DDR5 Memory Pricing Declining, Bolstering Hope for Next-Gen Platform Costs

[Raevenlord]

DDR5 memory pricing has been declining faster than expected, with average pricing for modules based on the latest standard dropping by as much as 20% in a month's time. As reported by ComputerBase, pricing for 1 GB of DDR5 has fallen from around €15 by the end of 2021 down to around €5/GB at time of writing. At current pricing, an entry-level, 32 GB DDR5 kit DDR5-4800 memory (JEDEC standard) has fallen from a high of €430 down to a much more palatable €154.

The price decline comes as good news for anyone aiming to upgrade their PC in wake of AMD's Socket AM5 launch for its Zen 4 architecture, which the company has already confirmed will only support the latest RAM standard. AMD itself must be riding the sea of relief, as high DDR5 pricing could significantly shape the company's next-gen platform's value compared to arch-rival Intel, which already offers DDR4 and DDR5 support with its Alder Lake chips. Expectations place the same memory support for the next-gen Raptor Lake platform. Prices for DDR4 memory seem to have hit a bottom, however, as pricing hasn't significantly moved in around six months. Like with all new technologies, expect the price difference to eventually change in favor of DDR5 memory, as manufacturers adjust their outputs towards adoption.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[ZetZet]

I would say it's already okay if you don't go for the high speed low latency kits. Standard 4800-5600 cl40 is fast enough for most builds and it's only slightly more expensive than a fast DDR4 kit.

More worried about the issues with the bios, not posting, not being able to mix ram kits.

 

[Crackong]

Give it a few more months and the price would become normal

 

[bug]

Finally some prices that start to make sense. They are actually really good if you consider all prices are up these days.

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

Yeah, this was bound to happen. Early adopter "tax" and such.

 

[bug]

Yeah, this was bound to happen. Early adopter "tax" and such.

Actually, this was not bound to happen. I have never seen RAM prices fall so fast. And now there's a more general problem with prices. I would have not guessed DDR5 would be affordable this early.

 

[TheDeeGee]

Prices will skyrocket again once Zen 4 comea out, cuz everyone will need it.

 

[Palladium]

Hmm our memory fabs look pretty nice, it would be a shame if something happened to them.

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

Actually, this was not bound to happen. I have never seen RAM prices fall so fast. And now there's a more general problem with prices. I would have not guessed DDR5 would be affordable this early.

Maybe because they were too ridiculous before? Just a thought.

 

[AlwaysHope]

This is not news here in Australia. Popular online retailers have had DDR5 kits with reduced pricing for a month already.

 

[bug]

Maybe because they were too ridiculous before? Just a thought.

I'm not sure they were more ridiculous than the initial price of DDR4, DDR3, DDR2 or DDR. There was also a price premium, but I can't factor in inflation otoh.

 

[The King]

There are some very cheap Crucial DDR5 RAM out and about. Cheaper than some DDR4

65USD for 1 X Crucial 8GB (1x8GB) DDR5 4800MHz Memory

Crucial 8GB (1x8GB) DDR5 4800MHz Memory CT8G48C40U5

8GB (1 x 8GB) Capacity 4800 MHz Clock Speed PC5-38400 288-Pin UDIMM

www.primeabgb.com

 

[Prima.Vera]

Not in APAC area, where IT component prices are usually double than the rest of the world...

 

[bug]

Not in APAC area, where IT component prices are usually double than the rest of the world...

You mean not the same prices? Or no dip in pricing at all?

 

[bonehead123]

Hmm our memory fabs look pretty nice, it would be a shame if something happened to them.

Yep, the next headline will read:

Several ram factories hit by "unexpected" floods or fires, or power outages......

Remember folks, you heard it here 1st !

 

[InVasMani]

Prices will skyrocket again once Zen 4 comea out, cuz everyone will need it.

I've thought the same the time to buy DDR5 is probably a month prior to Zen 4 launch. If you wait til like 2 weeks leading up to launch I'm guessing prices will already be set higher as demand shifts. There is bound to be some that get kits a bit advance of Zen 4 expecting demand to increase and not wanting to be stuck waiting if supply starts to dry up quickly.

It's a dice roll in terms of what will happen, but I'd expect Zen 4 add pressure on the demand side so depending on supply pricing could change a good bit quickly even though it's decreased as Alder Lake being the sole reason to adopt DDR5 thus far and a super compelling one though not the worst at certain sweet spot it makes a lot of sense in terms of providing a good bandwidth uplift which for some tasks will absolutely benefit from a good bit. It's going to make Zen 4 a stronger consideration if this pricing trend keeps up a bit it could start looking fairly nice from the overall looks of it.

