Memory crisis is getting so bad that even retro RAM prices are going to the Moon(www.theregister.com)
64 pointsby speckx3 hours ago4 comments
  • theandrewbailey2 hours ago
    I work in e-waste recycling. Ever since the TurboQuant paper in March, I haven't been able to sell any DDR3. I'm guessing that the DDR2 and 3 this article is referring to is the actual memory chips, not modules/sticks that servers, desktops, laptops, etc. use, because the latter aren't moving.
    • Felger2 hours ago
      Yep. Don't expect to sell those sticks on ebay at great price. Those new chips will be likely soldered to appliances like low end routers/APs, set top boxes, various adapters, low end systems, PLCs, IPBX, NVRs and various embedded devices.

      I sold 7,2 Kg of DDR1/2/3 sticks two month ago, for gold recovery. As well as expansion cards, hdd PCBs and a few other things. Got about $600 from this.

    • kjs324 minutes ago
      Wild guess, but maybe China has something to do with that? They've got a huge "recover->break down/strip->recondition->sell refurbs to manufacturers" industry pipeline that doesn't seem to much exist outside of China.
    • olavgg2 hours ago
      Maybe you have priced it wrong? I just checked Ebay, a 16GB 12800 Registered ECC module goes for 40-50USD ea. That is crazy! Last year they were like 5 USD each.
      • qingcharlesan hour ago
        Agree. I was buying DDR3 16GB sticks for some laptops at $5/pop on eBay, now $60+ each.
        • omgwtfbyobbq32 minutes ago
          Do you have any links? I remember DDR3 sodimms being maybe $.25-$.50/gb for low capacity (4gb), but 8gb+ sticks were always $.80-1+/gb.
          • qingcharles20 minutes ago
            I misremembered, it was $5 for 16GB DDR4 (not DDR3) sticks that I was paying on eBay. That might change the pricing.

            Here's one I found in my email:

            https://imgur.com/a/YWYpuzp

      • Felger2 hours ago
        Except almost nobody buys them, even last years for 10 bucks each. That's almost useless ECC Reg memory for HPE Gen 8 servers and workstations (from before late 2015 / start of 2016 with the introduction of the Gen9 using DDR4).

        ECC unbuffered DIMMs (9 memory chips per side, no reg buffer/controller) is less available, quite widely used on level entry systems and thus costs a lot more even second hand.

      • devmor16 minutes ago
        That’s crazy, I bought a couple trays of DDR3 2 years ago for under $100 each.
  • michalpleban2 hours ago
    The headline made me fear that I will need to shell out a few more bucks for 4164 DRAM chips, but fortunately this does not seem to be the case.

    DDR3 is not "retro", for chrissakes.

    • lexicalityan hour ago
      It was introduced barely 20 years ago. By that rationale the PS3 is a retro console
      • Kuinoxa few seconds ago
        yes the ps3 is now considered a retro console.
      • wlesieutre35 minutes ago
        In 2000 when the PS2 came out was the NES a retro console?

        It was 17 years old, or 14 years since wide distribution in the USA.

        What counts as "retro" basically comes down to when the person you ask was born.

        • holycrapwhodata minute ago
          New NES were still available in the US through at least Christmas 1992, and in Europe deep into 1995, both selling alongside the SNES since 1991.

          The final new international games were released in 1994, but Europe still got new games into 1995.

          Japanese Famicoms were still being sold in Japan when the PS2 released. They sold more in Japan in 2001 than in 2000.

          So no, calling the NES "retro" in 2000 wouldn't have made all too much sense.

  • leni536an hour ago
    It trickles down.
  • queeshondaan hour ago
    [dead]