News Insane DDR4 price spikes mean last-gen RAM loses its value luster versus DDR5 — prices have nearly tripled in just two months

[Admin]

As tariffs rise and production falls, DDR4 has soared to become over twice as expensive as DDR5. This is the first time in DRAM history that a previous generation of DRAM has become this much more expensive than its current-gen replacement.

Insane DDR4 price spikes mean last-gen RAM loses its value luster versus DDR5 — prices have nearly tripled in just two months : Read more

 

[rambo919]

Was bound to happen eventually.... always does. You gotta learn to read the signs children.

 

[logainofhades]

Tripled where? I still see 32gb ddr4 3200 kits for around $50, where they have been for months.

 

[Rob1C]

I guess it depends on where you look, but I don't see tripling; if anything I see a puny reduction for DDR4. Here is PCPartsPicker' charts: https://pcpartpicker.com/trends/price/memory/#ram.ddr5.4800.2x16384

While Jim Handy (The Memory Guy) says DDR4 prices have risen to meet DDR5 prices: https://thememoryguy.com/some-clarity-on-2025s-ddr4-price-surge/

Worth waiting for MRDIMM 8800MT/s, and faster.

 

[Notton]

Typically, with DRAM and NAND, the prices at retail lag behind by about a quarter, or 3 months.
So if you need DDR4, buy now, I guess. 2x16GB kit should be plenty for most people.

 

[Liamliamliam]

What are you talking about ?! Prices haven’t moved a $1. Amazon for example is holding steady if not dropping with some brands 🤣.

 

[JeffreyP55]

Was bound to happen eventually.... always does. You gotta learn to read the signs children.

I haven't been called a child in 70 years. Been here and done it with obsolete hardware for sale at a premium price. Nothing to see here.
Thank you!

 

[DS426]

Likely to triple? Consumers and OEM's alike will just shift more to DDR5, lowering DDR4 demand and therefore pulling those prices back down. Excess Raptor Lake chip and mobo supply won't last forever.

Double, yes, I can see that happening.

 

[InnatelyAcidic89]

Whoever wrote this article is an idiot. The prices of ddr4 are half the price of ddr5. Full stop. You need to be fired. Glad I fact checked before sending this to my buddy and looking retarded.

 

[rambo919]

I haven't been called a child in 70 years. Been here and done it with obsolete hardware for sale at a premium price. Nothing to see here.
Thank you!

DDR4 having a midlife crisis: who are you calling old grandpa!

 

[JeffreyP55]

DDR4 having a midlife crisis: who are you calling old grandpa!

Well, I do have 5 grand kids..

 

[rambo919]

Well, I do have 5 grand kids..

That all? Slacker.

 

[JeffreyP55]

That all? Slacker.

More than enough for me thanks!

 

[Murissokah]

Tripled where? I still see 32gb ddr4 3200 kits for around $50, where they have been for months.

The article probably means the cost to the OEMs. I wouldn't expect this to affect the market in any significant way because the demand for DDR4 should fall naturally as people upgrade to DDR5. Maybe people looking for retail new DDR4 memory in large sizes will see price increases in the coming months.

 

[Pemalite]

And AMD just released a new AM4 X3D chip.

DRAM is a commodity market and prices have always been based on supply/demand with a sprinkle of price-fixing... Prices always rose when manufacturers moved onto the latest and greatest.
This time around though you can add Tariffs to the uncertainty.

 

[bit_user]

Was bound to happen eventually.... always does.

According to the article, no it doesn't.

"For the first time in history, last-gen's DRAM has soared to over double the price of the current generation.
...
Never before have we seen the outgoing generation of DDR memory chips surge this high on their way out."
​

 

[bit_user]

Tripled where? I still see 32gb ddr4 3200 kits for around $50, where they have been for months.

They're talking about the spot price of the DRAM chips. The article quotes current daily averages and highs, but doesn't say what they were two months ago.

I think there are a few reasons why these prices might not be readily apparent in current prices of consumer DIMM products.

