RAM prices are so out of control that stores sell them like lobsters

Michael Kreider’s address at Computer world today It perfectly captures how ridiculous the PC memory shortage has become: stores like Central Computers in the San Francisco Bay Area started selling RAM at market prices, like you’d pay for the catch of the day at a seafood restaurant.

“Costs fluctuate daily as manufacturers and distributors adapt to limited supply and high demand,” says a message posted on the store’s display case. As spotted by Steve Lynn. “For this reason, we cannot offer fixed prices at this time.”

Micro Center appears to be doing the same: “Due to market volatility, we ask that you check with a sales associate for pricing,” a message taken at the store said. By Redditor Cass Texas (via Tom’s devices).

It’s hard to overstate how quickly the RAM crisis will change PC affordability — and it may soon affect other areas too, like everything from gaming consoles to smartphones Requires RAM to function.

Three months ago, I purchased 32GB of memory for my gaming PC, and the price of that kit has more than tripled since then. Now it costs $300 more. ($440 vs $130in case you’re curious; A more common version of the same group went From $105 to $400.) Some prices have doubled since October, and while you can still find some 32GB kits for as much as $230, a 64GB DDR5 kit can easily set you back $700, $800, or even $900.

Claims that Laker-More Law is dead Microsoft may have to raise Xbox prices again to compensate, but Sony has stocked up on enough RAM for the PS5 to last for a number of months.

says Epic CEO Tim Sweeney It may take years for high-end games to recover from the RAM crunch, due to AI. “Factories are shifting high-end DRAM capacity to meet AI needs as data centers bid much higher than consumer hardware makers,” he says.