Temperatures and Computer Prices Rising More This Summer

Three factors are contributing to this summer’s rise in computer prices: AI, security, and chip shortages. The times call for cool, calculated thinking about the technology you have and what you need.

AI has upped the ante considerably because it’s so necessary for many business applications. AI is also a necessity to run all the security measures needed to combat the increasingly complex technologies used by hackers to get into any system.

The rapid expansion of AI continues to create a significant demand for memory chips, particularly DRAM chips, and that has led to a supply/demand imbalance that still persists. In turn, prices for memory chips have surged, affecting the overall cost of consumer electronics, including computers. Apple had been trying to hold the line on its prices, but it just raised them.

Your bottom line is that a $3,000 price tag for computers is coming. And if you have computers that are more than three years old, they may not cut it. To provide adequate performance for today’s business environment, an AI-ready computer must be able to perform at least 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS) just for basic operations. That jumps to 80 TOPS for more intensive AI tasks and ensures that a computer can handle advanced applications and workloads for next-generation AI software and features.

We can help you navigate the price/performance balance by looking at your computers and your computing needs. Based on how your business or organization uses computers, we can help you determine which units are most in need of performance upgrades and develop a plan to redeploy your units. This can maximize the efficiency of your total complement of computers while – hopefully – reducing the number of new units you need to purchase. We can combine our assessment with a security audit to shore up weaknesses in your system.

Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to set up an appointment to discuss your needs and options, including a plan for the next few years to help your long-term budgeting.

RAMageddon Raising Computer Prices

Computer prices are skyrocketing. Sony has postponed its new PlayStation 6 to 2029. Why? RAM chips are sold out for the year. We are facing RAMageddon, a term coined by Jason England at Tom’s Guide. If you’re thinking about new computers and/or servers, now is the time to act.

This will be a snooze-you-lose proposition because businesses are turning more and more to cloud-based applications that are driven by AI. If you don’t have computers and servers capable of handling massive amounts of data at lightning-fast speeds, you won’t be able to work at maximum productivity.

The problem is that you and those big AI data centers are looking for the same DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) chips and SSD memory chip storage. RAM chips prices are up 500 percent according to some reports, and SSD memory chips are up 100 percent. Our computer suppliers tell us they’re working off current inventories and will be able to hold the line on pricing until those inventories are exhausted. Then, it will be a matter of finding whatever they can for whatever the market will bear.

The way we see it, computer and server supplies and prices will make the shortages and prices of the COVID era look like bargain-basement shopping. The computer industry doesn’t expect any relief until 2028.

A lot of industry observers say you should buy now and buy as much preinstalled RAM as you can afford for laptops. Most laptops have soldered RAM that you can’t upgrade after purchase, so this is a good general rule of thumb at any point when buying a laptop. But it is even better advice now with prices set to take off. If you can pack 32GB or even 64GB of RAM into that laptop you’re eyeing, go for it.

The same is true for storage. Get the largest hard drive you can. Even though you may do most of your computing in the cloud, your computer’s speed will depend on the combination of RAM and storage to bring in data and work with it before you send finished work back to the cloud.

We’re ready to help. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to discuss your computer and server needs. We can help you shop for the hardware that best meets your needs and then help you get everything installed and configured.