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DDR2 prices climb above DDR3
by Cyril Kowaliski — 9:49 AM on October 9, 2009

Have DDR2 and DDR3 prices finally reached parity? Maybe not in stores just yet, but as DigiTimes reports, the latest numbers from DRAMeXchange show DDR2 has eclipsed DDR3 on the contract pricing scale for both modules and chips.

On average this month, DigiTimes says contract pricing for 2GB DDR2 modules was $31.50, while 2GB DDR3 modules were slightly cheaper at $31.00. 1Gb (128MB) DDR2 and DDR3 chips cost $1.78 and $1.75, respectively. As the graph in DigiTimes' article shows, prices for both types of memory have been going up steadily since July, but DDR2 pricing has increased at a faster pace since September.

Looking at today's spot prices on DRAMeXchange, 1Gb DDR2-800 chips are also slightly costlier on average than their 1Gb DDR3-1333 counterparts, at $2.34 vs. $2.26. Effectively tested (eTT) 1Gb DDR2-800 chips are somewhat cheaper, though, at $2.26.

To put things in perspective, bulk 1Gb chips were both well under $2 when DigiTimes predicted impending price parity in early September. With spot prices at their current levels, you can probably expect stores to start charging at least $70 for 4GB DDR2 kits before too long—that's how much 4GB DDR3-1333 kits cost now.