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Framework Raises DDR5 Memory Prices by 50% for DIY Laptops

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Re: Framework Raises DDR5 Memory Prices by 50% for DIY Laptops

#71

Post by arjie »

I bought a couple of terabytes of RAM and now I feel like one of those crypto-whales haha. It's just sitting there in the corner. One was a lucky one, too, because I tried to negotiate a guy to sell me a system with less RAM but he wouldn't discount it much. Now it pays for most of the cost of the damn thing.

These spikes do happen. I remember one for hard drives after a storm. The surprising thing for me is how cheap a super-powerful Epyc is these days. But then you need to fill the 12 RAM slots and that becomes more costly. Funny times.

Re: Framework Raises DDR5 Memory Prices by 50% for DIY Laptops

#72

Post by kjkjadksj »

echelon wrote: post #37
fcoury wrote: post #33

I thought Apple would get around and improve their memory prices with time, I guess it's the opposite: all manufacturers are now becoming Apple given these raises. I wonder what Apple's next move will be :-) EDIT: Spelling

They are not becoming Apple. They are updating the prices of their components to the underlying market costs. Framework lets you replace the memory modules. Apple is a fashionable brand that commands a price premium. They can charge much higher prices and will charge the amount that will maximize their profits. BMW charges to enable heated seats. They know their customers have money and will pay. Apple is the same. F…

Have you seen laptop prices these days? Macbooks aren’t even sold at a premium anymore.

Re: Framework Raises DDR5 Memory Prices by 50% for DIY Laptops

#73

Post by stackskipton »

derektank wrote: post #70
acephal wrote: post #49

Altman should be jailed for this. Single-handedly crashing consumer spending in an entire sector of the economy. At the very least for the reason that that was supposed to happen _after_ they had the AI in hand to supplant majority white collar labor, not before.

We’re contemplating jailing people for buying manufactured goods at the market price now?

Yes? Reports are that OpenAI is buying unfinished memory kits which they have no capacity to complete. It appears that OpenAI is just buying them to remove them from the market and damage their competitors. In United States, that used to be considered against the law if we were actually enforcing such things.

Re: Framework Raises DDR5 Memory Prices by 50% for DIY Laptops

#75

Post by Dylan16807 »

derektank wrote: post #70
acephal wrote: post #49

Altman should be jailed for this. Single-handedly crashing consumer spending in an entire sector of the economy. At the very least for the reason that that was supposed to happen _after_ they had the AI in hand to supplant majority white collar labor, not before.

We’re contemplating jailing people for buying manufactured goods at the market price now?

Didn't they sign some big contacts to lock in non-market prices?

Re: Framework Raises DDR5 Memory Prices by 50% for DIY Laptops

#76

Post by drtgh »

klez wrote: post #65
acephal wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I've read, he's tied up RAM manufacturers through 2029. That's a lot of quartely earnings reports for many firms in the economy where they watch consumer spend come to a screeching halt.

One has to hope OpenAI goes bankrupt and they flood the market with used RAM sticks at bargain bin price.

As with all Ponzi schemes OpenAI will eventually go bankrupt, yet it continues to receive money from the unwary. I wonder how the research division at Disney feels about what their bosses have done...

But it should happen earlier due what is happening with the RAM, as it sounds quite illegal, like anticompetitive hoarding, cornering the market, raising rivals' costs, consumer welfare harm, and so on.

Re: Framework Raises DDR5 Memory Prices by 50% for DIY Laptops

#77

Post by mschuster91 »

chairmansteve wrote: post #66
mschuster91 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, it seems like they are planning to force everyone else out of the market. Acquire all the RAM they can possibly get, leave none for the competition, pray to survive the entire mess. It's the inevitable peak of the venture capital pipeline, just this time it isn't individual industries (e.g. taxis with Uber, hotels with AirBnB) getting squeezed out by unsustainable pricing - it's the economy at large tha…

These gambits never work though. In 6 months you'll be able to get memory chips and GPUs for nothing..... There's a few historical examples here.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornering_the_market

> In 6 months you'll be able to get memory chips and GPUs for nothing.

I highly doubt that. Memory chip production takes years to scale up, which is partially a reason why the memory market (both RAM and solid-storage) is so susceptible to "pig cycles" - high prices incentivize new players to join the market (although less likely than decades ago, given just how much capital one needs and how complex the technology has gotten) and for established players to scale up their production, and then prices collapse due to oversupply.

For GPUs, the situation is even worse. During the GPU crypto mining craze, at least that was consumer GPUs so there indeed was an influx of cheap second hand gear once that market collapsed due to ASICs - but this time? These chips don't even have the hardware for rendering videos any more, so even if GPU OEMs would now get a ton of left over GPU chips they couldn't make general-purpose GPUs out of them any more.

Additionally, this assumption assumes that the large web of AI actors collapses in the next 6 months, which is even more unlikely - there's just too much actual cash floating around in the market.

Re: Framework Raises DDR5 Memory Prices by 50% for DIY Laptops

#78

Post by abawany »

pengaru wrote: post #24

I assembled a new 32c/64t 7970X threadripper with 128GB DDR5 and a 16GB RX9070XT over the summer... This memory situation has me pondering putting it all up on ebay

I upgraded my laptop from 32gb to 64gb (should have gotten 96gb) over the summer and I'm considering the same for the leftover 32gb - fear of not having spares in case of defects holds me back though.

Re: Framework Raises DDR5 Memory Prices by 50% for DIY Laptops

#80

Post by foobiekr »

dismalaf wrote: post #19

What's wild is OpenAI doubling down on hyperscaling when it's obvious that the gains from pre-training are coming to an end. They seem determined to just go out in flames...

What other option do they have?

This is a "the horse might sing" situation for the whole market that focused on breakthrough-level results (AGI, ASI, or even just "not going off the rails after the third response").

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