DigiTimes: DDR3 Prices to Soar 40-50% in 2021

[AleksandarK]

Yes, you are reading that title correctly. Today we got ahold of information that DDR3 prices are going to skyrocket by as much as 40-50% this year! Despite DDR4 being present for seven years (since 2014), which is a lot in the world of tech, DDR3 is still thriving. Used in a wide range of devices like IoT, older servers, and long time running machines that need maintenance for decades. The DDR3 has been manufactured by SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron, however, as technology moved on, these companies began the migration to the newer DDR4 standard. Even DDR5 exists today and it is currently manufactured.

So why is DDR3 soaring in value? It is because of the increased scarcity of this memory. SK Hynix has stopped the production of 2 Gb modules, leaving only the 4 Gb modules in production. Samsung has cut down the capacity from 60,000 wafers of DDR3 memory modules per month to just 20,000. This has caused the price of 2 Gb and 4 Gb modules to rise already as much as 30%. Despite the age of 14 years, DDR3 is still widely used in many systems. And because of that, the scarcity is making the price of the current memory increase. The price is expected to rise through the whole year and it could reach a 50% increase.


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[kayjay010101]

Oh, no! Anyway...

 

[LTUGamer]

That is because old systems (especially CPUs) aged really good.

Ten years old Intel Core i7 2600K (as well as all CPUs up to i7 4790K) is still acceptable processor and pre-owned one is a good solution for value systems.

Compared to this, ten years old Pentium 4 1,5 GHz was e-waste in 2011.

 

[silentbogo]

Used in a wide range of devices like IoT, older servers, and long time running machines that need maintenance for decades.

You don't need to look that far. There are tons of business-class Skylake laptops circling around that still use DDR3L, which will make at least half the market for RAM upgrades (Thinkpad E560, Probook 450G3, Toshiba Protégé series etc etc etc). I'm not even gonna mention entry-level consumer stuff that uses DDR3L to this day.
What's really sad, is that new RAM prices always affect used RAM prices. Got a little stockpile of DDR3/DDR3L just in case, but with these news I'll have to get more before the next hike.

 

[watzupken]

DDR3 prices will increase because I think production/ supply is anyway very low. As to how much it will increase, I think it depends. I believe DDR3 memory are already more costly than DDR4 nowadays. So there will be a tipping point where people will choose not to upgrade and get a new system althogether.

 

[_JP_]

Well, the last two years were actually the best moment to max-out DDR3 systems, especially DDR3L, but this is the expected hike untill it drops again due to the remaining supply but niche demand. Like DDR2 and DDR is right now.
Maxing-out a 2004 laptop cost me as much as €6, last year.

 

[Wirko]

The DDR3 market should be really small by now, at least for new stuff, devices/phones/NAS/whatever. It's another matter if GDDR5 is counted in, though.

What's the failure rate of several years old DDR3 modules in PCs and servers? If it's around 1% per year then there must be quite a large demand just for replacement modules.

 

[Fatalfury]

i thought only RAM prices was overall reasonable in 2021 with possible every other PC component price increased so much.

Next : Prices of DDR4 RAM Increased ....
Reason: Because DDR3 prices also increased so we are forced to increase DDR4 prices as well..
(also throw in keywords like Global Pandamic, Trade war, Shortages..etc to increase prices )

 

[ODOGG26]

That is because old systems (especially CPUs) aged really good.

Ten years old Intel Core i7 2600K (as well as all CPUs up to i7 4790K) is still acceptable processor and pre-owned one is a good solution for value systems.

Compared to this, ten years old Pentium 4 1,5 GHz was e-waste in 2011.

Yea my Core i7 2700K and HD7950 lasted me up until early last year lol. Replaced with a mini upgrade to Ryzen 1600AF and RX5500XT. Next real upgrade will be the high priced one.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

The DDR3 market should be really small by now, at least for new stuff, devices/phones/NAS/whatever. It's another matter if GDDR5 is counted in, though.

What's the failure rate of several years old DDR3 modules in PCs and servers? If it's around 1% per year then there must be quite a large demand just for replacement modules.

1%? Hell, try 0.01% at most. I think I can count the total number of failed server dimms we’ve had on two hands over the last 15 years. If they are not DOA they rarely die

 

[pjl321]

It's time to move on boys!

 

[ZoneDymo]

That is because old systems (especially CPUs) aged really good.

Ten years old Intel Core i7 2600K (as well as all CPUs up to i7 4790K) is still acceptable processor and pre-owned one is a good solution for value systems.

Compared to this, ten years old Pentium 4 1,5 GHz was e-waste in 2011.

That's one way to put it, you can also say due to lack of competition the one company making cpu's sat on their behinds raking in the money while doing minimal work to improve their products thus everyting was made for that (dated) hardware for a long time.

If we had Zen back when the 2600k was released, you can bet your behind that by now that 2600k would be as useless as the pentium 4 you mentioned.

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

That is because old systems (especially CPUs) aged really good.

Ten years old Intel Core i7 2600K (as well as all CPUs up to i7 4790K) is still acceptable processor and pre-owned one is a good solution for value systems.

Compared to this, ten years old Pentium 4 1,5 GHz was e-waste in 2011.

Yp. Still having two i5 2xxx machines, not suited for newest AAA titles sure, but perfectly usable otherwise.

 

[Steevo]

Must be time to sell my 8GB... lol

 

[MIRTAZAPINE]

For an old legacy system builder like me this kinda sad news, I guess I should be grabbing a spare 32GB ddr3 now. Sure I prefer modern devices but there I need some legacy system lying around to test old hardware and software.

 

[henok.gk]

Ahh yes the perks of living a 3rd world country where DDR3 is so mainstream and dirt cheap... If only there was a way I could export these things lol

 

[Ravenmaster]

Is anybody actually still using DDR3?

 

[Skylinestar]

Is anybody actually still using DDR3?

Yes. I do. My family PC is on intel H81 platform while my gaming PC is on X79 platform.

 

[TheUn4seen]

Is anybody actually still using DDR3?

I am, in several machines in fact. I use laptops dating back to Lenovo X220, with Broadwell-based X250 being my favorite. My home server (on home security and some automation duty) is based around Haswell, so so also DDR3. My NASes use DDR3L. Most phones use DDR3L. Hell, most routers, tablets or e-book readers use DDR3L. You'd be amazed how many devices are there besides PCs.

 

[Basard]

Have you seeen the price of EDO SIMMs lately?

 

[The Von Matrices]

Is anybody actually still using DDR3?

My business still uses a bunch of E5-2600 v2 (Ivy Bridge) servers primarily because we need large amounts of memory and second-hand DDR3 server memory is about half the price of second-hand DDR4.

1%? Hell, try 0.01% at most. I think I can count the total number of failed server dimms we’ve had on two hands over the last 15 years. If they are not DOA they rarely die

My experience is the same. Thus the reason I have no problem using second-hand DIMMs. I've had to replace a few CPUs and motherboards in the servers but not a single DIMM.

 

[Palladium]

I still have 2x8GB DDR3 along with my 4790K/H81 in the spares pile.

One thing I noticed is DDR3 systems are able to boot up really fast, presumably since they aren't bogged down by DDR4 memory training.

 

[stinger608]

Well, I probably have about 400 gigs of DDR3.

Probably should think about selling after the prices go crazy again.