Shopping for RAM? You may want to get a prebuilt or a laptop instead.
While memory prices are soaring, full systems haven't been hit by increasing prices (yet!)
It's almost Black Friday. You haven't started shopping for gifts — or for yourself — yet. Maybe there's a PC builder in your life. Maybe that's you. Either way, one thing is for sure: The price of RAM has skyrocketed, which will make building your own system more expensive than it was a few months ago. But those price hikes haven't yet hit prebuilt systems, including desktops and laptops, in part because the companies that make them have stockpiled memory to keep their supply chains moving.
As of this writing, you can get an entire PlayStation 5 for less than a 64GB RAM kit. So yes: If you're willing to let someone else build your system, it may be a far better deal to buy one of the best gaming PCs, best gaming laptops, or best ultrabooks before AI’s seemingly insatiable demand for RAM and storage causes price hikes on systems, too.
A lot of us prefer to build their own PCs. I get it! But this isn't the first time that financial wisdom has pointed to prebuilts. The same was true when GPU prices went orbital during the perfect storm of the COVID pandemic lockdowns and crypto mining on GPUs.
Let's do some price comparisons and see how this all shakes out. You can also see some of our other tips for navigating the shortages in our RAM pricing survival guide.
For an example, we'll use the CyberPower PC Gamer Xtreme gaming desktop, which we recently reviewed and uses all standardized parts. For some components, we had to make swaps for availability, so we used something comparable in those cases.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme |
Comparable Build |
Component Price |
CPU |
Intel Core Ultra 5 225F |
Intel Core Ultra 5 225F |
|
Motherboard |
Asus B860M Max Gaming AX |
MSI MAG B860M Mortar WiFi |
|
Memory |
32GB Team Group T-Force Vulcan DDR5-6400 (2x 16GB) |
32GB Crucial Pro DDR5-6400 (2 x 16GB) |
|
Graphics |
MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Shadow 2X OC |
MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Shadow 2X OC |
|
Storage |
2TB MSI Spatium M470 Pro NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD |
2TB MSI Spatium M470 Pro NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD |
|
PSU |
Apevia 600W 80+ Gold (ATX-PR600W) |
Apevia 600W 80+ Gold (ATX-PR600W) |
|
Cooling |
CyberPowerPC 120mm Air Cooler |
Thermalright Assassin X120 Refined SE Air Cooler |
|
Case Fans |
4x CyberPowerPC 120mm fans |
Rosewill 120mm Case Fan 4-Pack |
|
Case |
Phanteks NV5 |
Phanteks NV5 MKII |
|
Operating System |
Windows 11 Home |
Windows 11 Home |
|
Price |
$1,099.99, $849.99 for Black Friday |
$1,322.80 |
Row 11 - Cell 3 |
The total on our parts list is $1,322.80, or more than $200 over the $1,099.99 CyberPowerPC. And for Black Friday, the CyberPowerPC is down to $849.99, which is a price you couldn't come close to without making compromises when building on your own now. It sure doesn't help that when separated out, the RAM and graphics card are almost the same price.
Also, if you were building this yourself, you'd probably want a nicer PSU, which could add to the cost. You might also be able to bring along an existing Windows license or find a way to pay less, which could drop the price.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
This gaming PC boasts an Intel Core Ultra 5 225F, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060, 2TB of storage, and 32GB of RAM in a case that showcases your parts.
If you're looking for laptops, it's a bit harder to price out. After all, you can't usually build your own laptop from parts. Framework, the company that allows more upgrades and customization options than any other laptop manufacturer, shows that now is the time to buy. The company hasn't changed pricing yet, but has removed standalone RAM from its store and wrote on X that "Our memory costs from our suppliers are increasing substantially though, so it is likely we will need to increase memory pricing soon."
