the other hand are full of some of the most most advanced chip manufacture around. They use the lastest production processes and tightest tollerances.

[ed^chigliak]

Well I agree entirely.

A gold bar is smaller and less complicated than a car however I wasn't really going to consider 3D objects on a volume basis. I especially wasn't going to compare solid vs hollow objects. Talk about comparing apples and oranges.

Concrete is OK for cases although it's easier to work cement mixed with peat moss and perlite. You end up with a case that grows on you over time.

Definitely a low blip. RAM prices are back to normal. Some people are dealing with it better than others and the people who are dealing with it the best are those who bought a shed load at £35 per 4Gb low latency with impressive looking spiky heat-sinks.

[Tonka777]

Keep an eye in PC World for DDR2 being sold off. A good friend made me aware of 8Gb of PNY Ultima 800MHz they had on offer for £72 a few months ago, which is similar to the 4Gb for £35 you could find when the prices were at rock bottom. That was only in his local store though, my local store didn't have anything similar.

[petercook7]

i wonder how many others are not upgrading, or upgrading as fast.

[Bugbait]

TBH, I don't know of any of my friends or colleagues that are holding off upgrades due to RAM prices. Other factors sure, but price of RAM is low down on the list and often not even a factor.