10/19/2026
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗴𝗼?
Short version: AI. Longer version below, with the numbers.
About a year ago we were paying $175 for a 32GB kit of G.Skill DDR5 memory. By the end of December it was $368. Today it's $528. That's not a markup on our end, that's what the kit costs us. The cheapest 32GB DDR5 kits on the market have gone from about $108 to roughly $480 over the same stretch, an increase of 344 percent. Even DDR4, which is being phased out, has more than doubled. (See graphic.)
The reason is that the same manufacturers that make the memory in your PC also make memory for AI data centers, and the data centers are consuming an enormous share of available production. High-bandwidth memory for AI accelerators requires considerably more manufacturing capacity per gigabyte than conventional DDR5, so prioritizing AI memory reduces the capacity available for consumer PCs. Flash memory for SSDs is being pulled in the same direction, and hard drives are seeing extraordinary demand from data centers. Graphics cards are being squeezed by memory costs and Nvidia's emphasis on its more profitable AI products.
What that does to a real computer: we priced the same mid-range gaming build five times over the past year. Core Ultra 7, 32GB of RAM, RTX 5070, 1TB SSD, 2TB hard drive, decent case and power supply. Last October it was about $1,467 in parts. Using current component estimates, today it's approximately $2,352, up $885 or 60 percent. (See graphic.)
Memory saw the biggest increases, with entry-level 32GB DDR5 kits up approximately 344 percent. The 2TB Samsung 990 Pro SSD more than doubled, and RTX 5070 graphics cards have gone from around $549 to approximately $830, an increase of 51 percent. Hard drives rose anywhere from 30 to more than 100 percent depending on capacity. The Core Ultra 7 processor increased a comparatively modest 22 percent.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴
We wish we could tell you to wait a few months. We can't.
Memory contract prices are still rising this quarter, and industry forecasts suggest DRAM supplies could be even tighter in 2027. Many of the big PC manufacturers purchased components ahead of earlier price increases, delaying some of the impact on finished computers. As those inventories are replaced with more expensive parts, additional price increases are likely.
There is some potential relief on the horizon. Analysts expect NAND flash supplies to loosen during the second half of 2027, but conventional memory may remain constrained longer. And because finished computers take time to move through manufacturing and distribution, retail prices won't necessarily drop as soon as component prices do.
Meanwhile, worldwide PC shipments fell sharply last quarter. Gartner reports a 22.4 percent decline compared with the same quarter last year. Manufacturers are under pressure to raise prices, reduce specifications, or both.
So that laptop on the shelf at the same price as last year deserves a closer look. It may have less memory or storage than a comparable machine did before, and next year's replacement may cost more.
It isn't just PCs. Game consoles and phones draw from the same memory supply, and both are already showing it. Sony and Nintendo raised prices on the PlayStation 5 and Switch 2 mid-generation, something that hadn't happened before, and the next PlayStation and Xbox have reportedly been pushed back to 2028 or later because the memory they'd need is too scarce and too expensive to build around. Gartner expects smartphone shipments to fall this year for the same reason, and with the memory makers themselves saying 2027 will be tighter than 2026, the phone and console you'd buy next year, and probably the year after, will cost more or ship with less memory than you'd expect for the price. For a business, that means the replacement budget for laptops, phones, and point-of-sale hardware needs to assume higher unit costs through at least 2027, not a return to last year's pricing.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲'𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱
If the machine you have works, keep it working. A solid-state drive, a clean install, and a tune-up can often give a five- or six-year-old computer another couple of useful years, and that's almost always cheaper than replacing it right now.
If you need memory, buy what you need and not more, and we'll tell you honestly whether 16GB is enough for what you do (it often is). If you're going to replace a machine, read the spec sheet carefully. And if you've got an old computer in a closet, its memory and drive may be worth more than they were a year ago, so don't automatically throw them out.
We've been through parts shortages before, in 2011, 2018, and 2021. Every one of them eventually ended. This one may well too.
Until then, repair is the smart money, and that's what we're here for.
