Memory crisis expected to last until 2031, supply already allocated for 2026
-
Part of it is not finished DRAM that was sold yet, it’s wafer capacity at the factory.
Sam Altman has promised orders for a kazillion wafers that don’t exist yet. It’s been argued this is less legitimate demand and more an effort to crimp the scaling ambitions of other competitors.
If his cheque bounces early on, the manufacturers are likely to reassign his slots to other buyers.
The manufacturers are taking a fair bit of risk though. If they aren’t getting paid before work starts, and the bubble pops in the middle, thry could end up with a lot of (partially or fully) finished wafers that they can’t just slice up and sell to Corsair and G.Skill.
You are not wrong about the reallocation part. However, if you see the actions from micron (fuck you micron BTW), they are going all in and having a shit storm in PR on the consumer side. If they are taking these risks without proper assurances, then they are utterly deranged
-
This is for one purpose if it’s true: To force consumers to rent everything, including their computer, so they can be surveilled.
Don’t use GeForce NOW, even if there’s a Linux client in the works, because it’s surveilled too.
Surveillance isn’t the reason, it’s a larger and more consistent profit margin.
-
They’ll sell it.
-
Thank god I never sold my old desktops.
I have a i5-3470 with 16gb, i7-8700 with 16 gb, a steamdeck, and recently bought an m4 air.
I’m only gaming on the steamdeck, and those other computers are used for home server stuff.
My old computer is 16gb DDR-3, as I used it long time before jumping over to 32gb DDR-5 based systems. And thanks to consoles and rising handhelds (first gen Steam Deck <3), 16gb will be still the base floor for long time it seems.
-
Why would they sell it for cheap, if they can sell it for just a little but under current market value and maximize the profit? People would buy it, if it is the cheapest option. Which does not mean it will be cheap overall, if its constantly sold out.
-
My old computer is 16gb DDR-3, as I used it long time before jumping over to 32gb DDR-5 based systems. And thanks to consoles and rising handhelds (first gen Steam Deck <3), 16gb will be still the base floor for long time it seems.
I really hope tha devs target the steamdeck as a baseline for all future games.
I love it when they have a steamdeck graphics profile too.
-
Or we hunt them down
So be it, then… We ride at dawn.
-
I really hope tha devs target the steamdeck as a baseline for all future games.
I love it when they have a steamdeck graphics profile too.
The only problem is the current most used AAA game engine Unreal Engine 5. It is not very good for low end hardware, as the system and developers struggle to optimize it. Even the best devs struggle. But they can’t afford to require high end or just mid PCs. Handhelds become quite popular now. Devs want to make games run on Switch 2, which is beneficial as whole because it has to run under constraints of the system and environment.
Given that RAM prices may stay this expensive, my prediction is that developers absolutely have to make their games run on less powerful hardware (and on 16gb). I wonder how the Steam Machine (PC from Valve) will impact developers focus on Steam Deck.
-
What I heard on the ground floor from various system integrators, components manufacturers, and other companies, is memory supply has been tied up for all of 2026, and that shortages could last as long as until 2031.
Sure it’s scuttlebutt but wouldn’t surprise me as being true.
To spell this out clearly, the reason RAM has quadrupled in price is that a huge quantity of RAM that hasn’t been produced yet has been bought with money that doesn’t exist to populate GPUs that also haven’t been produced to go in datacenters that haven’t been built powered by infrastructure that may never exist to meet a demand that doesn’t exist at all to make profit margins that mathematically can’t exist while economists talk about this thing they call the “rational markets hypothesis”.
-
For the dram unfortunately won’t be possible to use it in the consumer space, at least not in the current form. Hbm is really server stuff, and as is, you cannot repurpose it. As for the GPUs, maybe they can be used for the consumer space but I am not entirely sure the specs would be wise to use it at home, since they need some very serious cooling capabilities, as well electricity consumption. Biggest winners of this pop in my opinion would be anyone who need cheap server rack stuff.