Framework is smaller than Dell, HP, Apple, and Lenovo, which almost certainly have larger supplies. But even their stock won't last forever, and depending on what the RAM pricing crisis looks like at that point, it would not be surprising to see prices go up from even the biggest companies. That will be the case for both ultrabooks and gaming laptops (perhaps even more for the latter, given that GPUs have their own RAM).
It's at least somewhat fortuitous that this rise in RAM pricing is occurring during a deals event. If you can find a good deal on a gaming PC or a laptop, it might be the lowest price you can find for a long time.
This MSI Vector 16 features an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti laptop GPU in a system that's $1,299, which is a great price for that level of graphics. You will get a last-gen AMD Ryzen 9 8940HX, along with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.
If all you really care about is gaming, it might also a good time to buy a console or a handheld. Those prices are already higher than they were last year, and it's possible they'll go higher still if the memory squeeze continues. It's the opposite of the way consoles usually work — they typically get cheaper as time goes on — but we live in surprising times.
RAM on its own is expensive now. But systems with memory in them already have it accounted for. There's no telling how long that will last, but until prices increase, you’ll likely save some money by buying a system that's already built. Building your own PC has, yet again, become something you’ll likely have to pay extra for.
Gaming PC Deals
This Alienware Aurora rig boasts an Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. Consider this for the gamer in your life without a ton of desk space.
There's a huge saving on this MSI gaming PC, which includes a Ryzen 7 8700F, an Nvidia RTX 5070, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. This system uses air cooling and has a 750W 80 Plus Gold power supply.
Acer combines Intel's 14th Gen Core i7 processor with an RTX 5070, 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The case is plain, but it should get the job done for gaming.
Laptop PC Deals
Get a deal on this Aurora 16-inch laptop with a 120Hz display. Under the hood, you get a Core 7 240H CPU, 32GB of RAM, and an Nvidia RTX 5060, plus a 1TB SSD.
With an AMD Ryzen 5 7235HS and Nvidia RTX 4050, this isn't the most powerful or modern system. But it's priced well. You also get a 512GB SSD and 12GB of RAM.
This Asus TUF Gaming A16 gaming laptop boasts an Nvidia RTX 5070, AMD Ryzen 9 270, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.
Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.
Andrew E. Freedman is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware focusing on laptops, desktops and gaming. He also keeps up with the latest news. A lover of all things gaming and tech, his previous work has shown up in Tom's Guide, Laptop Mag, Kotaku, PCMag and Complex, among others. Follow him on Threads @FreedmanAE and BlueSky @andrewfreedman.net. You can send him tips on Signal: andrewfreedman.01
-
Lafong ReplyAdmin said:RAM prices are skyrocketing, but that doesn't seem to have been factored into prebuilt gaming PCs and laptops just yet.
That seems to be true at Dell.
If I were to buy a pre-built it would be this:
Dell Tower Plus Desktop
Model: EBT2250
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-desktop-computers/dell-tower-plus/spd/dell-ebt2250-desktop/useebt2250wcto01?redirectto=SOC&configurationid=5742448b-a72f-487f-8fcf-031ddb9f6937
Intel 265K; a 2 x 8 kit of DDR5 5200; a 512 GB NVME; no video card; 750 watt PSU; Windows 11 Home; unknown air cooling; keyboard; mouse.
949
same price as it was 3 months ago.
They want 150 more if you want a 2 x 16 kit of RAM.
It's not an ideal PC for my purposes, but much more palatable than it has been due to the RAM price hikes if I were to build an ideal PC myself. -
DonnyAppleseed My Uncle taught me a neat trick he learned in high school back in the 1970’s.Reply
His teacher had the kids go around to pharmacies and tell people there was an aspirin shortage.
I’ll keep this short and simple for you.
They created one by constantly telling everyone there was a shortage.
Weird how that was a thing 50 years ago.
Could the same logic be applied today, but multiply it’s effectiveness with this thing we use called the internet?
I’d lean towards yes. By constantly telling everyone there is a RAM shortage, you will inevitably cause one by creating panic buying.
Or am I just crazy…?