Lucky enthusiast found $12,000 worth of RAM sitting in his garage

TL;DR: An Australian tech enthusiast claims to have unexpectedly found dozens of DDR4 memory modules in their garage. Believed to be worth more than $12,000 at current market prices, the DIMMs were reportedly part of an old work server that their previous employer allowed them to keep after it was decommissioned in favor of newer hardware.

According to Redditor VastOption875, the old server, which had been collecting dust in their garage, contained 30 64GB DDR4-2666 memory modules, totaling nearly 2TB.

Given that individual 64GB DDR4 modules sell for around $400 on sites such as Newegg and Amazon, the stash could be worth around $12,000 at current prices, assuming the claims are genuine. The Redditor did not reveal the full specifications of the DDR4 modules, but dual-rank ECC server memory typically commands a premium over non-ECC consumer memory, meaning the modules could be worth more than $400 each on the open market.

While the massive price gap between DDR4 and DDR5 means DDR4 offers better value at current prices, ECC modules are only compatible with servers and high-end workstations powered by Intel Xeon and AMD Epyc processors, which could somewhat reduce their appeal.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time someone has stumbled upon DDR4 RAM in an unexpected place. Earlier this year, another Redditor claimed to have discovered 64GB of Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4 memory while dumpster diving at their local landfill. Rather than selling it for a profit, the Redditor decided to keep the memory and use it to upgrade their existing gaming rig.

With DDR5 prices going through the roof, even the largest tech companies have started using DDR4 modules to cut costs. In July, Meta confirmed it was reusing DDR4 RAM from decommissioned servers in its new DDR5-only machines, using a custom CXL ASIC to help circumvent the compatibility issues and latency penalties typically associated with mixing memory generations.

With both consumers and enterprises moving to DDR4, hardware manufacturers are ramping up production of DDR4 memory and compatible motherboards. While most memory manufacturers have confirmed the dramatic growth in the DDR4 market, one unnamed semiconductor maker was more specific, claiming that DDR4 sales grew by a double-digit percentage in Q2 2026.