So, I was just reading through this whole Reddit thread about AMD supposedly raising prices on their Ryzen 9000 series and older CPUs, and honestly, it’s a real mixed bag of reactions. The whole thing started with this rumor, and a lot of people just shrugged it off with a “sure, why not” kind of attitude, thinking it’s probably just prices going back to normal after Black Friday sales ended. There’s a strong sentiment that this isn’t really a price hike, but just the end of a promotional discount, and that calling it a “raise” is basically clickbait—some folks are pretty annoyed at the article for stirring up drama over nothing.
But then, the conversation really pivots to the bigger picture, which is the current state of the PC hardware market. A huge point of tension is the skyrocketing price of RAM. People are genuinely worried that memory costs have gotten out of hand, with some noting that a 32GB+ kit of fast DDR5 can now cost as much as a mid-range GPU. There’s a real fear that if this continues, it could kill the entire PC market—like, everything from desktops to laptops and consoles would become unsustainable. Some are even joking about needing “30-year PC mortgages.” The blame for high memory prices is often placed on the insane demand from AI datacenters, which is chewing through supply and causing a shortage, though a fair number of commenters are cynical and just call it pure corporate greed, suggesting companies are colluding to keep prices high.
This naturally leads to a big discussion about competition, or the lack thereof. Many are pointing out that this situation—whether it’s CPUs, GPUs, or RAM—is what happens when there’s no strong competition. They’re using NVIDIA as an example, saying their GPU prices stay outrageous because AMD doesn’t really challenge them at the very high end. There’s a interesting split in feelings about Intel’s recent struggles. Some are glad to see AMD on top after years of Intel dominance, remembering when Intel was the only game in town and not a great time for consumers. But a lot of others are stressing that we *need* Intel to be competitive, because without that pressure, AMD has all the pricing power and can do things like this. They argue that cheering for Intel’s downfall is shortsighted, because in the end, consumers lose when there’s only one real player in the game.
Amidst all this, there are side conversations about the value of platform longevity (like sticking with an AM4 or AM5 motherboard for multiple CPU generations), and some folks sharing their own upgrade stories—some feeling lucky they bought their CPU or RAM before any potential increases, others lamenting that they waited too long. There’s also a bit of whataboutism with car prices, and a few sarcastic jabs at AMD, like “What are you going to do? Buy Intel?”
So, overall, the thread is less about the specific rumor of a price bump and more a venting session about the frustrating state of PC building costs, driven by high memory prices and a market that feels like it lacks healthy competition. The tone ranges from resigned and cynical to genuinely concerned about the future of the hobby.
