I miss the days when most people had a vanilla looking computer. You wouldn't have felt out of place at the LAN party lugging in your dad's old Packard Bell tower that you used for your gaming rig.
We still appreciated visually stunning PCs. Not just for the works of art that they were, but also for the DIY skill and ethic you were actually required to demonstrate to build and mod them.
Nowadays, it's all just "RGB by default". By my angry old man standards, it looks gauche. Then again, I suppose it's the new vanilla?
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debo_
We should call the fake stick "NAM" for "no access memory." Then you can tell your kids that they couldn't possibly understand, man, because they weren't _there_.
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dsign
Slight tangent, I found this chart for the prices of RAM:
It's not looking good, I don't think supply is catching with demand yet.
Though the other day I learned there are many technologies for "RAM", and most of them are garbage for LLMs but still useful for other things, like microcontrollers. So I'm thinking my next "build" is going to be a guitar.
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ajnin
This article is using "fake" for click-bait purposes, implying some kind of scam, in fact it's just a filler RGB stick to make pretty lights inside your case, nothing nefarious about it and it's clear when you buy, but probably wouldn't be featured on HN without it.
alpaca128
Can't wait for people to buy two of these sets, take the real RAM sticks and refund the two fake ones in one package. There's no way the seller is going to manually check every returned stick.
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bdcravens
A few months ago I upgraded a Windows laptop I use in my 3d printer studio from 32gb to 64gb. I let the memory I pulled out sit on the desk, and just got around to selling it last week. I sold it on eBay for twice what the 64gb kit cost new. In almost 30 years of upgrading all sorts of machines, I can't remember if I've ever performed an upgrade and turned a profit out of it.
sidewndr46
This article seems a bit dramatic in it's title? People have purchased "blank" RAM for years for the aesthetic of it. I do not personally see the point, but I also don't have motherboards with unpopulated RAM slots. If a company wants to sell a kit that is 50/50, I am not sure that is actually a problem.
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wolvoleo
At least they are upfront about it.
I don't see the point though even for a gaming setup, as the fake modules will still reduce airflow.
Also, gaming boards usually have 4 slots (in 2 banks). I would fill at least 2, so I'd rather have a matched kit of 2 modules, and 2 separate fillers, if I did use them.
It is quite common to leave 2 memory slots empty (of RAM) because many boards can't drive the memory at top speed if you use all 4 slots.
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RobotToaster
I don't get it.
Isn't 2x8gb faster than 1x16gb since it will run in dual channel?
And shouldn't smaller capacity sticks be cheaper since they can use lower density chips?
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daft_pink
This is the reason people hate marketers.
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butz
How about we use all that AI and start doing some serious optimizations to existing software? Reduce memory requirements by half, or even more.
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cwillu
There is no reason for this to exist except to trick people.
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speakbits
Wow... never really realized people actually used these things and didn't just chuck them after opening their RAM>
wildpeaks
It's not a new thing, it's a common way to fill empty slots for aesthetic purposes, especially with RGB builds in aquarium cases.
tzs
Could these actually be functionally useful or are they purely aesthetic?
For example, dust can short out electrical connections. Can enough dust get into an open RAM slot to cause problems?
amelius
I already put "Use as little RAM as possible." in my custom prompt.
youknownothing
so this is like men who use silicone implants resembling muscles to appear strong, even though they're weak AF xD
Bad idea. I would be very angry to discover I've bought this. Customer support are going to get shouted at and products returned.
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aitchnyu
Arent we supposed to have matching RAM sticks for dual channel performance in modern computers?
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Cloudef
Why haven't prebuilt PC market been doing this to hide the fact they are using a single RAM stick?
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Dwedit
Are we back to the days of RDRAM when having a blank memory module was actually required?
mcfedr
AI sucks doesn't it
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voganmother42
The fabled write only memory
erikerikson
Oops, someone hit publish 18 days early.
[edit: 19, article published yesterday]
SilentM68
Had a similar experience at AliExpress (US site). Purchased M.2 drive but what I got was stick of chewing gum (not literally but you get the idea). Never bought anything from them again.
uyjulian
Reminds me of Rambus / RDRAM terminator RAM sticks.
zzzeek
> While they light up and synchronize with your existing RGB ecosystem,
RAM has lights ?
wow I've been living in a cave
BoredPositron
It's an RGB kit you could get Corsair dummies for like 10 years now for look maxing your build.
drivingmenuts
This is the computer equivalent of "comfort nuts" for a neutered dog, which is really about the owner, not the dog.
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Simulacra
I'm confused, could someone help me clarify: is this just one stick of RAM, and one stick of absolutely nothing, purely for aesthetics? I can't even see inside my CPU, why would I care if there's an empty slot? Why would I pay for a piece of plastic to fill that slot that doesn't do anything?
From the read, it seems like… A scam?
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FpUser
First time in my life I hear about fake RAM
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sysguest
fking can't understand this one...
