Overview
- Goldman Sachs analysis cited by Ctee reports DDR4 spot prices up 172% versus a 76% rise for DDR5, highlighting a sharp short‑term surge for older modules.
- Tom’s Hardware, using PCPartPicker data, finds some mainstream kits stabilizing at higher levels, including DDR4‑3200 and DDR5‑4800/5200, while faster DDR5‑5600/6000 still creep upward.
- Tom’s RAM Price Index shows many DDR5 kits have tripled or quadrupled since October 2025, with 32GB DDR5 now starting around $350 and high‑capacity kits often scarce.
- Retailers have leaned on bundles and rationing to manage limited stock, with one Newegg combo pricing a 32GB DDR5 kit at $437.99 inside a $1,121.99 CPU‑motherboard‑RAM package.
- The squeeze stems from AI infrastructure gobbling HBM and DRAM as fabs shift capacity toward DDR5 and HBM, creating a spot‑to‑contract price gap that could lift retail prices once older inventory clears.