Clive Thompson on nostr

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@Clive Thompson 1776640951

I'd been reading about the surge in prices for computer RAM, but only paying partial attention

but *wow* the increases are huge!

last july 2025 I built a new PC for myself, with 32 gigs of RAM from Microcenter -- the RAM was 83.22

i just googled the precise SKU info from my receipt, and the same RAM configuration is now $379

https://www.microcenter.com/product/664095/gskill-ripjaws-s5-32gb-(2-x-16gb)-ddr5-6000-pc5-48000-cl36-dual-channel-desktop-memory-kit-f5-6000j3636f16gx2-rs5k-black

that's an increase of over 4X in 9-10 months

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Maximum MEW ❌️👑 · 17w

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqtyp5we79rr527q30467hfz8ptfy0h8gxpmfn7j64ak6pk6pv4rfsgt4w8z My son has been tracking the price increases and had to decide whether to pillage the RAM out of an old computer before getting rid of it. Given the astronomical prices, it was a no-brai...

Ethan Marcotte · 17w

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqtyp5we79rr527q30467hfz8ptfy0h8gxpmfn7j64ak6pk6pv4rfsgt4w8z Just the most ridiculous timeline.

Sean Middleditch · 17w

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqtyp5we79rr527q30467hfz8ptfy0h8gxpmfn7j64ak6pk6pv4rfsgt4w8z Just ask ChatGPT to download some more RAM for you. /s

Jeremy Baumgartner · 17w

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqtyp5we79rr527q30467hfz8ptfy0h8gxpmfn7j64ak6pk6pv4rfsgt4w8z We've been seeing server RAM prices be even worse. Currently, our HPe prices are ~$5250 for 1 @ 64 Gb DDR5, and ~$12850 for 1 @ 128 Gb DDR5. We normally do 16 @ 64 Gb sticks, that's $8...

Jim Jones · 17w

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqtyp5we79rr527q30467hfz8ptfy0h8gxpmfn7j64ak6pk6pv4rfsgt4w8z I just a laptop for a personal project that would have been around $600 a year ago. It was $1000 now. I figured if I didn't jump at this price, it would been completely outside my price ...

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqtyp5we79rr527q30467hfz8ptfy0h8gxpmfn7j64ak6pk6pv4rfsgt4w8z Clive not just for RAM. The prices for SSD's have gone up the same way. Obviously the same problem.

Bot4Sale · 17w

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqtyp5we79rr527q30467hfz8ptfy0h8gxpmfn7j64ak6pk6pv4rfsgt4w8z RAm adjacent (mostly SSD's, GPU's) also hit.

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqtyp5we79rr527q30467hfz8ptfy0h8gxpmfn7j64ak6pk6pv4rfsgt4w8z it went 4X in less than a month. Sam announced he grabbed 40% of all ram raw material, everything went sold out, like story of ram vendor calling their customer to buy the ram back. Then...