• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

DRAM Pricing Jumps 50%, Only 70% of Orders Getting Filled

“CXMT Surpasses 90% DDR5 Yield, Challenges Industry Giants​


Chinese memory giant CXMT has reportedly achieved a significant milestone in DDR5 production, with manufacturing yields now comfortably above 90%. This is comparable to what major manufacturers like Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron are achieving. According to reports, CXMT uses a 17 nm node for DDR5 chip production and has reached a 90% yield for these chips. This is only 2-3% lower than Samsung's yield on its 10 nm class node for DDR5 production, indicating that CXMT's production quality is matching that of the world's largest memory maker. This is a remarkable achievement for a company that excels in cleanroom construction time, taking only 12 months to build its fab's cleanroom compared to the two years others require. As the company plans to end the year with 350,000 DRAM wafers per month, high yields mean there is little waste or leftover.

Chinese MyDrivers also notes that PC OEMs have mixed reactions to adopting CXMT DRAM in their products. For instance, Dell has completely banned the use of CXMT in its machines, while HP only allows CXMT DRAM in its Chinese PCs. Major Taiwanese brands such as ASUS and Acer have increased adoption in some models, as they have more flexibility in supply chain procurement. However, both companies use CXMT memory for PCs sold in mainland China and some emerging markets, meaning the West is still far from receiving PCs with CXMT memory modules. PC OEMs are also cautious about procuring CXMT memory due to concerns about disrupting their relationships with the big three memory makers.“
 
erek said:
, CXMT uses a 17 nm node for DDR5 chip production and has reached a 90% yield for these chips. This is only 2-3% lower than Samsung's yield on its 10 nm class node for DDR5 production, indicating that CXMT's production quality is matching that of the world's largest memory maker.
Click to expand...
that overselling it a bit, 10nm class even at lower yield would still give you way more memory per wafer, let alone at an higher one.

How much bits of usable dram a wafer produce is a density * yield formula, the Hynix-Samsung start with a 40%+ density advantage, for a still near 50% more bits per wafer here (and usually much cheaper per bits production).
 
Last edited:

“This Chinese firm has topped Micron and Kioxia in shipments of crucial NAND memory chips​


KEY POINTS
  • Artificial intelligence adoption has driven up demand for memory chips, and in the NAND segment, a Chinese company has broken into third place globally.
  • In the larger DRAM memory chip segment, YMTC is in fourth place.
Liquid cooled servers in an installation at the Global Switch Docklands data centre campus in London, UK, on Monday, June 16, 2025.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
BEIJING — Yangtze Memory Technologies is rapidly gaining market share in a critical chip sector, according to Counterpoint Research.
The company, also known as YMTC, landed in third place by shipments globally in the second quarter, behind South Korea's Samsung and SK hynix but beating out U.S. rival Micron and Japan's Kioxia, Counterpoint data released Wednesday showed.“

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/13/chinese-firm-tops-micron-kioxia-shipments-nand-memory-chips.html
 

“Samsung weighs moving legacy memory backend work to Vietnam to free up capacity for HBM​


Samsung Electronics may move part of the general-purpose DRAM and NAND packaging and testing now handled at its Cheonan and Onyang sites in South Korea to Vietnam, potentially freeing domestic backend capacity for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), according to...”

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20260814VL222/samsung-hbm-dram-capacity-vietnam.html

—-

“Samsung is using Claude to verify chip designs, and it's not going smoothly ​

A recent report from Korean outlet ChosunBiz details how Samsung is using Claude Code in its chip work. And the results have been mixed.

It’s not exactly news that big corporations are using AI in various aspects of their business. For example, both Microsoft and Apple are using it to improve the security of their software. But still, people have mixed reactions when hearing about it, especially when those AI systems are making mistakes.”
 
erek said:
what about all the buried minerals within landfills
Click to expand...
Silicon is one of the most abudent thing there is (28% of earth crust....) and we make terabyte of memory on a small 12inch wafer, I think this was a joke.

Earth-mineral-composition-pie-chart.jpg


the ratio of complexity / cost of turning the raw material into memory relative to how extremelly common they are make it not something to worry about at all.
 
LukeTbk said:
Silicon is one of the most abudent thing there is (28% of earth crust....) and we make terabyte of memory on a small 12inch wafer, I think this was a joke.

