16GB RAM kits availability

[verukins]

Hi all,
A while ago i built a "server" with the g.skill 4x4Gb kit, which has been great for the number of virtuals it can run for how much it cost!

Anyhoo - now i want to build another and am finding that retailers are claiming the g.skill and OCZ 16GB kits are no longer available!

I'm kinda surprised that these products are no longer available, as i would have thought they would have been very popular.

Anyhoo - some of the people on these messageboards seem to be knowledgable and helpful... so i was wondering if Anyone knows of other manufacturers that are still making 4Gb DDR2-800Mhz (ie cheap!) sticks

Messages with intelligent comments such as "why would you want 4GB sticks" or "no motherboards support 16GB" will be responded to with appropriate levels of scorn.

 

[RebateMonger]

That'll suck if 4 GB modules for DDR2 are abandoned. Maybe because manufacturers decided to devote the development money to DDR3 modules. 2 GB modules meet the current needs of most folks with DDR2-compatible motherboards.

 

[aka1nas]

Most DDR2 chipsets can't take 4GB sticks, so they might have found that there wasn't a big enough market for it (at least for unbuffered non-ECC sticks).

 

[verukins]

yer, i would be surprised by a lack of demand... i would have though popping out a server with 16GB and a couple of TB of disk for $3k (aus) would be popular for dev/test environments... but yes, maybe your right and others dont see it that way.

 

[myocardia]

They still make 4GB sticks of DDR2, for servers: newegg link. As a matter of fact, Kingston is now selling 8GB DIMMS I'm pretty sure that the only reason the non-ECC 4GB sticks were abandoned is because we (the general public) weren't buying them. They cost about twice as much per GB as 2GB sticks, had 6-6-6-18 timings, weren't available any faster than PC6400, and just weren't worth the money, even for those of us with a motherboard that supports 4GB DIMMS.

 

[verukins]

yer, thats the bit that confuses me.... "they ust werent worth the money"

if i can get a workstation box with 16GB in it for $1500 (aus) - compared to having to buy a server class machine for a minimum of triple that... thats worth the money

but yes, much more than twice the cost of 2gb sticks - i recognise that.

But im always going to disagree that they werent worth the money! they allowed absolute bargain level VM servers!

I'd buy those kits in the link you sent - if only someone was willing to ship to aus! (newegg and amazon wont for technology products)

 

[taltamir]

yer, thats the bit that confuses me.... "they ust werent worth the money"

if i can get a workstation box with 16GB in it for $1500 (aus) - compared to having to buy a server class machine for a minimum of triple that... thats worth the money

For you, yes. For most of us it isn't worth the money.

And the people who have a large budget and will pay exhubrant amounts for extra ram, there is now 8GB sticks, so they will be getting it instead.

 

[Knavish]

Wow I didn't realize that 4GB modules got so scarce. In the past these have been *very* useful to researchers I know who need more than 8GB, but don't want to put a huge FB-DIMM type workstation or server under their desk. It was very convenient to throw together a relatively low cost system with, for example, a Q9550 and 12-16GB of ram using these 4GB modules. This sucks!!

ZipZoomFly apparently has a 2x4GB kit for a horribly expensive $590 (edit) ...nope those are FBDIMMS. crap.

 

[imported_wired247]

Originally posted by: Knavish
Wow I didn't realize that 4GB modules got so scarce. In the past these have been *very* useful to researchers I know who need more than 8GB, but don't want to put a huge FB-DIMM type workstation or server under their desk. It was very convenient to throw together a relatively low cost system with, for example, a Q9550 and 12-16GB of ram using these 4GB modules. This sucks!!

ZipZoomFly apparently has a 2x4GB kit for a horribly expensive $590 (edit) ...nope those are FBDIMMS. crap.

precisely... when I built a c2q machine for my research lab, I priced 16GB of ram and it was around $500, putting our budget too high. we had to settle for 8gb, sucks.

the workstation with fb-dimms was not really desired either... this was a low budget project

 

[Knavish]

Yeah it seems like the cheapest options for lots of memory are an i7 system with 12GB (6x2GB) or a workstation / server motherboard based on the 5000V or 5000P chipset with 16GB (8x2GB). The server solution is pretty crappy because you have to buy an expensive Xeon (vs. a regular C2Q or i7) and you have to use a dual CPU motherboard.