The RAM for 2026-2031 hasn’t been produced. It’s the production capacity that’s been bought out.
If the AI bubble bursts, the manufacturing can be reassigned.
-
Just not gonna buy any new games then.
Get caught up on that game queue.
-
The only problem is the current most used AAA game engine Unreal Engine 5. It is not very good for low end hardware, as the system and developers struggle to optimize it. Even the best devs struggle. But they can’t afford to require high end or just mid PCs. Handhelds become quite popular now. Devs want to make games run on Switch 2, which is beneficial as whole because it has to run under constraints of the system and environment.
Given that RAM prices may stay this expensive, my prediction is that developers absolutely have to make their games run on less powerful hardware (and on 16gb). I wonder how the Steam Machine (PC from Valve) will impact developers focus on Steam Deck.
It would be great if devs just target the steam deck and then let you improve graphics for better hardware.
Like, turn up ray tracing and other effects on the steam machine. Let my steamdeck be a potato.
-
It would be great if devs just target the steam deck and then let you improve graphics for better hardware.
Like, turn up ray tracing and other effects on the steam machine. Let my steamdeck be a potato.
Unfortunately the reality is, that developers don’t have all time of the world. They have deadlines to meet and focus on the thing that is in their mind the most important at the moment. For AAA it often means high quality textures and advanced tech like RayTracing, while they have less time to optimize it for weak hardware. On the other side some devs optimize for low hardware and then they don’t get the attention in the media they want to have, by having the greatest and biggest graphics. So they start optimizing later if the game is not too buggy and it is a success, so they get the greenlight to do more work on it.
Off course I simplify and it depends on the teams and publishers and so on. The point I am making is, that its not as easy a decision as we think or hope it would be. Especially because publishers force some decisions, regardless of what the developers or gamers want to have or need.
-
A 5 year DRAM shortage is pretty hard to imagine. I have to suspect that’s a projection that assumes no AI bubble popping (which given how insanely over-leveraged basically every company involved in the bubble is, its inevitable. They’re literally spending more building these datacenters than they can ever dream of recouping once built!) The last DRAM shortage (around 2017-2019 by memory) was only really bad for about a year or so, getting gradually better until it became an absolute glut of DRAM supply that lasted until…well about 3 months ago. $60 per terabyte of SSD storage was glorious, and hopefully I can afford to benefit from the next DRAM glut in 2-5 years
I’m genuinely putting money aside for when the AI bubble pops so I can hopefully hoover up some cheap computer parts lol
-
What I heard on the ground floor from various system integrators, components manufacturers, and other companies, is memory supply has been tied up for all of 2026, and that shortages could last as long as until 2031.
Sure it’s scuttlebutt but wouldn’t surprise me as being true.
Article doesnt mention China?
-
Surveillance isn’t the reason, it’s a larger and more consistent profit margin.
And yet, we pay for most of it with our PII. In other words, we’re getting doxxed big time with these surveillance services.
-
The AI bubble will pop long before then, and everyone will have more RAM and GPUs than they know what to do with.
AI is not the bubble. The USD and bonds that are covered thereof are the bubble, and it had burst recently.
-
I’m genuinely putting money aside for when the AI bubble pops so I can hopefully hoover up some cheap computer parts lol
I keep a separate savings account for things like that. I just call it “upgrade” in my banking app. Its money specifically earmarked for any kind of entirely-optional big purchases, like computer upgrades, server upgrades, home theatre upgrades, etc. I also have one earmarked for replacing my current cars and one for vacations, plus of course my emergency fund
The only problem with this approach is I tend to hoard my money and want to see my savings account go up, so I really don’t end up spending as much as I could on myself. Like I have an entire computer’s worth in the “upgrade” account right now
-
This, from Mark Moss: https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=ttMDQB0TJJc
-
They’ll sell it.
I don’t think they’ll sell their RAM, as the RAM fabs from China will be strictly used for their tech. We won’t get squat, because we squandered when Crucial shut down their consumer production.
