Just In Time for Ryzen 7000, DDR5 Prices Fall to More Affordable Levels

While still significantly higher than DDR4, prices for next-generation DDR5 memory have dropped immensely over the past six months. Many of the lower-end kits now sell for just $6-7 per gigabyte -- or around $120-$130 for a 16GB dual-channel kit. This is a huge departure from the $500-$1000 price bracket we were used to seeing on almost all DDR5 kits -- including some of the Best RAM for Gaming -- just six months ago. This should finally make DDR5 a more mainstream proposition to PC builders and buyers, and it couldn't come at a better time for AMD. The company's Ryzen 7000 processors are expected soon, and that platform only supports DDR5 memory.

The downward price trend appears to be expanding globally, with ComputerBase reporting that DDR5 prices are even cheaper in Europe, with baseline kits approaching €5 per gigabyte.

The only remaining sticking point with DDR5's pricing is the timings you are paying for. Baseline DDR5 kits are stacking up better against DDR4. But if you want a DDR5 kit that is competitive with high-speed DDR4 kits with low latency timings, pricing is still highly in favor of DDR4. 

We're at a time now where DDR5, in general, can be bought for reasonable prices. If you are forced into the DDR5 platform for a new build, you won't be selling your kidney to find a DDR5 kit with "good enough" performance.

Currently, some of the cheapest 16GB DDR5 memory kits come from Crucial, Kingston, and Patriot, with kits featuring a baseline spec of 4800MHz starting at just $110 to $120. This is a good start for DDR5 and will allow DIY builders to assemble a relatively cheap DDR5 system for a similar value compared to mainstream DDR4 kits. However, again that's just for baseline DDR5 memory speeds, with performance comparable to baseline DDR4 kits at half the price.

The highest performance DDR5 dual-channel 16GB kits you'll find hover in the 5200-5600MHz range, with timings anywhere between CL40 and CL36. Prices there hover around $120 to $180.

32GB DDR5 dual-channel kits are where the good stuff is at, with performance options comparable to high-speed DDR4 memory kits. For a 5200MHz or 5600MHz kit featuring CL timings of 34 or 36, the cost goes up to $250. For even faster kits hitting the 6000Mhz mark with CL timings of 36 to 32, you'll have to spend well over $300.

$300-350 for a memory kit is definitely hard to swallow, but it is a huge departure from prices just several months ago. Back in January, G.Skill's Trident Z DDR5 6000 CL36 kit dropped from a whopping $4000 in December to "just" $800. Now that same kit with even tighter timings can be found for less than half that price at $369.

Overall, the DDR5 value isn't great, with a performance-per-dollar value that still well underperforms DDR4. But things are a lot better than the absolutely absurd prices we saw just six months ago. DDR5 is now at a point where buyers can actually buy baseline DDR5 kits for a reasonable cost, which will become far more important as AMD's DDR5-only platform, AM5 and its Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 processors, is expected to arrive soon.

These lower-cost DDR5 kits will give future AM5 users a chance to build a functional Ryzen 7000 system for a reasonable cost, then perhaps upgrade to a much faster DDR5 with better timings down the road when prices (hopefully) drop even further.