An entire PS5 now costs less than 64GB of DDR5 memory, even after a discount — simple memory kit jumps to $600 due to DRAM shortage, and it's expected to get worse into 2026 (https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ddr5/64gb-of-ddr5-memory-now-costs-more-than-an-entire-ps5-even-after-a-discount-trident-z5-neo-kit-jumps-to-usd600-due-to-dram-shortage-and-its-expected-to-get-worse-into-2026)
Well, if you were planning on building a gaming PC anytime soon, make sure to plan for this. 64GB of RAM used to be around $150 or less. Now it's as much as PS5 Pro!!
AI is completely decimating supply and leaving us plebs with outrageous prices.
Fortunately (I guess :-X ) gamers don't really need 64GB and can get by with 16GB, but wow, these prices are insane.
@CreepinDeth That is crazy. Holy crap... even my laptop memory is triple the price. I bought the Strix Scar Asus ROG and put in 64GB of memory. That was $220 in September 2025. Now it's showing as $599.
That's just insane. Remember when Crypto and Graphics card increases were a thing? lol
Here's the crypto crash topic:
https://www.chickendinnergaming.com/forum/news-leaks-rumors/crypto-crash-and-gpu-prices/
Thankfully, I am not in the market for building a computer. Also thankfully... I have my new laptop...
Quote from: BLUEVOODU on December 01, 2025, 05:16:44 PMThat's just insane. Remember when Crypto and Graphics card increases were a thing? lol
Remember? I'm
trying to forget, lol. These tech bro CEOs won't let me.
I was saving up for a graphics card and I think I might pull the trigger on a 9060XT 16GB card because the prices are about to jump there again, too, due to this RAM price hike. Sad state of affairs for the PC gaming community.
Quote from: CreepinDeth on December 01, 2025, 09:37:43 PMRemember? I'm trying to forget, lol. These tech bro CEOs won't let me.
LOL
@CreepinDeth I know... lol and my bad. :))
You're 100% correct though... the ram increases will translate to higher and higher GPU costs. I'm hoping ram prices do drop back down. Unlike GPUs, I think RAM has a greater chance of dropping back.
GPUs, however, probably will never drop back down unless there's a major crash in the computer hardware department. I'm glad I upgraded my laptop when I did. I might sell my ram as well LOL. Right now, it seems like laptops might be the way to go for "cheaper" gaming. Truth be told, I haven't build a computer since 2013 ???
Quote from: BLUEVOODU on December 02, 2025, 06:33:28 PMlol and my bad. :))
lol, It's all good. :) It's madness though.
Quote from: BLUEVOODU on December 02, 2025, 06:33:28 PMUnlike GPUs, I think RAM has a greater chance of dropping back.
Yeah, about that...
Micron to exit consumer memory business amid global supply shortage (https://www.reuters.com/business/micron-exit-crucial-consumer-memory-business-2025-12-03/)
This is a massive hit to consumer supply. This company supplies RAM chips to so many companies and is shutting down their Crucial brand. A brand that has been around for 30 years just so that they can solely supply to AI companies. So no more Crucial RAM and SSDs.
We're doomed.
Holy crap
@CreepinDeth I missed that... I've been under a lot with the new job etc and have not been able to keep up on everything. I didn't even realize, at first, there was a massive RAM price increase.
Sounds like they picked the WORST time to exit the market segment. Just a heads up, your link is not working.
I haven't built since 2013... and looks like I won't any time soon. I know
@SpartanEvolved just built. GPU prices were stupid insane when he was telling me about it LOL :)) I'm like.... No
rabbit-no.gif
Quote from: BLUEVOODU on December 04, 2025, 10:01:15 AMHoly crap @CreepinDeth I missed that...
No worries, that news broke just yesterday so it's cool if you hadn't found out yet.
Quote from: BLUEVOODU on December 04, 2025, 10:01:15 AMJust a heads up, your link is not working.
Thanks, should be fixed now.
Quote from: BLUEVOODU on December 04, 2025, 10:01:15 AMI haven't built since 2013... and looks like I won't any time soon. I know @SpartanEvolved just built. GPU prices were stupid insane when he was telling me about it LOL :)) I'm like.... No
rabbit-no.gif
lol, yep. I'm Bugs Bunny too. Although, I did end up getting the 9060XT 16GB as it finally hit MSRP and had some Best Buy rewards to make the cost even better.
