Why is DDR1 low-latency RAM still so expensive?

[masamune2387]

Could someone please enlighten me to how my RAM is now the most expensive part of my system? I have a DFI Ultra-D with an Opteron 165 and 2GB G.Skill PC4000 2-3-2-5 RAM for overclocking.

What is the motivation to spend $100 on RAM, rather than just spending more on the processor for Core 2 and getting cheap RAM for $40?

 

[AmberClad]

I've wondered about this myself, and also about the plummeting price of DDR2.

Just speculation, but might this have something to do with the timing of that anti-trust/price-fixing case against the IC companies like Samsung, Micron/Crucial, Infineon, etc., plus the fines they had to pay out?

 

[Billb2]

Originally posted by: masamune2387
Could someone please enlighten me to how my RAM is now the most expensive part of my system? I have a DFI Ultra-D with an Opteron 165 and 2GB G.Skill PC4000 2-3-2-5 RAM for overclocking.

What is the motivation to spend $100 on RAM, rather than just spending more on the processor for Core 2 and getting cheap RAM for $40?

Because very little/a lot of it is being produced at the pesent time. Production being baed on antiipated futue sales. New types of memory always start out at high prices (DDR3 now...$$$), then it gets reasonable, then cheep, then in short supply and expensive again.

The same thing happened with PC100 memory when DDR came in. There were people throwing old PC's into the trash that had $200-300 worth of memory in them. The recyclers made a fortune!

The same thing is going to happen with DDR1 memory, except there has been quite a lot of high end, very overclockable DDR1 memory produced (TCCD?). When all those people with older high to mid range PC's that they want to upgrade, instead of buying new ones, start looking for memory upgrades, that stuff is going to be golden.

 

[jmmtn4aj]

Doesn't it cost more to make, also? I mean, even assuming demand to be the same.

 

[aka1nas]

DDR1 production has already ramped down and is in low supply. DDR2 is probably at the cheapest it's going to get and will start climbing back up as DDR3 sales volume increases and it's prices start to become more reasonable.

 

[TC91]

i believe ddr1 also uses a bigger manufacturing process node as well (note the higher voltages), making them cost more to produce at the same time with its low supply.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

I agree with billbs. ddr just isn't being churned out like ddr2 is. They got so much ddr2 piling up, the manufactures planned on stopping for awhile! The demand just isn't there, and the supply matches it. You happen to have more demand than others, so you're gonna get squeezed for all you can. I recently bought a 2x512mb set fo crucial ballistix from newegg with a rebate it was 30-40 dollars. not too shabby. It'll run at speeds up to 580mhz at cas of three. I run four 214 modules in dual-channel at 2t command rate at ddr520 with 2.5-4-4-8 speeds. I'm happy with it.

 

[cozumel]

It's all about mass production (or lack of it in the case of DDR) due to a lack of demand from the consumer.

Less people want the product therefore less DDR is being produced. The cost of producing each module each module (and the chips that go on them) also increases. These increased costs are passed on to the consumer.

Simple economics.

 

[Modelworks]

Samsung has already stopped production of ddr1.
It will cost more while its in demand and then 5 years from now when noone has a use for it, will sell for pennies on the dollar. Just like all technology.

 

[Red Squirrel]

In the past year I've noticed ram has been moving very fast. SIM, DIMM and DDR1 had decent space between them, but now DDR2 and DDR3 nearly came out at same time. As soon as I heard of DDR2, I found out DDR3 was out too lol. I just recently built my first DDR2 system. And Rambus, guess that never made it lol.