timsSOFTWARE A few years ago when there was a used car shortage, I could have sold my then 5-year old vehicle for more than I bought it for new, defying normal depreciation expectations. That didn't last long-term, and this won't either, because it can't. To some extent, it is just the market at work, doing what it's supposed to do – in times of demand severely outpacing supply, high prices help to ensure it's at least still possible to get what you need if you really need it – even if it's essentially being highly discouraged – and also for the longer-term, the profit potential encourages increasing supply. But for anyone who doesn't absolutely have to upgrade/replace memory now/in the next couple years, it makes sense to wait. I think it will probably be 2029/2030 before I think about buying any more hardware, unless the AI bubble bursts and things rapidly change before then. For games – and software in general – this is also something developers need to be thinking about when making projections about what hardware customers are likely to have, and the associated tradeoffs – because there's always sort of a balance to strike between quantity of features and optimization/runtime efficiency, and also what kinds of features are worth building into the product. Reply
inverse137 In 3 years when all this used equipment hits the secondary markets prices will crater. Reply
inverse137 TechieTwo said: Financial greed knows no limits. :angry: This is not "greed" this is supply vs demand in action. Just curious, if you call this "greed," then what did you call the low point? Reply
inverse137 Enterprise SSDs I paid $100 for in Oct 2025 are now $433 256GB ECC memory I paid $400 for in Oct 2025 now cost $1,600. Reply
timsSOFTWARE inverse137 said: This is not "greed" this is supply vs demand in action. Just curious, if you call this "greed," then what did you call the low point? If the memory makers hadn't increased prices, it would be much worse today – it would be another one of those cases where scalpers buy up most of the product readily available. And anyone else who gets the opportunity to do so at MSRP would buy the maximum amount possible – even more than they would have purchased normally/without the shortage – just because they don't know if they'd get the chance to do so again at a reasonable price later. So the vast majority of people who needed memory for a new system – if they could get it at all – would be forced into buying from a seller of questionable repute on Ebay, facing the possibility of getting scammed, and having to wonder if they'd be able to get warranty coverage. While the high prices are unwelcome, I'd still rather see high retail prices from reputable sellers than deal with that. Reply
usertests timsSOFTWARE said: forced into buying from a seller of questionable repute on Ebay, facing the possibility of getting scammed, and having to wonder if they'd be able to get warranty coverage. I've found it easy to get good used memory on ebay. Ignore sellers with low ratings or near zero sales, ignore China. There are sellers with thousands or tens of thousands of sales and 99-100% rating. I get no warranty beyond maybe 30 days, but it seems the value of those is questionable these days. Reply
teeejay94 The saddest thing is there's someone who's getting ready to build a brand new PC anyway in some pseudo attempt to "stick it to the man" Yeah Im gonna drop $1000 on two sticks of ram, that'll learn em!!!!! Reply
usertests teeejay94 said: The saddest thing is there's someone who's getting ready to build a brand new PC anyway in some pseudo attempt to "stick it to the man" Yeah Im gonna drop $1000 on two sticks of ram, that'll learn em!!!!! That doesn't sound like a common scenario. Which is why sales are dropping. A sad thing is that people who need CPU performance (for real work) will have to bite the bullet and pay the DDR5 premium. For example, a Ryzen 9 9950X is around 40-45% faster (TechPowerUp, PassMark) than a Ryzen 9 5950X. 24-core Zen 6 could be around 150% faster than a Ryzen 9 5950X. Even if you have to pay $900 on a 64 GB kit, it could be worth it. Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ram/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ram/memory-prices-climb-500-percent-in-12-months-up-to-10x-the-lowest-ever-tracked-prices-128gb-of-ddr5-now-usd3-399#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.