At this point, I don't see myself upgrading for a long time. Going to make due with what I have now and enjoy the games that I have.
All of this as the billionaire tech bros race to create Skynet....
(https://www.slashfilm.com/img/gallery/terminator-2-arm-prop/intro-import.webp)
How will this effect the prices of game consoles? Maybe the question should be rephrased. How badly will this effect the prices of game consoles?
Quote from: retro junkie on December 07, 2025, 03:31:26 PMHow will this effect the prices of game consoles? Maybe the question should be rephrased. How badly will this effect the prices of game consoles?
We won't know yet. It's possible that Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony have already gotten RAM orders in prior to price increases. But it will affect them eventually. I fully expect price increases this time next year at the very least.
If they don't increase the prices, I wouldn't be surprised if this raises the costs elsewhere to recoup. Who knows what'll happen though.
It looks like they are now predicting for the increases to stick around until 2027-2028. That's just mind boggling. IE Western Digital hard drive prices skyrocketed once due to factory fire for many months... not years. Same thing for Dell Laptop batteries - factory fire... a laptop battery skyrocketed to $300+ for 3-6 months, I think it was.
This also does not take any other factors into place where production issues could occur. Pretty crazy, it seems like we are in the long haul for this issue ... and yes, I'm calling this an big issue that affects consumers.
Quote from: BLUEVOODU on December 26, 2025, 01:48:32 PM... and yes, I'm calling this an big issue that affects consumers.
It absolutely will. Almost all of our electronics nowadays use RAM or some form of storage chip. From our cars, to our appliances.
@CreepinDeth -->
@Grindspine has been checking into a build lately... looks like prices have increased again. I wonder where the price ceiling is at this point... since we are early into this RAM issue.
Quote from: BLUEVOODU on January 08, 2026, 09:29:13 AM@CreepinDeth --> @Grindspine has been checking into a build lately... looks like prices have increased again. I wonder where the price ceiling is at this point... since we are early into this RAM issue.
It's definitely going to keep going up the more rare the components become. Even if us common folk don't pay the ridiculous prices, there's probably someone who does have the money and will still pay because that money is pocket change to them.
AMD and Samsung have said that they will start manufacturing AM4 CPUs and DDR4 RAM, respectively, again to help combat prices. Whether that will happen remains to be seen. Probably worth waiting a little bit to see if that happens. But I predict that we won't see 2023 prices. I bought a 32GB DDR4 RAM kit back then for around $65 with tax included. I wouldn't be surprised if it's still over $100 even with more stock available.
Or maybe see what the price of a Steam Machine is.
@CreepinDeth If you had to guess... how much higher do you feel this is going to jump?
Everyone else... feel free to chime in as well!
I don't think we have seen yet just how this is going to effect the game consoles. What is being manufacture now will soon show up on the shelves with a price increase. I am seeing the talk that the Switch is going to have a price increase of a possible $50.
Quote from: BLUEVOODU on January 19, 2026, 11:06:57 AM@CreepinDeth If you had to guess... how much higher do you feel this is going to jump?
It's very hard to guess. Things just keep getting worse. We're probably looking at $200 for 16GB of RAM and $150 for 1TB NVME SSDs for the foreseable future.
I hope Systems prices aren't too affected. I partly wonder if their last increases were timely that either:
1.) they put them in ahead of time... so they won't raise prices again.
OR
2.) Hopefully this is not the case... but they put in their increases ahead of time to not get complaints when they have to increase prices AGAIN due to rising costs of ram.
You know, generally... once prices increase, they don't come back down. Bubble pricing is different. However, bubble pricing might become the norm in this case like what happened to GPU prices.
And It's amazing costs haven't come down more on NVMEs at this time. In 2026... it's not new anymore and larger and cheaper drives should be cycling out... with better reliability.
Quote from: BLUEVOODU on January 21, 2026, 05:11:44 PMAnd It's amazing costs haven't come down more on NVMEs at this time. In 2026... it's not new anymore and larger and cheaper drives should be cycling out... with better reliability.
Costs can't come down if all components are going straight to AI.
Kioxia exec says the AI boom means the era of the cheap 1TB SSD is over —company's NAND supply is sold out for this year and likely through 2027 (https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ssds/kioxia-exec-says-the-ai-boom-means-the-era-of-the-cheap-1tb-ssd-is-over-companys-nand-supply-is-sold-out-for-this-year-and-likely-through-2027)
And then you got companies who are just straight up not caring about anything but money.
