[jakebasile]

I hate this. PC gaming is my hobby, the only one that’s lasted my whole life. It’s always been there. It’s how I met my wife. It’s how I relax after a long day. It’s how I’ve participated in so many stories that stick with me and given me so many memories.

All of it is being murdered by the AI bros. Before them it was the crypto bros. It’s one thing after the other and I hate it so much.

[loeg]

Just live with the PC you have for two more years. It's probably not a big deal? A moderately capable machine from 5 years ago is still marginally capable.

[jakebasile]

Hopefully this blows over in a few years and you’re right and I’m just catastrophizing.

[loeg]

One way or another. Either the AI stuff cools off, or the RAM people spin up more fabs.

[pbhjpbhj]

Well there's like 4 RAM manufacturers, so probably they will spin up new fabs but continue to collude to keep prices high.

[marcosdumay]

They were previously colluding into the most profitable production volume. If demand stays high, the most profitable volume increases.

That means that yes, it will probably by more expensive than before this raise, but no, not nearly as much as today.

[deltoidmaximus]

They already said they aren't going to increase supply, most likely because they think the AI bubble will pop and they'd be stuck holding the bag.

[loeg]

Businesses occasionally change their mind in response to market conditions.

[pbhjpbhj]

Yh, my moderately capable machine is from 8 years ago and had already waited for an upgrade. Was going to be this Black Friday. Crabcakes.

[lupire]

There is more than a lifetime of incredibly great PC games that run on your existing hardware, and if this is your life's hobby, then paying an extra $100 or so every year or few is a drop in the bucket of your gaming expenses

[jakebasile]

I can afford it. Other people cannot, and the hobby is driven by a market existing for games. If newer people don’t enter the hobby as others die out, it fades away.

[platevoltage]

The silver lining could be that game developers spend more time on actual gameplay, and less time on chasing graphical fidelity.

Silksong is playable on an 8 year old Nintendo Switch.

[jakebasile]

Yeah. Thanks for trying to keep me positive.

Hopefully this all calms down eventually. But it's hard not to feel like shit in this situation.

[edm0nd]

I mean its pretty rare to buy more RAM after completing your PC build + that single PC is going to last you 5+ years. Also mobos usually only have 4 slots in total so its not like its even going to take a lot. I'm rocking 2x48gb sticks and that's plenty for gaming.

The prices are wild tho.

I bought that ram in March 2024 for $384.81. Now it's priced at $1,172.99. LOL

[jakebasile]

It’s frustrating that it’s been one thing after the other, seemingly aimed directly at the thing I enjoy most.

[Ninjinka]

Increased demand for computer components for purposes other than gaming constitutes "AI bros murdering your lifelong hobby"?

PC gaming is not "murdered", it's doing better than ever.

In 2015 there were 3,000 games released to Steam, last year there were 18,000. In 2015 Steam's peak concurrent user count was 8.6 million. This year it's 41 million.

The inflation-adjusted price per gigabyte of RAM has dropped from $3/GB to $2/GB over the last 10 years, even including the recent price hikes.

So spare me the hysterics, your hobby is fine.

And you know what? The increased demand for compute always spurs innovation, so you'll probably get a better computer in the end as a result. You're welcome.

[platevoltage]

> In 2015 there were 3,000 games released to Steam, last year there were 18,000. In 2015 Steam's peak concurrent user count was 8.6 million. This year it's 41 million.

This is like saying "Spotify's subscriber count grew by 800% over the last 10 years. Music is doing better than ever!"

[Ninjinka]

If the complaint was about access to music, then yes, that would valid. Which seemed to be the complaint implied regarding RAM as it related to PC gaming.