AI's DRAM Land Grab Sends RAM Prices Up 500%, With 128GB DDR5 Kits at $3,399

DDR5 memory has become one of the most volatile line items in a PC build. Year-over-year prices are up nearly 500% on high-capacity kits, with 128GB DDR5 now running ten times its historical low. Mid-range hardware is not spared: a 64GB DDR5-5600 kit that sold for under $200 last summer now tops $1,100, and even legacy DDR4 is up 120–180% as builders scramble for older AM4 and LGA1700 platforms. The trend is global — a German tracker pegs European RAM prices up 345% since September 2025, with SSDs and hard drives climbing over 125% in the same window.

The root cause is a supply squeeze driven entirely by AI datacenter buildouts. Hyperscalers have reportedly pre-purchased nearly all of 2027’s global DRAM capacity with advance deposits, leaving PC and smartphone makers to fight over what’s left. DRAM is now so scarce that mainstream chips are worth more than half the price of gold by weight, and all four major vendors — SK hynix, Samsung, Micron, and China’s CXMT — have doubled or tripled revenue in a single year.

The outlook is bleak for consumers. SK hynix’s CEO calls 2027 the worst supply year in the industry’s history and expects demand to outstrip production into 2030, while ADATA’s chairman suggests the crunch could persist a decade. Barring an AI market contraction — which would imply a broad financial correction — cheap memory isn’t coming back soon. For now, buyers either pay the premium, hunt the used market, or wait it out on the hardware they already own.