Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#1

Post by haunter » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 5:52 PM UTC

Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months
tomshardware.com

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#2

Post by master_crab » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 6:05 PM UTC

I’m even more confused by the economics of the frontier model businesses. Even if they got preferential prices, they are still paying an inordinate amount for their infrastructure.

If it wasn’t economically feasible without VC/Nvidia money 3 years ago, how is it possibly economically feasible now at 10x prices for things like memory?

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#3

Post by cosmic_cheese » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 6:06 PM UTC

The situation is absolutely awful for anybody who needs significant memory or storage (or devices incorporating such).

Even people who think they have enough for the next few years already could end up with an unpleasant surprise if they e.g. have a stick or two of RAM go bad or a GPU fry. I have a few machines with aging sticks that I'm hoping will manage to hold out until when/if things improve.

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#4

Post by iLoveOncall » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 6:14 PM UTC

Storage has more than doubled as well. The same SSD (4TB M.2) I bought in September 2025 for £229 is now £500.

I also had another order where I paid £30 for a 1TB SSD (sata though) and it is now more than £100...

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#5

Post by palmotea » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 6:14 PM UTC

[flagged]

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#6

Post by forinti » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 6:20 PM UTC

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #3

The situation is absolutely awful for anybody who needs significant memory or storage (or devices incorporating such). Even people who think they have enough for the next few years already could end up with an unpleasant surprise if they e.g. have a stick or two of RAM go bad or a GPU fry. I have a few machines with aging sticks that I'm hoping will manage to hold out until when/if things improve.

I've been using computers for more than 40 years now and the one component I have never seen fail is RAM.

All the other bits in a computer I've seen fail.

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#7

Post by whateveracct » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 6:20 PM UTC

palmotea wrote: post #5

[flagged]

what the heck

did you drop a '/s'?

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#8

Post by phonon » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 6:20 PM UTC

master_crab wrote: post #2

I’m even more confused by the economics of the frontier model businesses. Even if they got preferential prices, they are still paying an inordinate amount for their infrastructure. If it wasn’t economically feasible without VC/Nvidia money 3 years ago, how is it possibly economically feasible now at 10x prices for things like memory?

OpenAI (Stargate) kicked off the price increases a year ago by locking up 40% of the global supply of RAM output.

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/dram/openais-star...

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#9

Post by unsui » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 6:21 PM UTC

palmotea wrote: post #5

[flagged]

No, this is not good, in any way, except for AI shareholders (of which I assume you are one, else not rational to support this position).

Paperclipping here, greedily optimizing for shareholder value above all else. Please stop.

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#10

Post by OutOfHere » Mon, Aug 17, 2026, 6:22 PM UTC

palmotea wrote: post #5

[flagged]

> and the shareholders.

Your comment is an illustration of exactly what is wrong with this website. Given his preceding statements, I sincerely do not believe it is sarcasm.