Working On Parts List For A Friend

[Zema Bus]

I'm compiling a parts list for a friend who wants to build a new machine, he wants to see if he can keep it under $2,000. DDR5 prices are insane now, he wants to get 64GB but most of those are pushing $1,000 (many are over $1,000). The cheapest one I've found so far is just under $600. When I got mine a few months ago it was just under $400, and I thought that was high. I also brought up the idea of going with the last AMD gen, the 5000 series since DDR4 is significantly cheaper (for now). Intel 12th gen is another possibility, some of the motherboards for those have slots for both DDR4 and DDR5 (only run one type at time).

[Grogan]

Yeah, I did that for cheaper RAM back THEN. This 64 Gb of Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3200 cost me $160 CDN in March 2024.

A grand for fucking RAM

[Zema Bus]

I put together a couple more parts lists for him, one based around the Intel i9 12900K and one on the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. I noticed the DDR5 64 GB kit I found last weekend is now $123 more expensive (market demand is probably the main reason since most of the rest are close to $1,000), And the $260 Intel B580 12GB video card is sold out everywhere. That was a good deal for that card.

I heard yesterday that the price of memory chips sold to the memory module makers is expected to go up by 70% in 2026. I don't know if that'll push the retail prices of memory modules up by that much, but it will go up.

[Grogan]

That's depressing. You just can't have anything anymore, because of greedy pricks.