(Image credit: Blighted Agent on YouTube) (Image credit: Blighted Agent on YouTube) (Image credit: Blighted Agent on YouTube) Image 1 of 3 View Original
Looking around at used DDR5 SODIMMs, it looks like Blighted Agent was very lucky to get a used working 32GB kit for $120. I just checked eBay U.S., and the best deal there was $320. Meanwhile, the best price for a new 32GB DDR5-6000 kit seems to be $449 at the time of writing.
We reported on Russian enthusiast VIK-on succeeding in a similar project earlier this year, but all their costing was in Rubles, and they went the extra mile in flashing custom firmware so the remade modules would be auto-detected with 6400 MT/s XMP support on most motherboards. In late 2026, DDR5 RAM continues to be too expensive.
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Mark Tyson Social Links Navigation News Editor Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
Simonhayteruk Its ram cost + labour (rule number 1, never take your time for granted, your time is money) doing stuff for yourself is great but your not saving hundreds if your time could be spent making money. The only exemption is when you profit from making the videos. The time it would take me to carry out this process, I would have earned enough money to buy it new. Also, I much prefer it from the manufacturer, just because it posts now doesn't mean it will in a week or year, Ball Grid Arrays (BGAs) and Chip Scale Packages (CSPs) are notorious for bad joints. Even with the best technology in the world there is a high chance of the joints not being perfect and severely degrees the longevity of the product – that's why these manufactured use XRAY. It is the only way to be sure the product is sound, and these machines start at around £40K for the most basic model. Reply
Pierce2623 I just got a 2x16GB SODIMM Kingston Fury 56000 which is likely to be Hynix as well brand new in Walmart for $130 because it had the old price tag on it still and Walmart policy is they have to honor it. I’ve been contemplating whether it would be better to use the cheesy adapters or try to get a repair to make it into normal rdimms. I wasn’t going to build a second DDR5 system because of DRAM prices but when God dumps cheap RAM in my lap what am I supposed to do? Reply
usertests Simonhayteruk said: Its ram cost + labour (rule number 1, never take your time for granted, your time is money) doing stuff for yourself is great but your not saving hundreds if your time could be spent making money. The only exemption is when you profit from making the videos. It is a YouTuber with 9.38K subs, and they've gotten over 600K views so far. A hobbyist might actually enjoy doing a bit of soldering in their "free time". But the RAM kit prices are high enough at the moment that it might make economic sense for some shops (e.g. in Shenzhen) to do this kind of transplantation. That won't always be the case. DDR5 prices will eventually decline and so will the franken-repair stories. Reply
USAFRet Pierce2623 said: I just got a 2x16GB SODIMM Kingston Fury 56000 which is likely to be Hynix as well brand new in Walmart for $130 because it had the old price tag on it still and Walmart policy is they have to honor it. I’ve been contemplating whether it would be better to use the cheesy adapters or try to get a repair to make it into normal rdimms. I wasn’t going to build a second DDR5 system because of DRAM prices but when God dumps cheap RAM in my lap what am I supposed to do? Try the adapters first. Non-destructive. Reply
usertests Pierce2623 said: I just got a 2x16GB SODIMM Kingston Fury 56000 which is likely to be Hynix as well brand new in Walmart for $130 because it had the old price tag on it still and Walmart policy is they have to honor it. I’ve been contemplating whether it would be better to use the cheesy adapters or try to get a repair to make it into normal rdimms. I wasn’t going to build a second DDR5 system because of DRAM prices but when God dumps cheap RAM in my lap what am I supposed to do? Another option would be to buy an appropriate system using SODIMMs and use them in that. Such as a mini PC. There are also mini-ITX desktop motherboards taking two SODIMMs, such as the ASRock X600TM-ITX, and a bunch from Minisforum. Reply
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ddr5/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ddr5/electronics-hobbyist-converts-usd120-ddr5-sodimm-kit-into-usd1000-desktop-kit-to-fight-ram-crisis-ics-from-sk-hynix-ddr5-5600-16gb-modules-used-to-create-ddr5-7800-desktop-sticks#main
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