View attachment 820094

the ratio of complexity / cost of turning the raw material into memory relative to how extremelly common they are make it not something to worry about at all.
Click to expand...
It's also not the only required material. Other metals (including copper, nickel, zinc, gold, and more) amount to less than 1%.
 

“Intel Wants To Keep Offering Raptor Lake CPUs Till Memory Prices Return To Normal​

Intel will keep on offering older Raptor Lake CPUs to allow PC builders an alternative to higher DDR5 prices.

DDR5 Prices Are Not Coming Down Anytime Soon, So Intel Has Decided To Keep Its Raptor Lake CPUs On Shelves For Years To Come​

As the memory supply crunch continues, PC builders are being forced out of upgrades. We've covered on many occasions just how bad things are for consumers at the moment, as prices across all components continue to rise.”

https://wccftech.com/intel-wants-to...ake-cpus-till-memory-prices-return-to-normal/
 
Nobu said:
It's also not the only required material. Other metals (including copper, nickel, zinc, gold, and more) amount to less than 1%.
Click to expand...
the amount of those that goes into a 16GB of memory (glass, Tin, Tungsten and others) is minisimal and the level of purety/rafining/processing on them before they can be used in memory (and how costly to process to make memory), make it that memory cannot ever impact raw reserve.

The most rare/bottleneck one at the current exploitation rate is on the 1,500/5,000 petabytes of memory a year level for the complex HBM. The chemical-wafer infracstructure constraint of making memories ready version of those material are many magnitude bigger than raw materials side of things and after that the ability to use those memory ready version of the material into usable memory capacity is againt magnitude lower..
 

"It's Not Just RAM: Windows Licenses Are Also Pushing Up PC Prices (cnet.com)27​

Posted by EditorDavid on Saturday August 15, 2026 @02:00PM from the Windows-tax-brackets dept.
It's not just RAM prices that are going up, writes CNET. "Reports suggest the cost of Windows licenses for manufacturers is rising by up to 10%."Several sites that closely follow Microsoft news, including Windows Central and Windows Latest, have published articles citing a report from Taiwan's Economic Daily News that claims some PC manufacturers are seeing a 7% to 10% increase in the cost of Windows 11 licenses...

Because they buy licenses in bulk, they get a sizeable discount over what a consumer would pay for a new copy of Windows 11. But given the existing cost pressures from other components, a big Windows 11 price hike could lead them to pass on some of the added cost to PC buyers. According to the EDN story, PC makers could raise prices by about 5% over the next quarter due to the reported Windows price hike. .. A translated version of the Economic Daily News article contains information from an unnamed PC brand executive. It says that while Microsoft typically raises licensing costs every year by single-digit percentages, that hike has reached 7% to 10% this year, a significant increase.
"A representative for Microsoft declined to comment on the report," according to the article.

But it also notes that three weeks ago laptop maker Framework blamed price hikes and reconfigurations for some of their models on processor, memory, storage, "and other silicon costs — but also "an increase in Windows license costs."

Thanks to Slashdot reader joshuark for sharing the article."
 

“Engineer used 360-degree cam hidden in bag of snacks in attempt to steal DRAM process tech for China — IT security team pinpointed perp due to camera's leaky wireless signals​


What could possibly go wrong when you try to steal trade secrets from a restricted facility using a 360-degree action camera hidden in snacks? Forgetting to turn off the device’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi transmitters, as it turns out.“

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-com...ed-perp-due-to-cameras-leaky-wireless-signals
 

“Apple has a plan to fix its memory chip problem, but the US government says no​

Apple has a memory problem. With the global chip shortage squeezing supply and pushing prices higher, the company has been looking for more places to source the memory in its devices. Two potential suppliers are in China, but the U.S. government isn’t particularly happy about that idea. According to The Wall Street Journal, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has told Apple that the Trump administration does not want the company buying memory chips from Chinese manufacturers.
Apple has reportedly been considering chips from CXMT and YMTC as it tries to expand its supplier options. The move, however, has already attracted opposition from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, and Lutnick’s latest comments make the administration’s position even clearer.”


https://www.digitaltrends.com/phone...y-chip-problem-but-the-us-government-says-no/
 
"Why are RAM prices so high right now?
And when will they come back down again?

