RAM Reaches 500% Increase in Price Over The Past 8 Months

(Picture of DRAM and other various blurred computer parts)

Random Access Memory, otherwise known as RAM, has, for the past few months, been skyrocketing in price. RAM is “a type of computer memory that can be searched in any order and changed as necessary” (Oxford Dictionary).

(2 Photos of Minecraft showing the difference between rendering of lower and higher ram usage)

In practice, RAM affects which speed something can be rendered, useful for both computer graphics design and gaming alike. For example, when playing Minecraft, RAM would affect how much of the world you can see at once. Higher RAM means you can see further.

RAM also has uses in AI. More RAM allows AI to “learn” and respond faster. Both are very important when AI is still trying to improve and cater to the general public. With the rise of the AI industry, according to Brookings, 11,800 data centers around the world are active and power AI. With all this computing power required for the massive jump in AI, RAM is being bought in mass.

(Pricing of DDR4-3200 2x16GB RAM graph showing the last 18 months. Black line showing average price while the blue lines show prices that have seen purchases - Provided by PcPartPicker)

The graph above shows the price of a single stick of DDR4-3200 2x16GB RAM. This is what I use as RAM for my personal PC that I use for both rendering and gaming alike. 8 months ago as of writing this, a single stick costed on average roughly $80. Now a single stick of RAM 3.5x more on average, sitting at roughly $275. This price can differ on where you look and where you live. You can find a wide variety of these average prices on PcPartPicker.

(Pricing of DDR5-6000 2x32GB RAM graph showing the last 18 months. Black line showing average price while the blue lines show prices that have seen purchases - Provided by PcPartPicker)

These prices are increased heavily more for the stronger and faster pieces of equipment. For example, the DDR5-6000 2x32 GB RAM from the graph shown above goes from a $220~ average to over $1000 for a single piece of equipment, with examples of $1200 a piece and even higher! These are 400%, and up to over 500% increases

(Sumit Sadana, Chief business officer of Micron Technology - Provided by CMR)

This problem of consumer RAM pricing will surely continue as Micron drops out of producing RAM for the everyday consumers, in favor of producing solely for AI businesses. A quote from the official Micron website: “The AI-driven growth in the data center has led to a surge in demand for memory and storage. Micron has made the difficult decision to exit the Crucial consumer business in order to improve supply and support for our larger, strategic customers in faster-growing segments,” (Sumit Sadana), EVP and Chief Business Officer at Micron Technology.

With the high demand of AI, RAM will continue to raise its price, and stay that way for a long while. Some predict that the prices will start normalizing out by 2027 or 2028, while others believe it may be much longer.

Works Used

Darlington, David. “What is RAM? - Random Access Memory | Explained.” Wondershare Recoverit, https://recoverit.wondershare.com/computer-tips/what-is-ram.html. Accessed 4 February 2026.

“Memory Price Trends.” PCPartPicker, January 2026, https://pcpartpicker.com/trends/price/memory/. Accessed 29 January 2026.

Mojang. “Minecraft.” Welcome to the Minecraft Official Site | Minecraft, 2026, https://www.minecraft.net/en-us. Accessed 4 February 2026.

Oxford. “RAM | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary.” Cambridge Dictionary, 2025, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ram. Accessed 4 February 2026.

Plungy, Mark, and Satya Kumar. “Micron Announces Exit from Crucial Consumer Business | Micron Technology.” Micron Investor Relations, 3 December 2025, https://investors.micron.com/news-releases/news-release-details/micron-announces-exit-crucial-consumer-business. Accessed 4 February 2026.

Sinha, Shipra. “In Conversation with Sumit Sadana, EVP and CBO, Micron.” CMR, 23 July 2020, https://cmrindia.com/in-conversation-with-sumit-sadana-evp-and-cbo-micron/. Accessed 4 Febuary 2026.

Stewart, Josie, et al. “The future of data centers | Brookings.” Brookings Institution, 5 November 2025, https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-future-of-data-centers/. Accessed 4 February 2026.

Zuhair, Muhammad. “Two of the Biggest DRAM Suppliers Are Skeptical About Increasing Production as They Eye "Long-Term" Profitability.” Wccftech, 1 December 2025, https://wccftech.com/two-of-the-biggest-dram-suppliers-are-skeptical-about-increasing-production/. Accessed 4 February 2026.

About the author

Hello! My name is Mellow Carter, I’m in 11th grade, and it’s my first year as a writer for the Poudre High School Press. I write about various forms of electronic media,and school events, hoping to help inform others about the industry and events to not miss out on!