DDR4 costs soar as manufacturers pull the plug — panic buying and stockpiling impact DDR4 spot pricing as supply dwindles
DDR4 costs soar as manufacturers pull the plug — panic buying and stockpiling impact DDR4 spot pricing as supply dwindles
I love me some Dance Dance Revolution, but I had no idea it was coming back
Please tell me why...do we build castles in the sky...
[Darude - Sandstorm intensifies]
i_O is lovely
I thought this was about dance dance Revolution at first?
It is, this is the latest version, Dance Dance Revolution 4: G.SKILL edition.
Came here to say "Wait, aren't we on like Dance Dance Revolution 20?" DDR4 had some bangers, but shouldn't affect the solar industry.
I wouldn't waste any money on DDR4 at this point. The only excuse I could think of is if you have a motherboard that requires DDR4 and your current RAM is not working. Otherwise, get a motherboard that supports DDR5 and you're good.
Which would also require a new CPU depending on the current setup. And rebuilding the whole PC just to upgrade the memory?
Get a new case, and fan, and maybe a liquid cooling setup too. And switch operating systems while you’re at it. Might as well upgrade to larger SSDs. And it’s a good opportunity to go down the mechanical keyboard rabbit hole as well.
Correct. Yes.
... But also with a lot of other perks and some downsides... if you are willing to consider a different paradigm for a pc build.
I say: Adapt, Improvise, Overcome.
I present to you....
... the Minisforum BD 795i SE.
https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-motherboard
https://www.amazon.com/MINISFORUM-Motherboard-BD795i-SE-PCIe4-0/dp/B0DQ8WXMKP
ITX Mobo + soldered on AMD 7945hx processor, outperforms by a significant margin any standard cpu+mobo combo you could get for the current price, which is under $400 pre tax.
So thats a mobo, high powered labtop AM4 cpu, that uses ddr5 sodimm ram.
Oh and you can just slot any ole normal GPU into its PCIe x16 v5.0 slot, its got two standard SSD M2 2280 gen 4 slots you can put your existing SSD(s) in.
There you go, for your consideration, there's your upgrade/sidegrade path, or your framework for just a new build, given that GPUs now basically cost as much or more than ... everything else in a pc combined.
........
Pop out your old mobo, this thing is ITX so it'll probably fit in your old case, though that isn't guaranteed.
Grab 32gb (2x16) of 5200/5400/5600 sodimm ddr5 ram for roughly $90 to $110.
(You could go as high as 2x48gb = 96gb but frankly 95% of people will be a ok with 32gb)
Sell your now apparently appreciating in value standard form ddr4 ram.
Grab a noctua 120mm nf-f12 pwm fan for $20, or some equivalent from your preferred fan company, slap that on the massive built in cpu heatspreader, you're good to go.
Sell old cpu heatsink/fan or aio loop.
You may lose the ability to run... an extensive argb case fan setup without some finagling on that front, but who cares, you wont need all of them, this is a very energy and heat efficient cpu.
If you've got some kind of nest of internal archive HDDs, yeah, that may be a bit of a problem too, but realistically, not too many people do that, and you can put an internal HDD into a ~$20 enclosure and just turn it into an external hardrive, something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/X-MEDIA-XM-EN3451-BK-3-5-Inch-SATA-Enclosure/dp/B00ARNCYEU
Oh and also switching to this kind of paradigm, paired with say a non XT AMD 9070, this'll do basically all gaming you could want at 1440p, and will almost certainly substantially lower your total setup power draw... if you're maybe also worried about just general rising energy prices.
Which you probably should be.
You can also now consider just downsizing your rig's case, and power supply, to a portable ITX form factor, or an mATX form factor, should the idea of your PC not weighing 60+ pounds appeal to you.
There are a good number of ITX cases that will fit most full size GPUs, some via a riser cable, some not even needing one.
Removed by Moderator — Modlog
Also get a motherboard made in Taiwan 🇹🇼
AMD is still putting out some AM4 CPUs just because it's cheap for them to do so. They can run its chiplets off an old node, so no big deal. It's still a halfway decent budget option, though that may change with DDR4 going out of manufacturing.
Yup, still happily running a DDR4 build and am considering upgrading to one of the 3D chips at some point.