1. Big DIMM brands might still be getting chips via supply contracts negotiated when prices were lower.
2. DRAM chips are certainly the dominant component of DIMM prices, but not the only cost. So, the final DIMM price will increase by some amount less than whatever the DRAM went up by.
3. Branded gaming memory probably uses premium chips that aren't as susceptible to such price swings.
4. It might take a little while for these price increases to work their way through the supply chain, all the way to retail DIMM prices.

All of this is just speculation.

 

[bit_user]

Worth waiting for MRDIMM 8800MT/s, and faster.

So far, MRDIMM is just a server memory standard. I'm not aware of any plans for it to reach consumer platforms.

The next gen consumer memory product are CUDIMMs and I suppose CAMM2 (not sure if there's such a thing as a CUCAMM).

 

[bit_user]

Likely to triple? Consumers and OEM's alike will just shift more to DDR5, lowering DDR4 demand and therefore pulling those prices back down.

The problem is that if supply drops off too sharply, demand has trouble responding as fast, and that's how you get massive price surges. For instance, it takes time for OEMs to qualify new systems. In the meantime, they have to keep selling the current models they make. Scalpers are wise to this phenomenon and will buy up as much supply as they can get, further compounding the problem.

My employer resells (among other things) PCs that are built into an industrial appliance, of sorts. The low-end models still use DDR4. It takes a significant amount of time to make all the necessary design changes to swap out a motherboard, re-test the firmware and software on it, and go through the entire regulatory compliance testing for all the countries where it's sold. It's the type of thing we don't usually do on a yearly basis.

This is why companies like Intel offer certain models of CPUs with an extended availability window (with some CPU models being offered for as long as 10 years!).

 

[bit_user]

Whoever wrote this article is an idiot. The prices of ddr4 are half the price of ddr5. Full stop. You need to be fired. Glad I fact checked before sending this to my buddy and looking retarded.

I think the point of confusion is that the article is talking about current chip prices, which will affect future DIMM and system prices. You're looking at current DIMM prices, for which the chips were purchased according to the old price structure. There are delays in the system.

I think the author should've been clearer about that.

The prices of ddr4 are half the price of ddr5. Full stop. ... Glad I fact checked

Seems like you need a fact-check, yourself. Exactly what kind and capacity of DIMMs were you comparing?

According to the market-wide survey data that @Rob1C linked, the average price of 16 GB DDR4-3600 DIMMs is about equal to 16 GB DDR5-6000.

​

 

[thestryker]

So far, MRDIMM is just a server memory standard. I'm not aware of any plans for it to reach consumer platforms.

I would be utterly shocked if registered DIMMs came to any client platform (I would certainly not complain if they did though). If DDR6 ends up needing clock drivers like DDR5 now does I could see the industry potentially going all registered if it doesn't raise memory controller costs too much since I imagine registered clock drivers would go down in price with client volume.

 

[Sqwal]

Never before have we seen the outgoing generation of DDR memory chips surge this high on their way out.

Someone wasn't paying attention when DDR2 was being phased out...

 

[umeng2002_2]

Happens all the time when the older standards wane in popularity.

 

[bit_user]

Happens all the time when the older standards wane in popularity.

But it's not really waning in popularity, yet. The main reason manufacturers are moving away from it is to pursue much more lucrative HBM, not so much DDR5. Also, the big, traditional DDR4 makers were trying to avoid being undercut by China, without which DDR4 still would've been a profitable market for them.

As for its popularity, it wouldn't have been nearly as much, if Intel's next generation were more enticing. Furthermore, Intel is still selling Alder Lake-N and Twin Lake that also support either standard, and because these are low-end/low-cost chips, the majority of systems with them probably still use DDR4.

 

[thestryker]

Someone wasn't paying attention when DDR2 was being phased out...

DDR2 was nowhere near this bad when it was being phased out because it wasn't in demand like DDR4 is currently.

Just for fun I went and looked up the last time I bought DDR2 because I knew I expanded my dad's C2D system after DDR4 hit client. I bought a kit of 2x1GB DDR2 1066 for $65.99 in September 2008, and then kits of 2x2GB DDR2 1066 in July 2009: $62.99 and March 2015: $89.99 (so a 27% increase despite it not being the lead memory type for over 6 years and we're on the 4th year of DDR5). DDR3 client platforms launched in late 2008 so that was the last big year for DDR2.