Memory prices, what is the current trend?

B

bigsnyder

Gawd
Joined
Jul 1, 2006
Messages
736
My son wants to build a system later in the year. Is this a good time to buy memory instead of waiting? I remember reading the predictions back in January saying prices will go up (I think they say that every year lol). Thoughts? What is a good 16GB DDR4 kit that plays nice with Intel and AMD? His budget is to stay under $100 for the memory alone.
 
Can't say but prices are definitely off their tops.

Look out for sales on the Crucial Ballistix 3600's. Those seem to universally do well on AMD systems, which are pickier than Intel systems.
 
prices have gone up some and may continue to due to the lock down. they arent terrible so maybe buy now.

mda said:
Can't say but prices are definitely off their tops.

Look out for sales on the Crucial Ballistix 3600's. Those seem to universally do well on AMD systems, which are pickier than Intel systems.
Click to expand...
that was true with the first gen ryzens, now it doesnt really matter.
 
Prices seen to have been holding steady til recently. They been slightly going up since covid. I used the kits mention above in several builds and payed around $140 for 32gb at MC back in February. Now is the best time to buy. I don:t expect prices to come down due to covid for a while.
 
pendragon1 said:
prices have gone up some and may continue to due to the lock down. they arent terrible so maybe buy now.

that was true with the first gen ryzens, now it doesnt really matter.
Click to expand...

It still is, based on my anecdotal sample size of 3. All my memory are Hynix AFRs (all Vengeance LPX 3200 C16s), which don't play so well with Ryzen systems.

My 2600X won't do higher than 3000 C14. My previous posts with this system indicated I could do 3200 at looser timings but is apparently not memtest stable.

My 2700X won't do higher than 3200 C14, higher frequency on C16 would also start erroring. My 3700X will run these happily at 3600 C16 though!
 
mda said:
It still is, based on my anecdotal sample size of 3. All my memory are Hynix AFRs (all Vengeance LPX 3200 C16s), which don't play so well with Ryzen systems.

My 2600X won't do higher than 3000 C14. My previous posts with this system indicated I could do 3200 at looser timings but is apparently not memtest stable.

My 2700X won't do higher than 3200 C14, higher frequency on C16 would also start erroring. My 3700X will run these happily at 3600 C16 though!
Click to expand...
corsair you say? give it extra voltage. every single set of theirs ive used over the last 20 years has needed more voltage. 1.4v should do it and no it wont hurt it and if you dont believe me you can do a search and take kyles word for it.
 
mda said:
It still is, based on my anecdotal sample size of 3. All my memory are Hynix AFRs (all Vengeance LPX 3200 C16s), which don't play so well with Ryzen systems.

My 2600X won't do higher than 3000 C14. My previous posts with this system indicated I could do 3200 at looser timings but is apparently not memtest stable.

My 2700X won't do higher than 3200 C14, higher frequency on C16 would also start erroring. My 3700X will run these happily at 3600 C16 though!
Click to expand...

He probably should have said 3XXX Ryzens have no issues ;). Your results are about what I experienced also with a 2600x and 2700x. I haven't had any issue with any manufacturer and their rated speeds using Zen2 based CPUs.
 
kirbyrj said:
He probably should have said 3XXX Ryzens have no issues ;). Your results are about what I experienced also with a 2600x and 2700x. I haven't had any issue with any manufacturer and their rated speeds using Zen2 based CPUs.
Click to expand...
as far as i know the issue was only with the first gen. my ram isnt on the mobo qvl and just dropped in.
 
pendragon1 said:
as far as i know the issue was only with the first gen. my ram isnt on the mobo qvl and just dropped in.
Click to expand...

I never got a Ryzen 2XXX CPU over 3200Mhz. I have a random set of old RJV that were B-die rated at 3466 and Cas 16. They wouldn't run at 3466 on any Zen+ CPU I had, but would tighten to 3200Mhz/CL14 (at least with my 2700x...I don't think it would make CL14 with the 2600). With Zen2, I can run them at 3600Mhz no sweat.
 
kirbyrj said:
I never got a Ryzen 2XXX CPU over 3200Mhz. I have a random set of old RJV that were B-die rated at 3466 and Cas 16. They wouldn't run at 3466 on any Zen+ CPU I had, but would tighten to 3200Mhz/CL14 (at least with my 2700x...I don't think it would make CL14 with the 2600). With Zen2, I can run them at 3600Mhz no sweat.
Click to expand...
well like i said, my 3400 thats not on the qvl just dropped in and worked. so whos anecdotal experience is more valid?!
 
pendragon1 said:
well like i said, my 3400 thats not on the qvl just dropped in and worked. so whos anecdotal experience is more valid?!
Click to expand...

It wasn't an argument. I was just posting my experience ;). But if pressed, I would say mine because mda had the same experience I did :D.