Think SSDs Are Getting Expensive? Well, NAND Makers Are Reportedly Cutting Production to Make Even More Money (https://wccftech.com/think-ssds-are-getting-expensive-nand-makers-are-reportedly-cutting-production/)
And on top of that, we have everybody's favorite economic tactic... tariffs!!
Spraying kerosene over the DRAM inferno, US commerce secretary suggests memory chip makers could face 100% tariffs unless they commit to increased US production (https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/memory/spraying-kerosene-over-the-dram-inferno-us-commerce-secretary-suggests-memory-chip-makers-could-face-100-percent-tariffs-unless-they-commit-to-increased-us-production/)
I snagged 32gb using a Newegg combo deal. That was the only way to even get the DDR5 RAM price down near $400. RAM Prices are up almost 500% since last October. It will be years until more factories are able to produce RAM chips, and by then, demand might still be high.
The obsession with AI is starting to piss me off. These tech bros and politicians talk about AI as if it is the savior and solve of all human issues, when it is, in fact, making things worse for everyone in terms of affordability, energy demand, and environmental concerns.
Hearing people talk about all of the dorky things they got Chat GPT to write or the AI images that they had produced is not worth any of this mess.
Yeah...
@Grindspine remember when Bryce was the thing for cool images lol.
$400 is insane for 32GB too... part of me thinks that prices won't go down. Look at cars... the prices really have not retracted after the chip shortages from 2021. Graphics cards... really haven't shed much... and now ram may follow.
Remember when bubble pricing actually fell back? It seems they (companies) have figured out ways to stop this from happening and are pocketing more. That... just doesn't seem to happen now. Mix in with that the instability of the tariff pricing and other things going on over the last year
Will something like this ultimately effect things like TVs, cars, cell phones, etc, anything that uses some form of memory? Let's face it, there are so many things that uses some form of PC board for its function.
@retro junkie --> as much as I hate to say it... it will or it's a high likelihood that it will. Maybe not as much as devices (phones, consoles...etc)... but I would say this is as yes. This is probably the same case for some home appliances, cars, etc as well.
All we need now is another chip shortage...
interesting perspective on the subject matter..................
yeah... this definitely was an interesting perspective. Not sure I agree with all of it... but it is interesting.
It would be interesting if more companies jumped from the consumer grade gear for AI... and then when they tried to come back to consumer, no one bought those brands. Doubt that will happen... but...
Anyway, market disruptions are annoying for sure.
And it is cool this guy likes Anthrax LOL ;D
I've seen this argument before and I do see it coming almost true.
Recently a Jeff Bezos talk from a couple of years ago resurfaced, and in it he mentioned that the future of computing is in the cloud. Not surprising since he owns AWS. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, also recently said similar things. Not surprising either now that they have their GeForce streaming service.
What's happening with the hardware shortage and AI is similar to what's happening in other consumer markets.
There's been a rise in consumer products that have built-in subscription services. Like, for example, cars. Features are now starting to get locked behind subscription models. Appliances are also doing the same thing.
The economy has basically become a system of extracting as much as companies can out of everyone's wallet while we own as little as possible. Not just in the U.S. but pretty much around the world.
I am reading now that iphones increasing in price due to the memory shortage issues..........
Quote from: CreepinDeth on February 02, 2026, 10:33:24 PMRecently a Jeff Bezos talk from a couple of years ago resurfaced, and in it he mentioned that the future of computing is in the cloud. Not surprising since he owns AWS. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, also recently said similar things. Not surprising either now that they have their GeForce streaming service.
What's happening with the hardware shortage and AI is similar to what's happening in other consumer markets.
There's been a rise in consumer products that have built-in subscription services. Like, for example, cars. Features are now starting to get locked behind subscription models. Appliances are also doing the same thing.
The economy has basically become a system of extracting as much as companies can out of everyone's wallet while we own as little as possible. Not just in the U.S. but pretty much around the world.
