Last updated: August 31, 2026 · U.S. retail prices unless otherwise stated
Retail RAM prices remain exceptionally high at the end of August. The category-average price of a 64GB DDR5-6000 kit has risen from about $222 in August 2025 to $1,272 in August 2026 — an increase of 473% year over year. A comparable DDR5-5600 category rose from $191 to $1,118, or 485%.
Upstream chip pricing is even more unusual. The average per-chip spot quote for a 16Gb DDR4-3200 DRAM chip stood at $91.78 on August 31, compared with $53.92 for the same-density DDR5 4800/5600 category on the DRAM spot market. Here, Gb means gigabits, the density of an individual DRAM chip: 16Gb equals 2GB of raw capacity. It is not the same as a 16GB RAM module. In that specific chip-level spot comparison, DDR4 carried roughly a 70% premium.
The full spot board is more complicated, however: DDR4 eTT trades well below DDR5 eTT. That split matters. It shows a highly segmented DRAM chip market rather than a general rule that “DDR4 RAM now costs more than DDR5 RAM.”
New-memory prices remain high, PC DRAM supply is still tight, and mature DDR4 supply is contracting while a large installed base remains in service. Those forces are making both memory generations expensive, but for different reasons.
Scope: This update combines finished retail RAM pricing with upstream DRAM chip pricing and manufacturer contract-market data. These are separate markets and are not directly interchangeable. It is also not a used-memory valuation index; secondary-market value depends on the specific module, capacity, part number, quantity, condition and current demand.
RAM prices at a glance
The lowest tracked U.S. retail prices on August 27 were:
| Memory kit | Lowest current price | Lowest-ever tracked | Current $/GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| DDR5-5600 16GB | $214 | $199 | $13.38 |
| DDR5-6000 32GB | $404 | $72 | $12.63 |
| DDR5-6000 64GB | $869 | $159 | $13.58 |
| DDR5-6400 128GB | $2,339 | $329 | $18.27 |
| DDR4-3200 16GB | $94 | $94 | $5.88 |
| DDR4-3200 32GB | $179 | $193 | $5.59 |
These are complete retail RAM kit categories, not individual DRAM chips. GB means gigabytes of total kit capacity. Retail prices are from Tom’s Hardware; $/GB is calculated from the listed prices.
Average prices are considerably higher than the retail floor because the two measures describe different parts of the retail market. The floor represents a single cheapest available listing; an average reflects a broader mix of brands, timings and product tiers within the same capacity and speed category.
The difference is substantial even allowing for timing. The category average for DDR5-6000 64GB was approximately $1,272 in the August 17 snapshot, while the lowest tracked listing was $869 on August 27. These are not the same SKUs or the same observation date, so the comparison illustrates the difference between a category average and a retail floor rather than a direct price spread between two identical products.
High-capacity DDR5 is up more than 470% in a year
The year-over-year category averages show how far retail pricing has moved.
| Memory kit | Aug. 2025 | Aug. 2026 | YoY change |
| DDR5-4800 32GB | $90 | $425 | +372% |
| DDR5-5600 32GB | $116 | $528 | +355% |
| DDR5-6000 32GB | $108 | $572 | +429% |
| DDR5-5600 64GB | $191 | $1,118 | +485% |
| DDR5-6000 64GB | $222 | $1,272 | +473% |
| DDR4-3200 32GB | $105 | $281 | +168% |
| DDR4-3200 64GB | $222 | $614 | +177% |
These are retail category averages for complete RAM kits. They are separate from the chip-level spot prices discussed below.
The largest increases are concentrated in higher-capacity DDR5. The average price in the 64GB DDR5-6000 category is now about 5.7 times its August 2025 level. Mainstream 32GB DDR5-6000 moved from roughly $108 to $572 over the same period.
DDR4 remains considerably cheaper than DDR5 in these tracked retail kit categories, but it has not escaped the shortage. Average DDR4-3200 prices rose 168% for 32GB and 177% for 64GB.
The newer standard and the legacy standard are becoming expensive for different reasons.
DDR4’s spot market has become unusually segmented
The next dataset moves upstream from complete RAM kits to individual DRAM chips traded on the spot market. The dollar values below are therefore not prices for DIMMs or RAM kits.
