{"id":17425,"date":"2026-03-03T12:49:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T10:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/?p=17425"},"modified":"2026-03-03T12:49:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T10:49:19","slug":"blame-ai-for-your-empty-wallet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/blame-ai-for-your-empty-wallet\/","title":{"rendered":"Blame AI for Your Empty Wallet"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are trying to upgrade or build a PC right now you have probably noticed the same thing. RAM (random-access memory) prices are insane, graphics card (GPU) availability is becoming unstable, and previously affordable storage feels strangely out of reach. It\u2019s not just bad luck or temporary issue with product stock. What we are experiencing today is the result of massive artificial intelligence investments.<\/p>\n

The PC building scene has already been battered over the last few years. First came the crypto boom that devoured GPUs, then the pandemic that disrupted manufacturing and pushed demand through the roof. We barely caught a break from having to spend a fortune on one part, yet we find ourselves in the exact same situation. Now we have to deal with the global race to build datacentres for running artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

To understand why memory prices are rising right now and why GPUs are again<\/em> becoming difficult to buy, we need to look at what the major tech companies are up to in the market.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara, California. The name is derived from the Latin word \u201cInvidia\u201d, which translates to \u201cenvy\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

NVIDIA and the AI goldrush<\/h2>\n

For decades, NVIDIA was the company gamers relied on for powerful graphics cards. When the company realised the power they have, everything changed. Consumers and gamers alike seem to be on the sideline as NVIDIA\u2019s new favourite child, AI, is growing up. Yes, AMD and Intel make GPU\u2019s too, but NVIDIA still holds the strongest position in high\u2011performance graphics and productivity tasks.<\/p>\n

This has led to NVIDIA reigning supreme in AI use, further boosting its financial situation. According to an article from PC Gamer<\/a>, NVIDIA now earns almost ten times more revenue from AI than from gaming. Already a year ago, in February of 2025, Tom\u2019s Hardware<\/a> noted that NVIDIA\u2019s data centre business outperformed gaming revenue by more than fourteen times! It\u2019s easy to see why they\u2019re no longer as interested in the audience that initially enabled their position in the market. No matter how unfair it feels, consumer graphics cards simply fall behind in priority. For regular PC builders, this means fewer cards on store shelves and prices that rarely bend in their favour.<\/p>\n

What has this got to do with memory?<\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s where things get technical, but it\u2019s also the heart of the issue so bear with me.<\/p>\n

As mentioned, the main reason for the current price increases is AI. Artificial intelligence has surpassed both hardware demand spikes of Covid and the crypto mining boom. Modern AI models require enormous computing capacity, and that capacity depends on two essential components: graphics cards, which perform the heavy calculations required to train and run AI models and then the current source of many people\u2019s empty wallets, memory. Specifically, DRAM (dynamic random-access memory), which GPUs and servers rely on to store data during computation.<\/p>\n

This relationship is critical. A GPU needs large amounts of memory to perform well. AI\u2011focused GPUs often require hundreds of gigabytes of high-performance memory per system, and entire data centres contain thousands of these accelerators working in parallel. In comparison, a modern gaming GPU can have 16 gigabytes. All of this means the current AI growth is consuming both GPUs and memory from the same global infrastructure, and the PC market, especially consumers, feel the impact immediately. So, in short, all the memory we used to have reserved for gaming and everyday purposes, whether RAM sticks, SSDs or GPUs is flowing to AI companies instead.<\/p>\n

\"RAM<\/a>
DDR5 RAM sticks are now in high demand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Company greed<\/h2>\n

To make matters worse, Micron, one of the world\u2019s largest memory manufacturers announced that it is pulling out of the consumer RAM market<\/a> in December of 2025. Especially the company\u2019s Crucial brand was well known to consumers and a reliable choice for many PC builders. The company\u2019s strategy shift means one of the most important suppliers is leaving the consumer market at a \u201ccrucial\u201d moment (*padum tss*). Alas, the greed to go all in on the AI train seems to hold a higher value for Micron than the feelings of their long-time customers.<\/p>\n

\"SSD<\/a>
You won\u2019t be seeing crucial memory on the store shelves anymore<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bubbles tend to pop<\/h2>\n

So how long can the situation persist? Well, according to the plans of OpenAI, the company responsible for the creation of ChatGPT, it doesn\u2019t look good. A report from Tom\u2019s Hardware<\/a> in October of 2025, reveals that OpenAI has made deals with known memory manufacturers Samsung and SK Hynix to reserve roughly 900,000 DRAM wafers per month. Analysts estimate this equals up to 40% of global DRAM capacity. Sounds like the consumers are in for a desperate time. But what if it all falls apart?<\/p>\n

\"NVIDIA<\/a>
NVIDIA\u2019s CEO, Jensen Huang in his trademark leather jacket<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to pay, what now?<\/h2>\n

Unfortunately, RAM isn\u2019t likely to return to early\u20112025 prices anytime soon. If your current PC works, your best strategy is to wait and avoid upgrading unless absolutely necessary. For gaming, I\u2019d suggest looking at the used PlayStation 5 market (or new, if that\u2019s your jam) since those are generally sold for around 350\u20ac in Finland.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re desperate to get rid of some money and feel<\/em> a difference with your PC setup, I suggest you look into the audio side and invest in hi-fi headphones. It may be surprising, but all the \u201cgamer\u201d headphones are not necessarily the best sounding or even best performing for gaming! Perhaps also consider a USB or XLR microphone to please your friends\u2019 ears during Discord calls. Or maybe use TeamSpeak, since Discord also screwed all of us over with the upcoming age verification<\/a> trick.<\/p>\n

General information<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image links:<\/p>\n

Cover photo by Timur Kozmenko from Pexels: https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/illuminated-interior-of-pc-tower-10684919\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Ram photo by Andrey Matveev from Pexels: https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/high-performance-ram-modules-on-wooden-surface-34006659\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo of Crucial SSD: https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/e\/ed\/Crucial_SSD_MX300_525GB-8478.jpg<\/a><\/p>\n

NVIDIA logo: https:\/\/www.heute.at\/i\/nvidia-investiert-milliarden-in-ki-zentren-mit-openai-120132534\/doc-1j5pcp47u4<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo of Jensen Huang: https:\/\/www.heute.at\/i\/nvidia-chef-jensen-huang-vom-aussenseiter-zum-techstar-120127253\/doc-1j3lu48654<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AI companies are buying up GPUs and memory faster than they can be made, and consumers are stuck with the bill. If your PC upgrade plans feel cursed, you are not imagining it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":253,"featured_media":17426,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[17426,17428,17431,17432],"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[2285,2286,1770],"class_list":["post-17425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-pcbuilding","tag-ram","tag-ai","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/253"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17425"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17435,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17425\/revisions\/17435"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}