In the last 18 months, the price of RAM has skyrocketed, and is expected to continue rising for the rest of the year. For something that's gotten cheaper pretty consistently since the '60s, the dramatic spike now is all the more unprecedented. There's a reason everyone's calling this the RAMpocalypse, because what used to be a cheap commodity has become a luxury item. It's why you're left having to pay more for every new phone, PC and tablet from now and for a long while to come.

What is RAM?
RAM, or Random Access Memory, is a crucial component of every computer, enabling it to read and execute data effectively. In order to work, your CPU needs a steady supply of information to process, information which is stored on its hard drive. But no matter how fast your hard drive is, it's still not going to be fast enough to feed data to the CPU quickly enough for it to do its job properly. RAM sits between the two, pulling files from storage and holding them ready for the CPU to do its job. The more RAM you have, the more data can sit, coiled like a spring ready to leap into action. If your PC is sluggish, this is why it's often better to invest in more RAM than a faster processor — or at least, it was before all of this kicked off.

Where does RAM come from?
There are essentially three companies making the majority of the world's RAM: Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron. Each one operates manufacturing plants worth billions of dollars, executing the sorts of precision engineering that even rocket scientists think is tough. RAM is the catch-all term for the technology, and aside from some hyper-specific uses like CPU caches, DRAM is what you'll find in consumer electronics. DRAM comes in many flavors, including DDR (Double Data Rate) for PCs and Low Power DDR (LPDDR) for mobile devices."

Read More: https://www.engadget.com/2236799/why-ram-prices-so-high/
 
erek said:

"It's Not Just RAM: Windows Licenses Are Also Pushing Up PC Prices (cnet.com)27​

Posted by EditorDavid on Saturday August 15, 2026 @02:00PM from the Windows-tax-brackets dept.
It's not just RAM prices that are going up, writes CNET. "Reports suggest the cost of Windows licenses for manufacturers is rising by up to 10%."Several sites that closely follow Microsoft news, including Windows Central and Windows Latest, have published articles citing a report from Taiwan's Economic Daily News that claims some PC manufacturers are seeing a 7% to 10% increase in the cost of Windows 11 licenses...

Because they buy licenses in bulk, they get a sizeable discount over what a consumer would pay for a new copy of Windows 11. But given the existing cost pressures from other components, a big Windows 11 price hike could lead them to pass on some of the added cost to PC buyers. According to the EDN story, PC makers could raise prices by about 5% over the next quarter due to the reported Windows price hike. .. A translated version of the Economic Daily News article contains information from an unnamed PC brand executive. It says that while Microsoft typically raises licensing costs every year by single-digit percentages, that hike has reached 7% to 10% this year, a significant increase.
"A representative for Microsoft declined to comment on the report," according to the article.

But it also notes that three weeks ago laptop maker Framework blamed price hikes and reconfigurations for some of their models on processor, memory, storage, "and other silicon costs — but also "an increase in Windows license costs."

Thanks to Slashdot reader joshuark for sharing the article."
Click to expand...
A few dollar in licensing cost is not contributing anything to the cost of PC like ram is
 
Marees said:
the answer, depends on — when Open AI et al will run out of other people's cash
Click to expand...
If Apple can't buy ram from China then that's a real problem. Everyone should be able to, not just Apple. This is the reason we have such high inflation, because USA has been banning and tariffing imported goods. We're not going to see any real relief by praying that OpenAI runs out of Nvidia's cash. We need more competition to drive down ram prices, and particularly foreign competition.
 
Last edited:
DukenukemX said:
If Apple can't buy ram from China then that's a real problem. Everyone should be able to, not just China. This is the reason we have such high inflation, because USA has been banning and tariffing imported goods. We're not going to see any real relief by praying that OpenAI runs out of Nvidia's cash. We need more competition to drive down ram prices, and particularly foreign competition.
Click to expand...
Chinese are charging top dollar for DRAM, china specific tariffs are meaningless. RAM is basically sold out past 2027. Competition at this point is a non-existent factor. S Korea is the #1 manufacturer of DRAM. Hows that for foreign competition?
 
erek said:

"It's Not Just RAM: Windows Licenses Are Also Pushing Up PC Prices (cnet.com)27​

Posted by EditorDavid on Saturday August 15, 2026 @02:00PM from the Windows-tax-brackets dept.
It's not just RAM prices that are going up, writes CNET. "Reports suggest the cost of Windows licenses for manufacturers is rising by up to 10%."Several sites that closely follow Microsoft news, including Windows Central and Windows Latest, have published articles citing a report from Taiwan's Economic Daily News that claims some PC manufacturers are seeing a 7% to 10% increase in the cost of Windows 11 licenses...

