RAM kits are now sold with one fake RAM stick alongside a real one

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.

drivingmenuts

This is the computer equivalent of "comfort nuts" for a neutered dog, which is really about the owner, not the dog.

FpUser

First time in my life I hear about fake RAM

BoredPositron

It's an RGB kit you could get Corsair dummies for like 10 years now for look maxing your build.

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.

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?

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_.

resters

This is the "Trumpification" of gaming PCs, thanks in part to the trade war.

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?

senectus1

wow... the enshittification of everything is getting faster every day.

JonChesterfield

Bad idea. I would be very angry to discover I've bought this. Customer support are going to get shouted at and products returned.

Cloudef

Why haven't prebuilt PC market been doing this to hide the fact they are using a single RAM stick?

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

daft_pink

This is the reason people hate marketers.

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

Dwedit

Are we back to the days of RDRAM when having a blank memory module was actually required?

skibz

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?

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.

dsign

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.