The August 31 DRAM spot-price snapshot shows two very different relationships depending on the category.
| DRAM chip | Average spot price | Low | High |
| DDR5 16Gb 4800/5600 | $53.92 | $37.20 | $67.50 |
| DDR5 16Gb eTT | $23.80 | $22.70 | $25.00 |
| DDR4 16Gb 3200 | $91.78 | $42.20 | $116.00 |
| DDR4 16Gb eTT | $11.53 | $10.00 | $12.20 |
| DDR4 8Gb 3200 | $44.37 | $23.80 | $76.00 |
| DDR4 8Gb eTT | $4.51 | $4.20 | $5.20 |
Source snapshot: TrendForce/DRAMeXchange, August 31, 2026. These are prices for individual DRAM chips, not memory modules. A 16Gb chip contains 2GB of raw capacity; an 8Gb chip contains 1GB. Values are rounded to the nearest cent, and the live board updates over time.
In the mainstream 16Gb spot categories shown here, DDR4-3200 averaged about 70% more than DDR5 4800/5600. This comparison applies only to those specific chip categories and this spot-price series; it does not mean DDR4 modules are universally more expensive than DDR5 modules. In eTT, the relationship reversed: DDR4 16Gb averaged $11.53 against $23.80 for DDR5.
eTT means effectively tested DRAM. Industry documentation describes it as effectively tested memory for which test patterns can vary among suppliers; the chips are typically unmarked or only partially marked.
The wide separation between the mainstream and eTT quotations shows how segmented today’s spot market has become. TrendForce’s public board does not provide enough information to establish why those spreads differ so sharply between DDR4 and DDR5, so the price gap should not be attributed to a specific testing or supply mechanism without additional evidence.
What is clear is that mature DDR4 supply is no longer behaving like a uniformly cheap legacy market. Major suppliers have increasingly prioritized server products and newer technologies while existing DDR4 servers, workstations and PCs remain deployed. When mature supply contracts before replacement demand disappears, older components can become scarce rather than simply inexpensive.
For IT teams maintaining installed DDR4 infrastructure, generation age is therefore becoming a poor proxy for procurement cost.
AI and server demand changed who gets memory capacity
This section moves from retail and spot pricing to a third pricing system: manufacturer contract prices negotiated with large buyers. These contract-price movements are upstream market indicators; they are not percentage changes in retail DDR4 or DDR5 kits.
In Q1 2026, conventional DRAM contract prices rose approximately 93–98% quarter over quarter, while DRAM industry revenue reached $97 billion, up 81% from Q4 2025.
The demand shift extends beyond high-bandwidth memory attached to AI accelerators. As AI deployments expand from training toward inference, cloud providers are increasing general-purpose server deployments and broadening memory procurement beyond HBM and the highest-capacity RDIMMs to a wider range of conventional server memory.
That demand competes for a finite manufacturing base. TrendForce reported in June that supplier inventories were extremely low and incremental supply was being prioritized for high-capacity RDIMMs — registered memory modules commonly used in servers — limiting availability for PC OEMs and smartphone vendors.
Its Q3 memory outlook continued to identify capacity reallocations toward server applications as a constraint on PC DRAM supply. Conventional DRAM contract prices were forecast to rise another 13–18% quarter over quarter in Q3, although substantially more slowly than in Q1.
Micron’s decision to leave the Crucial consumer business makes the change in priorities unusually explicit. The company announced in December 2025 that it would end Crucial consumer-channel shipments by the end of February 2026, citing AI-driven data-center growth and the need to improve supply for larger strategic customers.
The pressure also extends beyond RAM. BuySellRam’s earlier analysis, AI Is Repricing Memory, Storage, and CPUs — Not Just GPUs, looks at how AI infrastructure demand is moving through adjacent component markets.
Price growth has slowed from Q1, but PC DRAM remains tighter than expected
The market is no longer increasing at Q1’s extraordinary pace, but the slowdown has not followed a straight line.
TrendForce’s July 3 forecast put conventional DRAM contract-price growth at 13–18% quarter over quarter for Q3, far below the 93–98% increase recorded in Q1. Consumer affordability limits and the higher comparison base were expected to moderate further increases.
PC memory subsequently proved tighter than those early-quarter expectations suggested. In its August 31 PC DRAM update, TrendForce said contract prices were still climbing and that quarterly gains had expanded beyond prior forecasts. It cited rising chipmaker quotes, easing processor bottlenecks, OEM inventory building and expected future supply reductions.
