The cheapest 32GB DDR5-6000 memory kit on the market now costs $449.97 — three cents shy of $450. That figure, tracked daily by Tom's Hardware across multiple kits and vendors, marks the latest milestone in an AI-induced component shortage that has pushed RAM prices up more than 500% since last year.

In August, the same de facto standard configuration — 32GB of DDR5 at 6000 MT/s, the accepted sweet spot for both performance and price — reached $400. It has now added another $50 in roughly three months. The climb shows no sign of slowing.

By Sophie Lindqvist

Why does one kit price matter?

DDR5-6000 in a 32GB capacity is not an exotic part. It is the configuration most builders buy. That makes its price a reliable barometer for the wider memory market, which is why Tom's Hardware tracks it daily rather than sampling it monthly. One number, checked every day, exposes the trend faster than a broad basket of kits.

Cheaper memory still exists. A Corsair 32GB DDR5-4800 kit sells for $399. But that same kit once cost $80, according to Tom's Hardware's price records. The discount is therefore relative, not real. Slower RAM has followed the same curve upward, just from a lower base.

How bad is the shortage?

The numbers are stark.

• 32GB DDR5-6000: $449.97 today, $400 in August, up more than 500% year over year.
• 32GB DDR5-4800 (Corsair): $399 now, $80 previously.
• Top three PC vendors shipped 11.6 million fewer units in the quarter than a year earlier.
• PC shipments fell 20% in the quarter.

The shipment collapse matters because it shows the shortage is no longer confined to component shelves. Memory is the constraining input, and finished-system prices are following, just more slowly.

Where can buyers still find relief?

Two workarounds remain. Combo deals at Newegg bundle RAM with a motherboard, CPU or SSD and can cut as much as $358 from a purchase, with stock recently recovering. Pre-built systems offer the other escape, because component price hikes trickle down to complete machines more gradually than to retail parts.

Both are palliatives, not fixes. Industry figures cited by Tom's Hardware warn that memory shortages could persist well into next year — or, in the most pessimistic reading, last up to a decade. That upper bound is a forecast, not a measured fact, and the source names no analyst behind it. Treat the decade claim with caution.

What is driving this?

The proximate cause is AI. Memory makers have shifted wafer allocation toward high-bandwidth memory and server-grade DRAM for AI accelerators, starving the consumer channel. The source does not name specific fabs, capacities or contract prices, so the exact scale of the allocation shift remains unquantified. What is quantified is the effect at retail: a commodity PC part repriced more than fivefold in twelve months.

Note what the data does not say. There is no evidence of a price ceiling. There is no reported supply response with a date attached. And there is no vendor commitment, from Samsung, SK hynix or Micron, to restore consumer DRAM output — none is mentioned in the source.

What happens next?

The trajectory is unambiguous in the near term. A kit that cost under $100 a year ago now sits at $449.97, and the pace of increase accelerated between August and now. Unless memory makers reallocate capacity back to consumer DRAM — something no one has yet promised — DDR5 pricing will stay elevated at least through next year, and RAM will remain a luxury item in what was, twelve months ago, a routine gaming build.