With a global surge in AI demand bleeding NAND and DRAM supplies dry, it was only a matter of time before regular consumers, PC builders, and hardware enthusiasts started to feel the pinch. Now, a series of user reports collated by Tom's Hardware and data trends from price-tracking services like PCPartPicker confirm a staggering 100% or more price rise in RAM on online marketplaces.
Until very recently, RAM price rises had largely been limited to industry customers rather than frontline consumer sales. The demand for server-grade memory and HBM is now starting to have a knock-on effect. Reports indicate DRAM prices have risen 171.8% year-over-year, and customers are starting to notice.
"I've been saving for months to get the Corsair Dominator 64GB CL30 kit," one beleagured PC builder wrote on Reddit. "It was about $280 when I looked," said u/RaidriarT, "Fast forward today on PCPartPicker, they want $547 for the same kit? A nearly 100% increase in a couple months?"
Their story is one of a myriad you can find on Reddit of concerned hardware shoppers facing astonishing price hikes. "Wanted to get a kit and now RAM is +100€ in a week," said another user, who revealed that the Kingston FURY Beast 64GB DDR5 RAM kit is now more expensive than the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X they'd been eyeing up for their PC build.
Customers in the U.S. and in Europe are reporting the increases, and they're not alone. One Canadian user reported that the most popular 64GB 6000MHz kits now cost upwards of CA$500. "Less than 2 months ago, they were ~CA$250-260. What happened?" Price increases of 100% or more are not uncommon in Reddit reports, but zooming out makes for even worse reading. A Reddit Homelab enthusiast reported that a hefty 384GB DDR4 kit they bought for $285 on eBay is now selling for nearly $1,600. A staggering increase, even for a private sale.
"I'm seeing record-breaking spikes," one PC builder commented. "Just under a month ago, all of this was much closer [to] or less than $100." The stable of RAM in question is 32GB kits of DDR5-6000 from popular vendors like Corsair, G.Skill, and Patriot, as you can see from the PCPartPicker trend below; the observation is far from anecdotal.
The trend line for DDR5-5600 2x16GB kits is an almost identical hockey stick upturn, as is DDR5-5200, and DDR5-4800. DDR4's prices track less closely, but are broadly increasing nonetheless. Elsewhere, one PC builder in India noted that a 16GB DDR5 stick has more than doubled in price there.
It's not just the DIY market that is impacted, either. Recently, mini PC maker Minisforum announced price hikes on all of its models containing SSD and DRAM, citing a 'significant increase' in its overall costs.
Some RAM kits on Amazon are showing signs of a real supply crunch. For instance, the best RAM for gaming, per our testing —the G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB DDR5-6000 —is now only offered by third-party sellers on Amazon, with a 64GB kit that has been priced as low as $204.99 now commanding a $499 price tag. While this might reflect stock issues more than inflation, the result is the same.
Corsair's Dominator Titanium kits, which are still in stock and sold directly by Amazon, are another example. The premium 32GB DDR5 6000Mhz offering was listed at $159.99 in March, the lowest price recorded on that model. Amazon is now selling it for $255.99. The 64GB version, $309 in September, now costs an eye-watering $509. The more mainstream, and theoretically cheaper Corsair Vengeance DDR5 64GB, is now listed by Amazon at $424.99. In March, it was just $189, a 124% price increase.
With Phison's CEO recently claiming that an industry NAND shortage could last a decade, price increases like these and hardware horror stories could become all too familiar. With AI juggernauts like Nvidia putting pedal to the metal on data centers, buildouts, and colossal computing deals, things might get worse still before they ever get better.
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