Memory prices to skyrocket

[Gig-O-Ram]

I was looking at some DDR3 kits...and the prices on those kind of made my heart skip a beat. I know it's the new thing, but $860 for RAM? This is on the high end, I know, but I thought DDR3 was just the newer, slightly faster version of DDR2.

[One4yu2c]

It's of dubious value to equate an out-of-stock DDR3 kit to DDR3 technology and pricing as a whole, just as it would be to point out this out-of-stock $334 DDR2 part and discrediting all of the available $25-50 kits on the market.

DDR3 pricing across the board is a good chunk more than DDR2, but DDR2 is at an all-time low. You'll see us frequently recommend Crucial's 2GB DDR2-800 Ballistix kit, which currently sells for $75 shipped (or $50 after MIR). But before DDR2 pricing plummeted, that same kit carried an MSRP of $399 and sold for $299, as noted in our review just one year ago.

By comparison, here's a sampling of DDR3 kits and what they're fetching:

G.Skill 2GB DDR3-1066 - $205 shipped
OCZ Gold 2GB DDR3-1333 - $210 shipped (after $15 MIR)
OCZ Platinum 2GB DDR3-1333 - $226 shipped (after $15 MIR)
OCZ Platinum 2GB DDR3-1600 - $325 shipped

That's about right on par with what we were paying for DDR2 modules just a few short months ago before the market bottomed out, which, incidentally, is not going to last (unrelated to RAMBUS).

[Quakindude]

Yeah, I just bought a second kit of Corsair DDR2-800 memory. After the $40 MIR, it only cost me like $39. I'm tempted like hell to buy another kit of it just to keep on hand.

[Gig-O-Ram]

Originally Posted by One4yu2c

It's of dubious value to equate an out-of-stock DDR3 kit to DDR3 technology and pricing as a whole, just as it would be to point out this out-of-stock $334 DDR2 part and discrediting all of the available $25-50 kits on the market.

I understand the part is listed out of stock. I was just making a point as to the price where the most expensive kit was concerned - in stock or not. Of course there are less expensive kits, and I wouldn't necessarily discredit a kit just because it was dirt cheap either. On the other hand, if I had $800+ to spend on RAM alone, I wouldn't not get this kit just based on price. I was only making a point that I couldn't believe RAM could get that high.

[One4yu2c]

IIRC, the original DDR2 Dominators debuted upwards of $600 or $700 too.

[Capper]

That is correct.....when DDR2 first hit the market, you saw the exact same reaction and pricing.

DDR3 is coming, like it or not.....and companies are just trying to rid themselves of all this DDR2 stock.....there is nothing wrong with DDR2, and up to now DDR3 has been underwhelming.....but now some really great kits are showing up that showcase DDR3s performance. I am putting the finishing touches on a DDR3 kit that runs DDR3-1350 @ 5-5-5-12 and DDR3-1600 at 6-6-6-15, along with support for XMP, its a bad ass kit.