Looks like we'll be stuck this way for a while. Kingston says they won't have 24GB (6x4GB) DDR3 kits out til the end of '09!! ...and they claim the cost in Feb 2009 is $2000!!!!
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/m...Desktop_Computers.html

 

[taltamir]

well, to be honest, if you need MORE than 12GB of ram... you can afford (and will have use for) 4 x 8GB modules.

The market for people who need AND can afford more than 12GB, but are trying to skimp on costs instead of getting the most GB is really really small...

 

[Dadofamunky]

I've been thinking about getting 2x4GB for awhile, but such kits are nowhere to be found AFAIA...

 

[exar333]

I think we will see more affordable 4GB modules appear for DDR3 as time goes by. The market is slowly shifting from DDR2 to DDR3, and I don't know if there will be/is right now a big demand for this.

Definitely agree with Taltamir that the market looking for budget/affordable >12GB is probably not that big.

 

[WowbaggerTIP]

I've been looking for non-ECC 4GBx3 kits for a Core i7 build, but they don't seem to exist. The machine will be used as a dev box running multiple VMs. This type of dev situation is becoming more and more common, but it seems tough to build a reasonably priced box to meet the requirements. This isn't a production machine, so I don't need server-quality equipment. Just need lots of cheap RAM and HD space.

Unfortunately it looks like I'll have to go with a 2GBx6 kit, which sucks since if I ever want to expand it I'll have to replace them.

 

[IBDoomed]

Originally posted by: WowbaggerTIP
I've been looking for non-ECC 4GBx3 kits for a Core i7 build, but they don't seem to exist. The machine will be used as a dev box running multiple VMs. This type of dev situation is becoming more and more common, but it seems tough to build a reasonably priced box to meet the requirements. This isn't a production machine, so I don't need server-quality equipment. Just need lots of cheap RAM and HD space.

Unfortunately it looks like I'll have to go with a 2GBx6 kit, which sucks since if I ever want to expand it I'll have to replace them.

Considering the 2gbx6 kits are like $200... that's not a lot of wasted money. I do see where you're coming from though, being in the process of building two desktops to use as servers, I would like 24gb myself instead of 12 but I've accepted 'wasting' $400 and upgrading in 6-12 months.

 

[itmltd007]

Apple state that the new Quad core Mac Pro can only take 2GB RAM chips, giving a total of 8GB in the machine.
If you mosey over to OWC's website, they have a 16GB kit available for sale (although quite pricey).

 

[IBDoomed]

Originally posted by: itmltd007
Apple state that the new Quad core Mac Pro can only take 2GB RAM chips, giving a total of 8GB in the machine.
If you mosey over to OWC's website, they have a 16GB kit available for sale (although quite pricey).

Wait... the new mac pro's only have 4 ram slots? WTF? I'll have to go look at that.

Oh wait, I see, the quad only has 4, the octo still has 8. Seriously, who only buys the quad?

 

[bamacre]

Bought as many 4GB modules I could, and I haven't been able to find any more. And all the systems I used them in are gone too. I hope they don't make the same mistake with DDR3, as I'd love to fill some systems with 24GB (6x4GB).

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: Knavish
Yeah it seems like the cheapest options for lots of memory are an i7 system with 12GB (6x2GB) or a workstation / server motherboard based on the 5000V or 5000P chipset with 16GB (8x2GB). The server solution is pretty crappy because you have to buy an expensive Xeon (vs. a regular C2Q or i7) and you have to use a dual CPU motherboard.

Looks like we'll be stuck this way for a while. Kingston says they won't have 24GB (6x4GB) DDR3 kits out til the end of '09!! ...and they claim the cost in Feb 2009 is $2000!!!!
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/m...Desktop_Computers.html

Single socket opteron systems can be had for barely more than Phenom systems. Dual sockets seem reasonable as well.