You mean not the same prices? Or no dip in pricing at all?

DDR4 was cheap by the time Skylake hit though it got expensive quickly as demand started to pick up later. I don't believe Skylake was the first DDR4 platform though, but I think it might've been first consumer one the other was HEDT X299 I believe and damn pricey Intel was gouging people like crazy on that things are so much better compared to where we were then thanks to AMD.

 

[Bloax]

There are some very cheap Crucial DDR5 RAM out and about. Cheaper than some DDR4

65USD for 1 X Crucial 8GB (1x8GB) DDR5 4800MHz Memory

Crucial 8GB (1x8GB) DDR5 4800MHz Memory CT8G48C40U5

8GB (1 x 8GB) Capacity 4800 MHz Clock Speed PC5-38400 288-Pin UDIMM

www.primeabgb.com

Half-rank memory is unfit for any purpose besides things which do not require much RAM power, like a network router for a "normal" household.

i.e. it would be fine for a celeron in 1x8 as part of a Do It Yourself network router build

The performance loss from dropping half the chips on a rank is extreme (20%+) in memory-sensitive tasks.

 

[The King]

Half-rank memory is unfit for any purpose besides things which do not require much RAM power, like a network router for a "normal" household.

i.e. it would be fine for a celeron in 1x8 as part of a Do It Yourself network router build

The performance loss from dropping half the chips on a rank is extreme (20%+) in memory-sensitive tasks.

Thanks for the info. I was not going to buy it just commented that is relatively cheap compared to 8GB DDR4.
Are you the same Bloax from OCN forums?

 

[Upgrayedd]

Ha such wishful thinking. Almost like we forgot price fixing has happened multiple times. It might be coming down but I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[bug]

Ha such wishful thinking. Almost like we forgot price fixing has happened multiple times. It might be coming down but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Hold your breath for what? It's cheap right now.

 

[Tomorrow]

I would say it's already okay if you don't go for the high speed low latency kits. Standard 4800-5600 cl40 is fast enough for most builds and it's only slightly more expensive than a fast DDR4 kit.

More worried about the issues with the bios, not posting, not being able to mix ram kits.

Except the latency is so high on these low end kits that atleast in games they are actually slower than the cheaper DDR4 counterparts. The kits that are universally faster (6600+) are still expensive compared to properly tuned DDR4. For exmple the 6600 kits are 500€ where as i can get a good DDR4 kit with the same capacity for less than half the price (210€) that does 4400-4600Mhz with tighter timings than DDR5.

 

[tussinman]

There are some very cheap Crucial DDR5 RAM out and about. Cheaper than some DDR4

65USD for 1 X Crucial 8GB (1x8GB) DDR5 4800MHz Memory

Crucial 8GB (1x8GB) DDR5 4800MHz Memory CT8G48C40U5

8GB (1 x 8GB) Capacity 4800 MHz Clock Speed PC5-38400 288-Pin UDIMM

www.primeabgb.com

Crucial had the DDR5 5200mhz version of that line on sale last week on there website with tax for $108 USD for 2x8GB

Not too shabby, prices have gone down signficantly

 

[defaultluser]

Actually, this was not bound to happen. I have never seen RAM prices fall so fast. And now there's a more general problem with prices. I would have not guessed DDR5 would be affordable this early.

DDR5 is just released a year into the Covid mining rush, so eighteen months later , it's already dropping in demand.

DDR4 was on it's way down 3 years after Haswell-e launch when suddenly, there was a rush of Etherium mining-specific builds.

Also, DDR5 is the smallest bump in recent memory, (so only high-performance IGPs like from Steam Dec benefit!)

 

[Minus Infinity]

So you mean AMD aren't morons and have actually made a wise decision. By the time Zen 4 ships in 4 months or so DDR5 pricing and supply should be even better and hopefully DDR5 6000+ kits are also more affordable.

 

[bug]

So you mean AMD aren't morons and have actually made a wise decision. By the time Zen 4 ships in 4 months or so DDR5 pricing and supply should be even better and hopefully DDR5 6000+ kits are also more affordable.

Not necessarily "wise". It may be that they just have better visibility or they simply got lucky. My money's on the former.