I understand that standing up memory fabrication plants is no small feat, but how much of this is due to memory fabricators' patent moat? To what degree is this caused by IP barriers vs. the difficulty in actually manufacturing the things? If it's the case that even older-generation / process-node RAM is also going up in value, aren't those 'easier' to produce?
32GB of DDR5 now costs $375 – AI shortage continues to squeeze PC building
351–360 of 415 posts
Re: 32GB of DDR5 now costs $375 – AI shortage continues to squeeze PC building
#352This is the PCPartPicker chart that I monitor: https://pcpartpicker.com/trends/price/memory/#ram.ddr5.5600.... - $900 for 2x32GB, used to be $200 a year ago.
Yesterday I did a price check on the PC I built two years ago. It went from $2300 to $3650. The bulk of that increase was that the ram went from $210 to $940. Its now more expensive than when DDR5 was new.
I bought my 4090 at MSRP three years ago and now used 4090s are selling for 50%+ above what I paid.
Re: 32GB of DDR5 now costs $375 – AI shortage continues to squeeze PC building
#353I fucking hate AI
Re: 32GB of DDR5 now costs $375 – AI shortage continues to squeeze PC building
#354Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would say there's a ton of great games made >= 5 years ago, almost all still available, and cheap :)
The games from 15-25 years ago are also great, especially the ones still available those are the good games. CS 1.5, OpenTTD, AoE2, the likes.. Fancier graphics doesn't make games better. Gameplay, stories and jokes do.
Fancy graphics won't make a bad game good, but they'll make a great game into a cinematic masterpiece.
Examples: Cyberpunk 2077 (Once all the bugs were worked out, I recognize it was dogshit on release), Baldur's Gate 3, Expedition 33. Would they be great games even with 15-year old graphical fidelity? Sure. But the stunning graphics definitely elevates the experience, especially in the case of Cyberpunk 2077. When you have the hardware to run everything maxed out, it's damn nearly photographic. It made me truly feel immersed in the game world in a way no other game has achieved, and I've played lots of VR games.
Re: 32GB of DDR5 now costs $375 – AI shortage continues to squeeze PC building
#355Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's nothing wrong with 1080p gaming though. You can get a $200 to $300 microcenter cpu+motherboard+16GB DDR5 bundle [1], then $300-$400 GPU, and you'll be able to play nearly every game on the market just fine at 1080p. I'm sure there are pre-builts using stockpiled RAM that are similar $1000 price range. And if you buy used you can do even better. $300-400 might get you a 5060 or a 9060XT right now [2][3] but if…
> There's nothing wrong with 1080p gaming though. Hard disagree. Once I went 4K, I could never go back to 1080p. Sure, in an action-packed scenes of close- to moderate-quarters combat, I don't really notice it. But in long-distance combat? Having 4x the pixels per square inch is noticeable. In slower scenes and cut scenes it's definitely an appreciable improvement.
I had a 4K 26 inch monitor and yes it was nice. But I travel too much and didn't enjoy moving it from place to place. Gave it to a good friend that I was visiting. Missed it for a little bit but quickly got used to using laptop screen. It is to the point that even if I'm in a hotel room with a large monitor/screen I usually don't bother to connect to it.
My point. Once you get better things yes it's easy to think you could never use the lesser tools you once had. But if the incentives are there, it's really not that difficult to adapt.
Re: 32GB of DDR5 now costs $375 – AI shortage continues to squeeze PC building
#356Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's nothing wrong with 1080p gaming though. You can get a $200 to $300 microcenter cpu+motherboard+16GB DDR5 bundle [1], then $300-$400 GPU, and you'll be able to play nearly every game on the market just fine at 1080p. I'm sure there are pre-builts using stockpiled RAM that are similar $1000 price range. And if you buy used you can do even better. $300-400 might get you a 5060 or a 9060XT right now [2][3] but if…
There's not necessarily anything wrong with gaming at 1080p, but I shudder to recommend anyone use a 1080p display for productivity. I feel like 27" 1440p is a good minimum experience. I also think that you're doing yourself a disservice going with an 8GB gpu in 2026, even for 1080p
How do you reconcile your comment with the fact that computers were used productively for decades before the invention of 1080p and larger formats.
Re: 32GB of DDR5 now costs $375 – AI shortage continues to squeeze PC building
#357Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's not necessarily anything wrong with gaming at 1080p, but I shudder to recommend anyone use a 1080p display for productivity. I feel like 27" 1440p is a good minimum experience. I also think that you're doing yourself a disservice going with an 8GB gpu in 2026, even for 1080p
How do you reconcile your comment with the fact that computers were used productively for decades before the invention of 1080p and larger formats.
Approximately the same way we reconcile with centuries of scribes being productive with quills and velum?
Re: 32GB of DDR5 now costs $375 – AI shortage continues to squeeze PC building
#358How are people selling RAM (and GPUs) these days? I have a bunch to offload but Facebook Marketplace and eBay don't sound like they're very great for small, very expensive ($1-3k) electronics...
EBay works fine
Re: 32GB of DDR5 now costs $375 – AI shortage continues to squeeze PC building
#359Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There's nothing wrong with 1080p gaming though. Hard disagree. Once I went 4K, I could never go back to 1080p. Sure, in an action-packed scenes of close- to moderate-quarters combat, I don't really notice it. But in long-distance combat? Having 4x the pixels per square inch is noticeable. In slower scenes and cut scenes it's definitely an appreciable improvement.
I had a 4K 26 inch monitor and yes it was nice. But I travel too much and didn't enjoy moving it from place to place. Gave it to a good friend that I was visiting. Missed it for a little bit but quickly got used to using laptop screen. It is to the point that even if I'm in a hotel room with a large monitor/screen I usually don't bother to connect to it. My point. Once you get better things yes it's easy to think you…
> I had a 4K 26 inch monitor and yes it was nice. But I travel too much and didn't enjoy moving it from place to place.
Basically the same specs here. 4K, 27".
How often were you traveling with it? I go to a PC gaming event twice/year (PDXLAN) and bring it. I don't think it's that bad moving it to the event venue and back.
> Once you get better things yes it's easy to think you could never use the lesser tools you once had.
You're probably right.
Re: 32GB of DDR5 now costs $375 – AI shortage continues to squeeze PC building
#360Earlier quoted context omitted.
you've 'upgraded' the same pc since a 486? i really can't believe that unless you're counting your mouse and keyboard.
> you've 'upgraded' the same pc since a 486? Yes. The most I've ever replaced all at once is the CPU/mobo/RAM trifecta. But even when I do that, I still kept the same storage, case, GPU, PSU, mouse/keyboard, etc. But otherwise, upgrades are piecemeal. New storage when my current storage is full or I want to upgrade to a new technology. New GPU when I feel like my current one is holding me back. New mouse or keyboard…
I get it, the Beige Box of Theseus.
I guess most would probably assume at least one epic refresh where there wasn't really anything carried across except maybe the parking spot on your desk. And since the 486 era, most probably expect your desk and/or physical site changed too.
There were so many potential PC era boundaries like case and motherboard form factors, external peripheral buses, HDD controller types, expansion card buses, cooling and PSU demands, socket/RAM formats, display types, and display connection types, ...
So many opportunities to think, "this seems like a time for a clean slate." If for no other reason than to bring up the new computer and have the old continue in transition or as some kind of spare, backup, or hand-me-down.