514
Scientist says RAM pricing has risen to normalized 2007 levels, AI shortage undid 20 years of progress in a matter of months — memory prices had been falling exponentially for decades (www.tomshardware.com)
submitted 4 days ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
123 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 104 points 4 days ago (5 children)

About the only upside to this that I can think of is that maybe, just maybe, programmers will start being more frugal with their memory usage. Everything else just sucks.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 10 child comments
    •
  • [–] 72 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    Nah. They'll use AI to code everything, and now you need more RAM to continue...

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 18 points 4 days ago (3 children)

    People have to buy the games… if the machine doesn’t support it, nobody to buy it.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
    •
  • [–] 47 points 4 days ago* (21 children)

    Why not rent and stream the games for only $99.99 per month. Subscribe now!

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 23 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 4 days ago (2 children)

    Yeah, I think that's the running theory of the corporate backup plan if/when AI falls through and they need to find a use for all the data center resources.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 4 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    An AI data center cannot be used to run virtual machines. Cannot be converted into a gaming streaming service. They don’t work that way

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 3 days ago

    You're right, but I think you underestimate the intersection of what's theoretically possible and desperation.

    We'll probably see multiple different things. Some of the equipment will be repurposed for other cloud GPU workloads. We'll probably see some companies try to make adapters and drivers to get the server hardware compatible with consumer desktops (there's someone who did a writeup, either on hacker news or hack a day who got older server RAM working on a desktop with an adapter and Linux tomfoolery). Buy up the stuff being sold at a loss, strap their adapter on it, and sell for profit.

    But on a low level, all this shit is turing complete. There will be performance losses and considerable overhead, but in theory translation layers and emulation should be able to be written to effectively convert GPU compute to whatever other format is needed.

    If it's taking a total loss vs squeezing the last squirts of profit out, I think there's going to be attempts to squeeze.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
    • load more comments (19 replies)
  • [–] 9 points 4 days ago

    The money is micro transactions and the whales have $7k gpus...

    Everyone else is just fodder so the pay to win accounts have someone to feel better than.

    COD a while ago got caught out for juicing the matchmaking odds right after you buy a new skin. Didn't matter what you bought or how much. A purchase made your next couple lobbies be filled with scrubs on one side, and you and some above averages on the other.

    After X amounts of games it wore off, and since those games pushed you up in the normal metrics, you're now in lobbies above your skill level. So even if you get a "fair" game, you're going to do badly, until you buy a skin again or lose to your actual skill level.

    That's why everyone started complaining about COD matchmaking, even if you bought nothing, everyone was on the same micro transaction maximizing rollercoaster.

    A cynic would say that's why it went free on Xbox, they need a population of players to make the whale milking work. Even if those people only fire it up a few hours a month and never buy anything, getting matched with someone above your skill level who just bought a stupid skin makes you the product they sell to the whales.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 4 points 4 days ago

    They'll never understand that.

    They'll assume the poor sales have to do with the genre, the subject matter, millennials killing the gaming industry, literally ANYTHING but the actual reason their supposed customers keep yelling about.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 26 points 4 days ago (8 children)

    programmers will start being more frugal with their memory usage.

    They 100% will.

    Windows had started only "certifying" machines with 32gb as "windows ready" because they wanted the headroom to cram on AI features and use what we pay for instead of a data center.

    But because no one was buying 32gb machines and a machine without that sticker will end up with Linux....

    They just dropped it, and now they'll have to keep optimizing for 16gb instead of just letting everything bloat. If they don't, they risk every entry level machine making people eventually switch to Linux for a much better experience. Windows has to run on entry level or people don't get sucked in, no one converts to windows later in life.

    That's a huge deal, if 32gb was the default for windows it would be the default for everything. Every game and design/modeling program would feel safe to assume 32gb was the norm. Like, imagine what chrome would do assuming there's 32gb to play with.

    Now they can't, and they'll know requiring 32gb will cut off some possible consumers.

    It's not like Windows is the good guys tho, it never should have been 32, and arguably should be 8gb forever, even if it required a lightweight mode. Most people would prefer a super stripped down Windows even with 64gb. Most of the bloat is useless, I could live without any updates after we didn't have to quit to DOS to launch a game.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 12 child comments
    •
  • [–] 9 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    no one converts to windows later in life

    That’s why you gotta start kids off right. Perfect starter laptop is the 10 year old clunker running Mint.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 child)

    Have seen multiple ones going back to Windows after years of Linux usage, usually those who saw Linux as not a tool, but a "hobby OS" to tinker with. The moment stuff became "way too easy", they left. (Also they're usually bigots, and didn't like the "trans coder" stereotype.)

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 4 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    At this point i don't see why we would need more RAM for basic OS or web usage tbh.

    Like we’ve hit a point where things are covered. Obviously this won’t stop capitalists from doing capitalist bullshit though… and bloat is a thing.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 4 points 4 days ago

    Not going to disagree, but "web usage" is basically everything. You can literally run an entire desktop operating system from 2007 on a virtual machine emulated in JavaScript in your browser now.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 2 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    I am quite amazed at your knowledge and foresight. Really cool!

    I never assumed such a scenario where ram limit will limit our infrastructure too. What do you consider will happen with people who are actually needing ram but unable to afford? And that number reaches significantly higher volume, like 60% of population?

    Like maybe an open source project of building ram seems feasible?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
    • load more comments (4 replies)
  • [–] 14 points 4 days ago (2 children)

    Everything is a Browser.

    No chance.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    did you know Edge has a fucking task manager?

    shift-esc to see the bullshit

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •