GoKawiilWe're officially in dire straits. There's almost no way, if you're reading this site, that you aren't aware that memory prices have become entirely divorced from reality. Some are calling it the RAMpocalypse; I prefer "RAMageddon." Whatever you want to call it, though, the reality for PC builders right now is just grim. To put this in perspective, just take a look at our RAM price tracking post:
Swipe to scroll horizontally Memory Kit Best U.S. Price Lowest-Ever U.S. Price DDR5-5200 16GB $239 $52 DDR5-5600 16GB $214 $199 DDR5-5600 32GB $394 $72 DDR5-6000 16GB $239 $197 DDR5-6000 32GB $392 $72 DDR5-6000 48GB $689 $144 DDR5-6000 64GB $849 $159 DDR5-6000 96GB $1,799 $189 DDR5-6400 128GB $3,399 $329 DDR5-6600 32GB $637 $158
That's right: 128GB DDR5 kits are fully ten times more expensive than the lowest price we've ever seen. Things improve as you step down the memory capacities and speed tiers, but not as much as we'd like. You're still looking at $392 for a memory kit that was just $72 last year.
To reinforce the point, I pulled the latest average price data from PCPartPicker, comparing where we are today (August 2026) to exactly one year ago. This data is somewhat approximate, but it should be broadly accurate.
Latest Videos From Tom's Hardware Watch full video here:
Swipe to scroll horizontally DDR5 Memory Kit Pricing Change (2025 → 2026) Memory Kit Speed & Size August 2025 Average Price August 2026 Average Price Change (YoY) 4800 MT/s 2×16GB $90 $425 +$335
+$372% 5200 MT/s 2×16GB $100 $480 +$380
+380% 5600 MT/s 2×16GB $116 $528 +$412
+355% 6000 MT/s 2×16GB $108 $572 +$463
+429% 5600 MT/s 2×32GB $191 $1118 +$927
... continue reading