The AI-induced PC component shortage, which has caused drastic increases in the cost of DIY building, continues to get worse. Since last year, RAM prices have increased by more than 500% and show no sign of slowing down. In August, we reported that DDR5 6000 RAM — the sweet spot benchmark for both performance and pricing — had reached $400; now, the price is $450.
As mentioned, because DDR5 6000 RAM is a de facto standard configuration and capacity in terms of performance, tracking the price of this particular spec has proven to be a strong barometer of the industry overall. While we track RAM prices across multiple models and kits, we also track the price of 32GB DDR5 6000 RAM daily.
We’ve been creeping closer to $450 for some time. As of today, the cheapest 32GB DDR5 6000 kit on the market costs $449.97, or three cents shy of $450. Cheaper RAM is still available; this 32GB DDR5 4800 kit is $399 at Corsair, but good, speedy RAM is now harder to buy than ever before. The 4800 Corsair kit once cost just $80.
As RAM prices and other component hikes have a knock-on effect on PC pricing as a whole, it was recently reported that PC shipments in 3Q26 have tumbled by a massive 20%, with the top three vendors shipping 11.6 million fewer units than the same period last year.
Combo deals remain a rare bright spot. Various Newegg bundles could save you as much as $358 when you buy RAM alongside a motherboard, CPU, and even an SSD, and we’ve seen a recent resurgence in stock on these.
Pre-builts also continue to offer some solace to wannabe DIY builders, with price hikes trickling down to systems more slowly. With industry figures warning that memory shortages could persist well into next year, or even last up to a decade, in the space of just 12 months RAM has gone from being a PC gaming commodity to a luxury few
Source: Tom's Hardware