I get it that it's not necessary but the ram upgrade from 8 to 16 used to be a $40 splurge, and that was with healthy profits for everyone involved.

And now you pay the old 16GB price for 4GB.

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Aurornis an hour ago | parent | next [-]

This applies to all RAM.

The cost of 16GB Raspberry Pi is driven by the RAM. Everything else is a small addition to the BOM cost.

The 16GB was introduced when it was affordable. Now it's just becoming a mental obstacle for buyers who think they should only purchase something if they can get the top model. That's why I suggest everyone pretend it doesn't exist. Unless you really need it for something, the 4GB or 8GB can do most things.

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jefftk 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Yes. RAM got expensive, because demand went up a lot.

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robotresearcher an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Is there a lot of new demand for the kind of RAM on a RPi?

This is not the same stuff an H100 uses, and it’s not even made in the same facilities, is it?

I think it’s more likely that the volume is not large enough to make up for the previously crappy margins on cheap RAM products.

It was great while it lasted.

	▲	michaelt 8 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		A price increase in one market can displace demand to other markets. A workstation user or gamer might want a desktop PC loaded with DDR5. But they'll also consider a desktop with DDR4 or even a laptop with LPDDR4X if they get more for their money. So a rise in demand/prices for DDR5 can trigger a lesser rise in demand/prices for LPDDR4X

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JoshTriplett 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> RAM got expensive, because demand went up a lot.

Somewhat, but not all of that demand was real; some of it was promised and not followed through on.

Also, supply isn't growing to match, in part because some companies exited the business.