Why is RAM so expensive now?

[Scott4th]

Two years ago I bought 16GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR4 RAM (https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/RAM/DDR4/Dual+Channel+2133MHz+DDR4/16GB+%282x8GB%29+2133MHz+Corsair+Vengeance+LPX+DDR4+Memory+-+Black+?productId=65227) for £49.99. The same product now is £169, THREE TIMES THE PRICE!?

It's not just this retailer, but every other retailer I checked out. So I thought is it just this brand of RAM and took a look at other brands. It seems all brands of 16GB DDR4 RAM are now £150 plus. What's happened in the last two years to lead to a trippling of RAM costs? Surely it can't all be brexits fault?

Does anyone know where I can buy 16GB DDR4 RAM. I already have 16GB in the system but some tasks are hitting 90%+ RAM utilization, so thought it time to bump up to 32GB.

Cheers

Scott

 

[kanewolf]

Same reason as diamonds or Bitcoin are expensive. Too much demand compared to supply.

 

[Chicano]

16 GB RAM should be enough for any task so 90%+ of it being used doesn't sound normal... according to the linked high RAM usage threads, that issue may be caused by memory leaks due to driver issues... go through the threads and see if their solutions help you.


Computer using 98% of 16GB RAM
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3354595/computer-16gb-ram.html

SOLVED Physical Memory at 97% - Huge Non Paged Pool!
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2186507/solved-physical-memory-huge-paged-pool.html

Memory leak in Windows 8.1 with Killer E2200 and Windows Network Data Usage Monitoring
https://bluebluewave.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/memory-leak-in-windows-8-1-with-killer-e2200-and-windows-network-data-usage-monitoring/

 

[Scott4th]

However unlike Bitcoin or diamond, RAM isn't a luxary item? Surely demand hasn't risen 3x in 2 years? Computers are and will for the forseable still be a necessity.

 

[fluffa]

because there isn't enough manufactures, so no competition. or to but it bluntly price fixing between the manufactures

 

[Scott4th]

16 GB RAM should be enough for any task so 90%+ of it being used doesn't sound normal... according to the linked high RAM usage threads, that issue may be caused by memory leaks due to driver issues... go through the threads and see if their solutions help you.

It's more just one game, Cities Skylines. As I'm running the game with a fair number of mods / extra assets the game slow's right down, so much so that it will use up 95% of RAM and slow the whole system down for the first 10 / 15 minutes of the game being loaded. Reading the Steam forums this seems to be fairly common for highly modded versions of the game.

 

[Mark RM]

You realize it's not just PC's competing for RAM right? The same high density RAM goes into tablets, smartphones, network devices and the fab capacity is also under demand for crap chips like the stuff that goes into IoT devices.

Unfortunately, as each acquisition takes place and we get less competition in each market, we see worse prices. This is why when I hear the NVidia people screaming for AMD to go belly up, I just shake my head and wonder why they are such sheep. Even if you don't buy anything from AMD, other people do and thank Dog there's at least some small competition or that shiny new 1070 would be a 3K part.

 

[bignastyid]

However unlike Bitcoin or diamond, RAM isn't a luxary item? Surely demand hasn't risen 3x in 2 years? Computers are and will for the forseable still be a necessity.

Economics 101, supply has dropped(currently there is a shortage of dram) so prices rise. Supply and demand does not just apply to "luxury" items.
https://www.kitguru.net/components/matthew-wilson/dram-and-nand-supply-shortage-expected-to-last-until-2018/
http://www.pcgamer.com/samsung-to-increase-dram-output-as-ram-prices-continue-to-climb/http://www.pcgamer.com/samsung-to-increase-dram-output-as-ram-prices-continue-to-climb/