The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is at the root of the problem.
Over the past month, RAM prices have surged by more than 150%, and analysts warn that the memory shortage is likely to persist at least until 2027.
The main driver is a steep rise in demand from manufacturers of AI hardware. Major tech firms are purchasing vast quantities of high-speed memory—particularly HBM and DDR5—leaving fewer chips available to everyday buyers and pushing prices higher. Even companies that previously focused on cryptocurrency are shifting heavily into AI projects, adding further strain to the market.
Similar price hikes are being reported across leading brands such as Corsair, Kingston, Crucial, and others. Chipmakers (Samsung, SK hynix, Micron) have already exhausted their stock and are fully booked with orders for the upcoming quarters.
For ordinary users, and gamers in particular, this means that RAM—which until recently was one of the cheapest parts of a PC build—has become one of the costliest. As a result, assembling a mid-range gaming PC with 32–64 GB of DDR5 now costs several hundred dollars more than it did a month ago.
Source: iXBT.games