Cheap RAM Was the Anomaly, Not the Rule

Consumer DIY ram prices peaked in 2018, and then fell to all-time lows, rising in 2020 and then stabilizing up to about 2022, remaining steady ever since. the current sticker shock in 2025/26 is more about feeling disrupted after a historical period of unprecedented value, but these prices, or rather the super-cycle of consumer DIYContinue reading “Cheap RAM Was the Anomaly, Not the Rule”

The Fading Red Team: AMD’s GPU Struggles and the Xbox Lifeline

I often lament the days when we had more GPU manufacturers on the board, providing more suppliers and helping keep prices down. The days of Voodoo and Savage are long behind us. And not too soon after they were taken off the board were nVidia and ATI charged with colluding in an effort to arrangeContinue reading “The Fading Red Team: AMD’s GPU Struggles and the Xbox Lifeline”

From Comstock to Console: How Age Verification Laws in Gaming Echo Old Moral Crusades

Gamers in China already lead a life where they are required to verify their identity in order to game online at all. Not just to reach certain types of content. Because gaming time and online access are regulated in China, gamers have to verify their identity more often than not to game at all overContinue reading “From Comstock to Console: How Age Verification Laws in Gaming Echo Old Moral Crusades”

Even If You Don’t Buy ARC, We All Still Need It in the Market

When I saw the headline that Intel was end of life-ing the ARC A750 I almost had a conniption. The ARC has arguably been one of the best things to happen to the GPU market since before we lost all of the vendors and went down to a two-party GPU ecosystem. While ARC is notContinue reading “Even If You Don’t Buy ARC, We All Still Need It in the Market”