I never paid attention to the QVL either. I also had somewhat better experiences with a CH7 than an ASRock Fatal1ty Killer something or other K4 also using the same memory. Worked perfectly with the Asus, wouldn't pass memtest with the ASRock.
 
I would say buy now. By the Fall things usually get ridiculous.
32GB for $150 is great. The same kit could be $250-300 a few months from now.
 
I'm eyeballing a 2x4GB 2400 c16 kit for $40. It's not spectacular, but then neither is the cpu I'm putting in that PC.
 
Nobu said:
I'm eyeballing a 2x4GB 2400 c16 kit for $40. It's not spectacular, but then neither is the cpu I'm putting in that PC.
Click to expand...

If you're willing to buy used, I've seen 2x8GB go for $50-60 at higher speeds than that.
 
Ryzen likes two sticks over four. Lots of XMP problems with four sticks. I second the recommendation on Crucial Ballistix 3600. It's well behaved with Ryzen, what I'm running.

It's not so much that prices have gone up with the latest happenings, but discounts have gone away. Vendors are selling for manufacturer's suggested retail now. I expect discounts will come back soon, but not until supplies get restocked. Problem is two fold, spike in demand for personal computers along with backed up supply channels. That should work itself out in a few more months as long as they don't pull any more of this craziness with shutting things down.
 
daglesj said:
Nope. I run X99. QUAD CHANNEL all the way! None of this old fashioned dual channel malarkey. :)
Click to expand...

Desktop CPU's, Ryzen or Intel, are dual channel. You want more memory channels, you run a different CPU and pay for it. Threadripper is quad, I guess some Intel X CPU's are quad, Epyc is 8 channel. What's the "Nope" business?
 
pitingres said:
Desktop CPU's, Ryzen or Intel, are dual channel. You want more memory channels, you run a different CPU and pay for it. Threadripper is quad, I guess some Intel X CPU's are quad, Epyc is 8 channel. What's the "Nope" business?
Click to expand...


As in you made a likely assumption that I run a Ryzen setup. ;) I run a 5960X HEDT x99 Quad channel RAM (4x4GB DDR4 3000) setup with around 70000MBps of memory bandwidth. Not bad for 6 year old kit. If this thing could handle RAM higher than DDR4 3200 it would be epic.
 
Bought this 32GB OLOy for a little over a $100. Never heard of this brand, but works so far.
 
CraigHB said:
Ryzen likes two sticks over four. Lots of XMP problems with four sticks. I second the recommendation on Crucial Ballistix 3600. It's well behaved with Ryzen, what I'm running.

It's not so much that prices have gone up with the latest happenings, but discounts have gone away. Vendors are selling for manufacturer's suggested retail now. I expect discounts will come back soon, but not until supplies get restocked. Problem is two fold, spike in demand for personal computers along with backed up supply channels. That should work itself out in a few more months as long as they don't pull any more of this craziness with shutting things down.
Click to expand...
I think this depends on topology, or so I've read. T or Daisy chained....I've heard that is true with Daisy Chained, but not T....?
 
Hmmmm DDR4 3600 4x8GB kits now down to £188! Thats just over double what I paid for 4x4GB DDR4 3000 kit in 2016 so that's pretty much back to sensible prices.
 
bigsnyder said:
My son wants to build a system later in the year. Is this a good time to buy memory instead of waiting? I remember reading the predictions back in January saying prices will go up (I think they say that every year lol). Thoughts? What is a good 16GB DDR4 kit that plays nice with Intel and AMD? His budget is to stay under $100 for the memory alone.
Click to expand...
To be fair, they did go up for a while. They have since come back down a bit. You can easily get a 16gb kit for $60 that's 3000/3200mhz @ cl16/15. If you want flashy RGB add $10-$20. Really depends on if he plans to overclock or try to do crazy things with timings or just wants something that works? What speeds are you looking for and does he want or hate RGB (most people are one or the other, I have no RGB, my sons case is full of it, to each their own, I thought about putting black nailpolish over my network lights because they blink and are annoying, but that makes it more difficult to troubleshoot so i'll live with it). For 16GB I would stick with 2 slots unless you have a compelling reason not to. If you're board supports 4 it leaves you an easy upgrade path, if it only supports 2.. well, you don't have much choice. Unless he's going for crazy overclocks, don't overthink things. Find something on the QVL that has good reviews and has an appearance he doesn't hate (red, white, black, flashy, dull, w/e his preference is).

ps. I run https://www.xpg.com/us/feature/606/ these in my sons box with a 3700x on a B550.
And I run https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categ...AM-1600MHz-C9-Memory-Kit/p/CMY16GX3M2A1600C9R on my Ryzen 1600 with B450... my 3700x is supposed to arrive tomorrow. Mine are the black/grey variety if you can't tell, i'm a non flashy type of guy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top