Prices for hardware have been fluctuating for some months. However, especially for RAM, prices are expected to rise significantly in the future. MeinMMO explains what is behind this and why you should upgrade quickly.
RAM is one of the essential components of a computer system, alongside graphics cards, processors, and motherboards. While graphics cards have been very expensive for months, RAM and SSDs have been affordable and cheap for a long time.
However, this has changed in recent weeks. Especially for RAM, prices are expected to rise sharply, and there is currently no end in sight.
How much have prices risen so far?
- The prices for DDR5 have risen by 15% to 20% in recent months.
- For DDR4, the price increase is between 10% and 15%.
Samsung has been using an aggressive tactic for months to raise prices
Why are prices rising? At the beginning of 2023, prices for RAM were as low as they have been in a long time. Many manufacturers were trying to sell their large inventories, causing prices to drop.
However, for some months now, Samsung, one of the largest manufacturers of memory units, has been using aggressive measures by offering less memory and significantly raising prices. This is an attempt to artificially drive prices up. Since many manufacturers need to purchase components from Samsung, they pass the increased prices on to consumers.
And this strategy has surprisingly worked well for Samsung: Prices for RAM and SSDs have been rising significantly again for several months. We are talking about increases of 10 to 15% in some cases.
Some speculate, however, that this is not where it will stop. Prices are expected to continue rising in the coming weeks, according to colleagues from TechRadar. While there are various forecasts from experts, there is consensus that some form of price increase will occur.
When should you upgrade? In general, buying RAM is worthwhile if your computer is only equipped with a limited amount. A gaming PC should have at least 16 GB installed, and 32 GB is more future-proof. With 8 GB of RAM, you can easily play older games and indie games, but we would not recommend less than 16 GB in the long term.
Gamer gets lucky with RAM: Although RAM is getting expensive, you can also get lucky when buying. A gamer ordered RAM on Amazon and instead received a whole box. You can read the entire background directly on MeinMMO:
Gamer buys RAM on Amazon, accidentally receives a box with 50 pieces and reacts correctly
