this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2025
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Are they using the same ICs in the AI modules as they are in DIMMs?
If yes, then we can still hope for some level of a 2nd hand market, which may at least manage to be lower than the max at that point.
Not the same chips, but ddr5, gddr7, and hbm2 are made off the same wafers in the same plants. The issue is allocation in wafer and production time skewing towards the higher-margin items. DDR5 additionally is being made more into the server ecc variant, which companies are buying in droves for cost-efficient MOE inference.
Well, the server ECC variant is still pretty useful for desktop workloads. Just make sure AMD always supports it in the next generations. If it's still a DIMM, then it can be sold right away.
GDDR7, again, if the chip has the required pins as in GPUs, then GPU manufacturers can simply buy them, test them for a few hours maybe, and pop them in their lineups with a bit of re-calculation of traces (in case the exact pinout differs). Of course you get some re-soldering damage, but there's not much you can do about it. On the other hand, if the GDDR7 is in GPUs already, most the companies would require is to alter the firmwares a bit and sell refurbished units.
HBM2. Seems like it is possible to get slottable modules with HBM2. Pretty sure some industrious people in China will find a good use for them. Perhaps with RISC V processors?
And the AI specialised units shouldn't be fully useless either. Remember the cancer studies case?
It is still useful computing ability that can be used well by those who know how.