Poll: Should I upgrade to 1gb of ram while it's cheap?

[SickBeast]

Any comments on ram prices? Will I notice a difference by going to 1gb from 512mb? I'm running Windows XP, and I do mostly CAD work and gaming.

 

[boyRacer]

i think you'd benefit more with the cad... other than that... i don't see how 1gb could help a gamer unless you play memory hog games like simcity 4...

 

[SickBeast]

i play simcity 4 now and then

and sometimes my cad files are huge. i'm almost done school for the semester tho, so maybe i should wait till next fall to upgrade.

 

[mrzed]

People get confused about RAM prices because of short term spot market volatility. In the long run, prices always go down - if you wait 2-3 months, prices could go up again, but if you wait 4-8 months, things will be cheaper again, probably even less/faster than they are now. RAM is cheap now. It might get a little more expensive soon, and it will certainly get cheaper later.

But if you are buying ANY computer part because you are thinking that prices will go up in the future, you should think again.

Now if you know that you are going to need to upgrade within the next 2-4 months, then disregard the above. Prices can go up in the short term. If you need it now (or soon), get it now.

 

[GnomeCop]

as opposed to upgrading when its expensive.... I say do it now.

prices go up and down all the time, might as well get it now when its considered pretty cheap.

 

[boyRacer]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
i play simcity 4 now and then

and sometimes my cad files are huge. i'm almost done school for the semester tho, so maybe i should wait till next fall to upgrade.

sounds like you should go get it then... and it sounds like you were gonna get it anyway...

 

[SickBeast]

thanks for the input, guys

right now windows task manager says i have 291mb of physical memory free. i'm playing a dvd and browsing (opera 7). right now i'm leaning towards holding off till the fall as mrzed suggested. maybe then i could sell my pc2700 and get pc3500 or something

 

[Whitedog]

What makes you think RAM is going to go back up???

In the YEARS I've been building PC's I've never seen RAM prices go up (not for more than a few weeks).

RAM prices always come down... as does HD diskspace...

Always has.... Always will...

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Whitedog
What makes you think RAM is going to go back up???

In the YEARS I've been building PC's I've never seen RAM prices go up (not for more than a few weeks).

RAM prices always come down... as does HD diskspace...

Always has.... Always will...

yeah, but look at the poll results...15-2...the ppl here must think i should upgrade.

will i only notice a performance difference in simcity 4 tho? i do alot of multitasking, and afaik winxp takes up a ton of memory in itself...

usually this is what i have running:
-opera 7
-winamp
-arch.desktop 3.3
-norton antivirus
-kazaa lite
-notepad
-calculator
-dscaler (tv software)
-sometimes powerdvd
-sometimes 3d studio max
-sometimes ms word
-sometimes photoshop 7
-sometimes illustrator 10

i can never tell how much memory my system is actually using. it's confusing because windows automatically pages alot of stuff to the swap file. do you guys think that 1gb would benefit me right now?

 

[chizow]

RAM prices do go up after crashing. Its like the stock market, just a lot more volatile. If you don't believe me, you can check out some of the archived weekly/monthly price guides here on AT. I remember my first DDR board, the 8KHA+ back in October 2001. Picked up 2 x 256MB Crucial PC2100 when it dropped to rock bottom prices @$28 a stick. A month later, the same stick was $80+. Prices dropped again around this time last year, then quickly skyrocketed again. They've dropped considerably in the last month or so.

There's a lot of factors that control the price of DRAM, with the most obvious being supply/demand, but also the release of new technologies has a large impact on the market. I remember the price hike in 2001 was the announcement of many major players exiting the DRAM market in favor of the flash market. Later, when Intel adopted DDR b/c of all the RDRAM pricing issues, prices skyrocketed again. I expect a similar increase in the near-future. The FTC's ruling against Hynix effectively bars them from supplying US Firms with their modules; This'll increase supply in the rest of the world, but it'll leave US suppliers scrambling for replacements, which'll drive up RAM prices in the meantime. Couple that with Intel's impending launch of Springdale and Canterwood, and you should see RAM prices increase again, particularly for PC3200 and higher.

Chiz

 

[dullard]

DDR is sold at a loss. The losses are then subsidized in various ways - often from the government in that country. Since they are sold at a loss - and not in an attempt for profit - the rules of supply and demand may not apply. It is pretty clear that there will be 1, 2, maybe 3 bankrupt memory manufacturers in the next year or two. This will be a dramatic shock to the memory industry. Ram prices may plummet to clear the inventory of the bankrupt company. But then what? In my opinion the remaining few companies will finally try to get a profit. That means in one or two years DDR prices will skyrocket - and will not return quickly. That is my opinion and it may be wrong.

I think you will see small improvement with going to 1 GB. It really depends on the size of your CAD files. Gaming won't see any benefit except for SimCity 4.

If what I said above comes true, you are taking a risk by waiting. After a bankruptcy prices may be lower, so if you time it right I'd wait. But if you miss that opportunity after the bankruptcies, I think they won't return to this price for years.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: dullard
DDR is sold at a loss. The losses are then subsidized in various ways - often from the government in that country. Since they are sold at a loss - and not in an attempt for profit - the rules of supply and demand may not apply. It is pretty clear that there will be 1, 2, maybe 3 bankrupt memory manufacturers in the next year or two. This will be a dramatic shock to the memory industry. Ram prices may plummet to clear the inventory of the bankrupt company. But then what? In my opinion the remaining few companies will finally try to get a profit. That means in one or two years DDR prices will skyrocket - and will not return quickly. That is my opinion and it may be wrong.

I think you will see small improvement with going to 1 GB. It really depends on the size of your CAD files. Gaming won't see any benefit except for SimCity 4.

If what I said above comes true, you are taking a risk by waiting. After a bankruptcy prices may be lower, so if you time it right I'd wait. But if you miss that opportunity after the bankruptcies, I think they won't return to this price for years.

Wow...interesting post, even tho it's pretty speculative. I think I'm just going to buy a stick. Generic PC2700 costs $91CDN (~$60US) in the stores here in Toronto...I've never seen them hit this low. Thanks everyone for the input

 

[T9D]

..

 

[Jhhnn]

I remember what happened to prices after the Taiwan earthquake. I still have a 128meg stick of Mushkin Infineon PC133 2-2-2 that cost $185, prices didn't subside for at least 6 months. Too bad I wasn't sitting on a warehouse full of the stuff at the time....

Running CAD, I'd say get it while you can, so long as the purchase won't crimp your style in some other important area.... Whitedog is right, to a point, but you could easily end up on the wrong end of the teeter-totter when you really need to buy.

 

[glugglug]

RAM prices ARE about to go UP.

Part of the reason they are so low right now is that the Korean gov't gave $11.8 billion to Hynix so that they could continue to sell at a loss in an attempt to kill competition.

Both the US and EU governments see this as an unfair trade practice and are putting a punitive import tarriff on RAM imported from Hynix to compensate. The EU is going to tax them 30-35% starting on April 24 and the US will tax them 57% starting in June or July.

Micron has a pretty big lobby to keep/increase such a tax in place like they did in the late 80s/early 90s keeping DRAM prices from dropping for several years back then until it reached a ridiculous point where since SRAM (cache) had dropped in price and DRAM had not for so long that cache was almost cheaper than RAM.

 

[SickBeast]

ok that settles it. tomorrow i'm buying ram. that means i have to walk all the way to spadina tho...1/2 hour walk. thanks very much guys

 

[Actaeon]

I will...