This is why RAM are costly
HBM memory for AI accelerators is causing a major supply crunch, inflating costs across the board.
Deep Dive
The global AI boom, led by demand for chips from NVIDIA, AMD, and others, is creating a severe shortage of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). This specialized RAM is critical for training models like GPT-4 and Llama 3. With manufacturers prioritizing HBM production, supply for standard DDR5 memory has tightened, leading to price increases of up to 20% for consumer and enterprise systems in recent months.
Why It Matters
Higher hardware costs impact everyone from data centers building AI clusters to consumers upgrading PCs.