I mean, it's much cheaper to buy 2x8gb than 1x16gb or even 1x32gb
(and 2x8gb is faster than 1x16gb..)
are these people idiots??? ram-slots are computer real-estates
show comments
senectus1
wow... the enshittification of everything is getting faster every day.
resters
This is the "Trumpification" of gaming PCs, thanks in part to the trade war.
I miss the days when most people had a vanilla looking computer. You wouldn't have felt out of place at the LAN party lugging in your dad's old Packard Bell tower that you used for your gaming rig.
We still appreciated visually stunning PCs. Not just for the works of art that they were, but also for the DIY skill and ethic you were actually required to demonstrate to build and mod them.
Nowadays, it's all just "RGB by default". By my angry old man standards, it looks gauche. Then again, I suppose it's the new vanilla?
We should call the fake stick "NAM" for "no access memory." Then you can tell your kids that they couldn't possibly understand, man, because they weren't _there_.
Slight tangent, I found this chart for the prices of RAM:
https://pcpartpicker.com/trends/price/memory/
It's not looking good, I don't think supply is catching with demand yet.
Though the other day I learned there are many technologies for "RAM", and most of them are garbage for LLMs but still useful for other things, like microcontrollers. So I'm thinking my next "build" is going to be a guitar.
This article is using "fake" for click-bait purposes, implying some kind of scam, in fact it's just a filler RGB stick to make pretty lights inside your case, nothing nefarious about it and it's clear when you buy, but probably wouldn't be featured on HN without it.
Can't wait for people to buy two of these sets, take the real RAM sticks and refund the two fake ones in one package. There's no way the seller is going to manually check every returned stick.
A few months ago I upgraded a Windows laptop I use in my 3d printer studio from 32gb to 64gb. I let the memory I pulled out sit on the desk, and just got around to selling it last week. I sold it on eBay for twice what the 64gb kit cost new. In almost 30 years of upgrading all sorts of machines, I can't remember if I've ever performed an upgrade and turned a profit out of it.
This article seems a bit dramatic in it's title? People have purchased "blank" RAM for years for the aesthetic of it. I do not personally see the point, but I also don't have motherboards with unpopulated RAM slots. If a company wants to sell a kit that is 50/50, I am not sure that is actually a problem.
At least they are upfront about it.
I don't see the point though even for a gaming setup, as the fake modules will still reduce airflow.
Also, gaming boards usually have 4 slots (in 2 banks). I would fill at least 2, so I'd rather have a matched kit of 2 modules, and 2 separate fillers, if I did use them.
It is quite common to leave 2 memory slots empty (of RAM) because many boards can't drive the memory at top speed if you use all 4 slots.
I don't get it.
Isn't 2x8gb faster than 1x16gb since it will run in dual channel?
And shouldn't smaller capacity sticks be cheaper since they can use lower density chips?
This is the reason people hate marketers.
How about we use all that AI and start doing some serious optimizations to existing software? Reduce memory requirements by half, or even more.
There is no reason for this to exist except to trick people.
Wow... never really realized people actually used these things and didn't just chuck them after opening their RAM>
It's not a new thing, it's a common way to fill empty slots for aesthetic purposes, especially with RGB builds in aquarium cases.
Could these actually be functionally useful or are they purely aesthetic?
For example, dust can short out electrical connections. Can enough dust get into an open RAM slot to cause problems?
I already put "Use as little RAM as possible." in my custom prompt.
so this is like men who use silicone implants resembling muscles to appear strong, even though they're weak AF xD
https://www.bestbodyimplants.com/gallery_implants/male-impla...
Bad idea. I would be very angry to discover I've bought this. Customer support are going to get shouted at and products returned.
Arent we supposed to have matching RAM sticks for dual channel performance in modern computers?
Why haven't prebuilt PC market been doing this to hide the fact they are using a single RAM stick?
Are we back to the days of RDRAM when having a blank memory module was actually required?
AI sucks doesn't it
The fabled write only memory
Oops, someone hit publish 18 days early.
[edit: 19, article published yesterday]
Had a similar experience at AliExpress (US site). Purchased M.2 drive but what I got was stick of chewing gum (not literally but you get the idea). Never bought anything from them again.
Reminds me of Rambus / RDRAM terminator RAM sticks.
> While they light up and synchronize with your existing RGB ecosystem,
RAM has lights ?
wow I've been living in a cave
It's an RGB kit you could get Corsair dummies for like 10 years now for look maxing your build.
This is the computer equivalent of "comfort nuts" for a neutered dog, which is really about the owner, not the dog.
I'm confused, could someone help me clarify: is this just one stick of RAM, and one stick of absolutely nothing, purely for aesthetics? I can't even see inside my CPU, why would I care if there's an empty slot? Why would I pay for a piece of plastic to fill that slot that doesn't do anything?
From the read, it seems like… A scam?
First time in my life I hear about fake RAM
fking can't understand this one...
I mean, it's much cheaper to buy 2x8gb than 1x16gb or even 1x32gb (and 2x8gb is faster than 1x16gb..)
are these people idiots??? ram-slots are computer real-estates
wow... the enshittification of everything is getting faster every day.
This is the "Trumpification" of gaming PCs, thanks in part to the trade war.