- DDR5 RAM prices have reached new highs in the US
- Even the cheapest 32GB kits can’t be had for less than $360
- That’s 20% more than two months ago, as system RAM keeps getting more expensive despite previous signs that the crisis was abating
RAM pricing continues to prove seriously painful with DDR5 modules, and the situation at US retailers is so bad that you can’t get a basic (entry-level) 32GB kit for anything less than $350 now.
Tom’s Hardware highlighted pricing on Amazon in the US observing that some common lower-end 32GB kits – which comprise of two 16GB DDR5 sticks – are now $360. Just a couple of months back, those same kits were priced at around $290 to $325, showing that prices are continuing their seemingly inexorable rise.
Indeed, looking at Newegg and Amazon now, I can’t see anything below $360, save for one offer on a Kingbank 32GB kit for $350 on Newegg – note that this is a Chinese brand, and there are caveats therein (although the product is sold directly by Newegg, I’d rather buy from one of the trusted RAM makers we typically recommend given the saving is only ten bucks here).
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What this shows is that despite some signs of a pullback in RAM price rises – which had been observed in some regions last month – the overall direction is still upwards, albeit not at nearly the steepness of the hikes we saw at the end of 2025.
As one Redditor observes in the reaction to this finding: “RAM prices are genuinely insane now. I bought a new RAM kit at the beginning of September, and if I were to buy the same kit now it would cost more than my graphics card. I have an RTX 4090, so that is absolutely absurd.”
Analysis: blame the bots – a double whammy of AI misery
(Image credit: Framework)
We’re looking at a roughly 20% rise in prices over the past couple of months for DDR5, then, and as Tom’s notes, the situation is made worse because bots are now being brought in by scalpers.
Price gougers are snapping up RAM kits that arrive at more affordable prices – and that’s very much a relative term now – using said AI-powered bots. Of course, it’s the demand for RAM in terms of the AI explosion – that and issues around memory chip makers cutting production levels in the past, when there was a glut of supply – which has caused the current RAM crisis.
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There’s been further bad news from Framework (via VideoCardz), with the laptop and desktop PC maker having to put up the pricing on its DDR5 modules to $13 to $18 per Gigabyte (GB). To put that in perspective, at the end of last year, the price was $10 per GB, with a rise to $12 to $16 last month.
The storm around RAM pricing shows no signs of calming down for the time being, then, and the outlook remains gloomy. (Of course, you can still get sporadic deals on high-end RAM, albeit the savings made are only relative to the huge price hikes, and the outlay is still a painful one).
The alternatives to buying new RAM are to look at used memory on auction sites – although there’s no guarantee with the quality therein – or to get yourself a bundle deal (such as a motherboard with RAM included, or maybe a three-in-one CPU plus RAM and motherboard package). Those kind of deals are likely the best route if you’re looking to build a PC, but obviously they won’t be of much use to anyone simply wanting to upgrade their current system memory.
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