Every builder and system integrator is trying to figure out how to deal with the inflated cost of RAM. In a call with media today, Maingear CEO Wallace Santos announced BYO RAM Builds, which have customers supply the RAM for Maingear to validate into an otherwise prebuilt system.
If you pick a BYO RAM configuration, you will have to either provide a supported RAM kit that you already own for Maingear to include while it builds your PC, or order a new kit to the company for them to install. Maingear says that the upside here is that you can look for deals, attempt to time the market, or simply install RAM that you already have lying around. Maingear, in turn, offers a way to order a PC without raising prices on RAM on its own while still validating its builds.
Santos said that his costs for a 32GB kit of RAM is up 394%, while it's up 344% for 64GB. He said that in over 20 years in business, he's never seen a situation like this, citing Covid, fires and floods in Taiwan, and SSD shortages. There was always, he said, a visible end to a situation.
"With this current memory situation that we're seeing right now, at first I was basically being told this was a two-to-five month situation, that lines were being ramped up and everything would be fine," Santos told the press in a call about the new program. "As an owner of an OEM, I prepared myself and we did what we had to do without inventory and we prepared. But it turns out this memory situation is a multi-year problem, from what we're gathering."
Maingear isn't letting you buy an order without RAM. "To ship a fully tested, optimized system, we need memory installed before it leaves [Maingear]," a page for the program reads . There will be a consultation with the company beforehand to ensure that the RAM is compatible with the build, and if you're sending in your own RAM, Maingear will send a two-day shipping label. Santos explained that most "typical customers" don't understand how to enter or set up a BIOS, set up timings. "The chances of things go wrong are pretty high," he added.
The computer itself will have Maingear's standard warranty and lifetime support, but the RAM will only be warrantied by the manufacturer.
The BYO RAM program can be applied across any build that isn't preconfigured. If it's not already built and boxed, you can opt to send in your own RAM.
And while Maingear isn't mandating this program, it sure might help the company if buyers use it. When asked if Maingear had enough RAM supply for all of its buyers without this program, Santos said it plainly: "No."
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