Because they buy licenses in bulk, they get a sizeable discount over what a consumer would pay for a new copy of Windows 11. But given the existing cost pressures from other components, a big Windows 11 price hike could lead them to pass on some of the added cost to PC buyers. According to the EDN story, PC makers could raise prices by about 5% over the next quarter due to the reported Windows price hike. .. A translated version of the Economic Daily News article contains information from an unnamed PC brand executive. It says that while Microsoft typically raises licensing costs every year by single-digit percentages, that hike has reached 7% to 10% this year, a significant increase.
"A representative for Microsoft declined to comment on the report," according to the article.

But it also notes that three weeks ago laptop maker Framework blamed price hikes and reconfigurations for some of their models on processor, memory, storage, "and other silicon costs — but also "an increase in Windows license costs."

Thanks to Slashdot reader joshuark for sharing the article."
Click to expand...

RAM price hikes directly affecting new builds and upgrades.

Solution: jack up prices on other components and software making it more unaffordable.

Genius! :facepalm:
 
Mega6 said:
Chinese are charging top dollar for DRAM, china specific tariffs are meaningless. RAM is basically sold out past 2027. Competition at this point is a non-existent factor.
Click to expand...
They charge top dollar because they can, but I guarantee you they'll increase production and lower prices. By limiting their sale to the biggest consumer country in the world we also don't incentivize them to increase production.
S Korea is the #1 manufacturer of DRAM. Hows that for foreign competition?
Click to expand...
Sounds like you want DRAM to be over priced for the next two years? Do you think South Korea is enough? I don't care if North Korea produces DRAM, we need it. I don't care if Israel produces DRAM, because we need all of it.
 
erek said:

"It's Not Just RAM: Windows Licenses Are Also Pushing Up PC Prices (cnet.com)27​

Posted by EditorDavid on Saturday August 15, 2026 @02:00PM from the Windows-tax-brackets dept.
It's not just RAM prices that are going up, writes CNET. "Reports suggest the cost of Windows licenses for manufacturers is rising by up to 10%."Several sites that closely follow Microsoft news, including Windows Central and Windows Latest, have published articles citing a report from Taiwan's Economic Daily News that claims some PC manufacturers are seeing a 7% to 10% increase in the cost of Windows 11 licenses...

Because they buy licenses in bulk, they get a sizeable discount over what a consumer would pay for a new copy of Windows 11. But given the existing cost pressures from other components, a big Windows 11 price hike could lead them to pass on some of the added cost to PC buyers. According to the EDN story, PC makers could raise prices by about 5% over the next quarter due to the reported Windows price hike. .. A translated version of the Economic Daily News article contains information from an unnamed PC brand executive. It says that while Microsoft typically raises licensing costs every year by single-digit percentages, that hike has reached 7% to 10% this year, a significant increase.
"A representative for Microsoft declined to comment on the report," according to the article.

But it also notes that three weeks ago laptop maker Framework blamed price hikes and reconfigurations for some of their models on processor, memory, storage, "and other silicon costs — but also "an increase in Windows license costs."

Thanks to Slashdot reader joshuark for sharing the article."
Click to expand...
I wish the reports were more specific as to how MS was raising the prices. Prior leaks of their large OEM pricing deals indicated that MS used both hardware specs* and nominal retail price to determine how much the Windows license would cost. Which has me wondering if they're bumping up the prices of each bracket, or if component price inflation is pushing systems into more expensive ones.

IIRC the more expensive licenses for more expensive laptops was mostly intended to apply to business/gaming systems; but I could see price inflation pushing mass market systems into them inadvertently. Entry level work laptops aren't that much more expensive than entry level consumer ones.

* The most notable consumer facing examples of this were making Windows essentially free to netbook makers to head off Linux models, and making it much cheaper for thin 13" + SSD laptops than for 15" ones with optical drives to transition the entry level market into thin and light designs instead of the older chunky ones that had been prevailing there for well over a decade.
 
