Weekly Memory Prices - Week of Feb 3, 2002 - Page 2

Weekly Memory Prices

SDRAM

For those of you waiting for the prices to drop SDRAM again before buying, I'm afraid this isn't the week, as we are seeing very few price changes on SDRAM this week. Overall, SDRAM prices remain constant, with the exceptions of PC133 ECC 512mb, which dropped $12 to $113.00, and PC100 CAS3, 128mb which fell $5 to $21.00. As far as price increases go, PC133 CAS2 512mb and PC133CAS3 512mb both went up by $5.00. Other than those, though, the prices remain the same as last week.

DDR SDRAM

Showing even less movement than in SDRAM prices, we didn't chart a single price change in this category for the third week in a row. With some of the more crazy price fluctuations we have seen over the past month, however, I can't say this is necessarily a bad thing.

RDRAM

Following suit with last week's price changes, PC800 is the one category where the prices are falling. PC800 512mb dropped a whopping $45 to $140.00, this week (we haven't seen drops like that since last December), while a couple others fell by a dollar.

Overall

In light of recent price increases, seeing memory prices remain constant is as much consumers can really ask for. Since memory prices can go up and down, daily, depending on market conditions and availability, we suggest you use our guide only to provide you with an idea on where prices are heading. Many vendors also state that their price is specifically for a phone order, you should be reminded, while others offer the lowest prices on online orders.

Do yourselves a favor and check prices again before deciding whether or not to buy, as prices have been changing (usually increasing) so quickly that most of this guide is unlikely to remain accurate for a day, let alone a week. We can all hope for some better prices on memory for consumers next week... but unfortunately, I wouldn't count on it!

Vangie"Aurora" Beal
News & Interviews Editor