- The price of DDR5 is already very high and further increases are likely this year
- A 60% increase in DRAM could push 32GB DDR5 modules beyond $500
- Demand for servers and AI is reshaping consumer memory supply
You can’t have failed to notice that the price of DRAM is already high – and unfortunately, new forecasts suggest that prices are about to climb even further.
Industry analysts expect a major increase in DDR5 costs in 2026, driven by tighter supply and changing priorities in the memory market.
TrendForce says it expects DRAM contract prices to increase by approximately 55% to 60% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the previous quarter, reflecting tighter supply in the market.
Worrying forecasts
Research links this increase to vendors moving advanced capabilities toward HBM servers and products, which tightens supply in other markets, something I’ve written about recently.
It is important to note that TrendForce’s forecast is for contract prices and not an individual jump guarantee for retail modules. Still, it gives an idea of the kind of pressure that may be reflected on PC parts if inventories tighten and module makers pass on the costs, which they surely will.
As an example of where things could go, on Newegg a single Patriot Viper Venom 32GB DDR5-5200 module is currently listed for $325.99.
If retail prices rose in line with the upper end of TrendForce’s forecast, multiplying that $325.99 base by 1.6 would put it at around $521.60, a figure that would have been unthinkable this time last year.
DDR5 is particularly exposed because it shares production processes with server-focused memory.
Even where demand has weakened, supply constraints continue to push prices higher, as NAND Flash prices are also expected to rise, although the dynamics differ.
TrendForce forecasts increases across all NAND categories, with client SSD prices expected to increase more than 40% quarter-over-quarter.
For PC builders, the outlook is currently uncomfortable. Memory budgeting is becoming increasingly difficult, and components once considered secondary are becoming increasingly central to construction decisions.
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