The cost of PC memory has risen to unprecedented levels as the artificial intelligence boom continues to absorb huge amounts of the world’s DRAM production.
The situation has become so severe that major technology companies and hyperscalers are reportedly locking up memory supplies well into 2028. That leaves very little leftover inventory for things like notebooks and smartphones. And if you can get the memory, it is obscenely expensive.
An analysis by Tom’s Hardware found that between August 2025 and August 2026, DDR5 memory prices rose as much as 500%. Older DDR4 memory, which is supposed to be obsolete, has also experienced substantial price increases, with some products rising between roughly 120% and 180%.
That is particularly significant because DDR4 was supposed to represent the inexpensive alternative for users who did not need the performance of newer DDR5 platforms. DDR4 is supposed to be fading from the market and is used in older platforms, so it should sell for less. Instead, the shortage has pushed prices for both generations higher.
High-capacity DDR5 memory kits that once represented premium upgrades are now commanding prices typically associated with a complete PC. A 128GB DDR5-6400 kit, for example, can fetch $3,399, about ten times its historical low.
The increases are not confined to the high end. Mainstream 64GB DDR5 kits have also experienced extraordinary price inflation. A 64GB DDR5-5600 kit that previously sold for about $191 in 2025 is now listed around $1,118, while a 64GB DDR5-6000 kit has climbed from roughly $222 to approximately $1,272. Those represent increases of several hundred percent in only a year.
The underlying problem is a fundamental shift in how semiconductor manufacturers are allocating their production capacity.
AI systems come with GPU-based accelerators, and these accelerators use something called high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which sits alongside the AI accelerator. Aside from the fact that AI accelerators need this memory, it is also much more profitable than standard DRAM. So memory makers favor it. That’s why the three big memory makers — Micron Technology, SK hynix, and Samsung — have reported record earnings and profits.
The result is what has effectively become a two-tier memory market: lucrative AI and enterprise customers receive priority, while consumer PC buyers absorb the resulting supply constraints. In the case of Micron, it shut down its Crucial consumer brand so it could favor enterprise and AI demand.
For years, the PC industry has operated on a cycle of declining memory prices. Increasing capacities became cheaper, allowing mainstream systems to move from 4GB to 8GB to 16GB and eventually 32GB without comparable increases in overall system cost.
It also benefited from the obsolescence that accompanied the transition from one generation of DDR memory to the next. DDR5 memory was introduced to buyers in 2021, which should have meant as the memory makers transitioned from DDR4 to DDR5 that the DDR4 would fade away and become cheaper in the process because no one wanted it. That clearly is not the case now.
That trend has now been dramatically reversed. Tom’s analysis found significant price increases across the board, from low-end PCs to top of the line systems. High-end capacities have become particularly difficult to justify for ordinary consumers, with some 192GB kits selling for more than $2,600.
The biggest concern is that this may not be a short-term supply disruption. SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung recently stated that 2027 will be the worst year for memory supply in the industry’s history because demand will outpace their ability to produce it well into 2030.
If the trend continues, the cost of RAM could become a significant constraint on PC upgrades, system manufacturers and even the broader consumer-electronics market. The effect will likely be felt the most on the PC market and the smartphone market, as supply all goes to AI data centers.