AceGoober said:
RAM price hikes directly affecting new builds and upgrades.

Solution: jack up prices on other components and software making it more unaffordable.

Genius! :facepalm:
Click to expand...
DanNeely said:
I wish the reports were more specific as to how MS was raising the prices. Prior leaks of their large OEM pricing deals indicated that MS used both hardware specs* and nominal retail price to determine how much the Windows license would cost. Which has me wondering if they're bumping up the prices of each bracket, or if component price inflation is pushing systems into more expensive ones.

IIRC the more expensive licenses for more expensive laptops was mostly intended to apply to business/gaming systems; but I could see price inflation pushing mass market systems into them inadvertently. Entry level work laptops aren't that much more expensive than entry level consumer ones.

* The most notable consumer facing examples of this were making Windows essentially free to netbook makers to head off Linux models, and making it much cheaper for thin 13" + SSD laptops than for 15" ones with optical drives to transition the entry level market into thin and light designs instead of the older chunky ones that had been prevailing there for well over a decade.
Click to expand...
vegeta535 said:
A few dollar in licensing cost is not contributing anything to the cost of PC like ram is
Click to expand...
Marees said:
the answer, depends on — when Open AI et al will run out of other people's cash
Click to expand...

"DDR5 RAM Prices Explode To Nearly 5X July 2025 Levels In Germany As AI Boom Chokes Budget PC Builds​



Almost every DDR5 RAM kit witnessed a noticeable price hike, driving the average DDR5 price to nearly 5X compared to July 2025 levels.

DDR5 RAM Kits Reach a Record High as RAMpocalypse Pushes the Average DDR5 Price to Nearly 5X Compared to Last Year​

The RAM price hike is never-ending, and you will never know when the market will truly stabilize. After seeing some stability in April and May, the prices started growing quickly in the following months. And as we come close to Q4 2026, things are looking worse than ever. While in this report we will specifically analyze the DDR5 pricing trend in Germany, the trend is almost similar in other parts of the world."

https://wccftech.com/ddr5-ram-price...n-germany-as-ai-boom-chokes-budget-pc-builds/
 
DukenukemX said:
They charge top dollar because they can, but I guarantee you they'll increase production and lower prices. By limiting their sale to the biggest consumer country in the world we also don't incentivize them to increase production.
Click to expand...

Other memory manufactures (Micron and sk hynix specifically) started fab build outs years ago, it takes a long time to build out a fab. "Micron currently operates its Boise, Idaho campus, where a $50 billion expansion is underway to add a second fabrication plant (Fab 2) alongside an existing facility, with the first wafer output targeted for late 2027. This Idaho site is receiving accelerated priority and reallocated CHIPS Act funding to bring production online ahead of other projects.

In Clay, New York (near Syracuse), Micron is constructing its planned $100 billion "megafab" complex, which consists of four sequential fabrication plants. "

"SK hynix is executing a massive $720 billion investment strategy to expand its semiconductor manufacturing capacity, driven by surging demand for AI memory. The company has approved construction of two new fabrication plants in South Korea and is actively building its first facility in the United States. "

"CXMT (DRAM) and YMTC (NAND), aiming to double capacity and capture significant global market share by 2030. Huawei is also entering the fray by building its own DRAM fabrication facilities"

if these buildouts dont reduce memory prices - nothing will. Everyone is literally expanding capacity as fast as they can. There will be a memory glut in few years more than likely. It just supply and demand price effects. That's life.

DukenukemX said:
Sounds like you want DRAM to be over priced for the next two years? Do you think South Korea is enough? I don't care if North Korea produces DRAM, we need it. I don't care if Israel produces DRAM, because we need all of it.
Click to expand...

I bought my 64GB RAM a few years ago, I'm pretty set. What do you care how I think about memory prices? Just stating facts. Dont take it personally. Already made a ton off of Micron. Bought that cheap a couple years ago. Micron fundamentals were five star then and even better now. It wasn't a difficult read.

It's not tough to profit off of technology.. When zen was first released, I went exactly here to scope the reviews. After reading I bought a crapload of AMD stock. It was the perfect retirement setup. Imagine that.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top