Price growth has therefore moderated substantially from the extreme Q1 increase, but PC DRAM has remained more supply-constrained than earlier Q3 expectations implied. Higher component costs are creating resistance among buyers, yet low inventories and continued capacity reallocation still support supplier pricing.
Server DRAM remains tight as well, and its contract prices may rise 13–18% in Q3. Its preliminary 2027 outlook estimates that total RDIMM bit supply — the amount of server memory supplied, measured in bits — will grow only 15–20% year over year, significantly slower than its projected growth in server CPU shipments.
For IT asset managers, the normal depreciation model is being disrupted
The primary market affects the secondary market without determining it one-for-one. The retail tables above primarily describe client/consumer RAM kits, while the server discussion concerns RDIMMs and server DRAM; neither is a direct price index for used enterprise modules.
Under normal conditions, older memory loses economic relevance as platforms migrate to the next generation. This cycle is different. DDR5 replacement costs have risen several-fold while DDR4 supply is contracting before the installed base has disappeared.
That gives compatible older modules an economic role they would not have in a normal refresh cycle. Reusable DDR4 can extend the life of deployed systems, replace failed modules or serve buyers that cannot justify migrating an entire platform to DDR5. High DDR5 replacement costs can likewise increase the economic importance of recovering usable capacity during server upgrades and decommissions.
For an IT asset manager, that changes the disposition decision. Age and original purchase price are no longer sufficient indicators of whether decommissioned memory deserves attention. Compatibility, module density, replacement cost and the depth of secondary demand all affect residual value.
Organizations holding mixed desktop, workstation or server inventory can sell memory rather than assuming older DIMMs have negligible value. For enterprise ECC, RDIMM and LRDIMM inventory removed during server refreshes, sell server RAM is the more specific disposition path.
Retail appreciation and secondary-market value are not one-to-one. A module whose new replacement cost doubled does not automatically become worth twice as much used. Under current conditions, however, residual-value recovery deserves to be part of the economics of a memory refresh rather than an afterthought once the old DIMMs have already been removed.
Outlook
The August data does not show a normalized memory market.
Retail DDR5 remains several times more expensive than a year ago. PC DRAM pricing is exceeding earlier expectations, server demand continues to absorb substantial capacity, and parts of the DDR4 market are showing unusually severe scarcity even as lower-priced eTT categories remain available.
Higher prices will eventually constrain demand, while new fabrication capacity and process migrations should increase supply. Neither adjustment happens instantly, and the timing of a sustained price reversal remains uncertain.
The DDR4 data is especially useful because it breaks the normal assumption that an older standard simply becomes cheaper as a replacement generation takes over. In the August 31 snapshot, mainstream 16Gb DDR4-3200 traded roughly 70% above the same-density DDR5 4800/5600 category, while DDR4 eTT traded far below its DDR5 counterpart.
For buyers and asset managers, memory generation no longer indicates, by itself, which capacity will be inexpensive — or which retired hardware has stopped carrying value.
Methodology
This update separates four pricing layers:
- Retail floor — the lowest available price for a complete new RAM kit tracked among major U.S. retailers. These figures use GB (gigabytes) for module or kit capacity.
- Average retail price — an approximate category average across complete RAM kits sharing a capacity and speed class. This remains a retail-module measure, not a DRAM-chip price.
- DRAM spot price — open-market pricing for individual DRAM chips. Chip density is expressed in Gb (gigabits); 16Gb equals 2GB of raw capacity per chip. Spot prices should not be treated as finished-module prices.
- DRAM contract price — negotiated upstream pricing between DRAM suppliers and large buyers. Contract-price changes can affect downstream markets but do not map one-for-one to retail RAM prices.
The article also crosses two memory segments. PC/client memory includes the desktop and laptop market, typically using UDIMMs or SODIMMs. Server memory is a separate enterprise market that commonly uses ECC RDIMMs or LRDIMMs and has different qualification, procurement and pricing dynamics.
These datasets cover different products, transaction channels, customer segments and observation dates. They are presented together to show how pressure is moving through the memory supply chain, not because their dollar prices or percentage changes are directly interchangeable.
Spot-market figures are recorded as dated snapshots because the underlying price board updates over time. Secondary-market valuation is outside the scope of this price series.