DDR5 Prices Stabilize as GPU Deals Return and Console Prices Surge

We begin with news that someone played games on the Arc Pro B70. Intel made this announcement last week, and they were quite clear that this is not a gaming card. However, that doesn't mean it can't play games. It will be available this Thursday, and you can expect to pay slightly under $1,000. We were able to pre-order one. It came up that an Apple card pays you cash back every day based on your purchases. This should have been handled better before.

B70 is around 45% faster than the B60, which is about the same speed as the B580. It has the same number of XE cores and similar specs, but more RAM. But at the settings we tested, 12GB on the B580 was already enough, so RAM isn't the main problem here.

In tests, Cyberpunk ran at 83 fps at 1440p extreme and 126 fps at 1080p. At medium settings, Monster Hunter Wilds got 55 fps. In contrast, at 1440p, Shadow of the Tomb Raider reached 148 fps. Overall, the performance seems to be stable.

You might be wondering whether it's worth it to use a workstation card for gaming. 

AMD's Radeon Pro cards offer higher-capacity VRAM variants that cost much more.

Intel, on the other hand, doesn't have a similar tier. This is the only way to get Big Battle Mage.

We also had problems with the most recent Windows upgrade. The first update after Microsoft promised to make things more stable had to be yanked because of loops that caused installation errors. Systems kept failing to install updates and displayed alerts about missing or problematic files.

It wasn't a major upgrade, but the failure shows there are still reliability issues.

There is a lot of pressure on the console sector. Prices for the PlayStation 5 have gone up, making the ones already available more expensive.

The base PS5 is going up from $550 to $650, while the digital edition is going up to $600. PS5 Pro is going up to $900, while the Portal is now about $250. This brings the Pro's price close to $1000, which makes it harder to get.

There are also rumors concerning the next-generation console. The cost of making it is projected to be about $750, and the target retail price might be roughly $700 if it isn't subsidized.

We are seeing pressure on RAM and SSD supply, and smaller companies may struggle to stay in business as they make less money and have less cash on hand. Be mindful that handheld and niche gear makers could be hit the hardest.

We identified several bargains on the market. You can get a wired audio headphone for $34.99, $15 off the regular price. Even though it looks simple, people say it works well.

There is also an air cooler model for $34.99, $15 off, with a black-and-gold style.

The price of a 32GB DDR4 kit running at 3600MHz CL18 is $29.99, $110 less than the original price. This is one of the lowest prices we've seen for this kind of thing in a while.

GPU Prices and Availability Over Time

Changes are also happening in GPU prices. The price of the 9070 XT is going back up to its original level, and there are new package deals with freebies like games.

There are several listings where prices are higher than MSRP, but coupon codes bring them back down to MSRP. This pattern is seen across several brands and platforms, suggesting that prices are being changed in a planned way.

But there are problems with the listings: some product descriptions contain incorrect specifications. Before you buy, you should check the specifics.

There aren't enough memories, and it's not just RAM. Due to supply issues, SD cards and CFexpress cards are now affected. Some areas are having trouble getting things.

First, hard drives were compromised, then SSDs, and now portable storage. NAND memory supply is tight, hence the manufacture of some goods has stopped.

Some people say that RAM prices are going down because of new breakthroughs, but the truth is more complicated.

Prices for DDR5 have remained the same and even dropped a little. There have been sales with 25% off and better deals, but this doesn't mean that the scarcity has been fixed.

One important claim concerns a technology called Turbo Quant, which compresses RAM to improve performance. Reports say it can cut memory use by up to 6 times and speed it up by 5 to 8 times.

This technology was developed earlier, but was just recently made public. It mostly affects KV cache compression and doesn't reduce overall memory requirements at scale.

We need to keep in mind that as efficiency increases, utilization also goes up. Users tend to run larger models rather than use less RAM. The outcome is that demand stays high rather than declining.

This improvement also has a bigger effect on smaller applications than on larger industrial workloads. There are also overhead costs that can make things less effective in some situations.

RAM prices could fall if major AI companies stop buying as much of it.

This factor was already recognized, though, and it isn't the main reason for the scarcity.

The current position suggests that things will stabilize rather than decline much. Prices might not rise as quickly, but they probably won't fall as much in the near future.

The community is reacting strongly. Some people think profit motives drive pricing problems, while others say prices rise when demand is high.

You could think that it's hard to build or upgrade a PC in today's market. Some users who made high-cost purchases earlier are now seeing those decisions as beneficial due to rising prices.

There are also concerns that shortages could worsen, disrupting power supplies and other parts of the supply chain if supply chain issues persist.

Overall, the market remains under pressure, with high demand and limited supply driving prices in several product categories.