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I bought Crucial 32GB Ram for $208 but

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levmc

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 18, 2019
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The RAM you bought, based on the link, is RAM designed for systems that can accept desktop-length RAM modules. iMacs take laptop-length RAM, which is physically smaller. Additionally, the Ballistix series has heat spreaders on the RAM, which I don't believe would fit into the tight spacing of the iMac's RAM bays. If you can cancel your order, I'd do so now and order the correct RAM.

Pricing on RAM is determined by more than just total capacity. CAS latency influences how fast the RAM is, and while it may not be as big a deal today as it used to be, as you might expect slower RAM can be dramatically cheaper than faster RAM. You'd need to consider your computer usage to know if the faster RAM is justified over slower RAM, and/or whether RAM speed is more important than pure capacity.
 
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When I bought it, it was $208 but now the price is showing $133. Could it be just really overpriced when I bought it? Or did it go down in price for some reason?
 
levmc said:
When I bought it, it was $208 but now the price is showing $133. Could it be just really overpriced when I bought it? Or did it go down in price for some reason?
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The price of RAM is a bit volatile. For the part you linked, here's some price history:
1570438874143.png


I'd look around at other RAM products to get a sense of whether it's overpriced or competitively priced at the moment.
 
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levmc said:
Why does it fluctuate so much?
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Looking at Amazon resellers, there may be a bit of speculation involved with having more third-party players involved. But for RAM and a few other electronic components it's a matter of supply and demand. RAM usually follows a curve of sorts, starting off incredibly expensive, becoming cheap as the new modules become standard and available in greater quantities, and then becoming extremely expensive again as newer types of RAM become the standard while the old ones become more scarce.

I haven't heard of any manufacturing constraints, nor any natural disasters that knocked out factories. What we're seeing is probably just normal variation. RAM may have unusually large fluctuations, but you'll see price fluctuations like that for many other products as well.
 
levmc said:
Why does it fluctuate so much?
Click to expand...

Street pricing hasn't fluctuated much at all, at least among first party sellers.

I've been monitoring prices since I bought my machine in mid-August, and the price for a 16GB kit (2x8) has remained steady within a range of ~$60-68, and a 32GB kit (2x16) a little over $130.

The 32GB kit hasn't been in the $200 range since March (1, 2), and the 16GB kit has been (1, 2) steady for a few months.

The biggest issue has been availability, with S8266 stock going in and out, at least from Amazon. Adorama also ran out, but is now back in stock, and B&H has had stock available all along. The S266M sticks have been scarce from everyone but direct from Crucial during that same period, and they've always been slightly more expensive.

I bought a 16GB kit last week for $68 when it showed in stock again, and since then it has gone out and back in again, as well as settling back at the comfortable $64 it had been at for a while. Coulda saved a few bucks if I didn't need to buy at that time.
 
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