Aaron Klotz Social Links Navigation Contributing Writer Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.
A Stoner Yeah, with the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and RX 9070 XT finally starting to hit MSRP or lower, I was thinking of updating my ALT computer that has DDR4 in it. Then I noticed that the memory that I had in my pcpartpicker build was $390 instead of the ~$160 it was when I originally picked it. That increase completely wipes out any savings from CPU and GPU price declines leaving the total cost of the upgrade higher than I am willing to pay. Reply
bit_user I wonder how much effect scalpers are having, in making matters even worse. Well, I have some extra DDR5 that I'll probably unload on ebay. Not because I need the money, but just because there's no point in sitting on it, if someone else could use it. Reply
Heat_Fan89 bit_user said: I wonder how much effect scalpers are having, in making matters even worse. Well, I have some extra DDR5 that I'll probably unload on ebay. Not because I need the money, but just because there's no point in sitting on it, if someone else could use it. Sell it!!!!! The TeamGroup 32GB 6000Mhz CL30 AMD Expo 2×16 sticks I purchased earlier this year from Amazon for $88, now cost an eye watering $288. Reply
bit_user Heat_Fan89 said: The TeamGroup 32GB 6000Mhz CL30 AMD Expo 2×16 sticks I purchased earlier this year from Amazon for $88, now cost an eye watering $288. Sadly, it's nothing fancy. Just some 8 GB and 16 GB SODIMMs and one 16 GB full-size DIMM. I checked the latter and looked at sold listings. I found a few cases where people listed a dual-kit for the same price as others were selling single DIMMs?? All were in the last couple days and located in the USA, so that doesn't explain the pricing weirdness. I guess some people just don't know what they're selling! Reply
acadia11 Saw the writing on the wall bought 2x 128GB kits end of September beginning of October each 369,99 Corsair vengeance 6400MTs , same kits sell for 600-700 now each. I literally bought one of them the day before it jumped up to $450. And dram futures show this lasting until end of 2026. Next up SSDs if you have a build in my mind highly recommend you buy your kit now. Reply
thestryker The only thing that will stem the tide of increasing memory/storage costs is for AI to collapse. Even HDDs have started going up in price and I have no doubt it's just a matter of when with regards to SSDs. High end DRAM has been the least impacted so far and if you sort PCPartPicker by price per GB several 96GB kits are actually towards the top now simply because their pricing hasn't skyrocketed yet. The capacity problems with DRAM/NAND are also much harder to solve since they require specialized manufacturing processes so a sudden loss of business doesn't really have a viable shift like generalized silicon fabrication does. I'm fortunate that I don't really need any DDR5 and fast enough higher capacity kits haven't launched. I think we know now why none of those kits that were touted around Computex have come to market. I don't think I've seen a single high performance kit (speed/latency or both) with 32Gb IC actually make it to market. Reply
call101010 Comparing it to gold is kinda stupid .. DDRAM lose its value in two Generations … Gold not ! <Mod Edit> Reply
Dementoss Here in the UK, I bought 2 x 16GB Corsair Dominator LPX 3200MHz for £48, in May from Amazon, now they are listed at £114. Reply
call101010 Dementoss said: Here in the UK, I bought 2 x 16GB Corsair Dominator LPX 3200MHz for £48, in May from Amazon, now they are listed at £114. Welcome to trade wars and pre WW3 disasters. Reply
bit_user call101010 said: Moreover , I dont think this price hikes is from demand… it is from … trade war and crazy taxes , they increase the prices even indirectly .. Well, on DIMMs which are made entirely outside the USA, tariffs placed by the USA will could affect pricing in the USA, but not elsewhere. So, the key question is whether the price rises seen elsewhere are proportionate. In fact, to the extent that USA's tariffs succeed in reducing demand for imported products, that excess supply would need to find other markets. This should have the effect of depressing prices in those markets. BTW, I've lost track of whether the tariff exemption on PC components is still in effect. Does anyone know? … Dementoss said: Here in the UK, I bought 2 x 16GB Corsair Dominator LPX 3200MHz for £48, in May from Amazon, now they are listed at £114. Okay, thank you for that timely data point! Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/dram/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/dram/dram-prices-surge-171-percent-year-over-year-ai-demand-drives-a-higher-yoy-price-increase-than-gold#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.