The Cars and appliances "paid options" are just insane. You want heated seats.... well you have the option! It's there! You just have to pay a monthly subscription. Blows my mind. I'm hoping we do not get to a scenario where that takes over every vehicle. It seems to be more high end vehicles for now. Still... If that hits Honda, Toyota, and most Chevy, Fords...etc...etc... I hope there's a rebellion. Problem is, here in America, we have to drive (for the most part). As far as appliances like this... I won't buy and hope we don't get boxed in there as well.
Quote from: retro junkie on February 07, 2026, 04:09:33 PMI am reading now that iphones increasing in price due to the memory shortage issues..........
I saw that as well. I'm sure it's going to hit all tablets, phones... all the way down to cars and appliances (eventually). It is really a frustrating thing
Welp, looks like PC rentals are starting to become a thing now...
HP's Response to Memory Shortages Isn't Switching to Chinese Memory or Cutting Specs; It's Asking Gamers to 'Rent' OMEN Laptops (https://wccftech.com/hp-response-to-memory-shortages-isnt-switching-to-chinese-suppliers-or-cutting-specs-its-asking-gamers-to-rent-laptops/)
A couple of quotes from the article -
QuoteWhat's interesting is that you'll never own the device, even after owning it for over two years
QuoteAnd, if you decide to cancel the subscription in between, you'll be obliged to pay the remaining payments left out in the twelve months.
Where's the vomit emoji?! I need at least 10 of them here.
@CreepinDeth face-vomiting-1302192352.png
Word is that PS6 is delayed due to RAM prices. Some game PC builders have touted "bring your own RAM builds" where a prebuilt will not have RAM sticks.
I mostly finished my new build. Frankly, I have been using a Core I-7 3770k (overclocked a bit to 3.9 Ghz) and DDR3 RAM with an RTX2060 since 2020. My old build has been great, but that motherboard, memory, and case were from 2016.
(https://photos.app.goo.gl/44Wjavo3FDQpAJHU7)
Thus, Windows 11, Doom: The Dark Ages, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill F, and the new Resident Evil games were all things that just would not be able to run on it. My gaming laptop (from 2019) was only a Ryzen 5 and GTX1660 Super, so it was struggling with quite a few games as well.
My new build features an ASUS Strix B850-G motherboard, Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor, Corsair DDR5 6000 RAM with a CAS of 30, ASUS ROG Thor 850 PSU, ASUS A21 case, Corsair RS120 fans, Corsair Nautilus 360 cooler, and ASUS Prime RTX5070 graphics card. Storage wasn't cheap, but because I had to move files from my older SATA setup, this one has 5 TB of NVME Gen 5 and Gen 4 SSDs and a 6TB WD Black 7200 spindle drive.
This build set me back way more than I was wanting to spend, but I also am hoping that it last for years.
(https://photos.app.goo.gl/yYH89Zz6KK4Kt7PR6)
(https://photos.app.goo.gl/NBxjbtKrMuPcDy9S9)
(https://photos.app.goo.gl/DTsrdcoZAaUyVYKr9)
(https://photos.app.goo.gl/NKuM96xxkoL5nwcT7)
(https://photos.fife.usercontent.google.com/pw/AP1GczM_GGsFhiQvDdLkrGS4edLrGEWF7avDrrlFsmqfDU3C_GSWsX0-lxWl=w955-h1273-s-no-gm?authuser=1)
Speaking of Emojis
@CreepinDeth and
@retro junkie lol... Looking for suggestions on new emojis.
https://www.chickendinnergaming.com/forum/suggestions-comments-and-feedback/what-emojis-would-you-like-to-see/
Ugh
@CreepinDeth ... the last thing we need is to rent hardware. There are MANY companies that do this. The company I work for leases their systems. IE my laptop is leased. You might as well be renting as leasing is a type of rent. You know... that would be crazy. Think if all of this was done just to get the hardware rental aspect moving forward...
@Grindspine --> cool call on the topic. I was meaning to get that posted:
https://www.chickendinnergaming.com/forum/sony-playstation-5-ps5-playstation-4-ps4-ps-vita-and-playstation-3-ps3/sony-could-delay-ps6-release-to-2028-or-2029/
Quote from: CreepinDeth on February 12, 2026, 02:13:49 AMQuoteAnd, if you decide to cancel the subscription in between, you'll be obliged to pay the remaining payments left out in the twelve months.
so... let's do this one again lol
rabbit-no.gif
man... that is such a gross quote. I need 10 vomit emojis as well... followed by a cry emoji because I vomited so much.