RAM: 512 MB = $150, 1GB = $1000...why?

[Ichinisan]

Is there some kind of incredible barrier-workaround that makes a 1024MB memory module so expensive? The price/capacity/performance relationship simply does not add up. I am planning to max out each slot of my nForce2 motherboard to efficiently run multiple operating systems simultaneously within VMware. Is there a cheap source for 1GB DDR modules?

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Thats seems a bit high but it may be just because 1GB is the largest for DDR RAM right now and since many people don't buy it at that price, the supply is higher than demand, so they don't meet at a price equilibrium

 

[snidy1]

You can get a 2 gig stick for $1250.00. I've seen good 1 gig sticks for $270.00. DDR 2700

 

[sharkeeper]

It costs more to make, this is not a consumer product, and most 1GB sticks have registers and parity adding to the cost.

-DAK-

 

[Lord Evermore]

I've not yet seen any 1GB modules above PC2100, didn't think anybody had.

Even registered ECC shouldn't drive the price up that much. This was on the AT price guide the other day: http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=140851&Category_Code=CorsairMemory

They also have non-low profile and nonregistered and nonECC that actually cost even more. Ooh, they do actually have 1GB PC2700 Corsair modules, only 299 for registered ECC. And they're the ones with a 2GB module for 1250. They also have non-Corsair modules for a little cheaper.

I'd say double to even triple the price wouldn't be bad for 1GB modules. But over a grand sounds like either a price mistake, or somebody trying to rip people off. Or maybe "proprietary" modules. They are harder to make, they use higher density chips and have a lot more transistors that can be bad that have to be tested at the high speeds we use these days.

Damn, I looked at Crucial's site. A grand for a 1GB SODIMM I can sort of understand, there's a very very small market for those. But 565 dollars for a 1GB unregistered non-ECC module? Even with a 100 dollar coupon, that's frigging expensive, and it's only PC2100. Their ECC modules are only 390.

 

[Cerb]

PC3200 Samsung 1GB: $210 on pricewatch.
Now, really that means $300 by the time you get to a trustworthy store, but still...not too bad.
$276 lowest for 1GB ECC PC2700...also not too bad.
Most likely the RAM will not be the most expensive part of systems it will go into, or the second will be very close.
SCSI RAID...lots-o-money
Xeons/Opterons...lots-o-money
For a server or high-end workstation, $500+ on memory ain't so bad. Not to mention, if you can, it'd be best to get a 4-slot mobo and 4 sticks of the same 512MB sticks.

Damn, I looked at Crucial's site. A grand for a 1GB SODIMM I can sort of understand, there's a very very small market for those. But 565 dollars for a 1GB unregistered non-ECC module? Even with a 100 dollar coupon, that's frigging expensive, and it's only PC2100. Their ECC modules are only 390.

The market for 1GB sticks is as low or lower right now. Only $5000+ servers are really using them, and many of them still don't need that much. However much you may want to make that 4GB limit...not many other people do. It also isn't helping the prices that the best mobos on both sides are dual-DDR.

 

[Lord Evermore]

I know the 1GB market isn't very big, but I don't think Crucial can justify charging over 500 dollars for a product that can be purchased for half the price with a brand like Corsair or Samsung. The only reason anybody might pay that is so they can say they have the compatibility of Crucial, but I've never heard anybody say Crucial is better than Corsair, pretty much every motherboard has both brands at a minimum listed as compatible.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Ichinisan
Is there some kind of incredible barrier-workaround that makes a 1024MB memory module so expensive? The price/capacity/performance relationship simply does not add up. I am planning to max out each slot of my nForce2 motherboard to efficiently run multiple operating systems simultaneously within VMware. Is there a cheap source for 1GB DDR modules?

I feel obliged to point you to Mushkin's notes on the A7N8X here.

Unlike the original nForce 420 or 415, the nForce 2 does not take any performance hit with a single DIMM as opposed to two DIMMs, however, running 1GB unbuffered DIMMs, the performance dropped by approximately 50% which may be caused by the specific addressing scheme of the chipset. Please note that this performance hit occurs only with actual 1GB modules, not two 512MB modules used together for a total of 1GB. 512MB modules work perfectly and do not cause performance loss.

50% performance loss is Not Nice. If you need that much memory at once, then I'd say get yourself a little 1U dual-Opteron jobbie from Appro. $2200 gets you a 1U chassis, two Opteron 240's, 2Gb of RAM, a slimline CD-ROM drive and an IDE hard drive. If you need AGP and more drive options then wait for a couple months or consider a dual-AthlonMP system perhaps.

 

[Lord Evermore]

I never heard of a performance hit with the original nforce and a single module. Of course it's not going to perform as well as 2 modules, but it isn't going to perform LESS well than expected with a single module. It might be nice if more than one source mentioned performance problems with 1GB modules. I can't imagine nvidia releasing a bad chipset claiming to support 1GB modules, intended for the enthusiast market that would quickly discover such a flaw.

This certainly makes it seem like Mushkin is wrong, at least as far as it being a chipset issue: http://www.nforcershq.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=26

 

[zephyrprime]

It's just supply and demand. Not many people buy the big dimms but the people that do REALLY need them for their servers and such. ECC increases price but only a little. (I remember when virtually all ram sold was parity)

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
I never heard of a performance hit with the original nforce and a single module. Of course it's not going to perform as well as 2 modules, but it isn't going to perform LESS well than expected with a single module. It might be nice if more than one source mentioned performance problems with 1GB modules. I can't imagine nvidia releasing a bad chipset claiming to support 1GB modules, intended for the enthusiast market that would quickly discover such a flaw.

This certainly makes it seem like Mushkin is wrong, at least as far as it being a chipset issue: http://www.nforcershq.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=26

I hope Mushkin is wrong, or at least that it was some A7N8X-specific glitch. Darn it, now you've got me thinking about 1Gb modules Aaack!

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Everything is like this, prices are based on big corporation nerds who are good at coming up with numbers, not dollar per metric-of-computer-goodness

$44 - Celeron 700
$39 - Celeron 1.2GHz
$108 Pentium III 800 100MHz bus
$51 - Athlon XP 1500
$108 - Athlon MP 1500
$176 Pentium 4 2.53GHz
$365 - Pentium 4 3.06GHz

Should the 3ghz p4, which is maybe 15-20% faster than the 2.53ghz p4, cost over 200% of the price? Of course not, that's just computers for you. Most people don't need the biggest and baddest, and the ones who do can/do pay for it

 

[Lord Evermore]

A price of 400 dollars for the high-end compared to 50 for the low end, out-dated, no longer produced products is fine. Or 400 compared to 200. But a price of 1000 dollars or 600 dollars for the high end, when others are selling the exact same thing for under 300? And it's not like there's a middle range for memory, you can't get a 768MB module, or a 640MB module. There's no reason anybody should be selling 1GB modules for even 600 dollars. The next lower level is 512MB modules, which are only 65 bucks up to maybe 115 for high-end modules. Even if you triple that price (which isn't even the multiplier for the P4 2.53 to 3.06) that's still under 350 bucks for the best modules and under 200 for average modules like Crucial. Putting a high markup on a product is one thing, but charging twice as much for it than people can buy it elsewhere is bad business; it makes a customer not feel like they're being treated fairly and they may decide not to go back. It may work to boost their finances, but it's just not a good way to run a business.

 

[Cerb]

We can wish on rpices all we want, but...eh.
One note: BingBongWongFooey, a 1500+ for $51? A 1700+ is only $42.