hTTi

Apple is reportedly buying up all available mobile DRAM at very high prices to starve out its competitors

If things keep going on like that, the computer landscape in Europe will look like the streets of Cuba in five years. They have to keep old cars running at all costs (because of the embargo)... and we have to keep all old computers/Laptops/Mobile phopnes running as we cannot effort to buy new stuff...

Yes, I was horrified a couple of weeks ago when checking the prices of RAM.
I needed 3 new mini-PCs for 3D rendering duty and a 64GB kit was something like €650 compared to €150 last year.
I ended up cannibalising other PCs and laptops to spread out the RAM and bring them up to a bare minimum of 32GB each.
Not ideal but will have to do for now!

Anyone got an idea on whats causing this and maybe how long this will last ?

Like I want to but this, but look how the price has changed

There is DRAM, that's the "normal" RAM in a consumer grade PC. And then there is NAND, that is basically what consumer grade SSDs contain.

And then there is HBM, "High Bandwith memory". That is the sort of RAM used in professional AI data centers.

There is currently so much hype around AI that the traditional HBM producers cannot supply the demanded quantities and as a result, the current prices for HBM went insane.

However, due to the current hype, everybody investing in AI data centers is willing to pay those insane prices, as long as one actually can deliver.

As a result, the three major manufacturers Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have shifted away from producing consumer grade DRAM or consumer grade NAND, towards producing professional HBM (because that's where the money is at the moment).

The current pricing of consumer grade RAM and SSD reflects the fact that the major suppliers do not have their machines running to produce those consumer grade products.

I do not expect this to change before 2027.

Reminds me of way back in the early nineties, when I worked for a computer company. Most customers were burgled, only memory was stolen.

Emkay wrote: ↑Sun May 10, 2026 9:48 am Reminds me of way back in the early nineties, when I worked for a computer company. Most customers were burgled, only memory was stolen.

Yes, there was/is a black market for RAM; RAM usually doesn't have serial numbers on it.

Franklan wrote: ↑Mon May 11, 2026 9:55 am

Emkay wrote: ↑Sun May 10, 2026 9:48 am Reminds me of way back in the early nineties, when I worked for a computer company. Most customers were burgled, only memory was stolen.

Yes, there was/is a black market for RAM; RAM usually doesn't have serial numbers on it.

I know at least some do have it printed on a sticker attached to the memory while others program it into the chip, and one may be able to be read it with special software. I may go up an check in the attic, where I have many, many older modules, but I'm fairly certain that many do have a S/N. Kingston does/did, if I'm not completely mistaken (which is also a possibility).

Even with serial numbers, though, how many of us write down the serial numbers for our memory modules? I know I never have.

If it is programmed into the chip, you may be able to get the serial number in a powershell session with this command:

Get-WmiObject Win32_PhysicalMemory

jaycool wrote: ↑Fri May 15, 2026 11:42 am
Even with serial numbers, though, how many of us write down the serial numbers for our memory modules? I know I never have.

If it is programmed into the chip, you may be able to get the serial number in a powershell session with this command:

Get-WmiObject Win32_PhysicalMemory

I just the line above. The return response was : Top

No S/N

Bayrisch_Dude wrote: ↑Fri May 15, 2026 2:47 pm

jaycool wrote: ↑Fri May 15, 2026 11:42 am
Even with serial numbers, though, how many of us write down the serial numbers for our memory modules? I know I never have.

If it is programmed into the chip, you may be able to get the serial number in a powershell session with this command:

Get-WmiObject Win32_PhysicalMemory

I just the line above. The return response was : Top

No S/N

I got the same result. My point is, that they all have serial numbers, just that some are more easily found than others. I have 4 Corsair @ 8GB each in the machine I built back in 2020 or 2021, and they have a sticker with the serial number on each of them.

You may have the same situation or the S/N is programmed into the chip in a way that the get-wmiobject function can't access.

Here is the output from my laptop, which has the S/N filled:


Manufacturer : Kingston
MaxVoltage : 1200
MemoryType : 0
MinVoltage : 1200
Model :
Name : Physical Memory
OtherIdentifyingInfo :
PartNumber : 9905744-111.A00G
PositionInRow :
PoweredOn :
Removable :
Replaceable :
SerialNumber : BA2727C1
SKU :
SMBIOSMemoryType : 26
Speed : 3200
Status :
Tag : Physical Memory 1
TotalWidth : 64
TypeDetail : 16512
Version :
PSComputerName : DESKTOP-FP4OP26

jaycool wrote: ↑Fri May 15, 2026 3:13 pm
You may have the same situation or the S/N is programmed into the chip in a way that the get-wmiobject function can't access.

I have used CPUID for years. Shows everything needed to include the S/N for the RAM.