Price Check Q3 2016: DRAM Prices Down Over 20% Since Early 2016
by Anton Shilov on July 25, 2016 12:01 AM ESTThe Pickup of DDR4 vs DDR3 Slowdown
Mainstream DDR4 memory modules are getting more affordable every day. There are some exceptions, due to product transitions and other reasons, but we could observe that since January all DDR4 memory modules rated for 2133 to 3000 MT/s data-rates got at least 20% cheaper. Some dual-channel kits reduced their price by 40% and some by 50%, which is well ahead of DDR4 memory chip price declines. Due to increasing competition, module manufacturers simply have to cut their prices in a bid to maintain market share (and some large customers demand a good market share). When it comes to higher-end DDR4 kits, especially those with 3600+ data-rates, then we can notice that they are getting more affordable as well but perhaps not very rapidly due to their difficulty in manufacturing. Moreover, the price decline is step by step, and can be difficult to predict.
As for DDR3 modules, their prices have come down since early 2016 as well, primarily due to DRAM ICs getting cheaper. When it comes to a 16 GB (2×8 GB) dual-channel DDR3-1866/DDR3L-1866 kit, the price iscomparable to the price of a DDR4-2133/DDR4-2400 kit, and sometimes even to DDR4-3000. Such products from well-known brands cost around $70 and sometimes DDR4-based kits are a cheaper than DDR3-based kits.
Given the prices of DDR3-2133 and DDR3-2400 kits (~$100), it is evident that fast DDR3 modules are not maintaining their previous cost gap: at present they cost more that 16 GB DDR4-3200/CL16 kits. While comparing prices or performance of DDR3 and DDR4 solely based on their data-rates is ill advised, we can do on a larger scale to a certain degree. In previous reviews, for performance comparisons, the metric of data-rate dividied by CL (CAS Latency) is a broad enough calculation to group similar performing kits, and with two similar kits the higher frequency is often the higher performer. Even though the lower latencies of DDR3, the performance of DDR4 memory sub-systems at 3000 to 3200 MT/s should be higher than performance of DDR3 at high frequencies as a result. As it turns out, for enthusiasts seeking for high performance and who are willing to pay for it, it makes more sense to get DDR4 instead of DDR3 nowadays anyway due to system compatibility and predicted future releases. Keep in mind that manufacturers will reduce production output of DDR3 in the coming quarters, and as a result even if DRAM IC prices decrease, fewer will be made and as such prices may remain flat or increase over time, which will make upgrades expensive.
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Minion4Hire - Monday, July 25, 2016 - link
JoeyJoJo, just select 180 days instead of 120 on that first chart you link to and you'll see quite clearly that Anandtech's reporting is correct. Compared to the beginning of the year, the current prices are lower. Sure, there have been even lower prices than right now, but prices are still lower than they were 7 months ago.milli - Monday, July 25, 2016 - link
Here in Belgium the same. Prices are up massively. 20 to 40%yuhong - Tuesday, July 26, 2016 - link
DRAMeXchange also shows a higher price for 4Gbit DDR4 than months ago, while 4Gbit DDR3 prices did not increase as much. I noticed that 8Gbit DDR4 is getting close to crossover now.yuhong - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link
8Gbit DDR4 has hit crossover on DRAMeXchange. At the time of this writing, "DDR4 8Gb 1Gx8 2133 MHZ" is at $3.664 and "DDR4 4Gb 512Mx8 2133 MHz" is at $1.836.iwod - Monday, July 25, 2016 - link
Not really interested in consumer DRAM pricing, I mean they are already very very cheap. And it is properly more interesting for LPDDR4 to drop price, since that will be use in some Laptop, Smartphone and Tablets.More interested would be 32GB DIMM and 128GB DIMM drop price, so we can fit 128GB to 1TB Memory on server for very cheap. SQL and Cache Servers.
Flunk - Monday, July 25, 2016 - link
Past trends don't show much connection between the price of DRAM and Nand on phones and tablets. Most of the time then manufacturer pockets the difference.yuhong - Tuesday, July 26, 2016 - link
Interestingly, even 32GB DDR3 LR-DIMMs has been dropping in price. I wonder if this is due to oversupply.tipoo - Monday, July 25, 2016 - link
Offset a bit by the CAD being down to 76 cents American now :(Story of my life is piece together a nice mid range PC on PCpartpicker, oh nice I got it under 1000 - crap, forgot to hit the Canadian flag. Price is now 33% higher plus 15% tax plus the "we hate canadians" markup companies like to do despite nafta. Delete build and cry self to sleep. Repeat monthly.
JoeyJoJo123 - Monday, July 25, 2016 - link
Nobody hates Canada; That's just the price of doing business there in Canada, along with the taxes and other such exchange related problems that businesses are facing and then unfortunately have to reflect down to you, the consumer.If you're upset about Newegg charging you ~40% more than the American website does, then either go across the border and have your parts purchased and mailed there for cheap, or complain to your government officials about the relatively weak Canadian dollar. This really just boils down to economic policy and what your government is doing about it.
andrewaggb - Monday, July 25, 2016 - link
Well to be fair, the whole 'buy america' thing comes across as 'hates Canada'. There's some pretty ridiculous stuff that has resulted, like tearing down a bridge for too much Canadian Steel and stuff like that. And Obama really had it out for the Alberta pipeline, despite plenty of US oil projects and pipelines being built.Anyways, I doubt our current government will do much to improve the $. I think it's more about social policy, child care, etc this time around.