RAM price crisis gets worse (again) as DDR5 hits a new painful high – and a worrying trend is creeping in
- RAM prices in Germany continue to rise at a rate of knots
- DDR5 memory is up 27% month-over-month and is now 4.4 times more expensive than it was in July 2025
- DDR4 (and DDR3) RAM isn’t as expensive, but it’s making up for the massive inflation of DDR5, and these German numbers reflect the global situation.
Here’s your weekly dose of bad news on the RAM front, with rising prices in Germany yet another indicator that the price of system memory worldwide is likely to continue to rise – even from the exorbitant levels it has already reached.
VideoCardz spotted that German tech site 3D Center has updated its “Memory Crisis Price Index” which, as the name suggests, tracks RAM prices at German retailers (and only retailers – third-party sellers or auction sites, also known as scalpers, are not included).
January 2026 figures show that DDR5 RAM (in Germany) is now 4.4 times more expensive than it was in July 2025, just six months ago (based on an average price of 20 different DDR5 products in different RAM kit capacities and speeds).
The good news – such as it is – is that DDR5 memory is not increasing as sharply as the previous month, with a 27% increase, which seems like a lot, but not through the prism of the 93% increase from November to December.
When it comes to older RAM, i.e. DDR4 memory and DDR3 memory – and the latter is becoming increasingly popular as a budget alternative for some people due to the price crisis – these prices are increasing faster than DDR5, but still at a relatively lower overall inflation level.
In January 2026, DDR4 and DDR3 RAM kits monitored by 3D Center increased in cost by 46%, a faster rate of increase than the previous month, when their price increased by 30%.
Compared to July 2025, these older RAM standards are 3.2 times more expensive, therefore not yet reaching the same levels as DDR5. But the monthly increases are stronger, meaning DDR4 (and DDR3) is catching up to DDR5 in terms of overall price increases.
Analysis: a global puzzle that is not going away
Of course, it makes sense that with DDR5 having truly exploded (and continuing to soar skyward), those who think they need an upgrade to their DDR4 memory are now watching the price of that RAM reflect the new standard in terms of skyrocketing increases – and probably deciding to pull the trigger before things get worse.
On top of that, perhaps those building a new PC simply choose to go the DDR4 route – or even DDR3, perhaps, if they want a PC just for basic computing tasks. However, I still wouldn’t recommend going that far back in time if you can avoid it, although these products remain very cheap (relatively) even with price inflation (which is obviously the appeal for a niche set of buyers).
While this is just one example of how the RAM market is currently overheated, the German tech scene is the largest in Europe and obviously reflects what’s happening around the world. While there are slight differences from market to market, we are all seeing huge price increases, and elsewhere DDR4 prices are likely to reflect what is currently happening in Germany. After all, we’re all suffering from the same dwindling supply of RAM chips.
Meanwhile, 3D Center highlights another worrying development that’s new for this month: GPU prices are increasing and are up 14% (compared to September 2025). That seems like nothing compared to the RAM increases, of course, but it’s still a considerable jump for products that in many cases already cost an awful lot of money, and some high-end graphics cards in particular have been hit hard, as we’ve seen.
Storage is also seeing strong increases, with SSD prices rising 79% according to 3D Center statistics, and hard drives now up 53% (compared to July 2025). As a result, building a new PC from scratch becomes a much more expensive endeavor, as you pay a lot more for your system’s RAM and SSD, and extra for the GPU to boot.
The obvious prediction is made by 3D Center, that high prices will not go away and will even get worse. The best we can hope for is a move toward a price cap for products that have seen a near-vertical rise in costs, notably DDR5 RAM, and a price drop would only be precipitated by a major event like the bursting of the AI bubble (which is unlikely, to say the least).
The best computers for every budget
Follow TechRadar on Google News And add us as your favorite source to get our news, reviews and expert opinions in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube And TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp Also.
