It seems like a bad time for a new build...

[96Firebird]

With RAM prices crazy high and SSD prices not much better, as well as Intel CPUs going in and out of stock well above MSRP, is now not a good time for a new build? I was thinking about building a new machine to do some light gaming and photo editing, along with some AutoCAD and SolidWorks doing some work-from-home. My plan was to re-use my old case (Corsair 400r) for the new build and get a more basic ATX case for my current system to use as an HTPC.

Are things looking better for early next year, or are DDR4 prices expected to stay high for a while?

 

[UsandThem]

SSDs aren't too bad if you catch them on sale. With any new CPU launch, demand always outstrips supply. There are people who simply want to be among the first, and are willing to pay for it. In the last 15 or so years, I moved away from doing that and let the early adopters help fix all the usual bugs.

However, Ryzen CPUs have been fantastically priced over the last month, and now the Intel Coffee Lake CPUs (outside of the unlocked K ones) are not too hard to find near MSRP.

DDR4 prices will be like this for a good while (it seems we haven't even hit the ceiling on it yet), so only buy what you actually need, and add to it once they start to drop.

 

[whm1974]

Which is why I'm holding off for a couple of years, well that and I need to save up some money first anyway.

 

[EXCellR8]

you might be able to piece together a decent Haswell machine with fast DDR3, would work fine for CAD. I swapped in a 4770 in the Dell precision I use at work and it runs Civil 3D and Solidworks no problem.

there's very rarely a terrific time to buy a new setup but yes, right now is not good at all.

 

[whm1974]

you might be able to piece together a decent Haswell machine with fast DDR3, would work fine for CAD. I swapped in a 4770 in the Dell precision I use at work and it runs Civil 3D and Solidworks no problem.

there's very rarely a terrific time to buy a new setup but yes, right now is not good at all.

This. Or get a properly refurbished Haswell machine and upgrade the memory(if needed) and add a video card to it for gaming.

 

[whm1974]

How about refurbished Xeon workstations? Newegg has some with 6 or more cores and 32 to 64GB of memory and SSDs at decent prices.

 

[EXCellR8]

I know CAD seems to benefit most from raw CPU speed so that's why I typically suggest going the i7 route if possible, or drop down to i5 and then just load it up with ram at the max supported speed. There's no real trick to it.

 

[corkyg]

Regarding the basic question, . . . where "technolust" is involved, there is never a bad time.

 

[whm1974]

Regarding the basic question, . . . where "technolust" is involved, there is never a bad time.

Unless you are broke.

 

[PliotronX]

What's exciting is so many "strong" cores being accessible and yeah, whats not so exciting is the other system components. Cases and power supplies are plentiful though!

 

[whm1974]

Because you can now have more then 4-cores without spending big bucks for both the Motherboard and CPU.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Why has RAM been more expensive anyhow? I've been thinking of adding more ddr3 ram to my current system, but made the mistake in 2011-12ish and used 4x4gb sticks for 16gb. If I wanted to go up to 32gb, I'd have to buy 4x8gb sticks and it'd be maybe $300. Crazy!

 

[UsandThem]

Why has RAM been more expensive anyhow? I've been thinking of adding more ddr3 ram to my current system, but made the mistake in 2011-12ish and used 4x4gb sticks for 16gb. If I wanted to go up to 32gb, I'd have to buy 4x8gb sticks and it'd be maybe $300. Crazy!

For DDR3, your best bet would to buy it used (like in our FS forum). Many people are selling their older AMD and Intel systems to move to Ryzen and Kaby Lake/Coffee Lake builds with DDR4, so there is a lot of people selling. You probably could find that amount of RAM for under $200.

 

[whm1974]

Why has RAM been more expensive anyhow? I've been thinking of adding more ddr3 ram to my current system, but made the mistake in 2011-12ish and used 4x4gb sticks for 16gb. If I wanted to go up to 32gb, I'd have to buy 4x8gb sticks and it'd be maybe $300. Crazy!

There is more demand for memory now, especially for DDR4. Not to rub it in but I avoid the mistake you made by going with 2x8GB DDR3 when I built my rig back in 2013. But yeah you are right, memory prices are crazy. Hopefully prices will get lower in a few years when I'm ready to build a new system.

 

[Campy]

Why has RAM been more expensive anyhow?

Like someone else said, demand is higher. This is in large part due to smart phones using much more memory now than a few years ago. Also I think the big memory manufacturers are more focused on DDR5/GDDR6 right now than on producing the maximum amount of DDR4, so production really hasn't kept up. I don't think they've cared much either because they've been making a lot of money. However Samsung announced last month that they would be ramping up DRAM production, and if the other manufacturers follow suite we should see price growth halt in 2018 and hopefully fall by the latter half of the year.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Yea that all makes sense. When I started considering either building or upgrading my system a few months ago, I was shocked by how much RAM cost. I guess I've been out of the game for awhile. I've decided to hold off building a new system and just upgrading some parts, but I might just hold off on everything till prices come down again.

 

[Indus]

I built a ryzen system not too long ago and it is awesome for the money but memory prices.. I paid $200 for 32 GB of DDR4 which I thought was nuts. Now the same kit is on sale for $350 with a registered price of $419.

 

[UsandThem]

Yeah, RAM prices are out of control right now. Just in 2 months since I bought a 8GB kit, it has increased in price by 30% ($94 to $122).

I just bet the DDR4 manufacturer shareholders and ownership are just loving their fat profit margins compared to 18 months ago.