Why is DDR5 so expensive compared to DDR4?

[Shrek]

2 x 32GB Crucial Pro DDR4 is $95
2 x 16GB Crucial Pro DDR5 is $99

sure, DDR5 is way faster, but twice the price?

 

[freeagent]

Because the 5 is more.. and more is better duh

 

[theFOoL]

Assuming it's the chip making process as more things Hence it cost more to make

 

[freeagent]

100 bucks for a pair of DDR5 is pretty good.

 

[R-T-B]

Supply and demand my dude.

 

[dirtyferret]

2 x 32GB Crucial Pro DDR4 is $95
2 x 16GB Crucial Pro DDR5 is $99

sure, DDR5 is way faster, but twice the price?

more expensive manufacturing process for the chips

 

[Princess Garnet]

I can make some speculation here, so if anyone knows better and I'm wrong about something, do feel free to correct me...

Why was DDR2 less expensive when DDR3 first came around?

Why did DDR3 get super cheap in 2011 and then get more expensive after?

Why was DDR3 cheaper than DDR4 at first?

Those might explain the general idea. Basically, the first and third should be an example that an incoming RAM generation is always more expensive at first, and the second one also gives an example that price can ebb and flow. Both can happen simultaneously, too.

Yes, DDR5 has been out for some years now, but platform longevity is also longer than it's ever been, so previous generations are being kept around and in production longer (meaning lower prices for them), as DDR3 has shown.

You also need to consider that performance DDR4 is pretty much gone as far as I am aware (?), so much of what's left is perhaps good but not premium stuff so pricing will be even lower. Even if you look at whatever a particular brand is calling the same product label, the chips and ICs tell a different story.

Lastly, not all things scale linearly in life. For example, as recent capacity increases have shown (RAM capacity increased by 50% instead of doubling 100% and VRAM is about to do the same), scaling is getting harder with a lot of things in the tech world. So it's not always as simple as "thing is twice of this, it should be no more than twice as costly". Sometimes, it's more (or even less).

 

[Athlonite]

100 bucks for a pair of DDR5 is pretty good.

what for half the amount of ram 32GB vs 64GB of DDR4

 

[freeagent]

what for half the amount of ram 32GB vs 64GB of DDR4

My 32GB was like 400+ so yeah not bad

 

[ir_cow]

I paid $500 for 64GB of DDR3, so $95 isn't looking so bad.

 

[Athlonite]

My 32GB was like 400+ so yeah not bad

For what speed though my 32GB of GSkill Trident Z DDR5 6000MT/s CL32 only cost me $249 but if I chose faster CL timings or went up in MT/s it was an exorbitant rise in cost 64GB's was nearly 5 time the cost for double the amount of same speed/timing

 

[freeagent]

For what speed though my 32GB of GSkill Trident Z DDR5 6000MT/s CL32 only cost me $249 but if I chose faster CL timings or went up in MT/s it was an exorbitant rise in cost 64GB's was nearly 5 time the cost for double the amount of same speed/timing

4x8 3200 14-14-14-34

 

[eidairaman1]

2 x 32GB Crucial Pro DDR4 is $95
2 x 16GB Crucial Pro DDR5 is $99

sure, DDR5 is way faster, but twice the price?

It's possible your state is applying taxes to it, being colorado in all...

 

[damric]

Maybe change brands.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/fB7scf/patriot-viper-venom-64-gb-2-x-32-gb-ddr5-6400-cl32-memory-pvv564g640c32k

 

[eidairaman1]

Maybe change brands.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/fB7scf/patriot-viper-venom-64-gb-2-x-32-gb-ddr5-6400-cl32-memory-pvv564g640c32k

Mushkin is still around aswell

 

[damric]

Mushkin is still around aswell

Don't get me wrong, I love my Crucial DDR4, but for DDR5 I have found that Patriot has best price points or should I say least gouging

 

[Athlonite]

4x8 3200 14-14-14-34

two of which are Royal models which are a premium set with fast timings which makes them quite expensive to start with

 

[Launcestonian]

It's possible your state is applying taxes to it, being colorado in all...

This is a very important point. Access to "best deal" or cheapest price is highly subject to where, when & how the consumer accesses the market.
Where I am at the moment, 2x16GB kit of DDR5 (5600MT/s) is only AUD $111.70... so converted to US dollar.. you do the math.

 

[eidairaman1]

This is a very important point. Access to "best deal" or cheapest price is highly subject to where, when & how the consumer accesses the market.
Where I am at the moment, 2x16GB kit of DDR5 (5600MT/s) is only AUD $111.70... so converted to US dollar.. you do the math.

Thats pretty cheap here in the US.

This is a very important point. Access to "best deal" or cheapest price is highly subject to where, when & how the consumer accesses the market.
Where I am at the moment, 2x16GB kit of DDR5 (5600MT/s) is only AUD $111.70... so converted to US dollar.. you do the math.

Certain states will tax a person to death if they get away with it.

 

[freeagent]

two of which are Royal models which are a premium set with fast timings which makes them quite expensive to start with

Mostly because I was too cheap to add another set.. in hindsight I should have

 

[wheresmycar]

2 x 32GB Crucial Pro DDR4 is $95
2 x 16GB Crucial Pro DDR5 is $99

sure, DDR5 is way faster, but twice the price?

Higher capacity 'modules' tend to cost more > larger chips, costs more to make, lower production success rate and keep in mind a tiny defect can make the entire chip useless, so some self prescribed restitution. Also, 2x16GB is more popular amongst consumers and no doubt this drives competition. 2x32GB typically favoured by professionals would have the manufacturers thirsting for some increased profits. Plenty of uncompromising demand for 64GB/+

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Maybe shop outside the Amazon box?

Crucial 64gb ddr5 for 42 dollars. It's not fast ddr5, 4800mt/s, but it's cheap as dirt could get.

 

[Princess Garnet]

Ah, see, I didn't look into it, but the above post confirms what I thought might be the case. Difference speed grades have very different prices and there's cheaper options, and the higher speed grades with DDR5 especially are going to be more expensive since scaling that is getting tough.

I paid $500 for 64GB of DDR3, so $95 isn't looking so bad.

Wow, and when I got 16 GB of DDR3, I thought that was a lot. Well, I mean it was because it was late 2011 so most PCs would have been just moving to 8 GB in those years and 4 GB was still very common (and 2 GB as well for more basic/budget PCs). I don't know when in the DDR3 life cycle you bought that though. If I remember right, my 16 GB was ~$100 (it was either a hair under or over that amount and I forget which), and I remember DDR3 getting more expensive in the years after I bought, so yeah $500 sounds about right if you bought early-mid 2010s I'm guessing? Like Haswell time-frame?

I got 64 GB in mid-2020 but it was DDR4 (4x 32 GB 3,600 MHz CL16-19-19-39) and that cost $300 at the time. I could have gotten it 10% cheaper at $270 if I was willing to tolerate looser timings of 18-22-22-42, and I think that was the cheapest I found it for. The "premium" ones were even more, like closer to $400 to $450.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Why didn't you use comparable RAM? I can cherry pick different RAM and get totally different results.

Crucial Pro 2 x 16 DDR5 $90

Crucial 2 x 16 DDR 4 $86

 

[wheresmycar]

@Bill_Bright, you're looking very pretty this evening