Last time I did a simulation few months ago, DDR4 motherboards (and memory if I recal) were still considerably cheaper than DDR5.
I have a server on AM4 that is running fine, but the 16Gigs of ram are getting tight and I might need 32. All other aspects of the system are completely sufficient. Why should I get a new CPU and board?
I think that falls under the category of "RAM is not currently working". If you need 32, 16GB isn't working for you.
A good reason for staying with DDR4 at this point in time is if you need faster boot times. DDR5 makes computers boot slower because it's less stable and needs more work during POST to get stable.
In many cases it's not a requirement though, and the speed improvements of DDR5 after boot outweigh the extra boot time.
Shouldn't be a problem for me - I plan to skip DDR4 and go straight to DDR5, or maybe what comes after, at some point. Still running 32GB DDR3 here.
What kind of speeds you get on that old DDR3?
I'm not sure - I don't measure it. It's in my home server running Linux. It does everything I want and is >90% idle most of the time - so it's fast enough. And I just realized I lied in my original comment - my laptop has DDR4 RAM, but it's already at max. capacity so I won't have to worry about buying more.
I hope 16 gigs is good for a while.
I have 64 and I have rarely ever used as much as 16.
I regularly use over 16-24GB of my 32 GB, and considering I just had to replace 4 8s with 2 16s, I'm honestly kinda tempted to get another pair just to have knowing the shit that's coming down the pipe.
you must have correctly moved on from Chrome
That’s reassuring, gotta make sure I take care of mine. The pc market has been too messy the last few years.
I also have 64, but I've seen up to 34 in use a couple times. I could have stayed with 48gb, but the timings/cas latency was much better on the 64gb kit, than running mismatched sizes across 4 slots
16 is minimum and 32 is recommended if you do much pc gaming, browsing, or torrenting. Things with multiple programs. A single browser and steam open. I regularly hit 16 to 20gb on mint and librewolf. I rarely never see a use past 32gb. I find that to be the sweet spot right now. Anything higher than 32 is better spent on ddr5 upgrade. Caveat being if you run some serious programs but that's overly rare even by today's software.
I have 8GB in my laptop running mint, its used for browsing, office work, 3D print slicing, and occasionally I torrent a file from it...it is absolutely no issue whatsoever and it never even breaks 4GB use unless it's actively slicing a 3D model. 16GB minimum I can agree with for gaming, but for desktop use as mentioned above you can easily get by with less.
Ha! its almost as if we have hit a point where the new stuff is not as good as the old. DD4 is really good, but now we will be forced into DD5 and all the shit CPU and boards that come with it.
It's about 50€/16GB over here in France. DDR5 goes for 75€ and upwards. Used is a bit cheaper, especially for the SODIMM.
That reminded me that this exists.
Wow. I wonder how well that'll work out, like stability, need to lower frequency...
Aw man, i saw 32gb DDR4 for 50€ a few months ago. Now its at 90€.
Good thing is that i just dont need more ram right now.
Did this also happen when DDR3 was phased out?
It happens every time different types of ram are phased out. The price drops for a while until excess inventory is sold off and then prices increase due to scarcity. You wouldn’t see it with SSDs because new models tend to be backward compatible.
Can confirm. I got a quote a few weeks ago and then went to buy last week and they bumped up the price about 20%.
Glad I saw the light and switched to a gaming laptop a few years ago.
I stopped using a computer and been only buying flagship phones for the past 8 years. you can't beat my foresight.
This version of the article misses important information from the original source Trend Force who issued a report on DDR4 prices which news sites have been quoting.
In addition to the supply constraints mentioned, the original report also cited Trump's tarrifs which alongside the manufacturing supply slump could cause panic buying in the US specifically. This is speculation but based on the possibility Trump could "issue new tariffs or restrictions related to production capacity against China. This, in turn, may trigger another round of panic buying,"
The original report was posted to twitter with "Tarriff fears may trigger further panic buying"
It's odd to talk about panic buying and not explain where that has come from. Also odd not to mention Trump's tariffs when that was a key part of the original report in June.
Panic buying == the republicans’ idea of economic stimulus
Removed by Moderator — Modlog