If
there's a new PC build in your future, you're in luck: it's a great time to buy
DDR3 RAM. DDR3 has hit its lowest price point in 26 months, according to a
recent report from
the DRAMeXchange. A chip of DDR3 memory now costs
only $2.92. As Overclock3D
points out, that works out to $27.50 for a full 4GB DDR3 module.
Even if you don't have a pressing need for new RAM, well, it might be time to
stock up anyway.
It
may seem like hardware component prices should always be trending downwards.
New advancements in technology should make older tech cheaper and easier to
produce year after year, right? While that may be true in general, the physical
realities of manufacturing often throw a wrench in things. Flooding in Thailand
in 2011 sent hard drive prices soaring for two years. In the case of RAM, a
fire at a Hynix factory in late 2013 sent
DDR3 prices spiking upwards.
Today's
news is significant, since it means DDR3 is finally cheaper than it was two
years ago. If you're not in a hurry to buy new PC components, you don't need to
rush out to grab a handful of DDR3 kits—it's always a good idea to wait for a a
killer sale. But looking at a few RAM kits on Amazon, prices are clearly better
than they've been in a long time. This Corsair Vengeance kit is a good example
of the arc over the past four years, although it's still sitting at a higher
price than it reached in early 2013.
By
comparison, this particular Kingston HyperX kit hasn't been on sale as long,
but the price has dropped steadily since early 2014, and is now at its lowest
point ever. According to the Digitimes report, DRAM prices are expected to rise
in Q3 of this year as new iPhones go into production. That makes this summer
the best time to buy some new DDR3 for your existing rig or a new build, with
one exception: if you plan on updating to Intel's Skylake or AMD's
next-gen Zen CPUs in 2016, you may want to make the
move to DDR4 RAM. Both new platforms will support DDR4 as well as DDR3. Right
now, DDR4 is still very expensive, and its
faster speeds don't make much of a difference in gaming. Unless
you want to be on the cutting edge, DDR3 is still a safe (and cheaper) buy for
another year or two.
The
RAM from our
recommended gaming PC build has dropped $25 in the past two months,
while the RAM in our
high-end gaming PC build has dropped $20. Our
recommended budget RAM has dropped a couple bucks as well.
Source : PC Gamer
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